Torchwood: Equestria- Parallel Loose Ends

Chapters

Chapter 2- Dreams
Chapter 3- Two Captains
Chapter 4- An Old Friend
Chapter 6- Unnatural Causes
Chapter 7- Equestria Division
Chapter 8- Blood
Chapter 9- The Coin
Chapter 10- Wake Up Call
Chapter 11- Ayumu
Chapter 12- Infiltration
Chapter 13- Truth
Chapter 14- Origins
Chapter 15- Reset
Chapter 16- Remember
Chapter 17- Trust
Chapter 18- One Last Mission
Chapter 19- Debt
Chapter 1- The Right Stallion
Chapter 5- Outside the Government

Chapter 2- Dreams

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3- Two Captains

Galaxy O, Sector 5
46th Ceentury

Nothing calmed Ruby more than the pure quiet of space. She still loved planting her hooves on solid ground time and again, but jumped at every opportunity to get in a spaceship and fly. It was because of this that she joined the Equestrian Space Academy, became an officer, and now served as a captain on board her small, but beautiful ship.

The Wanderer cruised through the blackness at a leisurely pace. In a couple hours, engines would be recharged and ready for the jump to their next planet stop. Ruby, as she always did, awoke a couple hours before the rest of the crew to come sit on the bridge with a cup of coffee. Just sitting alone, drinking coffee, and staring out at distant stars in the early morning always made her day better.

Communication clicked on and surprised Ruby for a moment. “Rufus here,” her chief engineer said. “I don’t mean to disturb your morning routine, just want to let you know I’m up and in the engine room. Things look good, all should be up and running on time.”

“No problem on the interruption, good to hear your voice.” Ruby held down the com button with her magic to reply. “If the engine looks alright then just take it easy for now. Go get some breakfast, I’m sure Luke is cooking something up as we speak.”

“Luke here, sure am! Plenty for you too, Captain.” A third voice joined the com.

“Copy that Luke, I’ll be down in a little while,” Ruby said.

The red unicorn continued to sip on her coffee for a few more minutes and enjoy the view. Her magic pulled some of her black mane in front of her face as she searched for any grey hairs. Making captain didn’t come without a lot of experience, and Ruby knew the day would come that her mane wouldn’t keep its jet black luster.

That didn’t mean, however, that she couldn’t keep her main and tail looking perfect for as long as possible. She sifted through the hairs she draped over her eyes, and flinched whenever she used her magic to pluck a discovered grey one. She stood up from her chair, then turned to look behind her, gazing past her cutie mark of a star, the star in her home solar system, and repeated the process with her tail. Finally, the mare took all the plucked strands and sent them down a disposal hatch, then brought up the brush she kept on the bridge, using the faint reflection of herself in the window to put everything back in order. She smiled at her reflection, then turned to join her crew.

***

Daniel smiled and stood up quickly when Ruby entered the kitchen and dining area. “Captain on deck!” He said with a giggle.

“Oh, cut that out,” Ruby replied, glaring at Daniel before laughing with him. “There’s a whopping five of us on this ship, the only time you all stand for me is if we’re on a ship with other ponies.” She sat down at the dining table, the smell of fresh fruit and something fried filling her nostrils. “However, giving your captain some food is an acceptable way to show respect.”

“Coming right up,” Luke called out from the kitchen, bringing out a plate.

Nicole, the other female crew member of the five on board, turned to Ruby. “Captain, I got down here first, I’m all done with breakfast,” she said. “Want me to head up to the bridge and prepare us for the jump?”

“Sounds good, thank you,” Ruby replied. “Rufus, mind taking the rest of your biscuit to engineering, then? Maybe we can get this jump out of the way and arrive ahead of schedule.”

“Shmmmf.” Rufus tried responding with his mouth full, then paused for a moment and swallowed. “Sure thing, ma’am.” He grabbed his biscuit with his teeth and followed Nicole out of the room.

“Well, now just me and my favorite two stallions.” Ruby grinned and started eating the food Luke gave her.

Luke finally sat down now that everypony had food. “Just us and our favorite captain,” he joked back.

The three conversed for a while, until Nicole announced that the ship was ready to jump. Daniel left to go check on supplies in the medical bay, Luke proceeded downward in the ship to assist Rufus, and Ruby made her way for the bridge.

Ruby walked at a leisurely pace through the narrow corridors of her ship, everything going ahead of schedule. Her hoof steps echoed softly, and she hummed a tune to herself as she thought over everything she needed to take care of at their destination. She needed to attend a couple meetings with other captains in the area and one admiral who would be visiting, order supplies for whoever on her ship needed them, and during her free time, try and find some unique food on the planet, a tradition she started the moment she arrived at her first planet away from home.

Nicole still busily worked controls and buttons as Ruby stepped on to the bridge. “Everything’s ready, Captain,” she told her.

Ruby turned on communication ship wide. “Alright, everypony, hold on tight, we are jumping in ten seconds.”

Modern space travel meant short distances were taken care of in a matter of seconds with hyperspace jumps. Different methods were still used for long distance journeys, but a high energy jump followed by an engine recharge proved to be the most efficient way to get to things nearby. The jump took mere seconds, and while one got thrown forward a bit when exiting the jump, no discomfort ever ailed a passenger on a jumping ship. Nicole entered the proper coordinates, and engaged the jump.

Light began brightening outside the cockpit window. Nicole and Ruby shielded their eyes as the sound of the engines building up power grew louder. Several seconds later, the sound suddenly quieted, and Ruby felt her body lurch forward for a moment.

Nicole lowered her hoof and returned to controls. “Jump complete, beginning standard orbit around… hold on…” Nicole double checked her readings, to be sure she wasn’t mistaken. “We’re at the wrong planet.”

“What?” Ruby looked down at the screens, then out the window. Something was wrong. She’d never seen this planet before, but felt strange when she looked at it. Anxiety filled her, and she couldn’t think of why. Something she couldn’t explain or describe felt familiar, and this unknown familiarity scared her.

She shook her head after staring at the planet for several seconds, turning her attention back to the issue. “Are you sure you entered the proper coordinates?”

“I double checked before launching,” Nicole replied. “There’s no way they were wrong. I’m running a diagnostic to try and find the problem.”

Ruby turned on the com again, speaking to engineering. “Rufus,” she began. “Did anything strange happen down in engineering during the jump?”

“No, Captain, everything is fine down here. Something wrong?” the stallion replied.

“We’re trying to find out,” Ruby said, then closed the com.

“After scanning for errors, apparently the system was hacked to bring us here,” Nicole explained. “But there’s no way any computer on the planet could’ve hacked us before the jump, we were way too far out. That means…”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “We were hacked by somepony inside the ship.”

“Sensor history shows no ships were in range of us before the jump, that’s the only other possibility.”

“Scan for life signs on board. Now.” Ruby rushed to the other side of the cockpit and pulled open a drawer. Using her magic, she lifted a laser pistol out, checking that it was in good condition and switching the device to fire mode.

“There’s one more living thing on board than there should be. Sensors picking up a pony in our second cargo bay.”

“Watch every sensor you can, don’t let this crazy pony hack anything else on our ship.” Nicole nodded in response, and Ruby rushed down the hall, her magic holding the pistol in front of her.

***

The red unicorn slowed and quieted her steps the closer she came to the large cargo bay doors. She took a deep breath, then raised a hoof and pushed the button to allow entry. These automatic doors never opened quietly. Whoever hid in this room would know somepony was after them.

Because of this, Ruby kept herself completely alert. Her laser pistol followed her eyes; wherever she looked, it pointed, ready to let loose at any moment.

“Welcome,” a voice called out. Ruby turned in a flash, but saw nothing, only crates. The voice belonged to a male, and sounded a bit deeper and throaty than most stallions. The one word he spoke flowed slowly and smoothly off his tongue, like he was pleased.

“What the hell are you doing on my ship?” Ruby called out. Boxes and crates were stacked everywhere in the cargo bay, providing many places to hide. She moved around one step at a time, checking every angle from which this pony could attack her before taking a step forward.

“Why, I had to bring you here,” the male pony replied. “To remind you of what you dream about. To remind you of how things should be.”

“That only vaguely answers my question,” Ruby said, grinding her teeth. “Let’s skip playing the pronoun game, shall we?”

“When you looked at the planet out there, did you feel something strange?” the mysterious pony asked. Ruby remained silent, but grew nervous, remembering the feeling she got when the jump brought them to the wrong location. “I’m sure you’ve dreamt about it, you just don’t remember. Because everything is wrong. The planet outside is supposed to be frozen.”

Ruby blinked a few times, then shut her eyes, shaking her head. Images flashed in her head for a split second, then left again. This planet. Something strange about it. A member of her crew dead. Her ship exploding. Somepony… who was that brown stallion? She felt as if something was throwing photos in front of her face, and before she could get a good look at the photo, it landed in a fire, never to be seen again. These flashes, these strange feelings. Some part of them was familiar.

“You’re probably feeling very confused right about now,” the male said. “But don’t worry, captain. When everything is put back to the way it should be, you’ll remember.”

Ruby kept her steps quiet but hurried her pace, weaving through the cargo bay in search of this pony. At last, she came around a corner, and discovered a pony sitting on the ground, messing with something on his hoof. The stallion was cloaked, and with his back turned to her, she failed to make out any of his features. However, she knew the device on his hoof had something to do with teleportation. He was about to escape.

“This was just a little preview,” the stallion called out, not knowing Ruby stood directly behind him now, just fifty feet or so away. “I couldn’t resist, but it’s time to get out of here and get some of the real work done.”

“No you don’t!”

Ruby pushed off with her hind legs, bolting down the cargo bay while the stallion set in coordinates. She leaped out to tackle him, but did so just barely too late. The stallion teleported, and due to how close she was, so did Ruby.

***

Earth
Canterlot
Late 21st Century

Both Ruby and the stallion collapsed to the ground after teleporting. Both their bodies met the harsh embrace of pavement, and neither moved for a few moments. Ruby groaned and rolled over, searching for her laser pistol and levitating it when she saw the device a few feet away from her.

It was then that Ruby discovered she teleported to somewhere else. A planet’s atmosphere and night sky replaced the metal walls of her space ship. She brought herself to her hooves, taking in her surroundings, no clues as to where they were presenting themselves. A short distance away she spotted a large cluster of buildings, though their structure appeared rather old. She moved her eyes upward, and failed to recognize the configuration of the stars. She was somewhere new.

Ruby’s searching suddenly paused when she felt searing pain on the side of her face. She cried out and collapsed to the ground, grinding her teeth as she felt her coat burn. She shot her head to the right and saw the stallion who’d been on her ship, his horn glowing. Clearly the stallion held magic far beyond her capability to be able to fire a painful blast like that. She knew that taking down this stallion alone would be impossible.

“I got where I wanted to be,” the stallion spoke from under his hood, his tone growing angry. “But I didn’t plan on you coming with me. You will die by my horn.”

Ruby whipped her gun around and fired off a shot in less than a second, but the laser blast deflected off a just as quickly raised magical shield. Ruby took the opportunity of the distraction, and ran for the city, needing a place to escape and hide.

The stallion gave chase soon after, and Ruby saw a sparkling, orange bolt of magic whizz past her head. She turned the pistol around and blindly fired two shots, hearing one of them reflect off of something, likely a magical shield again.

She reached the edge of the city and darted around a corner. The chasing stallion changed his type of magical blast, this time releasing a bright flash of white light that extended quite a ways out. Ruby found herself blinded for a few moments, and tripped over a stray can. She worked to stand up and keep running before her sight even returned to her, and darted around another corner, running past some sort of hotel. When she heard the stallion make the same turn, she turned her pistol back and fired two more shots.

***

Jack needed to know who this mare was and where she got a laser pistol like that. Lives could be at stake if that technology was stolen from the future or if alien tech could be found on the planet. He quickly turned back to the bed and shook it a bit to wake up Wing.

Wing slept a few moments longer before the shaking woke him. He came to slowly, and rubbed his eyes, a smile appearing on his face. “Morning already?” he mumbled. “That was an amazing night…”

“No, it’s still night Wing, but wake up,” Jack said.

Wing came to a little more and noticed the urgency in Jack’s voice. He quickly sat up in bed, replacing his smile with a look of concern. “Jack, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I just saw some mare outside getting chased by somepony, she’s in big trouble,” Jack said. “I don’t know how to explain why, but I need to try and help her. You don’t have to come with me, but I didn’t want you to think I was skipping out on you.”

“You… you didn’t want me to think that?” Wing replied, a bit off excitement returning to his voice. “So… you’d like to go out again?”

Jack nodded, and returned the grin. “Yeah, if you’re up for it, tonight was fun.” Despite his confidence that always stayed true when he got together with someone, a light blush escaped his cheeks.

“Well, that’s great! I’d love to!”

“Perfect. Let me know your schedule and I’ll… wait, post first date talk later, that mare’s in trouble.”

“Oh. Right.” Wing shook his head. “Well hey, I’m new to the royal guard, but my job is to protect the castle and Canterlot’s citizens,” he continued. “And I guess since you’re a captain somewhere you feel the same responsibility.”

“Exactly,” Jack said. He’d explain the truth later, when there was more time.

“I’m not sure how much help I’ll be though, I only finished training a little while ago…”

“Don’t worry, you’re great,” Jack replied, remembering Wing from the time that was. “Just follow my lead.”

***

The two stallions rushed out of the hotel and out onto the streets, running in the direction that Jack last saw the mare and her chaser. It was around 3:30 in the morning, so even the late night partiers were done, and the only Jack and Wing’s quick hoof steps made any noise in the still night. Jack kept his eyes and ears open, watching and listening for more hooves, spells, or laser blasts.

“What did these ponies look like?” Wing asked, flying alongside Jack while the dark blue stallion ran.

“The mare is a red unicorn, and the one chasing her had a cloak, I couldn’t see who it was,” Jack replied. A light or two turned on in high up windows as light sleepers awoke to the echoing hoof steps of Jack’s sprint. He kept his eyes peeled and ears open, until off to the left he heard what sounded like a magical blast, followed by laser fire.

“There!” Jack shouted, switching his direction.

“I heard it too!” Wing took to the sky, getting a view that Jack could not. He moved a short distance ahead of Jack, and his heart began pounding in his chest. Nothing exciting had occurred yet during his duties on the royal guard. It felt like any other job at the moment, just a lot of standing and walking. But now, a citizen of Equestria was in danger, and he found himself alongside another stallion to try and protect her. He couldn’t let the mare down, or let Jack down, but he felt unprepared for the task.

Wing caught site of two ponies running, and shouted down to Jack, pointing him in the right direction. He soared through the air, quickly gaining on the two of them, and keeping a close eye, waiting for the right time to swoop in.

***

Ruby promised herself to never skip a workout again. She’d kept her muscles strong, but her cardio lacked a bit from being cooped up on a small ship and making excuses for not going to the treadmill. She gradually ran out of breath, second by second, and needed to escape this unicorn fast.

Running out of street corners to turn to, she only saw one other option. A little ways down, on the side of a taller building, a fire escape lined the brick wall. She bolted for it, reaching the stairs and starting her climb, hoping the roof of the building would bring a new solution.

The cloaked stallion chased after her, clearly determined to rid of this witness to his actions. Ruby was at least able to relax slightly on the climb up, for the stairs provided no clear shot for the male unicorn to shoot more magic at her.

Gasping for air, Ruby reached the top, however, before she could look around, she heard no more hooves banging on the metal stairway. Quickly turning, behind her stood the unicorn, and Ruby knew if she made a move, it would likely be her end.

The cloaked pony slowly walked forward, and Ruby slowly walked back. She kept her laser pistol raised, desperately hoping she could catch the stallion distracted. She knew no spells to protect herself from the level of magic he produced, and after a few moments more, stopped moving when she felt the edge of the building against the bottom of her hoof.

The two stared at each other for several moments, both of them unaware that hoof steps were being taken slowly and quietly up the fire escape by a third pony. The stallion kept his head low, ensuring that Ruby could gain no information on his appearance.

“Seems you’re out of places to run,” the stallion said triumphantly, a grin hid beneath his hood. His horn began to glow, until a grey pegasus swooped down from the sky, pummeling into his side and knocking him to the ground.

Both the unicorn and the pegasus skidded across the roof. Ruby’s eyes widened in surprise and amazement. To her further surprise, another stallion, this one an earth pony, appeared at the top of the stairs, looking at her and nodding.

The cloaked stallion yelled in anger, and seeing the number of ponies now around him, began entering data into the device on his front hoof. The pegasus was still dazed, laying right next to him, but Ruby and the earth pony knew exactly what was happening, and bolted for the unicorn.

Both dove, the unicorn hit the final control, and four ponies disappeared from the Canterlot night.

***

Jack opened his eyes to sunlight. He did not feel a hard building roof beneath him, but instead grass. He stood up and looked around, not seeing any of Canterlot. A small town rested a short distance away, and to his surprise, another castle he’d never seen showed itself, this one very purple.

Wing, Jack, and Ruby all got to their senses, and when they all looked at each other, they simultaneously realized no one had eyes on the mysterious stallion. When they turned, they discovered him messing with his device again, but this time, he teleported away without any uninvited guests.

Now the three stood together, Ruby no longer being chased, and the two stallions no longer having a pony to save.

Among the three, Wing was the only one who had no experience of teleportation. He frantically looked around, his eyes widening. “Wah… what just…”

“Wing, calm down,” Jack said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “Breath, slowly, I’ll explain later, for now don’t worry, we’re fine.”

“Fine?” Wing replied, taken aback. “We’re in a different place! How is this possible?”

“Wing,” Jack wrapped his foreleg tighter around Wing and used his remaining front hoof to cover Wing’s mouth. “Ponies are starting to stare. I told you, we’re fine, this is a bit awkward to explain. Right now, let’s focus on the mare.”

Wing took several more seconds to calm down, but slowed his breathing, noticing that other ponies were indeed staring at the group. Luckily, none had noticed that these three ponies appeared out of thin air just seconds ago. He relaxed, and Jack let go of him.

Ruby brushed off some dirt on her leg, the hit to her cheek stinging more than ever. “Well, I wish we could’ve caught the guy, but you two saved me, thanks,” she said. “So he doesn’t get it, and these buildings look impossibly old. Am I understanding this that the device that pony had took us back in time?” she asked Jack.

“Correct, but I’m not from the future like you, I’m from a parallel universe,” Jack replied. To these two comments, Wing began to flip out again, and Jack grabbed a hold of him, blocking his mouth in the same way. “I said I’ll explain, I’m sorry, I didn’t expect all this to happen,” he assured Wing. “Please calm down.”

Wing calmed himself, then was set free again. He panted for breath, just staring at Jack. “It’s just… my friend was right… you’re literally the only thing that could be better than a member of the royal guard…”

Jack ignored that comment after a moment’s pause, confused, and turned back to Ruby. “I’m Captain Jack Harkness, pleasure to meet you,” he said, holding out a hoof.

Ruby shook it. “And I’m Captain Ruby,” she replied. “So what are you a captain of?”

Jack stood dumbfounded for a moment. Not even the slightest of blushes from Ruby after he said hello, just an attack. “Excuse me?”

“Well, I’m captain of an Equestrian Union space vessel,” Ruby continued. “Do they have those in your universe?”

“We have space ships, but I’m just a military captain,” Jack said.

Ruby shrugged. “Hmm, well, not bad,” she said, smirking.

“Hey, I saved you,” Jack shot back.

“Actually, your pegasus friend did.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Can we get to the part where things get explained to me?” Wing chimed in, causing the smirking mare and the fuming stallion to both look in his direction. “So are we in the past, or in some alternate dimension? And what's with the giant spider like thing over there?”

At first Jack planned to answer the question about their location, when the second question caught Ruby’s and his attention. They turned to see a huge, eight legged creature crawling along the top of one of the buildings in town. Farther down, a giant fly landed on another roof top, nearly as big as the spider.

“I actually don’t know what that is,” Jack said.

“Me neither,” Ruby added. “We should probably get rid of it before it harms anypony.”

Wing shook his head, fear, anxiety, curiosity, and adrenaline all pumping through him, and only getting a couple hours of sleep before running through Canterlot’s streets and teleporting didn’t help either. “Alright, fine, I’ve helped save somepony once already in the past few minutes, explanation later then. But since both of you are captains, who’s in charge of the plan?”

“I am,” Jack and Ruby said at the same time, before turning and looking at each other.

Chapter 4- An Old Friend

Ponyville
21st Century

A bright yellow mare with a pink mane and tail quickly flew towards the center of town, where overgrown creatures stood on rooftops, towering above the running and screaming ponies below. She’d never seen a spider this big before, and had no idea how it suddenly appeared in the middle of town with no real warning. Most exotic creatures originated in the everfree forest, but the mare’s animal friends always knew to warn her if something dangerous ventured out of the thick woods. She considered magic as a possibility, but she knew only one pony in town who could possibly perform a spell like this, and she wouldn’t do such a thing.

Regardless of the fear coursing through her at the sight of the creature, her love of animals made her more intrigued than afraid. It was like looking at a spider with a magnifying glass, every aspect of this reddish-brown spider enhanced by its size. She pondered for a moment what this creature’s web might look like, quite possibly covering a space wider than her cottage.

The yellow pegasus gulped and controlled her nerves as she approached the enormous arachnid from behind, hovering in the air. “Um, Mr. giant spider,” she began, her voice quiet. “I think you look amazing, and I’d love to learn more about you, but, everypony else is a little scared, so could you come with-“ the mare screamed as one of the spider’s large legs rose up and pummeled in to her. Her body reeled back, and her shock caused her to lose control of her wings. She fell through the air, quickly nearing the ground.

Before thudding against the grass, however, she felt hooves swoop underneath her back. Afterwards, her savior bolted upwards and away from the spider’s location. The mare felt a bit dizzy from the sudden change in speed and direction, but the pony who held on to her kept a strong grip.

She opened her eyes to see a grey stallion with a gorgeous white mane, as pure of a white as one of her best friend’s coat. The stallion slowed down and landed on the ground a fair distance away from the spider, setting down the rescued pegasus underneath the shade of a small tree. The mare quickly rolled over on to her hooves and stood, giving the stallion a hug. “Oh, thank you, thank you!” she said happily. “I didn’t expect the spider to be so rude!”

“No problem,” he replied, taken aback by the sudden embrace.

The mare broke the hug and blushed, embarrassed by her sudden outburst. “Um, I’m Fluttershy,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Do you live in Ponyville?”

“I’m Wing, and no, I’m from…” Wing paused his speech. Ponyville. He’d never traveled there, but nearly everypony knew of the town home to one of Equestria’s princesses. Caught up in an adrenaline rush and a desire to act fast and help, Wing forgot that moments ago he was struggling to accept the fact he’d teleported, back in time, into a new dimension, he didn’t know what. At least now he knew where, and he pushed his confusion aside once more. “Canterlot,” he finished.

Fluttershy smiled lightly, her cheeks turning a bit red. “Well, thank you so much. You just popped in out of nowhere.”

“You have no idea how true that is.”

She was about to say something else, when her eyes widened in realization. “The creatures! Twilight’s not here and I’m the best with animals, I have to go help!”

She moved to run past Wing, but he halted her by pressing his hooves against her chest. “Don’t worry, I’ve got some friends with me, and they seem to know what they’re doing. They’ll handle these giant creatures.”

“You have more with you? Like, a rescue group?” Fluttershy responded, relaxing again. “What do you call yourselves?”

“Well, I sort of just met them, I don’t think we have a name,” Wing said. “Maybe if the other two can decide who’s in charge they’ll come up with a name for… whatever we are.”

***

Jack and Ruby ran into town, staying close to edges of buildings and peeking up to look at the spider. “Could unicorn magic have done this?” Jack asked.

“Yes, but doubtful,” Ruby replied. She cringed and ducked as the spider above jumped from one rooftop to another, landing with a loud thud and skidding a few feet while it regained grip. Ponies either ran completely out of the town or stared wide eyed from their windowsills. The giant fly a few blocks over began buzzing about, the size of it causing an overly loud buzz that rang in Jack and Ruby’s ears. “To enlarge little bugs to a size this big would require some seriously powerful magic, it’s more likely that technology did this.”

“Given the circumstances of how we showed up, I’d say that’s a good guess,” Jack said. “Any ideas?”

“If it’s just an enlarged spider, a laser blast would end its life instantly. I can get a good angle right now.”

“No!” Jack held a hoof out to the rising laser pistol. “We don’t know how far back in time we’ve gone. The time we were in before was already pretty far back from yours, I’d bet. You can’t just fire a futuristic weapon out in the open. If somepony sees it...”

“Fair point,” Ruby said, nodding. “I can get somewhere up high. Carefully obscure the pistol and pretend as if I’m using magic.”

“Good thinking, but give me some time,” Jack said. “If technology did this, the pony controlling the tech is probably around here observing the outcome. I need to find that pony; if we start killing the creatures too fast, they might make a break for it.”

“Roger.” Ruby turned to move away, but paused. “Keep thinking critically like that, I could let you be the one in charge.” She grinned.

“But a beautiful mare with a laser pistol? Hard not to take orders.”

The unicorn chuckled. “Perhaps equal partners then. Now, Captain Harkness, let’s get on with it.”

Ruby ran towards the giant spider, and Jack ran in the opposite direction. In front of Jack, a tan earth pony mare frantically moved about, two stallions with her. She knocked on doors and motioned for ponies to move, and each pony she spoke to complied. Those that she talked to ran for the edge of town, to join those who’d initially fled from the creatures.

One of the stallions noticed Jack, and notified the mare. She turned, and moved to block Jack’s path when she saw he wasn’t on his way out of the town.

“You have to leave!” the mare said, her tone urgent. “It’s too dangerous to be in town right now.”

“Sorry, I’m not from around here, who are you?” Jack asked.

“I’m the mayor of Ponyville,” she replied. “And then I’m sorry you had to see our town look like this, but you need to get out. My unicorn assistant has sent out an urgent letter, Equestria’s emergency response police will be here soon.”

“Great, have them set up a perimeter around the town to keep the ponies that have escaped where they are,” Jack said. The mayor was taken aback for a moment, realizing she was being instructed. "Also, have them search for any suspicious looking ponies. The culprit behind this may be carrying some sort of strange looking device, a scientific looking thing.”

“And just who are you to tell the police and myself what to do?”

“My friends and I are above the emergency response police, we handle strange situations like this,” Jack replied. “Trust me, we know what we’re doing.”

“Above the emergency… I’ve never heard of such a thing, what is this team of yours called?”

“I’ll get to that later, gotta go!”

Jack pushed past the mayor, leaving her in confusion on whether to chase after the stallion or relay his orders to the police when they arrived. In this time of crisis, all she could think of doing was trust him now and ask questions later.

***

Wing turned to begin searching for Jack only to find the blue stallion running towards him. “Oh, here’s one of them now,” Wing told Fluttershy. Jack skidded to a halt in front of Wing, and Wing looked away from the immense spider still crawling on the rooftops to focus on Jack.

“Ruby has a way to take out the big bugs that should work,” Jack began. He paused upon noticing the yellow mare standing quietly off to the side, her head turned away. “Captain Jack Harkness, nice to meet you.” He smiled widely and reached out with a hoof to gently lift Fluttershy’s foreleg and shake it in greeting. Fluttershy let out a quiet gasp, and as soon as Jack let go of her leg she raised a hoof to cover the quickly deepening shade of red on her cheeks. “That tends to happen,” Jack informed Wing when he turned to see a dumbfounded expression on the grey pegasus’ face. “Anyways, you and I need to search for who’s behind this. Whoever caused this probably has some strange device with them, and is staying nearby to watch what happens with these giant creatures, or maybe even make more. We find the culprit, then Ruby blasts these things away.”

“Oh, you’re not going to hurt them, are you” Fluttershy’s concern replaced her nervousness and allowed her to speak up. “They’re just little bugs.”

“That spider smacked you out of the sky!” Wing replied. He refused to believe Fluttershy’s desire to keep the creatures safe.

“I know, but, they can’t help the fact that somepony made them huge,” she replied. “They’re just scared.”

“Scared enough and big enough to kill ponies!” Wing said.

Jack thought back to his days on Earth in his own universe, when he helped solve problems beyond the capability of the general population. He didn’t have access to the same tools he did back then. No devices to clean up the mess after. No pills to make everyone forget what happened. Not even a gun, let alone hands to hold one with. He suddenly felt unprepared, however, he knew Wing, could guess at Ruby’s potential, and had just enough confidence in himself to change the plan. “If we can find a way to reverse the process, we won’t hurt them, miss,” Jack said. Now Wing’s shock was on Jack again, but he held up a hoof. “Like I said, we’re looking for some sort of device, not magic. If we can find the device, perhaps we can find a way to reverse what happened. No time to argue, come on.”

“Oh, thank you!” Fluttershy called out as the other two ran away. Another blush returned to her face, and despite being the only pony around now, she made an effort to hide it.

***

Las Pegasus

Twilight smiled as she stepped out into the hot sun. Despite the never-ending heat that came with a visit to the desert, she enjoyed the weather of places such as Las Pegasus and Appleoosa. Her meeting with several other political leaders in Equestria who’d traveled to meet here was now over, and she let out a sigh of relief. Being the princess of friendship didn’t mean she held no duties on the side.

She walked down the road, admiring all the flickering lights and humongous advertisements for shows, paralleling the size of all the hotels. Rarity loved Canterlot and Manehattan for being fashion capitals, meanwhile, this city became the home to a grand portion of the entertainment industry. Twilight thought about seeing a show, for trips out here rarely came up, but she decided against it, wanting instead to just get home. She had a long train ride ahead of her, but would be back in a few hours.

She stopped in her tracks when a scroll appeared in front of her face, and she instinctively caught it with her magic. Opening the scroll, she recognized Celestia’s handwriting, and found another sheet of paper with different handwriting underneath that.

“Princess Twilight, my dear student and friend,” the note from Celestia read. “I received this message and knew that I should forward it to you. Please return to Ponyville at your fastest speed possible. I think somepony broke into the vault.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the words, and she pulled the second paper up to her face to discover a request for the emergency response police. Looking at the nature of the incident, Celestia was likely correct. Somepony broke into the vault.

It would be impossible for her to teleport this far, but she could fly faster than the train. Twilight spread her wings and leaped straight up, zooming off to help her home.

***

Ponyville

Ruby cringed as she watched the giant fly land on another building, the sheer weight of the bug causing some structural damage to the shop it landed on. She had climbed up to a rooftop a fair distance away from both creatures, watching their movements and searching around for Jack. Luckily the culprit, whoever he or she was, failed to select a more camouflaged or fast acting method of terrorism. The small town, which held almost a small enough number of ponies to be called a village, appeared completely evacuated, though spectators still stood in shock and awe on the outskirts of the town. Jack was right; Ruby had no idea how far back in time she was, and what the reaction would be to a laser pistol. She needed to hide the device well when the need to use it arose.

The unicorn turned towards a new sound, one she couldn’t describe. The spider had begun weaving a web, one string thick enough to stand on already connecting two buildings together. Slowly, the spider spun and weaved more string, and the scale of the web blocked the entire road. If the spider and the fly end up in a fight, the damage could start getting really serious, Ruby thought. We need to find who’s behind this.

Deciding that everypony else seemed safe for now, Ruby kept her ears focused on any change from the creatures so she’d know if they moved, while turning the rest of her attention to what she thought was more crucial.

She looked all around the outskirts of town, finding many bystanders watching the giant bugs in awe and shock. She glanced at every single pony, looking for anything abnormal, only finding staring, dumbstruck faces.

Then, in response to sudden gasps and shouts, Ruby looked to her left to see a second giant fly, making its way towards a building to land on. Now three gruesome creatures invaded the area, and Ruby knew that either she needed to kill these things now and risk losing the culprit, or find him very soon.

She thought for a moment, then noticed that her field of view was limited from the building she stood on. She stood on one of the taller buildings in the town, and the high ground gave her a near complete view of the buildings and the outskirts beyond. She could see everything past the spider, down the road in the other direction, and behind the building, but the building across the street and her distance from it obscured the area past it, where she saw hints of trees, potential cover for a pony trying to hide. She examined the building, and saw no method of climbing to the roof, unlike this building where she’d used a ladder connected to the side. She ground her teeth, wishing she knew a teleportation spell, and backed up. If Jack failed to find the one behind this, she needed to, and fast. At the moment, they were lucky the creatures hadn’t attacked anypony.

“This is gonna hurt,” Ruby said to herself, taking deep breaths and shaking out her legs. She took another look at the spider and flies to ensure they weren’t headed in her direction, then focused back on the distance she needed to cover in this leap. The edge of the roof across from her was raised slightly above the rest of the flat surface, so if she failed to make the jump completely, she had something that her hooves could easily grasp. If she failed to get close, however, only pavement or dirt waited for her below.

Ruby pushed hard with her hind legs, breaking into a full sprint. She gained as much momentum as possible, levitating her pistol at her side, and leapt into the air at the last possible moment.

Time seemed to slow as Ruby looked down at the ground, feeling her body soar through the air. She brought her gaze up and focused on her target, anxiety filling her with each inch in height that she dropped.

With a loud thud, she crashed into the side of the building, only her front hooves clearing the wall. She yelled out of agony from the impact of the hit, feeling a sharp pain in her chest, but pushed through the burning in her body and gained a grip on the raised edge. For a few moments, she simply hung there, recovering and breathing heavily, the pain in her chest flaring up with each inhale. She then ground her teeth and pulled up, getting high enough to swing a hind leg over and pull the rest of her body onto the roof, rolling on to her back. For a few moments, she merely panted, desperately hoping the pain in her chest would calm down, a wish that failed to come true. She rolled back over, the pain flaring up even more during the roll, and forced herself onto her hooves.

Stumbling to the far edge of the building, Ruby looked over, now with a clear view of some open field and trees she couldn’t see before. At first she saw nothing, but she looked farther out, towards the outskirts of a forest, and when she squinted her eyes tight, looking out in the distance, she saw something against the bushes that didn’t look right. A small box, made of metal. Her eyes couldn’t see any more detail, however that gave her all she needed. Though she wanted to go after the culprit now, in her present condition she stood no chance. In case anypony in the outskirts managed to see her while their eyes were glued to the giant bugs partially destroying their town, she hid her laser pistol close to her face, and pointed straight up. The unicorn knew no signaling spells, but her horn glowed from levitating the pistol, so she could pretend. Ruby began firing shots straight up into the air, hopefully drawing Jack’s attention before drawing the attention of the pony they hoped to catch.

***

Jack and Wing sprinted back into town, their eyes on the lookout for anything suspicious. So far the town proved to be empty, all the residents keeping what was hopefully a safe distance.

“A third one just showed up, so they can’t be far,” Jack said. He and Wing bound through the streets, weaving this way and that, checking every hiding place, every alley between buildings, every window. Nothing.

Wing’s ears perked up upon hearing a new sound. He turned his head, seeing flashing red beams pulsing up in the air from a rooftop. He slowed himself to a halt and shouted out to Jack. “What’s that?”

Jack spun himself round when he no longer saw Wing next to him, and looked towards where Wing pointed. “Ruby has something to tell us, come on!” he replied.

The pair zoomed off again, this time back from where they came, closer to the bugs. Jack ducked in between two buildings, coming around to the other side and backing up until he could see the red unicorn. She had done as he asked; he couldn’t actually see the laser pistol firing, which meant if anyone happened to come by, they wouldn’t either.

“Ruby!” Jack called out, waving until he received her attention. “What’s up?”

“Edge of the forest behind you, looks like some sort of metal box! Probably the device!” Ruby said, ceasing fire. “I hurt myself getting on this building, so I’m stuck. I’ll hit the bugs if things get too crazy.”

“Gotcha, but hey, don’t take out the bugs unless you have to!” Jack told her. “We’re going to try and reverse the effect first!”

Ruby was surprised by the new plan, but gave no disagreement. “Let’s get this pony!”

Jack made his way across the field towards the forest outside of town, and Wing followed close behind. Ruby watched them for a moment before the corner of her eye caught pegasi flying high up above. They flew in a tight formation, approaching the town fast.

One pegasus, with a black coat and bright blue mane, swooped down to the same rooftop Ruby stood on. He motioned up to the others with a hoof, and they took a new formation, heading for the bugs. “You look hurt, let me get you to safety,” the stallion said, noticing Ruby’s injured state.

“And who are you?” Ruby questioned.

“I’m a lieutenant in Equestria’s emergency response police, you have no need to be afraid,” the pegasus replied.

“Oh yeah, well I’m…” Ruby had no idea what time she was in, and struggled to think up something that would give her authority over this stallion. “…a captain,” she finished, deciding to just be ambiguous. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

“Please, things are too dangerous in the town. Our squad is attacking the giant creatures to try and bring them down.”

“You’re what?” Ruby spun away from the lieutenant to see the other pegasi moving in to hit the spider, who still worked away on its web. A couple pegasi smacked into the arachnid, knocking it off the half formed web, but the third pegasus met a leg, and was forcefully thrown to the side. Seeing more pegasi coming, the spider turned itself around and began leaving town.

“I can’t believe you’re that stupid,” Ruby said. “Nopony was anywhere near the spider. Now it’s heading for all the ponies that evacuated. Good job getting its attention.”

Ponies standing on the outskirts of town screamed, running away and trampling over each other. Despite its massive size, the spider’s legs made it agile. It skittered out of town, trying to avoid more pegasi attacks, its self-preservation instincts still intact. However, the change in size also changed the appearance of ponies in the spider’s eye; they were no longer predators, they were prey.

“Get out of here now, if the flies come around I can handle them, you’ve done enough,” Ruby commanded.

“We are handling the situation just fine, everypony will be safe, this crazy spider will just need more of a beating.” the pegasus challenged. “My team is the best of the best, we’ll be able to-“

The stallion’s words halted when one of his team members swooped underneath the spider to save a mare cowering underneath. Before he flew out to safety, a spider’s leg caught him and the mare, and the spider slammed both into the ground. His jaw dropped at the sight, and he just stared at his teammate and the mare, who didn’t move to get up.

“Stop standing around and get your ponies out of the way!” Ruby yelled. “I’ll handle this.”

“Our team can’t fight a creature that strong…” the stallion said, shaking his head. “We’re not trained for this, we need unicorn backup. What are we going to-“

“You’re going to get your team out of the way right now! I’m your unicorn backup!”

The stallion was too shocked to even ask what sort of captain Ruby was. He flew away, signaling for his team to stop, and they touched down over where the mayor and other ponies had fled to escape the charging spider.

Ruby raised her laser pistol, looking to make sure no stragglers from the response team were around to see, and quickly fired off two shots, putting the pistol back down to hide. The shots whizzed through the air at a lightning fast pace, and plunged into the spider’s back. Ruby didn’t need to try too hard to aim. Flesh burned, and Ruby thought back to her burnt cheek from a few hours ago, but these shots hurt the spider much more severely. Managing to hit some vital body parts, the spider collapsed, never to move again.

Ruby sunk down against the edge of the roof, pain still flaring in her chest with each breath, and she sighed in relief. The flies were yet to pay anypony any mind, so for now the situation was up to Jack.

***

The metal box-like object emitted a loud hum that Jack heard as he ran closer to the edge of the forest. He picked up speed when he saw a pony emerge from the bushes, making some adjustments to dials Jack couldn’t see from this side. It was a male pegasus, with a yellow coat and green mane and tail. Jack looked at Wing and nodded his head upwards. Wing understood the message and flew out of sight.

When the pony looked up and saw Jack, he quickly stuffed his hooves into a bush, as if reaching to pull something out. Jack kept charging, then froze when the culprit pulled out a pistol type object that looked very similar to Ruby’s.

Wing pummeled into the stallion from above, sending both of them to the ground. A shot fired out from the pistol, which had buttons on the sides to allow use with hooves. The shot hit no target, but the stallion kept his grip on the weapon, despite the tackle.

“Watch out Wing, that thing will kill you!” Jack yelled.

“Drop it! Now!” Wing had the stallion pinned to the ground, and the two struggled against each other’s muscle. The stallion dropped the pistol, but only to more aggressively attack Wing. Both flailed with their front hooves, trying to land kicks, most missing, some hitting from each of them.

“Hold him, Wing, I’m going to look for a reverse switch!” Jack hurriedly examined the main side of the device. There was a panel displaying values Jack didn’t understand, but his experience gave him insight on the basics of the machine. Energy from the machine constantly supplied the giant creatures; the change was sustained by the machine, not permanent. He quickly turned the dials down, and the incessant hum stopped. Out in the distance, the two giant flies and the dead giant spider started to shrink back to normal sizes.

“No!” the stallion shouted. He landed a powerful kick to the side of Wing’s face, knocking the grey pegasus off and to the ground. While Wing was stunned, he rolled over and grabbed the pistol, raising it before Jack had time to react.

Two shots fired, both straight into Jack’s chest. He screamed in agony for a split second before collapsing to the ground.

“Jack!” Wing reached out with a hoof, his mind still stunned from the punch, and struggled to get up. Before he succeeded, the other pegasus managed to spin around and sit down between Wing and Jack, front hooves holding the pistol out towards Wing’s face. Though Wing was still coming to, he knew to stop moving, but his heart pounded in fear and worry. He’d just met this stallion, but at this moment felt more attached to him than any other pony in the world. A tear trickled down his face; his heart felt like it had been torn out of his chest. How could this happen? So soon after they met? How did any of this even happen? He stared past the laser pistol towards the panting stallion’s face, his eyes pleading for mercy.

“See that?” the stallion said, smiling. “I just killed your buddy. I was just having a bit of fun, then you tried to screw everything up. Now you’ll pay for it.” The stallion chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll all be dying soon anyways.”

Wing was about to clench his eyes shut, not wanting to watch the strange weapon as it ended his life, when after a loud whack, the stallion flopped over, picking up dust after crashing into the grass.
Behind the stallion, Jack stood. Eyes open, nose breathing, and no sign of any wound on his chest. “Looks like a buck with the hind legs can knock out a pony.” Jack grinned.

Wing just stared. His ripped out heart wanted to reenter his body, but refused to accept that what he saw was real. Too many things beyond his comprehension already occurred today, and now, Jack stood, alive. “How… he killed you…”

Jack’s smile disappeared. All the events since the flash outside his window grabbing his attention caught up to him. He just wanted to pay back Wing, give him a night he wouldn’t forget, for in another time Wing paid the ultimate sacrifice on Jack’s behalf when they both could have lived. Now he suddenly saw the trouble Jack put Wing through today, and his guilt returned. “I… have a lot to explain…” Jack said.

“Stop right there!” a female voice called out, taking Jack and Wing’s attention. Landing in front of them was a purple mare, and Jack looked in amazement. The second new alicorn he’d met since he got here. Another princess. However, this one looked familiar. He realized it had to be the same mare he spoke to during the isolated time blend, back in the time before. Where’d she get the wings? “You are under arrest for terrorism, and breaking in to my caslte.”

Jack planned to reply until he realized that this alicorn just arrived on the scene, and the picture she saw was two stallions she didn’t recognize standing next to alien technology, with a third stallion unconscious on the ground. “Wait, we’re not the ones you’re after, it’s just the knocked out one. We stopped the mayhem he was trying to cause.”

“Don’t play games with me,” the alicorn replied. “You have no idea how much trouble you’re in. There are only four ponies in Equestria that are allowed to know where that device came from. You’re going to talk. A lot.”

Jack sighed. “I’d really rather not tour another princess’s prison cells,” he said. He saw this purple mare showed no intent of backing down, and sighed. He’d have to wait to try and explain. Jack sat down, then put his front hooves up in the air.

“That won’t be necessary Twilight, they’re innocent.”

The purple mare stopped moving closer to Jack, and looked in surprise at the new arrival. “Celestia? What are you doing here?”

“As soon as I sent you the letter saying somepony might have broken into the vault, I flew here as well. But while I’m at it, I guess I get to see an old friend, too.”

Chapter 6- Unnatural Causes

A wall. All Jack, Ruby, and Wing saw was a wall. The newly named members of Torchwood stood at the bottom of the grand staircase in Twilight’s castle, and Twilight walked up to a space on the wall, just behind the steps.

She pressed her hoof against it, and a portion lit up, then slid inwards, followed by a three pony-wide section of wall sliding in and shifting to the right, revealing another staircase. This staircase didn’t have the glamour of the castle’s stairs, rather, it was a simple set of metal steps.

“I’ll magically code the door for all your hooves,” Twilight said. “I’m still working on how a pony got through this lock.” She proceeded down the stairs, and everyone else followed.

The stairway was small, and led to what was more obviously a door than the previous entrance, thick metal with a small, square window, and a hoof-sized panel next to it. Twilight once again brought up her front hoof, and the second door slid open. She stood by the door and motioned for everyone else to go in first.

“This castle grew magically out of an ancient artifact,” Twilight mentioned. “But what you’re about to see was added afterwards with the decision to move the vault here. Celestia hired a skilled team of construction ponies, then I cast a memory spell on them so they wouldn’t remember being here.”

“First thing we should do is probably look at pictures of the construction ponies, see if any look like the prisoner,” Ruby said, her eyes widening as she entered the room.

“Good thinking,” Jack said. He stopped by Twilight before going in. “So, did you pay the construction ponies for the job they can’t remember?” He grinned coyly.

Twilight nodded. “Of course, Captain Harkness,” she replied.

“Please, call me Jack,” Jack told her. Twilight’s cheeks turned pink, and she turned her head away, placing a hoof in front of her face.

“Am I the only pony you can’t get with that?” Ruby asked, having turned to see if the others still followed her.

“Yes,” Jack said, moving to enter the vault. “It’s very unsettling.”

Jack stopped talking as he entered the vault. All the walls were white, and the room was more spacious than he expected. In the center of the room lay books, charts, and various drawings. The items along the walls were the real surprise. All sorts of alien technology, from small weaponry to large, bulky devices that Jack had no thoughts on how they might function. Some devices looked complete, while others appeared broken or fragmented. A bent, blue rod with lights on either end, a shiny sheet of steel that might be part of a space ship.

As much as Jack couldn’t believe his eyes, Wing had much more on his mind. Everything in here was evidence that the creatures living on this planet were not alone. How had so many encounters with aliens been kept secret? In the past, Wing always laughed at ponies who babbled on about government conspiracy theories. Now, though most of the things those ponies said were still outrageous, such as princess Luna sending herself to the moon for her own purposes, they got one thing right. Aliens visited.

“I’m sorry for the mess, until now only Celestia and I could come down here,” Twilight said. “I’ll get this cleaned up before bed tonight.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle that,” Ruby said from the far end of the room. “This technology is old, but not all of it’s unfamiliar. I recognize some things that a pony would call ancient in my time. And I think I can use my knowledge on tech to figure out a lot of the things I don’t know. I was an engineering officer before I made captain.” Ruby walked to the pile of books and loose sheets of parchment in the center of the room. “Are these yours, princess?”

“Yes, it’s all the notes that Celestia or I have taken when looking at these devices,” Twilight replied. “You might be able to get something out of our findings.”

“These are great, I’ll take a look at them.” Ruby nodded in thanks.

Jack liked the room, but felt like there wasn’t much space to work in with all the technology piled up. “Do you think we could get a bit more construction done?” Jack asked. He made note of the high ceiling. “Like some stairs that lead up to some offices, the ceiling is high enough for it. We don’t need an entire second floor, just a bit of walk space and some rooms made inside the walls.”

“With some strong earth ponies, talented unicorns, and my memory spells, a job like that could be done in just a couple of days. Celestia said any resource is at your disposal, so I can make that happen.”

“Perfect.” Jack felt pleased. Everything was coming together; a new team, a new goal, and new people to protect. Something bothered him, however. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on what was missing, but something. “Oh!” Jack turned to Ruby and pointed at her bandages. “We need a doctor on the team permanently,” Jack said. “We can’t rely on hospitals all the time if one of us or someone else gets injured from some sort of alien technology. Too many loose ends.”

Ruby had been sitting down, moving the bent blue rod back and forth in her hooves, reviewing its condition. At Jack’s comment she stood up, and spoke before Twilight had a chance to begin talking about searching for candidates, interviewing them, checking their backgrounds, and finding just the right doctor to be both on this team and cleared to know about the vault. “I know the perfect candidate,” she said. “Princess, if you disapprove, you can just erase this doctor’s memory, right?”

Twilight hesitated before responding, but if Ruby already knew a candidate, she trusted the unicorn. Even though Twilight had known about the vault since shortly after she became a princess, the workings of the contents inside were beyond her capability. At some point, she’d have to leave manners in the hooves of the ponies around her, and she decided to just start now. “I can, but you have to know if you truly want this doctor shortly after revealing anything,” she said.

“I’ll get on it tomorrow,” Ruby replied.

“It is getting late,” Jack mentioned. “The culprit from today all locked up?”

“Yes, behind a different secret panel,” Twilight replied. “I gave him dinner before you arrived. I can fashion some of the smaller rooms on the castle’s top floor to be guest rooms, if you give me a little while. Just need to get some mattresses, and the rooms have no doors, but that’s a quick wood crafting spell and a few nails.”

“That would be great, thanks,” Jack said. “Let’s turn in for now, then. For tomorrow, Ruby, go get your checkup, and I’ll interview our friend from today.”

***

Dr. Cazan offered to help around the hospital during his stay in Ponyville. Though he only had one patient actually assigned to him, he preferred not to just sit around in his hotel room until his appointments with her. He aided other doctors in seeing to patients, checking on medicine supplies, and filling out paperwork. Even at home he enjoyed keeping himself busy, either with leftover hospital work, cooking, cleaning, or a good book.

The griffon had eaten a light breakfast in the cafeteria, talked to some of the doctors about how things were in this hospital, covered for a doctor running late, and was working on taking inventory of some supplies when a nurse tracked him down and informed him that his patient was here. Cazan nodded and told the nurse he’d be up in a few minutes. He finished his current inventory, then left the supply room and worked his way up to the second floor, down a narrow hallway, past a counter where receptionists and nurses conversed, and further down another hallway to the same room he’d met his patient in yesterday.

Ruby was already sitting up in bed, and she smiled and waved with a hoof. “Hello, Dr. Cazan,” she greeted.

“Please, just Cazan is fine,” he replied. “Let me see a hoof please.” Ruby reached out a hoof, and Cazan gently gripped it with a claw to measure her pulse. “I just wanted you to come back today to see if there was any problems with the bandages or pain. How’s the medication?”

“Works great,” Ruby said. “I can’t say my brain is a hundred percent here right now, that’s some strong meds, but no pain. The bandages are fine too.”

“Good to hear.” Cazan let go of Ruby’s hoof and checked on the bandages, making sure they were all still firmly in place. “Well, like I said yesterday, avoid as much physical activity as possible. Luckily you’re a unicorn, so there are quite a few things you can do without moving at all.”

“I won’t go too crazy,” Ruby promised. She looked down for a moment in pause, then looked up again. “Say, Cazan,” she began, which caught Cazan’s attention. “Would you like it if you could go back to your old job?”

Cazan shrugged. “Well, it certainly was exciting, but like I said yesterday, even though I stay in shape still they reserve the job for younger griffons. I enjoy being a doctor very much, so it doesn’t bother me.”

“What if you could combine your old job with your new job?”

This question left Cazan puzzled. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well,” Ruby leaned in towards Cazan and lowered her voice. “Finish up here, and later this afternoon come on over to princess Twilight’s castle. I can’t explain more now, but trust me, knowing what you used to do, you’ll be interested.”

One interesting thing after another piled up for Cazan due to this incident. Celestia never asked him to personally attend to a patient outside of Canterlot, until now. And just after that happens, his patient seems to be offering him a job as both a spy and a doctor. “Well, I’d have to speak with princess Celestia-“

“She’ll approve. And if you still want to talk to her, she hasn’t left Ponyville yet, so she’ll be at the castle too.”

After another moment’s thought, Cazan nodded. “Alright then, Ruby. I will see you in a few hours.”

***

Conversation was casual at breakfast. Jack and Wing both met Spike, a baby dragon who lived with Twilight, and helped her around the castle. Both greatly enjoyed Spike’s cooking, and thanked him for the meal. After a small conversation with Jack about the dangers of time travel before sitting down to eat, Wing didn’t mention anything about the pictures he’d seen of the fully grown Spike the Dragon from his own time.

After breakfast, Wing stayed back to help Spike clean up all the dishes, while Twilight took Jack with her to engage in a more serious conversation. Once again they trotted down the spiraling steps leading to the base of the castle, and Twilight moved to a different secret panel, this one not designed for hiding secret alien technology, but for prisoners.

Twilight actually felt very strange as she opened the hidden doorway. She was the princess of friendship. Her main job was to spread the magic within friendship to all of Equestria, and show ponies just how powerful it was. Now, a prisoner slept inside her castle. She never even thought about having to do things like this when she became a princess, but she knew that Cadance, Celestia and Luna all shared the same secret burdens. Ruling came with duties that they didn’t want to think about too often.

Jack followed Twilight down the steps, and he felt glad that this time he wasn’t headed down here for his own imprisonment. When he reached the bottom, he saw similar cells to the ones in Cadance’s castle. Walls and a bed, and not much else.

“He’s in the last one,” Twilight said, continuing on. Twilight walked ahead of Jack, and reached the cell first. “Huh, still sleeping,” she commented.

Jack arrived at the outside of the cell, and looked at the yellow pegasus that shot him yesterday. Twilight was right; the stallion laid in bed, eyes closed, despite the late hour. At first, Jack just figured that the stallion had nothing better to do. Why not stay in bed if your only other option is ten feet away from it? Something felt off to Jack, however.

“Wake up, sir,” Twilight said, loudly tapping a hoof on the bars of the door. The sound echoed down the narrow hallway and rang in Jack’s ears, but the prisoner didn’t move. Twilight tilted her head, confused. “Strange, he’s rather still… I could see his chest moving last time…”

Twilight shrugged, and repeated the process, this time even louder, and the odd hunch grew in Jack’s mind. “Open the door,” he said.

Twilight nodded, and used her magic to undo the lock. Jack slid the door open, once again causing rattling noises to echo through the hall, and walked up to the prisoners bed. Praying he wasn’t right, Jack gently placed a hoof on the stallion’s neck, then his head sank.

“He’s dead.”

No sound came from Twilight, she simply blinked at first. “B-but, that’s not possible…”she stammered. “I used three different detection spells to make sure he had nothing on him when he went into the cell… I checked on him last night… I checked on him just a couple hours ago and he was still breathing!”

Jack placed his hoof back on the ground. “If you’re around Torchwood, you’ll find out our job is investigating the impossible,” he said. He turned to look at the princess. “But now we have no suspect to help us with that.”

***

The late morning hours passed slowly after the shock of their one connection to the most recent happenings was found dead in his cell. Construction workers arrived and began working according to Jack’s requests. Twilight supervised the construction, Celestia caught up on letters forwarded to her from Canterlot, and Jack and Wing helped Twilight’s baby dragon get some cleaning done around the castle.

Jack knew creating Torchwood here would still help Equestria, but he felt that the incident today had more to it. He didn’t believe a single pegasus could break into such a secure, secretive vault without help. He wanted to investigate further, but had no other clues to work with.

He decided until something else came up, just forgetting about it was the best thing to do. Worrying wouldn’t solve anything. He continued his work in the castle’s library, putting books back in their proper place. No one asked Wing or Jack to help, the two just helped anyways, looking for something to do.

After another hour, Ruby returned to the castle with a couple bags of food. All of them were given bits the night before for some personal spending money, and Ruby decided to buy things to fix up lunch and dinner for everyone in the castle that day.

The sun rose higher in the sky as late morning transitioned into afternoon. Twilight sent out all the construction workers for an hour lunch break, then joined everyone else for sandwiches that Ruby put together.

“Is your doctor coming?” Jack asked Ruby a little ways into the meal.

“He should, a couple more hours or so,” Ruby replied.

“Which doctor do you speak of?” Celestia asked.

“Oh, Jack made a good point that this team needs a resident doctor, so we always have one and never have to explain any strange happenings to hospital staff. I think my doctor is perfect for the job.”

Celestia nodded. “Oh, Doctor Cazan,” she said. “I’m glad you’re liking him. Many would miss him in Canterlot, but this is important work that you’re doing here. I’ll talk to him when he comes.”

Everyone finished their meal, then returned to other duties. Twilight welcomed back the construction workers and continued to supervise, Wing and Spike cleaned up all the lunch dishes, and Jack and Wing went to the library to finish organizing books. Ruby found the work relaxing, and thanks to her magic, didn’t have to move much as she shuffled books past her eyes, looking at the title and sending it to the right shelf.

“So, how big is your ship?” Jack asked Ruby, rolling in another cart of books.

“On the smaller side, I volunteered for the assignment,” Ruby replied. “Crew of five. It’s really nice, because I got to know my entire crew very quickly. Daniel, Luke, Rufus, Nicole… they’ve all done some great work. If I have anything to say about it, they’ll all make captain one day.”

A book on plant life in Southern Equestria floated in front of its spot on the shelf, not moving. A biography of a politician hovered in front of Ruby’s face. Her rhythm of putting books away fluctuated for a moment as her thoughts once again wandered to her crew. “Do you think they’re alright?”

“Yes,” Jack answered immediately. “I’m sure they’re keeping a much more careful eye out for ponies boarding their ship. Plus, I promised you I’d get you and Wing back to your own time as soon as I could. When that happens, it’ll be like you barely left.”

The books sat still for another few seconds, then Ruby sighed, and at last the plant life book was shelved, the biography moving up to its own spot. “You’re right. Thanks.”

“And besides,” Jack added. “In the meantime, you get to be part of a new team. I’m fun.”

The unicorn chuckled, and rolled her eyes. “I’ve noticed.”

Jack asked more questions about Ruby’s ship just to pass the time, learning all sorts of things about it. Her and her crew had managed the ship for two and a half years now. The ship was small to match the crew size, and mostly performed scouting and cargo missions.

“Since she’s small, the ship is fast too,” Ruby continued. “We can also act as first responders to an emergency situation. Like the time that…”

Jack eventually looked up after Ruby went a few seconds without speaking. “Like what time?”

Ruby felt shaken up. She shivered, but didn’t know why. “Nevermind,” she said. “I can’t remember.” She shivered again. Had the library gotten colder? Once more, Ruby felt lost about the strange feelings arising in her mind. First when she saw the planet they orbited, then when she encountered the stallion on her ship, then whenever she thought back to his comment. Now, she had no idea why she started to share a story that never happened, or that she couldn’t remember at least.

After that moment, the two finished shelving books in silence, and discovered Twilight on her way up to them when they walked out of the library. “Dr. Cazan is here,” she announced. “He’s at the top off the stairway.”

“Thanks, I’ll talk to him,” Ruby replied. She moved to step forward until Jack swung his foreleg out to block her.

“Wait, before you talk, we need him to look at something,” Jack said. “Twilight, can you open the prison for us?”

Twilight nodded, liking the plan. “Sure, I’ll take all three of you now.”

They all walked back to find Cazan standing where Twilight said he was. Jack moved up first, holding out a hoof in greeting. “Captain Jack Harkness, I’m with Torchwood,” he said.

Cazan gently grabbed Jack’s hoof with a claw and shook it. He felt odd looking at Jack. Having seen many patients in his time as a doctor, when he looked at the stallion he appeared to have the eyes of someone who’d lived for quite a while, but showed no such thing physically. “And I’m Dr. Cazan, hello. Ruby asked me to come here to learn about some rather interesting opportunity. I can’t say I’ve heard of Torchwood.”

“If what Ruby says of you is true, you’ll be on it,” Jack replied. “But first, I need a favor of you. There’s a dead prisoner downstairs and we have no idea how he got that way. Think you could take a look?”

This was not the first thing Cazan expected to do after talking to Ruby, however, his curiosity fueled him. “My job is typically to work with those who haven’t died yet and keep them that way, but I can take a look.”

***

Down in the prison, Cazan entered the cell and pulled the blankets all the way off the bed. He rolled the dead stallion on to his back, laying all four hooves down so they weren’t blocking anything.

The doctor carefully examined the prisoner, starting with the head, then moving down to the neck, chest, abdomen, and legs.

“Aside from some bruises, I see nothing external, no signs of a heart attack, choking, or anything like that,” Cazan observed. He opened the pony’s mouth. “No sign of ingesting a poison to kill himself, there’d be some traces… I would need to run some tests using medical equipment to determine any further detail, you say he didn’t appear sick at all?”

“No, he seemed perfectly fine, in fact I saw him alive just a couple hours before we came down and discovered him dead,” Twilight replied.

“And you found him in the bed?”

“Yes.”

Cazan backed away from the prisoner, and shook his head. “Well, if I can bring some equipment in, I can give you more information. For now though, it looks like he just died in his sleep. But, I believe that this prisoner likely has something to do with Ruby’s offer?”

Ruby nodded her head. “We need a doctor on our team, Cazan, for things like this. There’s a lot to catch you up on. How about I fill you in upstairs, where there’s no dead bodies?”

***

Location unknown
Several hours earlier

Brendan sat in a chair, with nothing around him but four walls and a door. He scratched nervously, yellow hairs from his coat falling onto the carpet of the room. He expected the worst for his failure, and fear swelled in his body as the door to the room opened.

A male, orange unicorn entered the room. His mane was short and dark red, and he was taller and more muscular than most. He perused about the room as if floating, moving with impeccable grace. When he started speaking, his voice carried a deep, throaty tone, yet still flowed smoothly.

“What were you doing?” the orange stallion asked. He showed no sign of emotion in his voice or body movement. He didn’t even look at Brendan, he simply continued pacing along the wall, as if admiring art that only he could see.

Brendan trembled in his chair. “I… I was causing chaos. Like you wanted us to. I found a way into a secret vault, used up the situational spell one of our unicorns put in me.”

“Yes, that part was good,” the orange stallion replied. “But because of you, that vault you found will be inaccessible a second time, and now there is likely an investigation towards us.” His voice still came out monotone, but he now looked towards Brendan in the center of the room, making the pegasus tremble even more. “I did not mean to ask what you were doing causing chaos, I meant what were you doing getting caught?”

“Well… this stallion came out of nowhere… and… I tried to fight…”

“Not good enough.” The stallion approached Brendan, and he leaned back, nearly falling out of his chair.

“Please, no… I’m with you… I want to see the end…”

“Oh, don’t worry, the end will come,” the stallion said. He reached out a hoof, taking Brendan’s chin in it and looking into the yellow pegasus’ eyes. “And we will all die. But you’re going to die sooner. You won’t be waking up from this dream.”

Brendan tried to speak, but found no words. The orange unicorn turned and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. Brendan sat, paralyzed, his eyes slowly closing, and before he could wake up to the sight of prison walls once more, his life ended in timing with his dream.

Chapter 7- Equestria Division

The discussion of aliens came as less of a shock to Cazan. In his previous work, the griffon kingdom came across alien life on rare occasions. Though he was never there and didn’t technically have the clearance to know, he worked closely enough with those that did to catch an occasional secret. However, the number of encounters with aliens that Equestria experienced surprised him. He spent a couple hours talking with Celestia and Ruby, learning about Equestria’s experiences, and catching up on the most recent events. Knowing that Ruby and Wing were from the future was difficult enough to grasp, but Jack coming from a parallel universe made him question what he thought he knew about reality.

The talk carried on into the early evening. Cazan asked some necessary questions before even considering this offer, such as who would replace him up in Canterlot. Celestia named off a few well respected doctors as possibilities, some of which Cazan knew personally, so he felt satisfied with the answer. The only thing left to do was decide whether or not he wanted a job such as this.

Cazan felt as if he shouldn’t be hesitating at all. He always talked about missing his work on the secret police, and this was certainly a step above that. The griffon hadn’t realized until now how comfortable his current job was. Sure, there were days where his quick decision making skills and technical ability in surgery determined life or death, but for the most part, he arrived at work every day knowing how his day would play out. See some patients, file paperwork, attend meetings, the occasional surgery, then back home. It was rewarding, but simple.

“This is certainly an interesting offer,” Cazan commented after some pause in the conversation. The three sat in the same room where creating Torchwood was discussed, each sitting in one of the six chairs arranged in a circle. Jack had silently entered the room a while ago, and stood at the back, just listening in.

“Well, unless there’s another doctor who used to be a spy, we could really use you,” Ruby said. “Not sure how many doctors have seen combat or had to sneak past something.”

“You’re certainly right, I haven’t met a single pony or griffon with a career change such as mine,” Cazan replied. His heart raced a bit as he gave one final thought to the decision he was about to make. Many times during his service in the secret police, he’d felt genuine fear for his life. He could recall every time in his experience when the danger was very real, and the rare times where he nearly died on the job. However, never in all his time being a doctor since he was removed from the force had he felt more alive than his time in. Even just thinking about encountering aliens from other worlds gave him the familiar rush. He hadn’t felt like this in years.

“Ruby… I think we have a deal. I’ll join. Perhaps I can fly you to other rooftops rather than you attempting to jump them.”

Ruby smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Thank you, Dr. Cazan. You will be doing great work,” Celestia added, nodding. In the back of the room, Jack smiled too. The last piece of the puzzle complete.

***

Ruby tossed and turned in bed, thoughts of her crew thousands of years in the future hitting her mind again, keeping her awake. She tried her best to force herself to just breath deep, relax, and let sleep overtake her. The more she tried, the less it worked, and at last with a sigh she rolled out of bed, planting her hooves on the floor and walking out into the hallway.

She opened and closed her bedroom door as quietly as possible, with just a light echo traveling through the hall. While sleep wanted to evade her, for some reason the stillness of the castle outside her room felt calming. Already she relaxed a bit, and decided a slow walk around the castle would be just what she needed.

Before her walk began, her ears picked up at the sound of the bedroom door next to hers clicking, and she watched as Wing quietly emerged and just as quietly closed the door behind him. “Hey, I was still awake and heard a door open. Everything alright?” he whispered.

“I’m fine, just a bit restless,” she said back softly. “Wait…” Ruby looked down the hall a bit, then back at Wing. “Did you just come out of Jack’s room?”

Wing scratched at the back of his head, turning away. “Well, um, yeah, I was just…”

Ruby let out a chuckle. “I can tell by how red your face is turning that it’s still a bit weird of a thing in your time.”

Wing shrugged. “Well, marriage has been legal for nearly a century now, and nopony ever really minds… it’s just…”

“It’s rare, so people can react rather oddly, I get it,” Ruby assured him. “Don’t worry, it’s still rare in the future, but now that ponies travel in space, two colts cuddling will not be the weirdest couple you see, trust me,” she explained. “Heck, I think the movement to allow ponies to marry themselves will be strong enough to legalize that in a few years.”

Wing chuckled softly at that, and nodded. “That certainly is weird.”

“Feel like going for a walk with me?”

“Sure.”

The two kept their voices down so they wouldn’t echo, but spoke up a bit more when they weren’t so close to everyone’s bedrooms. Ruby added on to her comments how her favorite two crew members were stallions, and happily married ones.

“So for some odd reason, it’s not rare to see it in my life,” Ruby mentioned, smiling. “I can’t say I predicted you two being together.”

“I can’t believe it either. I met a stallion in a bar, on the first date he took me back in time, told me he was from another universe and proved he couldn’t die. All that stuff’s more of a… third or fourth date type of thing.”

Ruby laughed, and the two found themselves in the library after walking for a few minutes. There weren’t many lights on in the castle, but both had adjusted to the dark, letting the dim light of the moon that gleamed through the windows guide them.

They paused for a moment to look out one of the tall, thin windows inside the library, gazing out onto Ponyville down below. Not a single pony walked about in the chill, night air. Only one house that either of them could see had any lights on, the rest seemed to almost blend in with the night, sleeping just like the ponies inside were.

“So, two ponies stuck out of their time,” Ruby said. “That gives us at least one thing in common.”

“My parents haven’t even been born yet,” Wing replied.

“Hah, you wanna talk about how far back on your family’s timeline you are,” Ruby retorted. “My family history is spread out across the galaxy. I don’t think I could trace back to relatives on Earth with all the resources in the universe.”

“Fair enough.” Wing continued to admire the beauty of the night, looking up to admire the stars in a whole new way, now knowing what was out there. His eyelids drooped a bit, and he let out a yawn.

“Well, hey, I think I’ve just about walked off the insomnia, and you look like you’re about to fall over. Why don’t we head on back?” Ruby suggested.

“I am all for getting some sleep,” Wing said, turning away from the window and yawning again.

The two walked back, and gently patted each other on the shoulder to say good night. Just before Ruby entered her room again, Wing called out with a whisper.

“Hey Ruby?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you’re right, about us having one thing in common,” Wing began. “I think you and I are worried about being here for the same reasons. You’ve got your crew, and I’ve got all my friends, family… I guess I’m just trying to say, let me know if you ever need to do another night time castle walk.”

Wing’s words touched Ruby’s heart, and she nodded, giving him a warm smile. “Thanks. I will.”

Ruby entered her room, and Wing entered Jack’s. Soon, no one in the castle remained awake.

***

The next day, preparations continued. As Twilight had said, with talented unicorns, strong earth ponies, and lots of them working together, construction was a simple, quick task. The changes Jack requested would be done by the evening.

Ponyville’s hospital was too small to supply Cazan with all he needed, so Celestia signed a letter to be sent to Canterlot hospital, and gave it to Twilight’s baby dragon, Spike, to send right away. Spike took a deep breath and exhaled his magical fire, the letter burning up in a green ash, only to be instantly appearing in the hospital’s main office. By the time all the construction was done, pegasi would be arriving with delivery containers full of Cazan’s list of items.

No one spoke much throughout the day, everyone’s minds on one thing or another. With no medical results to give on the dead prisoner, and no underground offices to go to yet, Jack, Wing, Ruby, and Cazan found themselves out of things to do, and each grew a little impatient with the sun’s slow movement over the sky.

Jack and Wing left the castle around noon to find some lunch. Ruby and Cazan stayed behind with the princesses, enjoying leftover food from yesterday.

None of the four newly named members of Torchwood knew what to expect as time went on. Even Jack, who performed similar police work before on Earth, felt like he stepped into unknown territory, volunteering to defend a world he didn’t know, in a universe he wasn’t from. Ruby knew aliens, however, she knew them from a time where ponies had the power to fight back if necessary. Wing and Cazan both came from backgrounds in protecting others, while creatures from other worlds, time travel, and alternate dimensions, were all brand new concepts to them. All felt nervous for their own reasons, and the time would soon come for them to combine their experience in order to work effectively as a team.

Later that evening, that time neared. Pegasus teams arrived with delivery crates holding Cazan’s requested medical supplies. Construction workers were sent home with payment, and told that an unexpected accident caused some short term memory loss. Cazan worked with Twilight to unbox the crates, so that all the equipment could fit through the narrow hall leading to the newly finished vault. Twilight no longer called the room the vault. As an added touch, “Torchwood HQ” hung above the second doorway at the bottom of the stairs.

Twilight gathered Wing, Jack, Ruby, and Celestia, while Cazan waited at the door. The five ponies’ hoofsteps echoed down the staircase as they walked, descending in anticipation of viewing the finished room. First Twilight, then Jack, Wing, Celestia, and Ruby all reached the bottom, and turned to descend the secret metal staircase.

When Twilight approached the door, Cazan stepped out of the way. Twilight raised her hoof and placed it on the panel, causing it to light up, but the door did not open. “This control panel has a magical interface. Ruby, you’ll need to learn how to use it if you want any changes,” Twilight said. “First, I’m setting the panel to grant all four of you access. You just have to put your hoof- or claw, Dr. Cazan, on the panel, and you’ll be in.”

The panel glowed brighter, and at the same time, Twilight’s horn started to glow as well. Four streaks of pink light began ascending out of her horn, twirling around like slithering snakes. Each path of light found a target, shooting to a foreleg of each Torchwood member and circling it, before all four streaks dissipated into nothingness.

“Next, I will be removing Celestia and myself from access ability,” Twilight said. “As Princess Celestia assured, no authority is above yours.”

This time, only two pink streaks of light snaked their way out from Twilight’s horn, shooting off to Twilight and Celestia’s hooves. Once this process completed, the panel no longer lit to Twilight’s touch, and blinked off. Twilight lowered her hoof and stepped to the side. “Captain Harkness, welcome to Torchwood.”

With only a moment’s hesitation, Jack stepped forward, and raised his right foreleg. The panel lit up to his touch, and the door opened, to reveal all the work the construction ponies had done.

When they all stepped into the room, before anything they noticed the increased brightness. Better lights were installed in the high ceiling, providing excellent visibility in the entire room.

Various pieces of alien technology were no longer scattered about the edges of the room. In fact, the entire floor was clear, making the white-tiled room feel more spacious than before. Hung up on the left wall was a large, detailed map of Equestria, and next to it stood a new door labeled “storage”. The door was ajar, and looking inside, everyone saw another large room filled with rows of shelves, with all the alien tech organized and stored.

To the right, there was a long, thin table with various tools set on top of it. A small workshop area for Ruby to use when examining all the alien technology.

In the center of the room stood something none of the Torchwood team members had seen before or could describe. A thick, cylindrical pane of glass encased some sort of purple, sparkling smoke, and extended all the way to the ceiling. Around the bottom edge of the cylinder, a little bit of table space jutted out.

Beyond the glass cylinder, several small desks were arranged, and in the far left corner, another carved out door space led to a room they couldn’t see from this end. The door read “medical”.

Near the medical door, a thin, metal staircase with a steel railing led upwards, hugging the curve of the wall. Jack let his eyes follow the incline of the staircase, and when he reached the top, he saw that a clear, glass platform jutted out from the edge of the wall, circling the entire room without creating a ceiling to break the room into two completely separate floors. A steel railing lined the outer edge of the platform for safety, and Jack saw five more doors spaced evenly around the platform.

“This is… incredible,” Cazan commented.

“Looked like a shabby basement with cluttered storage until now,” Ruby added.

Seeing their real, complete headquarters, all four members of torchwood, despite their differing reasons for nervousness, felt significantly calmer. This was organized. Sharp. Ready.

“Everything I could’ve asked for,” Jack said. “Thanks, princess Twilight. However, I think everyone’s wondering…” he walked up to the glass cylinder in the center of the room. “This?”

“Something that wasn’t on your request list, but we thought you could use,” Celestia responded.

“This is a magical device that Celestia and I worked together to create,” Twilight explained. “When cities have emergencies that require outside help, they send a letter through some magical means of transport to Canterlot.”

Celestia continued for her. “Not just emergencies. Any odd feelings about a new pony who moved into town, strange, unexplained happenings, unexpected weather patterns. All of these are sent to Canterlot, and only the emergencies are forwarded to myself or my sister, to decide if the emergency police should be deployed.”

“This is a receiving signal clone, or RSC, as I like to call it,” Twilight said, taking a turn to help explain again. “Without getting technical on the plethora of magic spells we had to put into it, the RSC picks up the magical signal of a letter being sent to Canterlot, intercepts it before it gets there, copies the letter here, then forwards the signal.”

Wing walked around the glass cylinder in awe. “That’s unbelievable! We’ll get every single letter someone sends to Canterlot?”

“All letters marked as expressing a concern, yes,” Twilight answered. “You don’t need to worry about getting tax reports.”

Jack and Ruby exchanged excited looks with each other. “This is like having a satellite network over all of Equestria!” Ruby said.

“My thoughts exactly,” Jack added. “Princess, this is just what we needed.”

Twilight nodded and smiled. She almost asked what a satellite was, before remembering she was talking to two ponies from far in the future.

“There’s more,” Celestia mentioned, approaching the glass. She pointed to a green, button-like object on the jutted out bit of table that none had noticed yet. “When you receive a letter, if you believe it may fall under your jurisdiction and wish to investigate, press the letter down firmly on this. Doing so will mark the letter before it reaches Canterlot, and we will avoid sending any investigator or force out to interfere with your own work.”

Jack was beyond impressed. He circled the cylinder once, knowing that with this device, and their new team, they stood a chance at solving whatever problems presented themselves.

“One last thing,” Twilight said. She walked into the storage room, and returned levitating a small, wooden box. Her magic flipped open the top, and from inside she produced four necklaces.

“T for Torchwood,” Twilight said, presenting the capital T-shaped metal carvings, each attached to a black, cloth necklace strap. “These are your badges, and local police will recognize them. The necklace may look like cloth, but it’s very durable.”

Each team member tried one on, and now the top of their chests bared the symbol of their new task force. Wing found the necklace surprisingly comfortable, and Cazan fiddled with his for a moment.

“If you don’t like wearing it, it’s also magically tweaked to stick to pony hair. It’s light so you won’t feel it, and can keep it in your mane or tail.”

“Princess, I must say, you’ve thought of everything I didn’t realize I needed, and then some,” Jack told Twilight. He looked at both her and Celestia, and stood up straight. “I can promise both of you, we won’t let you down.”

Celestia nodded, and grinned. “In that case, I must be off to Canterlot. Though I hope this is all worthless, and Equestria never requires your help, if I see Torchwood’s stamp on any letter, I will know that Equestria is in good hooves.”

The five said their goodbyes to Celestia, and she exited through the door to the facility. After she left, Twilight planned to say something more, when her ears perked up at a peculiar sound.

The others heard the sound as well, and turned around in intrigue to the source: the glass cylinder. The sparkling smoke started shining a bit brighter, and a continuous hum emitted from its depths. Suddenly, a loud whoosh echoed through the room, combined with a flash of light, and a letter appeared, floating down to a slot on the cylinder and sliding into it, as if an invisible hand moved the paper exactly where it needed to go. The letter rested on the table, and all stared at it for a moment.

Ruby moved first, walking over to the letter and hanging her head over it, reading quickly. Jack, Wing, Cazan, and Twilight stood in patient silence for a moment, each of their hearts racing. It could be nothing. Just a report of something odd, but explainable, an overreaction to something mundane. Or, it could be that only minutes after truly starting their endeavor of Torchwood, their first investigation just presented itself.

Wing’s curiosity and nerves overcame him. “What does it say?” he asked, being the first to speak after a long silence.

Ruby didn’t respond at first. She was still reading, and once finished, picked up the letter with her magic. Slowly, she moved it over to the green button, and set it down again. She raised a front hoof up to reach the table, and winced as a shot of pain pulsed through her chest. Making a mental note to not reach so high until she recovered, she pressed the letter down.

A green, T-shaped watermark magically formed on the letter, transparent enough to not prevent someone from reading it, but visible enough to be easily seen. The letter then gained a mind of its own again, floating through the air and back through the slot, into the cloud of smoke. With a pop, it disappeared from existence, now on its way to Canterlot.

“You guys, that don’t have a broken rib, have some work to do,” Ruby said.

***

Manehattan
Three Hours Earlier

Pen Koontz, a young, up and coming writer, trotted home at a comfortable pace, his shopping bags hung across his back by their straps. An apple floated magically in front of his mouth, from which he took a bite every few seconds.

He travelled through the bustling streets of Manehattan with a carefree smile on his face. His next book neared completion, and he planned to finish out the last chapter as soon as he got home. He took another bite of apple as he turned onto 3rd Street.

As usual, he took 3rd street for two blocks, then turned down a back alley that provided a swift shortcut to his apartment building. He knew the city streets well; some alleys presented no trouble at all, while others always hid somepony you didn’t want to come into contact with. This particular alley was just fine. At least he thought.

The pattern changed today. Pen was not the only one in the alley. Behind a dumpster, something else lurked in the shadows, patient, waiting. Hungry.

Pen saw nothing. He heard nothing. And nopony heard him when something thin and sharp, no, more than one, a pair of fangs, pierced into his neck. He couldn’t find his voice to scream. His eyes only widened, and his body trembled, as the grip of whatever dug into him held firm. Slowly, the shock and pain dwindled, replaced with a feeling of severe dizziness. After a minute or so, his eyes fell shut, and he collapsed to the ground, groceries spilling out of their bags. Whatever bit him quickly escaped from the alley, leaving the lifeless, blood drained stallion behind.

Chapter 8- Blood

Manehattan police taped off both ends of a back alley, and officers started photographing and marking evidence. In the center of the alley, which rested between a bakery and a book shop, a mare lied dead, the same puncture wound on her neck that they’d discovered on the author yesterday. Just as before, the cause of death greatly confused them. No blood left in the body.

“What in Equestria is going on in our city?” Officer Jones said, looking down at the lifeless mare.

“Mayor sent up a notice about this to Equestria when we found the author,” Officer Bookem replied. “Now that we’ve got two of the same cases, and very little clues to work with, I hope they send help soon. We’ve got a real crisis on our hooves.”

“Emergency police can’t help,” Jones said. “They’re just for active situations, terrorists and the like. Who’re they gonna send?”

“You remember the brief from the captain? Sounds like some new organization just got put together. If they show up we’re supposed to let them take over.”

“Oh, great.” Jones rolled his eyes. “It’s bad enough when another division of the police steals your case, but now we’re supposed to just hoof over anything these ponies want.”

Bookem shrugged. “Eh, rules are rules. If they can figure out what’s going on better than we can, I’d sleep better at night knowing whoever did this is getting caught.” His teeth grabbed another evidence marker out of his pack, and he gently set it down on the ground where he found a couple drops of blood.

“Sleep, yeah…” Jones started. “I don’t know what’s going on, I’ve been having some terrible dreams. Nothing to do with work, just bad. Haven’t been sleeping well.”

Bookem began to reply before his ears perked at some commotion coming from the end of the alley. Two stallions and a griffon, who he’d never seen before, stood talking to an officer, and after a few moments, the officer stepped aside and the three walked in to the alley.

“Well hey, turn around,” Bookem said. “Looks like you can take a couple days off to get some rest.”

Jones turned, and approached the new faces. All three of them had some sort of badge he’d never seen before, a bit of metal in the shape of a T.

He met the dark blue stallion first. “I’m Captain Jack Harkness,” he said to Jones. “This is Wing, and Dr. Cazan. We’re Torchwood, and we’ll be taking it from here.”

***

Cazan frowned, puzzled at the medical predicament that faced him. Inspecting dead bodies was something anyone with extensive medical experience could do, however, without training in that field, it took more effort to analyze problems. He spoke with officers on the scene about the mare and yesterday’s case.

Wing stayed back at first. His stomach lurched, and he nearly lost his previous meal the first time he saw the mare, laying there lifeless. He’d handled everything in royal guard training, and managed to help in the chaos at Ponyville, but looking at a dead body was something entirely different. Jack put a reassuring hoof on Wing’s shoulder, and moved him away so he could sit for a few moments.

Just like Cazan and Wing, Jack faced something new as well. He had to solve a case that likely involved alien life, without the usual technology he had back on the Earth in his own universe. Until Ruby could get some machines functioning out of the storage of misc parts, Torchwood’s detective work would be done the old fashioned way.

Jack leaned his head over the dead mare’s neck, examining the puncture wound. He shivered at the sight of how deep the puncture went. Cazan walked over next to him.

“This is the second case they’ve found like this,” Cazan said. “One pony yesterday, one today. Both in a back alley, both with a deep puncture wound in the neck, and both completely drained of blood.”

Jack raised his head back up, and looked at the rest of the mare’s body, searching for anything odd. “You’ve fought against a lot of things. Any creature in Equestria capable of doing this?”

“No, and from my knowledge, not outside of Equestria either,” Cazan replied. “There are many strange, magical creatures on this world, but vampires were made up for horror stories.”

“This victim died during the day, so I already ruled out vampires,” Jack said. “So that leaves alien involvement.”

Jack turned his head back and called out to Wing. “Wing! Find out where they found the author yesterday.”

Wing became alert when he heard his name, and nodded. He was glad for something to do, feeling a bit worthless after nearly fainting when confronted with a corpse.

“From what I heard about the Ponyville incident, Wing is quite capable,” Cazan remarked. “I’m surprised to see him like this.”

“He’ll be fine, he’s just new,” Jack said. “This can be ugly work; you see a lot of things you wish you could forget.”

***

Left alone at Torchwood, Ruby set to make herself useful. She pushed open the storage door, and quietly walked among the shelves. She felt as if she toured around a history museum, seeing some things she recognized, and other things that she knew to be ancient technology.

She wandered about the room for quite some time, just getting a feel for how much there was, and making mental notes of things she wanted to work on.

Eventually, she found the perfect technology to make her first project. She found several small, round devices with rubber hooks, designed to be concealed by an ear. This was an old form of communication device. They didn’t respond to her stimulus with a hoof, and the rubber wouldn’t fit on a pony’s ear, but that’s what she was here for.

“Time to make some repairs,” she said to herself.

***

Some sort of clue had to show itself. Jack knew it. He analyzed every inch of the alley, searching for signs.

Everything in the alley looked untouched. Various boxes left out in the alley all sat perfectly arranged against the walls. A larger dumpster took up space against the wall near the felled victim, again untouched. He looked around the edge of where the mare’s body rested, seeing no marks on the ground, or drops of blood.

No struggle occurred. That much became clear. Whatever sucked the blood out of the mare likely hid in the shadow of the dumpster, waiting patiently for her to walk by. With a leap out, whatever killed her used its teeth, a weapon, something, to puncture the neck, and she was paralyzed in the pain of the grasp. She didn’t pull back or struggle to get away. She stood in one spot until all her blood left her body, then fell.

Jack explained all of this to Cazan, who was using a claw to hold a magnifying glass from a borrowed medical kit, examining the puncture wound on the neck. “If we find this thing, we have to be careful,” Jack said. “One wrong move and it could drop us just as easily.”

“There’s some sort of substance here…” Cazan looked closer. “It’s definitely not any fluid that came from the mare. Perhaps a venom,” he deduced. “If I’m right, whatever did this uses a venom to paralyze the victim until they’re done.”

“That’s scarier than a vampire.”

Wing approached, keeping his eyes away from the body on the ground. He’d spoken to several of the officers, and had information to share. “I know where the other murder location is,” he explained. “About twelve blocks from here.”

They all spent a few more minutes investigating the alley, then let Wing lead the way to the other location in hope of connecting the two murders. As they walked, Jack marveled at the immense buildings and bustling crowds. Businesses, hotels, department stores, theaters. He felt just like he was in London, amidst a bustling modern age capital, despite the low amount of technology ponies have come to build. He felt baffled that even with magic to help, creatures without hands could build such humungous structures.

The walk to the other alley took a bit of time, with the late afternoon crowd filling up the streets. They walked four blocks down one street, then made a left and kept going. None of the three spoke much, their thoughts on who or what caused these murders to occur.

After weaving their way in and out of crowds of ponies, the three arrived at the other alley, confirmed by the furniture store the police mentioned when describing the area. The body was already moved, and just like the other alley, everything appeared untouched.

A similar dumpster, more boxes, but nothing out of the ordinary. Their culprit definitely knew how to escape without leaving a trace. That thought, however, didn’t sit well with Jack.

“When did the first murder occur? Time of day?”

“The report Ruby read said sometime in the afternoon,” Wing recalled.

“That’s where this doesn’t add up,” Jack continued. He pointed outside the alley. “Look at how many ponies are out there. That’s no small amount walking around. So something that probably isn’t a pony managed to kill in the middle of the day, then escape without anyone seeing him, or without anyone seeing the body until he was already gone.” Jack turned back to Wing and Cazan. “All it takes for someone to see a dead body in this alley is to look over. It can’t have been long before someone saw.”

Wing and Cazan nodded in agreement with Jack, but they too were now puzzled with the questions Jack now proposed.

An idea burst into Cazan’s head once he looked down, and saw something he considered meaningless only moments before. “He needed an escape route,” Cazan said.

Neither of the other two gathered Cazan’s meaning, until he walked towards the end of the alley, where on the ground rested a circular sewer grate. Cazan slipped a claw into a hole on the edge of the round piece of metal, then lifted it up and out of the way, revealing a ladder and a portion of sewer below.

“He’s using the sewers to hide,” Jack said. “And I bet if we went back to where the mare died, we’d find a sewer grate in that alley too.”

“There was! I remember seeing it!” Wing realized.

“Well then, gentlecolts, we have part of the problem solved,” Cazan said. “The next topic is how to either get this culprit out of the sewers, or how to head down into his own territory and search him out.”

***

After returning to the site of the mare’s murder, the Torchwood team confirmed their suspicions. Just like in the other alleyway, there was a sewer grate on the ground. As they walked back they checked any alley they came by, to see if sewer grates in alleys was a common occurrence. No alleys on their way back had any, which was a good sign.

Wing spoke with police officers about getting a map of the sewer system and where grates were, and afternoon turned into evening after the three walked to City Hall to request these items. There were unused offices in City Hall, so the team found a nearby restaurant to grab take out dinner and took over one of the empty rooms.

The office was of a fair size and rectangular, with a rectangular wooden table in the center. On the far wall a window showed the outside street, and Cazan shut the blinds. The three sat at the table, surrounded by faded yellow walls. No artwork or photos decorated the edges of the room, and a small clock by the door made a noticeably loud tick as each second passed by.

After eating quickly, Cazan rolled out the map of the sewer system, which took up almost the entire table. With no room left, he took the city map and rolled it out on top of the sewer map, prepared to just slide the top map around when they needed to look underneath.

“The city map has storm drains drawn on it, fortunately,” Jack noticed. “Let’s find our two murders.”

First, Wing found the location they’d searched for when they arrived at Manehattan. The letter had been sent to Equestria after the second murder, which occurred only a day after the first. From that location, Jack ran his hoof along the path they followed to reach the other murder, and both alleys showed storm drains.

“Cazan, we’ll keep these spots marked,” Jack said. “Run your eyes over this map carefully, grid by grid, see how many other alleys we have with sewer grates in them.”

Cazan did as Jack asked, proceeding through the map at a delicate pace, making sure he missed nothing. There were many sewer grates on the streets themselves, but outside of the two already found, Cazan only saw three alleys that had one.

“Whoever’s doing this is smart enough to commit two murders in two days without getting caught,” Jack said. “We can hopefully assume that he won’t go to the same place twice. Police would be on the lookout.”

“What are you suggesting?” Cazan asked.

“Three grates, three of us,” Jack replied. “I’m suggesting we each learn as much as we can about the immediate sewer tunnels around one of those three grates over the next couple hours, then stake them out. We each take a police officer with us for backup, but we have to split up. We can’t leave it up to police to catch this guy, one of us has to be there.”

Cazan agreed, and after a moment’s hesitation, so did Wing. The three each decided on a grate, then turned to the sewer map to try and learn some of the tunnels.

***

Night fell in Manehattan, but the noise level never dropped to silence like it did in Ponyville. The grand city kept going around the clock, though no pony had to deal with a traffic jam of carriages at this hour.

Jack sat atop a roof, looking down at an alley below, watching patiently. He yawned, considering getting a bit of sleep and letting the officer keep watch. Unlike Jack, this pegasus officer slept during the day, and was already scheduled for the night shift. He shook off his tiredness and kept his focus, however, not wanting to waste time if the officer had to shake him awake.

He knew he may be forced to sleep at some point, since none of them knew when this murderer would strike next. The last two murders occurred in the middle of the day, perhaps that was the pattern. Perhaps out of fear, no attempt would be made for several days, or at all. Jack considered all these possibilities, debating whether taking the risk of searching the sewers now would be better to ensure this creature’s capture, and if so, when that search should begin.

Several hours passed by with nothing. The night grew quieter, though Jack still heard a few wheels turning on the road, and saw a few lights on in the high floors of apartments. During this whole time, besides greetings neither Jack nor the officer had spoken. The officer decided to break this long silence, but still made sure she didn’t move her eyes from the alley below.

“So what’s this new Torchwood thing we’ve all been told about?” she asked.

“Not much to it, actually,” Jack lied. “Just a different kind of emergency police. The emergency police can’t really do anything when the danger isn’t immediate and big.”

“You got that right,” the mare replied. “So many officers here dream about being on that team, but I’d rather be a detective. Not just a bunch of muscle that shows up when some ancient creature gets out of its cage.”

“Can’t argue with that, Tara,” Jack said. His ears perked at a sound, but he realized it was something unimportant, and looked back down at the alley again. “Nice uniform by the way.”

“Thanks,” Tara said with a grin. “You’d look good in it.”

Jack chuckled. “Would be a bit of a demotion if I joined your police force, wouldn’t it?”

“Who said anything about joining our police force?”

Both laughed, enjoying the lightened mood after staying serious for so long. Tara spoke up again. “Seriously though, if you’re not the type of pony to wear clothes, you should be. You’d look good with something on.”

Jack took the thought into consideration, wondering what he’d buy to wear. It would certainly feel more normal to have clothes on; that had been one of the awkward points to get used to when he first arrived in this universe: getting up in the morning and staying naked all day.

Both their ears perked at a very noticeable sound, metal moving on metal, and they shut their mouths instantly, ducking their heads away from the edge of the roof. The sound continued, metal now screeching against pavement, clearly the sewer grate moving from its home. With a gentle tap, the grate was set down, and the noise stopped.

Jack and the officer waited until they heard another faint tap of the grate being set back in place, then carefully peaked over the edge. Tara’s eyes widened in confusion, and Jack stared with an analyzing manner.

The creature to emerge looked male, and was certainly not a pony. He was bipedal in stance, with hands similar to a human’s. He had no hair, and his skin was a deep red, mostly covered in black clothing. His right hand held some sort of device, with two long, fang-like prongs on the end, and tubes leading to a black pack on his back.

He moved to lurk behind the dumpster, as the police and Torchwood predicted to be the location of his initial assaults. So far, no pony entered the back alley, and Jack knew they had to move fast.

Jack had to assume that the creature was alert, not wanting to get caught. Trying to slowly drop down from above would only let him hear wing flaps. He looked over to the officer, and saw her dumbfounded look. He realized his mistake in needing an officer with him to catch an alien, but it was too late. Knowing he couldn’t change that, Jack developed a thought that might work.

He tapped Tara on the shoulder, and motioned for her to back away from the edge of the roof top. Once on the other side and out of ear shot from the creature, Jack spoke up in a whisper. “You’ll have to trust me on this. I can stand to lose a little bit of blood. I want you to drop me down on this side of the building, then wait as I go down the alley. I’ll put up a fight, then let him get me. That should focus his attention on me, and you can swoop in.”

She shook her head, blinking. “What is that thing? What do you mean you can stand to lose a little blood?”

“Don’t worry about that now,” Jack said. “It’s me or an innocent civilian, who wouldn’t survive like I can. Let’s go.”

The officer didn’t question Jack’s authority further, and picked him up to fly him down to the ground. She let him down gently, then landed next to him, getting herself right along the side of the building. Jack took a deep breath, then started a casual walking pace, as if nothing was happening.

Behind the dumpster, the red alien silently prepared, and Jack continued his walk, readying himself for what was to come. The sound of hoof steps hitting pavement echoed through the alley at an even pace, like a clock ticking the seconds down on a bomb waiting to go off.

After both front hooves moved past the edge of the dumpster, the alien lunged forward, but Jack had shifted all his weight to his forelegs, and he swiftly lifted and pivoted the back of his body around, bucking out hard.

The kick from Jack managed to catch the alien off guard, and he smashed against the wall, shaking his head. Jack turned around to jump forward, but the alien pushed into the lunge and knocked Jack back, sending him into the ground. Jack grunted, and his eyes grew wide in fear as he saw the alien’s right hand swinging down with the puncturing device.

Jack wanted to scream when the long, thick needles pierced into his neck, but no sound came. As blood started to drain from him, he felt his hooves stop fighting back against the alien pinning him down. Whatever paralyzing agent this device contained, it was powerful. His head started spinning and his eyes struggled to stay open, the needles working quickly as his life began fading away.

Once again, the alien was caught off guard as Tara tackled him off the earth pony and down to the pavement. Since the device was attached to the alien’s pack, it slid out of Jack’s throat, however, with his body nearly sucked dry from the advanced technology, the rest bled out in the span of a few seconds, and he was dead.

The officer landed a couple strong kicks with her front hooves on the alien’s face, then pushed to keep him pinned down. At first, her toned body was winning the struggle, but the alien slowly reached for the device connected to his pack, snaking his arm out. By the time she noticed, it was too late, and she was flung off after the needles stabbed into her throat. As blood began to drain, the alien reached with his free hand and moved the sewer grate off of its place. Instead of draining her completely, he took enough to prevent her from following, then retracted his device and climbed down into the sewer.

***

Wing let out a sigh, knowing that no trouble was a good thing, but bored out of a lack of anything to do. He sat on a rooftop with a male unicorn officer, watching the alley below. His sewer grate was just close enough to Jack’s location for him to glance over and look at the rooftop now and then. Two tiny, dark figures sat up on a roof in the distance, doing the same job he was doing.

He conversed a bit with the unicorn next to him, Lens, sharing stories about their home. Wing fiddled with the truth a bit to avoid admitting his home really was Canterlot, just six decades in the future. The hours passed, talk continued, and every time he looked over, Jack and whoever his partner was still sat up on the roof.

Lens was telling a story about his mom’s cooking, when Wing looked to the far off roof and did not see what he usually saw. The roof was empty, and Wing stood up, causing the other stallion to cease talking.

“What is it?” the officer asked.

All Wing’s thoughts turned to Jack. Was he alright? Did he catch the alien? His body trembled in nervousness, and he knew there was no point in continuing to watch this sewer grate.

“The other team is off the roof, something happened,” Wing said. “I’ll let you down from the roof, get to Dr. Cazan’s position as quickly as possible and let him know what’s happening.”

The officer nodded, and let himself get picked up by Wing so they could fly down to the street below. Once let down, he spoke up. “So if I’m going there, where are you-“

He cut his question short at a sound from behind him. Wing had moved the sewer grate they were assigned to. “Toss me your flashlight,” he said quickly.

Lens used his magic to fling the flashlight down the alley, and Wing caught it in his teeth. He clicked it on, and dove into the sewer depths.

***

Like Wing, Cazan had a unicorn partner, a mare named Cristi. He wondered at how some ponies ended up with odd names that perfectly matched their cutie mark, and others got more typical names just like any other griffon. When he asked about this, Cristi said she’d honestly never thought about it, and wasn’t sure.

The two occasionally conversed through the uneventful night, Cazan already reliving some of his secret police experiences. Sometimes, patience was the key to capturing threats, rather than a full on assault. Had they attempted to search out the sewers, they would likely have been outclassed by the culprit they chased, who already knew the tunnels well.

He found the night air peaceful, and calming. He took the time to think over the recent and unexpected events in his life. His curiosity still lingered on the dead stallion prisoner Torchwood held, hoping for a time of quiet after this investigation so he could work on that issue.

As Cazan prepared to say something else to Cristi, frantic hoof steps and heavy breathing caught both their attention. “Cristi!” A male voice called out from down the street.

“Keep watching the alley, I’ll see what’s up,” Cristi told the griffon. She trotted over to the edge of the roof that showed her the street below, and she recognized officer Lens approaching as fast as possible.

“There might be trouble!” Lens shouted as he approached. “The pegasus with me saw that Tara and the other guy were gone from the roof, then he went down to the sewer. He asked me to get both of you down to that location in case something is up.”

Cazan overheard the conversation, and dashed over to the side. “So you were with Wing, correct?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Lens replied.

Cazan didn’t wait a second longer. He spread his wings and took off into the air, headed straight for Jack’s assigned location.

***

The amount of time it took for Jack to come back to life varied. This time, fortunately, only a few seconds passed before the holes in his neck sealed back up, new blood churned through his body, and he gasped for breath, shot back into the living world. As he gasped, he forced himself to come to his senses quickly, and he flipped over on to his front hooves, noticing a trembling Tara and a growing pool of blood. Jack bolted to her side, then pressed down on her abdomen as he ripped her officer uniform with his teeth. His bodily strength as a human translated from the muscles he used in his own world to a powerful jaw grip that many earth ponies required for tasks. Her shirt quickly came undone, and he reached front hooves underneath her to rotate her body. Working with a hoof and mouth coordination Jack didn’t know he possessed, Jack got her uniform out from underneath her back, then moved his mouth to the front side of her to pull it off of the one foreleg still attached to the clothing. Once done, he kept her on her side and pressed the uniform down on to her wound, applying as much pressure as he could without injuring her neck or preventing her ability to breath.

“Stay with me, Tara,” Jack said, hoping to keep shock from adding to her present medical condition. “You’re gonna be fine, stay calm.” He desperately hoped he got to her in time. At the moment, she still breathed, her body trembling but her eyes wide open.

He looked over to the sewer grate and found it out of position, and the alien gone. He dreaded to think how much effort it would take to catch him now, if they even could, before he found a new place to hide and new victims to take. At the moment, however, he stayed by Tara’s side, hoping to keep the bleeding as minimal as possible until help arrived.

That help came in the form of Cazan, who dove down at the dreadful sight below him when he reached Jack’s location. “We got word from Wing’s partner that you were gone from the roof,” Cazan explained. “Wing went down into the sewer, and his partner came for us.”

“Wing’s down there?” Jack looked back at Cazan in fear. “The two of us couldn’t handle this guy, if he went in alone-“

“This is what you hired me for, leave this mare to me, she’ll make it,” Cazan assured Jack. He placed a claw on the uniform covering Tara’s wound and using his other claw to move Jack’s hoof away. “He can’t have gone far, and Wing might be right on his trail. Go do what you hired yourself for, and I’ll do my job.”

Around the corner, Wing and Cazan’s partners both arrived, and darted for their fellow officer at the sight of her on the ground, shaking. Cazan looked at Jack one more time and nodded silently, and Jack returned the nod. Without asking, Jack bit down on officer Cristi’s flashlight and pulled it out of her belt, then hurried to the open hole leading down to the sewer, descending the ladder at a frantic pace.

***

Wing had memorized a route from his sewer access point to both Jack’s and Cazan’s, and flew quickly through the tunnels, his flashlight showing the way. He did his best to shut off thoughts about Jack, and let his royal guard training focus his movement. A left, right, another right, Wing made every turn without a single mistake.

Soon, he was at Jack’s location, and he saw moonlight shining down from the ceiling. The sewer grate was open.

At first, Wing thought to fly out, that the alien awaited to strike. Then, splashes echoed from around a corner into his ears. Somepony, or some creature, was moving down here. He dove around the corner to see a tall, red, bipedal creature running down the tunnel to get away. He paused to turn back at the sudden light flashing on him, then doubled his efforts to run through the sewage. There were paths carved out on the sides of the tunnel, but the curve of the ceiling on the edge was too low for him to use it. He already had to duck running through the small tunnels.

Wing spat out his flashlight into his hooves, then yelled out at the alien. “Stop!” He bolted forward, his strong wings greatly out speeding the fleeing murderer. Noticing this, the alien stopped and turned around, raising the device that had already taken two ponies lives, and as far as he knew, two more just a moment ago.

Wing had a fear of leadership. He was still a brand new officer, and felt nervous when other ponies looked to him for orders or guidance. Luckily lieutenants did most of the work, but if his lieutenant were to ever leave, or fall in combat, like the time in the castle when…

Wing couldn’t think of what time was about to come to his mind.

But that fear played no part in this conflict. This was the part of his training he was good at. Letting all thoughts take the back seat in his brain, and intensive, repetitive training take control of his muscle movements. As the device rose up, ready to strike and drop the approaching pegasus, Wing waited until the last moment, then veered to the side, flying past the alien and causing him to miss.

The alien spun around, but Wing moved faster, and having tossed the flashlight to the side path, he too spun back, and both front hooves landed a grip on the strange device. He kept flying, yanking it out of the alien’s hand, and the tubes attaching it to his pack snapped off. Wing threw it down the tunnel, watching it land in sewage with a noticeable splash.

This time, the alien had the element of surprise, having chased after Wing when he stole the device. Immediately after Wing turned to face his adversary, a fist punched into his abdomen, and he staggered, his wings nearly failing him and dropping him into the sewage. The alien grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him into the wall, then clasped his rough, bony hands around Wing’s throat, squeezing hard.

Wing struggled, and nearly broke free, his muscles extremely well built from royal guard training, but the alien held fast, and he struggled to get air. His lungs burned, screaming at him, and he continued flailing about, desperate to break free.

“Nice try, puny horse,” the alien spat out, his voice raspy. “Even had you caught me, you’d be too late. I got enough pony blood, decided to stick around for the sport of it. Now you’re going to die like your friends up above.”

Jack. Wing had quickly grown to like Jack, and cringed to think that the alien had put Jack through pain, but he could save one worry. He knew Jack couldn’t die. That’s when it hit him. This alien did not. And he stood here, choking him, with no awareness of his surroundings. Wing’s eyes widened, and a small glimmer of hope filled him.

***

That glimmer of hope turned into reality, Jack blazing down the tunnel. Fear for Wing turned into blinding rage at the sight of the alien, choking out his companion. Jack ran along the side path, creating less noise than had he slushed through the sewage, and it was little enough for the alien to fall for the same distraction trick again. Jack lunged forward and screamed, ramming into the alien’s side and tackling him into the murky water. Jack no longer cared about anything but seeing this alien pay.

The alien landed face first in the sewage, and Jack used his body wait to keep him down. Anger consumed him, and he pushed hard at the alien’s head with his front hooves, forcing it to stay down. The alien fought hard, but his body, which had proven to be stronger than even the strongest of ponies, was in a disadvantageous position, and he couldn’t move enough to break free. He continued to fight, reaching, grabbing at nothing, clawing at the path on the side of the tunnel… then several bubbles appeared at the surface of the sewage, and his body went slack.

Off to the side, Wing still gasped for air, the hard punch to his stomach followed by choking having put a huge strain on his body, and his lungs fought to catch up. With the alien dead, Jack turned to rush over to him. “Jack-“

Wing’s words were cut off by Jack pushing into Wing for a hard kiss. He held the kiss firm for several seconds, beyond relieved that Wing was alive, and Wing decided that this was worth his lungs burning for air just a little bit longer.

Jack broke the kiss and wrapped his muck covered forelegs tight around Wing’s body, and Wing resumed panting for air. “I’ve got you,” Jack breathed out, his own lungs heaving as adrenaline still coursed through his veins. “I won’t lose you again,” he said softly, hugging Wing tight. “I won’t lose you again.”

Chapter 9- The Coin

Tara awoke in a hospital bed, dazed and confused. She couldn’t remember why she was here, but the pain in her neck clued her in a little at least. She felt a thick bandage around the entirety of her neck, and she couldn’t turn her head much. She glanced over to the window at the side of her room, and saw the morning sun rising in the sky. A light smile appeared on her face. She loved the sight of the sun rising, and often got up early to watch it from start to finish.

“Good morning, officer,” a female voice said from the other side of Tara. When she turned to see who the voice belong to, she blinked several times to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Next to her bedside sat princess Twilight Sparkle, the recently crowned princess of friendship.

“Princess!” Tara was both excited and nervous, having never met royalty in her life.

“Relax, relax, you deserve rest,” Twilight told her. Tara calmed a bit in response, laying back against her pillow. “Can you remember anything from last night?”

Tara closed her eyes, thinking hard. “…no, princess. I can’t remember anything. I just woke up here with neck pain.”

“It’s understandable, you had a rough night,” Twilight explained. “You remember the strange death of the two ponies the police were investigating?”

“Yes.”

“Well, turns out a unicorn got a hold of an ancient spell book, started messing with some scary stuff,” Twilight continued. “You helped catch the criminal last night! Though…” She pointed at Tara’s neck. “It didn’t happen without some injury.”

Tara brought a hoof to her neck and rubbed it gently. “Eh, that’s the job. Just glad that the city is safe.”

“I happened to be in the area, and when I heard about how you so bravely stepped in to help stop the criminal, I wanted to visit you. You’re going to get a service medal once you’re out of here, which should be soon. You just had a lot of blood loss last night.”

“Wow…” Tara was speechless. “Princess… I’m honored. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Twilight said, grinning. “You’re the one that did it, so be proud of yourself. I have to go now, but there’s somepony else who’d like to say hi. You just met him last night, so you probably won’t remember.”

Tara said her goodbyes and gave her thanks once more, then Twilight quietly stepped out of the room. In the hallway, Jack waited for her, and walked up when he saw her appear.

“The memory spell worked,” Twilight whispered. “She doesn’t remember any encounter with an alien.”

“Good, thanks for coming,” Jack replied. “We got the culprit bagged and on its way to Ponyville. No more problems here.”

“I’ll write a letter to Celestia letting her know of your success,” Twilight said. “And I’m sure Ruby will be happy to know you all made it.”

Jack nodded. “I’ll see you in a bit. Keep this up, and you might find yourself the royal member of Torchwood.”

Twilight smiled, but shook her head. “I’m just a helper and a facilitator. I know nothing about the stuff you guys are doing.”

“Hey, you’ve already learned some. Everyone starts somewhere.”

“I’ll stick to being a princess of Equestria, but thanks.”

***

After having a conversation with Tara, Jack walked alone among the once again busy Manehattan streets. Fortunately for Tara, the memory loss came with forgetting the pain of her injury, however, he’d shared a fun night with the mare, and he wished she could have kept the memory of their time before the fight began. He played it off while talking to her, and at least created some new memories to share from the conversation, keeping up the flirtatious attitude of the previous night.

Their first mission proved to be a success, though with nearly dire consequences. Jack felt confident of their ability to improve, and work even harder. Wing had now held his own in a fight with an alien creature, at least long enough to keep him on the scene until help arrived. Cazan had demonstrated his medical expertise, keeping Tara alive longer than many of the Manehattan doctors thought possible with her level of blood loss. And while they’d been gone from Ponyville, Ruby likely found some technology to work on that would improve the team’s capabilities. Once she recovered enough to join them on missions, she’d help even more.

Though further investigation in both the attack on Ponyville and this murderer needed to begin, Jack felt confident. Walking down the sidewalk, a familiar feeling rose in him from walking by pony after pony, none of them knowing an alien attack had occurred in their very city. He was once again protecting a race that, although brilliant and full of potential, wasn’t quite ready to face the threats headed their way.

Jack stopped for a small meal, then proceeded to the Manehattan train station. Cazan and Wing had already returned, but Twilight arrived just a few minutes before Jack, and waited for the same train. They grouped up again, and entered a car of their own. As they returned home, Twilight looked out the window, taking in Equestria’s scenery, thinking over the changes to come in her life with housing this new team in her castle. Jack found the most comfortable seat in the car and slept, exhausted from staying up throughout the night.

***

Ruby welcomed the exhausted Cazan and Wing, and let them get more rest before asking them about the events in Manehattan. No new messages had come through, so for the moment, the team could refresh themselves.

The next day, Jack and Twilight now back as well, Ruby brought the Torchwood members into their headquarters, her first project complete. “Jack, this will be like the invention of a pen to you, but Cazan and Wing, let me introduce you to a portable communications device.”

The shape of the rubber along the earpieces now matched that of a pony, so well to the point that anyone looking would need a second glance to catch sight of it hidden away. The technology aspect of the earpieces were all fully repaired, thanks to some scrap Ruby used from worthless debris beyond repair. “Observe,” Ruby said, levitating an ear piece on to her head.

She raised a front hoof and tapped the side of her ear. “Now the device is on. While it’s on, without touching it or giving it away, we can talk to each other across short distances. Wing, this is the next step from the telephone ponies just invented in your time.”

Ruby offered up an earpiece for each team member, and though using hooves required a bit more fidgeting, they all donned one within a few seconds. All three pressed against their ear, and Ruby motioned for them to scatter. Jack walked upstairs into one of the offices and shut the door, Cazan entered the medical bay, discovering the alien corpse arrived safely when he turned on the light, and Wing walked into storage.

“Now, all of you can hear me, and all of you can respond.”

“Incredible,” Cazan explained, the only one of the group who’d never experienced anything like this before. “What powers this device?”

“That took half a day to work out,” Ruby said. “A mix of something called battery power, and magic. These can stay on for about six hours nonstop before I’ll need to charge them again. They have a communication radius about the size of Manehattan.”

“That would’ve made things much easier,” Wing commented, coming back out from storage.

“The job got done, we all made it,” Jack said. “No point in looking back now.”

All regrouped in the center room, and Ruby spoke up. “Now I do plan to get in on the action when my wounds have healed, but any time we’re not out on missions, I’ll keep working on stuff. Of course, on the backburner of helpful items for missions will be a way home for Wing and I.”

The other three nodded, though Jack and Wing took a moment longer than Cazan for their heads to make the motion in agreement. No one took notice, and Jack pushed the conversation forward.

“We’ve got the tech expert of the team right here,” Jack said. “More than I even expected out of getting a member from as far in the future as you.” The blue earth pony began pacing around the large letter receiver, looking into the sparkling smoke. “Cazan, I want you to look over that alien first, then go back to our prisoner’s mysterious death. Wing, you and I better not make them do all the work, let’s bring help wherever it’s needed.”

And so, the less intense side of Torchwood’s work started as Cazan entered his medical room to try and investigate further into the Manehattan incident. Wing stayed in the main room to work with Ruby, and Jack joined Cazan in the medical bay, helping carefully unwrap the discreetly mailed alien corpse. After the final fight, Wing recovered the device he managed to yank away from the red killer, and with the last of the unwrapping done and the alien lying flat on an examination table, the device lay on his chest, mailed in the same package.

Outside the medical bay, Ruby and Wing worked together to haul out broken pieces of machinery that Ruby believed fit together. As they set to work, Wing conversed with the red unicorn, telling her more details of what he experienced in Manehattan.

With gloves over his claws, Cazan pulled off all of the alien’s sewage-covered clothing, tossing it all into a bin. Jack donned a mask to help escape the smell, and took the bin away from the table so he could search the clothes.

After washing away the remaining sewage on the alien’s body, Cazan reached for a sharp medical blade. The griffon paused for a moment, staring at the sterile tool, catching glimpses of his reflection in the metal. This was not only his first time cutting someone open that wasn’t alive, but his first time examining a creature not from this world. He steadied his claw, then brought it down, slowly slicing vertically across the center of the alien’s abdomen. A small amount of blood trickled out from places along the path of the blade, and once he reached the waist, Cazan moved to make other cuts in different directions, creating ways to open up the alien and search inside.

“I think I’ll check the stomach first,” Cazan mentioned. “See if there’s any evidence of him using the blood he took for food.”

Jack thought for a moment, fishing around inside jacket pockets with his hooves. He recalled something Wing told him after recovering from the fight, and spoke up. “Go ahead and check, but I don’t think that’s it. Wing said something about the alien just doing this for sport. He’d collected enough blood with the first two kills. As to what he needed the blood for, I have no idea.”

Outside the medical room, work progressed on machinery that Ruby began to recognize. Once she started arranging the bigger fragments, she saw the workings of a large teleport device. She didn’t know if the storage area contained all the pieces, but with a foundation to build off of, this would be a long term project well worth the time and effort, for she knew multiple applications that could come from the device. Short range teleportation could increase Torchwood’s reaction time to more serious incidents, and for Ruby’s ultimate goal, teleporting through space was half the puzzle of getting a working time jumper.

In Ruby’s actual time, around two and a half thousand years from where she stayed now, time travel was primitive and expensive. Only minimal tests had been completed, and the laws and workings of time, such as how time fluctuates rather than moves in a straight line, and how certain fixed points in time must not be tampered with, were discovered. Whoever snuck aboard her ship had to have something made a few hundred years in her future. To be honest, though Ruby held extensive knowledge on various technologies, she had no idea how time travel worked. She only hoped that if she got close, or found something that could travel through time but was broken, Jack would be able to fill her gaps in knowledge.

Wing took a break from helping Ruby to check in on the others. He coughed when he first entered the room, memories of the sewers rising up through his nostrils. He offered to take out all the sewage besides what soaked through the clothes Jack was searching, and promised to return with some air freshener.

Time passed, and work progressed, each member of the team keeping themselves busy. Jack had searched nearly all of the clothing without finding anything, until he rigorously shook the alien’s vest to make one last check on it. Something gold and glimmering fell from the jacket and onto the floor, bouncing and sending a pinging noise rang through the room. Jack spun towards the sound and saw some sort of coin, rolling across the floor for a moment, then losing balance and falling to rest flat underneath a counter.

Cazan paused his medical examination at the sound, and looked over. “What is that?”

“I don’t know,” the stallion replied. “Mind picking it up?”

Cazan set down his tools and walked over to the coin, picking it up with a claw and holding it for him and Jack to examine. The coin was a shiny gold, but didn’t look like any currency they knew of. A symbol was imprinted on the coin. Four small circles interlocked in the center of the symbol, and those circles were inside of an equilateral triangle. Cazan flipped the coin, and the same symbol revealed itself.

“Alien currency?” Cazan suggested.

“Unlikely,” Jack replied. “Coins are wasteful when you reach a certain level of technology. Might be something personal. Might be a clue.”

“Not sure how we could determine its significance.”

“Cameras exist at this point, right?”

“Yes.”

“Give me the coin,” Jack requested. The griffon dropped the coin onto Jack’s awaiting hoof, and he bit down on the coin and walked out to the main room. Wing was still outside, and Ruby busied herself with the pieces of the teleportation machine. Jack set the coin down on the counter that jetted out from the letter interceptor.
“Ruby,” he called out to grab her attention. “Find a camera and get a picture of this coin. Send it to Celestia and ask if she knows anything. If she doesn’t, have her keep an eye out. Might be important.”

“Got it,” she said back, putting down her work. “Wait, do cameras-“

“Already asked, yes.”

“Perfect.” The unicorn headed out of headquarters and up the stairway. “Maybe Twilight has one,” she said to herself as she left.

***

Galaxy O, Sector 3
46th Century

It had been nearly a year since she’d even looked at her formal dress uniform. It was only worn upon graduation of the officer academy, for special ceremonies and courts, or if you were getting in major trouble.

Honestly, she could care less how much trouble she was in. Her thoughts were stuck on somepony else, nothing else mattered. She looked at her uniform, laid across her bed, cleaned and perfectly ironed, her officer ranks glistening on the lapel. With a sigh, her horn lit up, and the uniform draped over her back. She slid her hooves through the sleeves, buttoned down the center, then walked to a mirror to make sure the uniform sat properly on her shoulders. She made last minute adjustments to her hair, and spent a long moment staring at her own reflection. When a knock came to her door, she shook herself back into reality, then turned to leave.

She was escorted down one of the many long and spacious hallways of the Equestrian Union space station. This station was massive, with permanent housing for multiple admirals, and enough housing and ship docks for several of the Union’s biggest ships to park here at once. This station was a bustling hub of communication for the Equestrian Union, orbiting around the planet Sefta 6. She was taken through several more hallways before reaching an elevator, which took her and her escort to one of the highest levels on the station.

The space station, and the officers within it, all belonged to the Equestrian Union’s Intergalactic Command. The EUIC was an all-encompassing regime. Anything that had to do with space, this organization was involved. Travel, trade, exploration, scientific discovery, and defense from hostile threats. There were positions for all sorts of ponies and friendly species who wanted to see the universe, through their School for Space Travel and Union Officer Academy.

Upon exiting the elevator, the two walked into a large room, with a high ceiling and many ponies walking this way and that, an endless list of things to do. At the other end of the room, two tall double doors towered above everything else, made of wood for the sake of tradition. These doors were their destination.

She took a deep breath before the doors opened, and stepped off the metal floor outside the room and onto grey carpet. Through the doors, she entered into a circular area surrounded by a raised wooden wall. Directly across from the door and behind this wall, five admirals of the Equestrian Union sat in a row, all looking down at her. In the center of the room, she saw a cushion to sit on, with a small table and microphone in front of it. Her escort veered off to the side, and she continued walking until she stood directly behind the pillow. She rose a salute with excellent precision.

“I report to the Equestrian Union’s Intergalactic Command Court as ordered, Admiral,” she said, addressing the admiral with the longest time in service.

“Commander Nicole Sky, first officer of the Equestrian Union ship Wanderer,” the admiral replied, acknowledging her position. He was an earth pony, with a burgundy coat and grey mane and tail. His age was clear in his voice, yet it still commanded attention. “Be seated.”

Nicole stepped forward and sat down on the cushion, adjusting the microphone in front of her to match her height. She looked around the room, seeing that other officers sat with pads and pens off to the side, and directly to her left, the rest of the Wanderer’s crew sat, also in their dress uniforms.

“Commander, you know why we are here today, and from the preliminary reports you do not appear to have any responsibility for the problem we are dealing with,” the admiral continued. “Yet this problem is serious, and must be discussed.”

Another admiral, the only female present on the board, spoke up. “Two and a half weeks ago, your ship was scheduled for a routine stop at the planet Clairview, Galaxy O, Sector 5,” she began. “Your ship never arrived at that planet, instead jumping to Cryon 2. At that point, your commanding officer, Captain Ruby, went missing in action.”

“Please tell us of the events that happened that day,” the burgundy stallion requested.

Nicole took another deep breath. “Everything on the computers looked correct before our jump,” she started. She trembled slightly in her seat, her thoughts on all the horrible possibilities of what could have happened to Ruby by now. “After jumping, I determined that the ship had been hacked to take us to a different destination. The computers displayed that we’d arrived at Clairview, but I’d been there before, and I knew that wasn’t the case when I looked out the window.

“I reset the system, and detected the hack. Captain Ruby asked me to scan for signs of life, and I found a pony in our second cargo bay.”

The male admiral on the left end asked a question. “Do you know when this pony got on board your ship?”

“Records later showed that he had been on the ship for several hours before the jump, hiding,” Nicole explained. “He also hacked our alarms that would have alerted to somepony new aboard the ship; they were shut down. Once I told Captain Ruby where he was, she took her laser pistol and went down to investigate.”

“And what happened next?”

Nicole gulped. “They both disappeared.”

A small murmur went through the room, and the burgundy admiral rose a hoof for silence. “Did you ping Ruby’s communicator? Scan the planet for her bio signature? Nearby ships? Anything?” This is where this report confused the admiral the most. Sometimes ponies were lost, taken for ransom or as prisoners of war. But even if they became lost, there was a starting point. Some place to start looking.

“I checked everything,” Nicole told the admiral. “No response from the communicator, no sign of her on the planet below, I even contacted the planet’s local authorities and ordered a search. There were no ships anywhere near us. Klaefon are the only ones we know of with ship cloaking technology, but their territory is nowhere near any of our sectors in this galaxy, nor would they let a pony teleport on board one of their ships.”

The board of admirals looked to each other for a few moments, whispering beneath the level the microphones would pick up. When they turned back, the burgundy admiral spoke again.
“Commander, every single member of our fleet is important to us, and we would search to the ends of the universe for the lowest ensign or private that just put their uniform on. But this is an even more serious matter. Captain Ruby is one of the best officers in this Galaxy, and will without a doubt make admiral before her retirement. We need to get her back, but we need something, anything, to work off of. How could somepony disappear without even a clue as to what technology they were using?”

Nicole didn’t respond immediately, her nerves building. “Admiral, there is something,” Nicole said. That small comment grabbed the attention of all in the room, and the Wanderer crew leaned forward as well. Nicole had told no one about this. “Something I found after the preliminary report was sent. I was going over the energy readouts over and over again, desperately trying to figure out what sort of device this pony used to get off the ship with our captain. And… I think I found something.” All the admirals looked intently at her, in need of any clue they could get their hooves on. “If I’m right… I think they traveled through time.”

Gasps rose from every corner of the room, particularly the admirals. “What you are describing is impossible,” the female admiral stammered. “You can’t just fit a time machine in some box. They’re too large.”

Nicole shook her head. “I would not even be presenting this to you all if I hadn’t checked multiple times. Once I matched up the reading to a time travel signature, I was dumbfounded as well. But I am saying with the utmost certainty that it is the case.”

A long break in the conversation came, the admirals talking with each other, trying to sort out the possibilities. Daniel, Luke, and Rufus looked at each other with fearful expressions. Finding Ruby when they had to search out a specific location was simple enough. Searching out a specific time? Was it even possible?

The admirals turned back to Nicole, who now had several tears running down her cheek, the reality of the situation hitting her again. “Commander, this is dire news indeed,” the burgundy admiral started. “Thank you for your time. Unfortunately, that is all we can discuss for now. The five of us will require a more private conversation with you, but first we must go over some information. An escort will bring you to where you need to be tomorrow, and we will converse again. Just standard work uniform, be ready the same time you were this morning.”

“Understood, Admiral.”

Nicole stood, walked backwards off the pillow, and saluted again. As she walked out of the room, her tears did not continue. Another meeting meant that the admirals had a possibility. Some way of finding Ruby and bringing her home. But the need for privacy… Nicole knew there were things the Equestrian Union dealt with above her pay grade, and she wondered at what events, mysteries, or horrors she’d be introduced to the next day.

Chapter 10- Wake Up Call

Location Unknown
50th Century

Attached to a roaming asteroid, a small space station made a home for several dozen ponies, far out of sensor range of any planet. The station had little to offer; it was designed for getting jobs done and hiding, not providing entertainment. Even the food generators gave little flavor to what they dispensed, and the rest of the station made use of the extra power.

A shuttle craft, piloted by two male ponies, flew into communication range of the station, and sent the code signal to be granted access. A shuttle bay door on the side of the station opened up, and the shuttle carefully directed their landing, no more than a soft click of locking mechanisms echoing through the bay as they landed.

Guards stood by as the shuttle doors opened, and two earth ponies stepped out, a sealed case held up by gravity lifters floating between them. Their identifications were checked, the case was scanned, and only after the shuttle was scanned as well were the ponies allowed to leave the bay.

The two stepped out, keeping the case between them, and walked down the bright hallway. An eerie silence surrounded them that made both ponies slightly uncomfortable. It was an unnatural silence. Even in the far reaches of space, normally the low hum of engines or generators snuck into ears, creating a pleasant white noise that always pervaded the background. Here, however, generators only ran when necessary, and at the present moment, none generated power. Far out from any civilization, this was the truest silence any creature could experience.

Eventually, the two reached a set of sliding doors, locked and guarded by two more ponies. Those ponies unlocked the doors for them, and they passed through into a room with much dimmer lighting than the outside. The floor was a black carpet, the walls a dark red. There was just enough light to see in the room, and the objects inside. Directly across from the door rested a glass desk, and various glass shelves lined the walls. Behind the desk, a male unicorn sat in a chair, looking at a screen on his desk until the other ponies entered. The stallion had an orange coat, and his mane was short and dark red.

The unicorn didn’t say a word, he simply nodded to acknowledge the others’ presence. The two brought forth the case and gently lowered it on to the desk, deactivating the gravity lifters. The unicorn behind the desk performed the lock combination with his magic, then opened the case, discovering several sealed bags of blood.

“How fairs our friend?” the unicorn asked, his voice deep, yet smooth.

“We believe he’s dead, sir,” one of the ponies replied. “He obtained the required amount, then tried to continue for sport. Police caught him, and his body has gone off the grid. We know he didn’t leave the planet.”

“I’ll confirm if he’s dead when I go to sleep tonight,” the unicorn said, closing the case. “That’s his own fault for sticking around.” His magic lifted the case behind him, and he set it down on the floor before standing up. “Thank you, gentlecolts, for bringing this to me. Your loyalty is recognized, and you may now leave. The end will come.”

The two stallions placed a hoof to their chest simultaneously, and responded in unison. “There shall only be the void.”

The ponies turned and left the room, and the orange unicorn sat back in his chair, letting out a sigh of content.

***

Earth
Equestria
2 months after the Manehattan incident

With the rest of her family asleep, Granny Smith decided to go out on her own after going to the fridge for a late night drink and finding no tea. The convenience store stayed open late, so she wrapped a scarf around her neck and left her farm, her old bones taking their time to get moving. This would be a long walk.

Though she left most of the walking to her younger family members now, she still enjoyed getting outside, seeing the farm as well as the rest of Ponyville. In the chilled night air, all the apple trees in their orchard rested, waiting for sunlight’s return so that they could once again soak in the energy needed to keep producing their crop.

Crickets chirping in the distance was the only sound Granny Smith could hear. They played a pleasant tune, and the green earth pony started humming a tune of her own, an old favorite of hers. The moon shone brightly in the sky, giving plenty of light for her to make her way down the long dirt path into Ponyville’s town center.

Eventually, her hooves moved from packed dirt to lush grass, and she walked among the buildings and shops. Everything was closed and quiet, except the convenience store out in the distance, the lights shining out through the windows.

She kept on walking, until something came bursting out in front of her from behind a building. She reeled back in surprise, and had no idea what strange creature dashed in front of her. Whatever it was, it was in a hurry, and the thing bolted past her, running off towards the other side of town.

“What the…” Granny stood dumbfounded, trying to make sense of what just happened.

“Excuse me.” Granny turned her head back to find a young, handsome, dark blue stallion standing in front of her. He was panting for breath, and from the air, a light grey pegasus, also young and fit as a royal guard member, landed next to him. “Have you seen a big blue thing running on two legs, head looks kind of like a fish?” the blue stallion asked her.

“Oh, uh, I sure did, just now,” Granny replied. She pointed with a hoof. “He went thatta way, sonny. What in tarnation was that thing?”

“Don’t worry about it ma’am, he’s a friend of ours,” the blue stallion assured her. “He just likes to have us chase him sometimes.” He nudged the grey pegasus, who turned and took off to head for the creature. “Have a nice evening.”

The earth pony then also turned and went sprinting after whatever it was Granny Smith had seen. The mare looked on at the two ponies for a few moments, then shrugged. “Don’t know why y’all are playin a chasin’ game at night, could trip and hurt yourselves,” she said to herself. She then continued making her way to the convenience store, still wanting some good quality tea.

***

Wing’s powerful flaps through the sky were audible enough to hear from twenty feet away. He pushed himself to catch up to their ‘friend’, as so called by Jack. Both of them knew that was a lie.

Ahead of Wing and Jack, the clifad, whose name Torchwood discovered a couple weeks ago, ran as fast as he could. If there was any water nearby, he could escape faster than any of his pursuers would be able to follow. At the moment, however, he was vulnerable. His air lungs struggled to keep up with the rest of his body; he gasped with each breath, wishing he’d gone running on land more.

He chose to simply keep running rather than look back, not wanting to waste any time. He patted on one of his black jumpsuit pockets, relieved to feel the contents still inside.

The clifad really began believing that he was in the clear, until a flash of red light appeared out of thin air in front of him. When the flash cleared, he saw a familiar, red face. He recognized her by the scar on her cheek, but didn’t look at her for long. Her magic shot out half a dozen glowing discs in between them. The clifad tried to turn away in time, but failed, and felt the full effect of the devices as they went off with a loud POP.

The devices released a blinding light, and he found himself unable to see anything but white, his ears ringing from the noise. His ears began recovering before his eyes, in time for him to hear the powerful flap of wings behind him.

Wing pummeled into the clifad’s back, knocking him into the ground. “Got him down,” Wing said, the message transmitting through to the still far away Torchwood members. The pegasus dragged him into a space between two nearby buildings, to draw him out of sight of any ponies who awoke at the sound of the flash bangs.

As the clifad’s sight came to, he was thrust against the side of a building, and allowed to sit in a comfortable position. He raised one of his scaled hands, rubbing his head to try and ease the throbbing pain that pulsed through it.

Jack slowed his run to a walk, and turned down the alley, stopping in front of the clifad. “Good evening, Mr. Vax,” he began. “Now, as I recall we had a very specific deal.” He paced back and forth in front of the alien, who still rubbed his head. “You can stay in the hills far out of town, or reside in any body of water at least six feet deep while you make repairs on your ship,” Jack continued. “But, this is a level five planet, just barely at that. We can’t have you out in public, especially not when you’re trying to kidnap a pony.”

The clifad shook his head and let out a cry of anger. “I’m not asking for a lot, just one creature,” he replied. “You’re such an underdeveloped species, no one has ever seen you before. One would be worth millions!”

“One is too many, Mr. Vax,” Jack asserted. “Now, this is your last warning. We are the authority that deals with all alien life on or around this planet. If you break our rules again, you will regret it.” He stood tall in front of the slouching clifad, and Wing stood nearby, glaring down at the fish-like creature.

The clifad’s anger slowly turned into a smirk. “You know, I’ve had enough of you,” he said. “You think you know so much about what lies beyond this world. I don’t have to deal with a species that hasn’t even landed on their moon yet.” His hand slowly climbed up his lap to a pocket near his stomach. “I bet you’ve never even seen one of these!”

He whipped out a small laser pistol from his pocket, quickly taking aim at Ruby, who stood a few feet behind Jack. He would have been able to charge the weapon and fire before any of the Torchwood members in front of him reacted, but he became distracted by hearing the sound of a charge before he even pressed the button. A sound from above him.

Slowly looking up, the clifad found Cazan above him, reaching down over the roof with a laser pistol in his claw, one much bigger than his own, and pointed directly at his head. “What did he mean by ‘one of these’, Jack?” Cazan asked.

“I think he expected us to not know what a laser pistol was,” Jack shouted back. “Kind of a stupid thought. It’s like he didn’t hear anything I said.”

The clifad gave a nervous smile, and dropped the pistol, placing his hands above his head. “Oh, that pistol’s broken,” he stammered. “I was just joking around, come on!”

“I bet you were.” Jack turned his head back to Ruby and gave a nod. Ruby gained a magical hold of the clifad’s pistol and levitated it back to her. “She’s going to keep that, and I’m going to repeat myself,” Jack said. He stepped closer, all the way until he was an inch away from the alien’s face. “This planet may just barely be level five, but it’s got an authority to deal with anything beyond its own world. That’s us. You will not come out in public, you will not take a pony with you. If you come to this town again, we will know. If you try to go to any other town on this planet, we will know. If you try to teleport a pony on to your ship as you leave, we will know. And you won’t like what happens.”

The clifad lost his fake smile, unable to hold it up any longer. “My ship should be repaired in a week.”

“Good,” Jack said, backing off. “By the way, a member of our so-called ‘underdeveloped’ species lived on the moon for a thousand years with no space suit. Give that a try.”

***

Back at headquarters, the Torchwood team bumped hoofs and claws together, celebrating another successful mission.

Jack couldn’t be more pleased with the new Torchwood team. Over the past two months, they’d successfully handled everything the universe tried to throw at them. Some issues proved more challenging and dangerous than others, but Torchwood handled everything from helping a colony of sentient bugs migrating from another planet, to taking down adversaries wishing to harm the planet for profit or their own needs. The team worked well together, growing to know each other better and like each other very quickly. Of course, Jack felt close to one team member in particular. Only an absolute emergency coming from the message deliverer or Torchwood’s new sensors could disrupt their usual Friday outing.

Cazan felt like a new griffon when helping out this team. Though the secret police required teamwork in a sense, there were many times and scenarios where members had to work completely alone on an operation in order to accomplish it. It’s for that reason that only the youngest, most capable griffons stay on the force. Even in his older age, Cazan still kept himself in shape, and felt like a monster compared to his fellow doctors, who only worked out enough to stay healthy. On this team, his age didn’t matter, and he got to relive his days of action while still practicing medicine. No mission came without some scrapes and bruises, in fact, after laughing and celebrating over the mission for a few minutes, Cazan had Wing sitting on his medical table. Wing felt some pain in his shoulder from tackling the clifad so quickly, and Cazan began examining for any serious damage.

One thing bothered Cazan slightly; he was unable to share his new medical instruments with other medical professionals. All his new tools came from Ruby. Torchwood received around one assignment a week that needed their special skills, sometimes two, or three on a busy week. The rest of the time, Ruby worked every day, sometimes from before Celestia’s sun rose in the sky until after it set, on machines and devices to help. She no longer worked off of nothing but the scraps of technology left behind by others. Now, some metal shipments from Equestria’s mines, as well as other various supplies, were purchased and diverted to Twilight’s castle. Ruby was grateful for the large variety of training she’d received in the engineering field before she became a ship’s first officer, and eventually captain of her own. If she didn’t know from memory how to make something, she’d improvise on the spot.

Now, all over Equestria, sensors were buried in the ground, a secret to everyone except Torchwood, princess Twilight, and princess Celestia. These sensors detected energy readings, anything abnormal, and recorded it. These took quite some time to install, and they’d only finished a couple weeks ago, but now Torchwood could find problems and handle them before a letter even came to report. This had been her main project, but Torchwood also now carried a small variety of gadgets. Improved earpieces than the ones she’d made before, flash bangs, a liquid version of Twilight’s memory wipe spell, more similar to what Jack worked with on his own world, and several different laser pistols, a new one added to their collection today. Lastly, over the past two months Ruby repaired several of the broken parts on the teleportation machine, hoping with enough time here that it could lead to a way back home.

Home now felt like a distant memory for the youngest member of the group. Wing still played along when Ruby talked to him about going home, but at this point, Wing didn’t know what he wanted. His torn emotions originated from the dark blue stallion in the next room.

The first night Wing met Jack, his entire life changed. He instantly fell for Jack’s charm, stayed with him that night, then teleported sixty years back in time and discovered aliens were real. Since then, he’d taken on a little bit of every role on the team, learning the basics in each area to help out. His strength from royal guard training helped greatly in many situations, and he learned the basics of both working with technology and nursing. All the while, his affection had only grown for Jack. No matter how tough the mission got, there Jack appeared, ready to solve the mystery, stop the adversary, save your life.

Jack, in the most literal way possible, was the impossibly perfect stallion to meet. When Wing met up with his friend, she’d said it herself. The only way Wing would find a pony better than a fellow guard member was if some perfect, gorgeous stallion appeared in Equestria from another dimension. He imagined how interesting it would be to tell his friend she was right. His smile, his commanding presence the moment he entered any room, his jokes that always managed to make Wing blush. He truly was perfect, and at this point, Wing didn’t know how he could return home without Jack coming with him. He felt more affection towards Jack than any other pony that came before.

After Cazan assured Wing there were no issues with his shoulder, he walked out to look at the magical letter interceptor, and stared into the pink mist inside. Only one thing about Jack troubled Wing. He couldn’t place a hoof on exactly what the issue was. These past two months, the same five words had played over and over in his head.

“I won’t lose you again.”

Again. What in the world did he mean by again? Not only could Wing not think of a time where Jack lost him, how could you lose the same pony more than once? Wing cherished every moment he spent with Jack, but he noticed… something about Jack every time they were alone. The look in his eye, the squeeze of his embrace, the sighs he let escape from his lungs. He loved the amount of affection Jack showered him with, yet at the same time, he felt Jack held back a secret from him. Jack carried a lot of pain from his past; that much Wing knew. He’d listened to stories Jack told about his own world, the events he went through, how he came to be unable to die. But every time Jack looked at him, Wing sensed that there was a story he was afraid to tell.

Wing shivered out of his mental state when a soft kiss made contact with his ear. He looked over in surprise, finding a smiling Jack Harkness next to him. “Sleep?” he suggested.

The pegasus grinned. “You bet, I’m exhausted,” he replied, shrugging his thoughts off for another time. He didn’t know how to approach Jack and ask about his fear, but he knew that for now it wasn’t worth ruining anything they had.

Jack and Wing made their way towards the stairs leading out of headquarters, and Ruby called out. “Don’t you two sleep in! I’ll be up bright and early working on more projects.”

Jack laughed. “Wake us if there’s a crisis, and get some sleep yourself,” he said back.

The two stallions let the door shut behind them, and Cazan stepped out from a quick trip into the medical room. “Ruby, is that scanner device you talked about ready yet?”

“Oh! Forgot about that,” Ruby said, looking around the room for a moment. “Ah!” Her magic teleported a black device with a grip that a claw could hold. At the end of the grip the scanner equipment rested, and behind that a display screen was switched off. “Tap twice on the top to turn on the scanner. I don’t know if any of the medical stuff on it still works, that’s for you to find out. I just found it last week and managed to get it to turn on again. Beyond that, I don’t have the medical knowledge to know how it works.”

“That’s fine, thank you,” Cazan said, taking the device in his claw as Ruby let go of her magical hold. “I’ll let you know if it works. I want to try a couple things, then I’m off to bed.”

“Same,” Ruby replied, yawning. “As much as I want to build more stuff, the love birds have one thing right. Sometimes you just need to sleep in.”

“Indeed.” Cazan yawned back, and he at last realized how tired he was. “You know what? How about we both put off our work till tomorrow? We can walk up together, and if we go to bed now, we’re sure to be up before Jack and Wing come down.”

Ruby took a look at her most recent project, back to Cazan, then nodded. “I like the way you think, Cazan. I think I’ll just start making mistakes if I stay up. Let’s go.”

Both put down the things they’d get back to in the morning, and headed up through the dark, quiet castle to their rooms. They wished each other goodnight before entering their separate bedrooms, and they gladly threw themselves onto their bed for some much needed rest.

***

Location Unknown
50th Century

The orange unicorn had a thorn in the side of his plans. These preliminary attacks were merely games, ways to build up fear, have fun at other ponies’ expense. The success or failure of these missions made no difference in the ultimate plan, which required more time to prepare. However, his concern came from the amount of games getting stopped on the planet he cared about most, the planet that held more importance than any other. Something, someone, or somepony was stopping his actions on Earth. There were too many failed games of his to be coincidence. He needed to find out whoever was on to him. Once he knew the culprit’s location, one time would be all he needed, then there’d be no place this meddler could run.

He pressed a button on his desk, and several seconds later, a green stallion entered the room. “Accelerate our work at the hospital,” he ordered the green pony. “I’m going to catch a fly.”

***

Earth
Equestria

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Ruby had woken up the next morning refreshed, and still before the sunrise as she preferred. She’d made herself a small breakfast, joined in the kitchen by her fellow early bird Cazan a few minutes later. They’d both returned to work in Torchwood Headquarters, until something gave her reason to now be standing in front of Jack’s bedroom door, knocking as loud as possible with her hoof.

It took a few tries, but at last Jack flung the door open, his eyes alert. Wing wasn’t long in following him. “What is it?” Jack asked, urgency in his voice.

“Sensors near Phillydelphia went crazy a just a few moments ago. We’ve got a crisis, I’m waking you up.”

Chapter 11- Ayumu

All four members of Torchwood gathered in their headquarters, concerned with the seeming crisis on the horizon. Ruby worked on the readings that she’d seen, getting a better idea of the overall situation. She found the location of the spike, then looked at past records of what the sensors picked up there. Though the sensors hadn’t been up long, the readings were a starting point. Cazan was present, but in his medical room, continuing to work with the scanner Ruby repaired for him.

“The energy spike came from Phillydelphia’s main hospital,” Ruby explained. “Definitely not a kind of energy reading we’d see from ponies. Now that I look back, as long as we’ve had the sensors up, there’s been a smaller reading every day that didn’t set off the alarm. Usually late at night or very early in the morning.”

“That’s too big of a hospital to just bust into,” Jack said. “Whoever’s there may start harming ponies or flee if they know we’re in there.”

“We haven’t gotten any letters from Phillydelphia about issues,” Wing commented. “Whoever’s there isn’t harming anypony yet.”

“Whatever they’re doing then, it’s mostly low profile,” Jack replied. “But they’re managing to hide something in there, which means some amount of the hospital staff is likely in on it.”

Wing realized where Jack was headed with his thought. “So if we go in, announce we’re Torchwood police, and start searching around…”

“We might be in over our heads,” Jack finished. “We don’t know what’s there, or how much of it is there, but I have a thought. I’m going to go talk to Twilight; we need to go through princess Celestia if my idea is going to work.”

“Wait, Jack!” Cazan came out from the medical room, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I overheard you, but before you go, I just found something you’ll want to see.”

Jack followed the griffon back into the medical room, Ruby and Wing joining him. The body of the stallion who’d caused the havoc in Ponyville, back when the team first formed, was laid out on the exam table. His body was cold from being in storage, and his abdomen was opened up from incisions.

“I figured out how to switch between different settings on this scanner device, which is absolutely brilliant, by the way,” Cazan began. “Since we’d never figured out the cause of death for this case, I thought I’d try some things and see if I produced any results. I think finding how he died is a lost cause, but I found something else.”

Cazan walked to the other side of the medical table and sat down, freeing both his claws to wipe something off with a towel. When he dropped the towel, everyone saw a large, golden coin, with the same markings as the one they’d found on the alien from Manehattan.

“Where was it?” Jack asked.

“Behind all his organs, carefully placed near the spine,” Cazan explained. “I didn’t find it before because I didn’t think to move all of his abdominal organs out of the way and look around. The scanner saw it.”

Jack moved closer and examined the coin, making sure it was the same as the other. A hunch built up in his stomach, one that he couldn’t prove, but would bet money on. “That’s at least two incidents connected to some sort of higher organization,” he said. “And in order for this pony to get into Twilight’s secret vault, he either needed some help from serious magic, serious technology, or both.”

“Do you have somepony in mind?” Ruby asked him.

“Yes. We still don’t have too many clues, but I have a hunch we’ve got solid connections to the pony who took you through time and gave you the scar on your face.” Jack paced around, piecing things together in his mind. “That unicorn didn’t just punch random buttons when he traveled through time. When we noticed him trying to escape from the rooftop and we charged after him, he was putting in specific coordinates. I don’t think it’s coincidence that he showed up in the same time and place as the incident that happened in Ponyville.”

Ruby’s heart raced. She’d put thoughts of that unicorn aside, unsure if she’d ever be able to find him again. But that pony was possibly the most dangerous threat right now. The things he’d said on her ship… and now knowing this pony had followers, she needed to track him down.

“I think you’ve got something there,” Ruby told him. “Let’s keep a close eye out, but at the same time, this hospital problem hasn’t gone away.”

“Right.” Jack walked out of the room, thinking over the plan he wanted to present to Celestia.

***

Galaxy O, Sector 3
46th Century

Nicole was relieved that the admirals allowed the usual work uniform for whatever meeting they wanted her at today. She felt much more comfortable, and sat on the foot of her bed, nervously tapping a hoof, waiting for her escort to arrive.

At the exact time directed, she responded to a knock on her door, and opened her quarters to find a pink pegasus pony waiting for her. “This way, Commander,” she said, turning down the hallway.

Nicole had reached a calm stature by the end of last night. She’d gone out to one of the space station’s many bars with the other crew members of the Wanderer. They talked, and cheered each other up, knowing that a second meeting meant that the admirals may know a way of finding their beloved captain. When Ruby first disappeared, Nicole felt the burden of command slam onto her, and trembled knowing she was now responsible for ensuring the safety and health of the entire crew. Last night, however, she found that the crew of the ship was just as supportive to her as they were to Ruby. They banded together to help each other get through this troubling time, and Nicole didn’t have to deal with her struggles alone.

Her calm stature started fading as she followed her escort through the space station. The request to not only return, but to return for a private discussion made her uneasy. The only times she’d been in close proximity of admirals were parties and yesterday.

The escort guided Nicole swiftly through the space station, others getting out of their way as they came through. In her thoughts about being so near admirals, she forgot that even commander was a rank to be proud of, and the majority of the ponies on this station were beneath her, their own nerves rising at the sight of a first officer making her way through the station.

They reached a turbo lift, and Nicole grew confused when her escort stopped any others from entering the lift with them. The lifts fit five ponies comfortably, she didn’t see any issues with others hopping in.

That reason became clear once the lift doors closed. The escort used her mouth to yank on a necklace hid under her uniform, and a green badge popped out and dangled down. Only ponies with access to the classified area of the space station owned that badge, and when the lift scanned it, the destination screen read “Secret Zone”. When they said private, they meant it, Nicole thought to herself.

The constantly varying array of noises that came from being in a space station vanished as the lift moved across and through floors, now only a soft hum of machinery working entering Nicole’s ears. It was strange to sleep on a space station, rather than on her ship. The Wanderer was fantastic, but anything from luxury when it only needed to cater to a crew of five, other ships holding several hundred. The station’s housing all had noise cancellation devices installed, preventing any of the noise from busy ponies outside or the space station’s mechanics from bothering you. Nicole, however, missed the hum of her ship’s engines as they drifted in space, the miniscule vibrations in the floor that only those who truly knew a ship noticed. The sudden change to luxury actually made her feel less comfortable, but she still managed to sleep well. Hopefully she wouldn’t get too used to such luxuries before returning to the Wanderer.

After several minutes of travel, the lift slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. Nicole stepped into a place she’d never entered before. The hallway and adjacent rooms were dimly lit, and there were no windows to give a view of space or the planet they orbited. Nicole knew everything in here was above her, and held back her curiosity, only glancing in the other rooms to see ponies working busily on computers or talking at a table, without looking at the specific goings-on.

“Take this,” Nicole’s escort said. The unicorn turned to see the pink pony offering up a security badge. “Don’t let anypony take it from you. The admirals have granted you access to this sector of the Secret Zone. Enter 11-3 into the lift and scan your badge if you ever need to come back.” Once Nicole accepted the badge, the escort pointed in front of them. “Go straight until you enter a large open area, then go left, third door on the right. The admirals are waiting. I’ve got other tasks, and I can’t enter with you anyways. Have a good day, Commander.”

As the escort turned around and entered the lift once more, Nicole began trembling slightly, trying to hide it as she started following the directions. All this was far beyond her usual work. Her and her crew held a top secret clearance for the sake of responding immediately to any situation, one of the purposes to their crew being so small. All the massively staffed ships couldn’t respond to some situations if they involved activities that couldn’t get out to the general public. Even so, she’d never been in a place like this, in the heart of all secrets the Intergalactic Command kept from everypony.

She walked down the hall, into the more open area that her escort described. This area was used for breaks, and several ponies sat on leather couches, drinking coffee or talking about plans for after work. Nicole took the left, and counted the doors as she walked by each one, knocking on the third.

Only a few seconds passed before a pony inside opened the door for her. When she stepped in, besides the pony on guard at the door, she found four ponies, only three of which she recognized.

The room was long and rectangular, with a thin, oval shaped conference table in the center, black chairs spaced evenly around it. The lighting was dim, only soft blue bulbs from the corners of the room providing any vision of the surroundings. On the opposite side of the table sat three of the five admirals Nicole saw yesterday, and behind them was another pony, a stallion, wearing a uniform Nicole didn’t recognize. It was all black, unlike the primarily red design of her uniform, with what seemed to be green lights along the neck and sleeves.

“Commander Nicole, please be seated, reporting procedures aren’t necessary,” the admiral on the far left end of the table said. This was the senior admiral present from her hearing, with the burgundy coat and grey mane and tail. His expression still showed worry, his eyes heavy from lack of sleep, but he managed a light grin toward the commander, letting her know that this was not the same as their meeting the day before. “You didn’t actually hear our names yesterday. In case you don’t know them, I’m Admiral Pike.”

Admiral Pike pointed down to the next admiral, the only mare from yesterday’s hearing. Her coat was a lush green, and though Nicole first thought her mane to be black, she found it to be a dark blue now that she sat closer. “This is Admiral Hura, and lastly is Admiral Seren.” He pointed to the last admiral there, a white stallion with a short, orange mane. “We had to bring you down to this level to introduce you to the pony behind us.”

On cue, the stallion in the back, a brown unicorn, stepped forward. “Hello Commander, it’s nice to meet you. We understand you had an encounter with somepony we’ve been trying to track down for quite some time. You should be able to help us, and we can help you get your captain back.”

“Can I ask who you are?” Nicole replied. “I’m sorry, I’ve just never seen uniforms like that before.”

“You wouldn’t have, these uniforms won’t exist for another several centuries,” he explained, causing Nicole to lean back in her seat. “We’re time agents, and we’re hunting a criminal who doesn’t stay in the same place or point in history, so things can get a bit complicated.”

***

Earth
Ponyville
21st Century

Jack tapped a front hoof up and down as he sat next to Twilight, his eyes glued to her baby dragon, Spike. The lack of conversation made the tapping echo through the room. Spike looked back and forth between Jack and Twilight, not sure whether he should talk to either of them. They sat in Twilight’s library, surrounded by the alicorn’s vast collection of books. Twilight had a book open in front of her, but refrained from reading while they waited.

Twilight had assured Jack that a message coming from Torchwood would cause her to drop everything and respond immediately, yet each passing second still felt like minutes. He needed help from the princess in order to carry out his plan, but at the same time, he wanted to act fast, before whoever hid themselves in the hospital could do any more. Twilight stared down at Jack’s rhythmically tapping hoof, letting her mind wander.

“Oh, hey-“ Spike got out, before closing his mouth instinctively. With a burp of magical, green fire, a scroll appeared. Twilight quickly swiped it out of the air with her magic, floating it over to Jack. The stallion pulled apart the paper, and was relieved to see that she could indeed help them.

Everything you mentioned can be done and will be believable. Give me 24 hours. If you are there this time tomorrow, I can send you what you need.

Jack thanked Twilight and Spike, then set the note down, relaxing and thinking out the finer details of his plan. He needed to get sick.

***

Galaxy O, Sector 3
46th Century

Nicole sat in silence for a moment. Time travel wasn’t new, but it certainly wasn’t practical or widely used. At this point in time, the Equestrian Union only broke through on how to travel through time a couple decades ago. They were still working out the laws of time and how to make time travel more practical, a goal that may well be impossible.

Obviously, at some point they figured it out.

“We were approached by the time agents five months ago, Commander,” Admiral Pike explained. “They wanted their presence to be as low profile as possible, but they believe that our time somehow connects to a series of events the time agents have been looking at. We’ll get to that later.”

Nicole nodded, not wanting to deal with whatever that meant just yet. “So, you think you know who took Captain Ruby?”

“Yes.” The time agent moved up to the table and pressed a button, activating a screen at the end of the room. The screen displayed a slightly blurred picture of a crowded street, but the pony in the center of the frame stood out. An orange stallion, a unicorn. He was tall, and lacked muscle on his body, his form thin and bony. His mane and tail were both short, a shade of dark red. He spoke with another pony next to him, his eyes clearly alert for anypony watching.

“This is likely the stallion who hacked your ship and left with Captain Ruby,” the time agent said, moving closer to the screen. “We don’t know the name of this stallion, so we’ve given him the code name Ayumu.”

“How much do you understand of time travel, Commander?” Admiral Hura asked Nicole.

“That we can sort of do it,” Nicole responded, shrugging her shoulders. She couldn’t help but stare at the photo, wondering if she looked at the right stallion, memorizing everything she could about him in case the time agents were right.

“To be honest, even as admirals that’s about as much as we knew until the time agents came along,” Admiral Seren said with a slight chuckle.

The time agent sat down at the short end of the table, the screen high enough above him for the others to still be able to see. He brought his front hooves up onto the table, tapping them together lightly. “Commander Nicole, if you don’t mind me asking… what’s your birthday?”

Nicole failed to see the point of asking now, but responded anyway. “June 20th.”

“Alright, imagine this,” the agent said, pausing for a moment before moving on. “When you woke up yesterday, you were sure that your birthday was June 19th. Today, you think it’s the 20th.”

“What are you saying?” Nicole replied. “That I don’t know my birthday?”

“No, you know your birthday,” the agent continued. “But your actual birthday changed. With the way time works, it’s perfectly possible that at some point in your life everyone will know that you were born on June 24th, or the 25th, and nothing else about your life will be different.

“Before time travel, most ponies believed that it was one straight line, and that traveling back or forward to change something would have dire consequences.” The stallion paused again, knowing he was diving deep into entirely new information for Nicole. “Time is not like a line at all.” He started moving his front hooves around, forming the shape of a circle in the air. “In fact, it’s constantly changing, fluctuating, without anypony noticing the difference.”

A thought stopped Nicole from accepting this completely. “But aren’t there paradoxes that can happen? Like, I’d break the universe if I tried to go into the past and talk to myself?”

“Yes, there are exceptions to this fluctuation,” the agent told her. “The first being that you cannot cross your own time stream. You can affect the time streams of others, but not your own, or that will result in a paradox. The second are what we call fixed points in time. Most of time is in flux, but there are some extremely key events that cannot be interfered with, and must always happen the same way. As to how we know what events are fixed, I won’t go into that, it’s not important for this discussion.”

“Then why is the rest important?” Nicole didn’t mean to come across as rude, and held up a hoof. “That’s not how I wanted that to sound, sorry sir. So, you have a potential suspect who took Ruby. But all this talk of fixed points and time fluctuation, I like the context but I care more about finding my captain.”

“We assure you, Commander, that this information is important to you and all of us,” Admiral Pike interrupted.

“That’s correct,” the time agent said. “And the fact that Ayumu was on your ship means you may have even more importance in what we believe to be going on.

“There are things about time that even we don’t understand yet, several centuries in your future,” the unicorn continued, explaining in more detail. “We’ve managed to track Ayumu and some of his subordinates. He’s running some sort of secret group, that seems to carry out terrorist attacks across time, some small, some large. Everywhere we’ve tracked, the time energy readings are higher than anywhere else. Time energy is one of the ways we know how events are fixed.

“This is where it gets tricky, I apologize for running on,” the agent said. “My whole talk about time being in flux, that doesn’t cause too many major changes. Anything too major would instead be from a parallel universe, a discussion I won’t bother with. But we’re now starting to believe that this unicorn knows something we don’t. We think there was a major series of events across time, ones that would become fixed points, but they all got erased.”

Nicole brought a hoof to her head and rubbed her temple, a light headache rising. “Ok, I was following you until just then, because you broke the rules that you set up at the start. Isn’t changing fixed points impossible? And if it is, and the entire course of the universe changed, how could nopony remember something as big as that?”

The time agent let out a sigh, shrugging his shoulders. “We don’t know. Our scans and analysis of these points in time show that we are missing something major, but we have no idea what. We believe the memory of such events has to do with exposure to extended time travel, but none of our agents have recollection, meaning we’re missing a link in that puzzle.” He leaned back, taking his front hooves off the table and resting them on his seat. “Regardless, we don’t like what we see. If there are events that were erased like we believe, bringing them back can only mean trouble. I think we’ve talked about the context of the situation enough, let’s move on to your captain.”

Nicole sat up straighter, leaning in. The question aching for an answer since the moment she entered this room came sputtering out of her mouth. “Do you know where she is?”

“…No, unfortunately,” the agent replied. “We have a mission for you, and if we’re lucky, it might help you find your captain.”

“I’ll do anything, sir.”

Admiral Pike cleared his throat. “The time agents are willing to let you travel through time, since you know Captain Ruby personally. After much effort, they have discovered one of Ayumu’s research facilities, and want more information on it. There are an infinite number of places Ruby can be, Commander, so don’t get your hopes up. But this is clearly a high priority research facility for Ayumu. It may have been where he tried to escape to when he was on board your ship, and your captain may be in the vicinity.”

Nicole’s expression didn’t move. She simply nodded, not hesitating for a single second. “Admiral, I will gladly take on this mission. If it has any chance of finding this time traveling lunatic, or Captain Ruby, I’m in.”

“Excellent,” Admiral Pike replied, nodding toward the agent. “Get ready to experience history in a whole new way,” he said. “You’re going to the origin planet of all pony kind, at the time of the original royal sisters.”

Chapter 12- Infiltration

Earth
Phillydelphia Hospital
21st Century

Claire got used to the white noise of the hospital through her time working there. Every day when she sat down at her desk, her ears learned to tune out the array of hoof steps walking by, announcements to call doctors to other areas, and the conversations of ponies waiting. She worked undisturbed by all the noises, filling out paperwork and talking to ponies when they walked in. Though her job was simple, she enjoyed the steady pace of it, compared to other hospital employees who had to constantly rush about.

Shortly after lunch, two ponies entered the door across from her desk, a grey pegasus and a red unicorn. She scribbled in one more part of the paper she was working on, then looked up with a welcoming smile. “Hello, welcome to Phillydelphia Hospital,” she said. “Do you have an appointment?”

“No, we're not sick,” the grey pegasus responded. Both him and the unicorn next to him wore some sort of badge around their necks, and they each brought it up to show the clerk.

“Royal Sisters' health and safety department,” the red unicorn explained as the clerk checked their badges. “We're doing routine inspections of all major hospitals. We just need to look around, and we need access to all parts of the building.”

Claire paused before nodding, setting aside her paperwork. “Let me get somepony to cover for me up here, and I'll take you around our facility,” she said, leaving her chair and heading down a hallway.

Wing and Ruby stood patiently, casually glancing around the lobby. “I don't like it,” Ruby said softly.

“Me neither,” Wing replied. “I feel uncomfortable and have no idea why.”

“Same.”

Phillydelphia

The black pavement of Phillydelphia's streets amplified the heat of the sun, and ponies paused to wipe their brows as they traveled along. Even so, the work of a bustling city had to continue, so ponies trudged through the heat of the day, either walking slower to try and stay cool, or rushing to just get inside again.

One stallion amongst the crowd, a blue earth pony, walked slower than all the rest, even stumbling now and again, yet unnoticed by any around him. His eyes fluttered, and it appeared that his body struggled with each step, his body swaying this way and that, trying to keep balance.

After several loud, hard coughs, ponies started to turn their eyes towards him. He kept coughing, heaving, struggling to regain control of his lungs. A few ponies asked if he was alright, then gasped when he collapsed on the ground. Only moments ago, this stallion just looked tired, unworthy of any busy pony's attention. Now, everypony near him gathered to see what was wrong.

“What happened?”

“Is he dehydrated?”

“Quick, somepony get him to the hospital!”

Two pegasus ponies came forward, each grabbing at one end of the now unconscious stallion, and hoisted him up, carrying him away. Soon, the gathered crowd dispersed, returning to their regular schedule, the occurrence in the back of their minds as nothing but a strange incident.

Jack opened his eyes slowly, finding a white ceiling above him instead of sky. He felt a bed beneath him, and looked down to see a thin blanket, and a tube leading to his left foreleg. He pushed off the blanket partially, revealing a needle stuck in near the joint.

Listening intently, Jack heard nothing out of the ordinary. His bed was inside a temporary room, and the green curtain in front of him was open. He looked out into the hallway, trying to spot anything odd, any surveillance devices attached to the walls, something hanging from a vent. Nothing. He'd have to wait in order to look any further.

Whenever the Royal Sisters' health and safety department made inspections, two representatives came, according to Princess Celestia. He'd left Ruby and Wing to this job, then devised a plan to get a perspective of the hospital from every angle, and provide a way for the others to get inside at night unnoticed. The sickness spell on him still churned inside his body, and Jack silently wished he'd picked a different role to play.

After a few more minutes, a griffon entered the room, medical paperwork in a folder around his neck. “Ah, you're awake,” the griffon said, coming closer. “Don't worry, everything's fine now. You're in Phillydelphia hospital. That was quite a scare you gave us, we couldn't figure out why you just passed out on the street.”

Jack rubbed his head, still feeling the pain of the experience a bit. “Yeah, I don't know either. I started feeling weak, then I started coughing uncontrollably. Next thing I know, I wake up here.”

“We think it was just some random little virus you caught, but we're going to keep you here overnight just to be save,” the griffon replied. “Now that you're awake, can I get your name?”

“Jack Harkness,” Jack told him.

“Excellent. I'm Dr. Cazan, nice to meet you.” Cazan sat down and scribbled a few notes onto his papers.

“I don't really see griffons in this city,” Jack mentioned. “Are you from around here?”

“Actually, I just transferred,” Cazan explained. “You're my first patient at this hospital.”

“Oh,” Jack replied nodding. “Interesting. Well, thank you so much for the help, Dr. Cazan. I hope you like it here.”

“I do, thank you,” the griffon told him, putting away the paperwork. “Actually, I'm more worried about two certain ponies liking it here more than my own feelings. I hear health and safety inspectors are in the building today.”

Jack gave a reassuring smile. “Oh, I'm sure they'll give this place a good review. This hospital seems to have a certain... energy to it.”

“I hope you're right.” Cazan chuckled, then stood up and backed away from Jack's bed. “Well, great to meet you Mr. Harkness, I'll leave you to rest. Just call for a nurse if you need anything, and we'll get you moved to an actual room in about half an hour.”

Cazan left, and Jack leaned back in bed. There was nothing he could do for now. He sighed when he realized ponies hadn't invented television yet. Perhaps a nurse had a book or magazine he could borrow. It was going to be a long day.

Wing and Ruby found nothing out of the ordinary as their escort took them throughout the hospital. Both kept out a keen eye, examining every inch of every hallway and room, looking for anything out of place, anything disguised to appear normal.

They moved from the first floor to the second, where most of the patients in the hospital slept if they needed to stay for more treatment. Claire continued to talk about all the wonderful features of the hospital, and the qualifications of the staff, while Wing and Ruby feigned smiles and approving nods, their minds more focused on searching for the source of the energy readings. They did their best to peek into patients' rooms, but Claire seemed to keep walking as if they weren't of importance.

With Claire in front of them, Wing shot Ruby a look of concern, and she understood the reasoning. She stopped Claire to ask for the location of the nearest restroom, saying her associate needed to go, and may as well inspect it while he was there. Claire provided simple directions to get there, and Ruby nodded to Wing, walking away with their escort and leaving Wing alone.

Wing walked down the narrow hallway, passing a counter with nurses behind it, scribbling on paperwork and filling shelves with supplies. He stepped out of the way of a bed carrying Jack as a nurse pushed it past him, and didn't make a second glance, keeping up the necessary appearance. With a casual glance over his shoulder, he made a mental note of the room Jack was placed in.

After examining a painting on a wall, attempting to spot any sign of something hidden behind it, he stepped in to a patient's room. The room was typical for a hospital, small, square, and white, a bathroom directly next to the entrance, and a bed placed in the center of the room. A couple more paintings decorated the walls to provide some color, and a red, cushioned chair for guests was placed in the corner. A teal colored, elderly mare laid in the bed, her wrinkled forelegs holding up a book.

After sweeping the room for anything suspicious, Wing raised a hoof and gently knocked on the wall. “Sorry to bother you, just checking to see how you're doing,” he said to the mare, putting on a smile.

“Oh, you're not a bother at all,” the mare replied. Her voice showed her age, but still sounded sweet. She lowered the book so it rested on her chest, and gave Wing her attention.

“I'm with the Royal Sisters' health and safety department. We're looking around here just to make sure everything is in good shape. Can I ask you how you like the hospital?”

The mare shrugged. “It's alright for me,” she told Wing. “There's not much in the way of accommodations that a pony my age needs,” she continued, chuckling. “All the nurses and doctors are polite, I feel fine here.” She paused, thinking if there was anything else to mention. “Although...”

Wing's ears perked up. “Yes?”

“Well, I've been having the strangest of dreams, every night. Not nightmares or anything, just really strange. Lots of patients have been saying so. I've tried to ask the doctors, they just say it's probably my medication.” She shook her head. “My pills didn't used to do that, though.”

Wing nodded, making a mental note. “Well, everypony's body changes, you can trust the doctors here,” he assured her, unsure if he just told her the truth. “I'm sure if there was something wrong, the doctors would know.”

“Thanks,” the mare replied. “It's nice to hear that from a pony not wearing a white coat. Sometimes I just don't know.”

“I understand. Having to stay in a hospital for so long can be stressful.” Wing paused, taking one last look around the room, shooting a glance underneath the patient's bed. “Anything else?”

“Oh, this isn't too much trouble, but I'm sure part of your job description. The furnace has been broken for a good while, so it gets a little chilly at night. Think you can look into it?”

“Sure thing,” Wing said, looking up at the ceiling. The vents. A place he couldn't just jump up into in the middle of the day. “Thank you for your time, ma'am. Enjoy your day.”

Wing left the room and reentered the hallway, stopping by a couple more rooms to ask about dreams. Everypony said the same thing, making Wing worry. It was impossible that every patient in the hospital having strange dreams was a mere coincidence or side effect to medication. Something was happening that needed investigation.

The second floor was large, holding multiple wings for patients and several operation rooms, so Wing managed to catch up to Ruby and their escort before they finished. Claire continued to talk about the hospital, and Wing rejoined Ruby in the fake nods of interest, keeping his eyes peeled. It bothered him that besides some strange information from patients, they'd failed to find any source of alien activity so far. Time passed, and they finished the entire second floor, with nothing to come back to yet.

“Well, I think we're all done,” Claire said as their trip looped back to the stairway they'd taken up. “Do you have any more questions?”

Ruby immediately spoke up. “Yes. Doesn't this hospital have a third floor?”

Claire frowned. “I'm sorry, that's our research level. You have to have a key from our head manager to get in, and he's not here today.” Her ears flattened, and she leaned away slightly, glancing at the stairs that led up.

“That's a problem,” Ruby replied. She searched Claire's face for signs of lying, but she appeared innocent enough, despite some obvious nervousness at the mention of the third floor. They'd found their target.

“He should be here tomorrow, though. Would you be able to come back?” Claire asked.

“That's fine, thank you for your time today,” Wing told her. He moved for the stairway, then turned back. “Oh, I forgot my badge in the restroom. I'll be back.”

“I'll go with you,” Ruby replied. “Go on ahead, Claire. We'll be leaving as soon as he gets his badge and I make my own restroom stop.”

Claire nodded, and said goodbye, turning to head back to her desk. Wing and Ruby walked in the other direction, back down a hallway of patient rooms, until Wing slowed to a stop.

Though bored, the sickness spell kept Jack from feeling well enough to get out of bed. He at least had a private room now, which felt cozier than the initial recovery area.

Waiting for time to tick by, Jack thought back on his time here so far. He'd become inseparable from Wing any time they weren't working, and had grown to consider Ruby and Cazan close friends. His temporary stop in this universe to say hello to Wing had already turned into something longer, perhaps it would be worth staying even after they solved the threats and mysteries facing them. Jack had lived so long already, and with the strong possibility that he'd never die, hanging around for about a century would be just a blink of an eye. He could stay with Wing until the end of his days, but that thought both warmed and troubled him. He felt unsure whether he could handle losing someone close to him again. Watching them age, grow old, and die while he just kept on going. He didn't know which would be more painful, leaving before or leaving after Wing reached his final day.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices outside his room. The voices were familiar, and he leaned over in the bed, listening as best as he could.

“So, I think the inspection went well today,” he heard Ruby say.

“Agreed,” Wing's voice replied. “I wish we didn't have to come back tomorrow, but if we can't see the third floor without the head manager's key, there's nothing we can do.”

“It'll be alright, the first two floors are done so it shouldn't take long. Any problems we need to request further inspection for?”

“Just one, let's get somepony in here to check out the vents. Air conditioning is faulty, been making everypony a bit chilly at night. Probably one of the reasons patients are having weird dreams.”

“Sounds good.”

That was all the information Jack needed. He was grateful for passing by Wing while being transported to his room, knowing now that Wing made note of his location. During the day, none of them could do anything, but once night fell, only the absolute minimum amount of staff would be present in case of an emergency, just two or three ponies per floor. When that time came, and the sickness spell on Jack wore off, he'd be on his way upstairs.

As the two inspectors walked by one of the nurse counters, an orange stallion in a lab coat glanced up at them. He recognized the scar on the mare's cheek. He wished it had cut deeper.

The stallion leaned over the nurse working on the patient log. “Do we have any new patients in this wing today?” he asked.

“Just a moment,” she replied, flipping the page and looking through names, dates and times. “One new patient today, a Mr. Jack Harkness. He's 3 doors down to the left of here.”

“Thank you,” the orange stallion said back. “Jack Harkness...” he whispered under his breath as he turned away. “Let's see what sort of fellow you are.”

After falling asleep that evening, Jack fell into vivid dreams. His entire life seemed to present itself to him, from childhood, to meeting the doctor, to forming the first Torchwood, and beyond. Though all these images were familiar, something didn't feel right. Something else was there, out of the corner of his eye. Or someone...

He was startled awake by a loud tapping on his window. He sat up in bed quickly, the effects of the sickness spell now completely gone from his body. He slid out of bed and walked to the window, unlocking it and sliding it open.

From the other side of the window came Wing, who gave Jack a tight hug as soon as he entered. After releasing the blue stallion from his embrace, he turned back to the window and waved a hoof, after which Cazan flew down from the hospital roof, carrying Ruby and her equipment bag in his claws. Wing and Jack helped Ruby get inside, after which Cazan flew in, shutting the window behind him.

“Nopony saw us enter,” Cazan whispered to Jack. “We made sure there were no possible witnesses before flying down from the roof.”

“Good,” Jack replied. “I heard your conversation before leaving,” he told Ruby and Wing. “There should only be two, three ponies at most on this floor. If we get past them, we can head upstairs.”

“There's definitely something on the third floor,” Cazan confirmed. “Anypony I asked either couldn't or wouldn't tell me anything besides the fact that it's the research level. I was kept on the first two all day.”

The four moved as a team, Jack leading the way as he peeked his head out from the room, checking if he could see any of the ponies on shift. Down the hall at one of the desk areas, one pegasus nurse worked diligently on the paperwork in front of him. There was no other pony in sight.

With the lights in the hallway off, the team managed to enter the hallway without casting any shadows to catch the nurse's eye. Jack motioned with a hoof, and the team inched along the edge of the wall, stopping every few seconds to check for reactions from the nurse. He continued his work behind the counter, yet to be disturbed by the patient leaving his room with a group that entered through the window.

Each member of Torchwood ducked low in order to begin the riskiest portion of the journey. Bit by bit, they moved forward, now traversing underneath the counter, only separated from the nurse by a very thin piece of wall. If any noise was made, or the nurse decided to get up, it would become clear very quickly that security needed to be alerted. None of the team knew if security meant local police or space ships.

They continued on, Jack letting out a silent breath of relief as he reached the end of the counter, standing up more normally again. Wing was next several seconds later, then Ruby. All that remained was Cazan, and at that moment, the nurse's chair swiveled.

Cazan froze in place, and the other three looked with wide eyes at the nurse, who stood out of his chair and stretched. “Coffee, coffee...” the nurse said to himself, yawning and closing the folder he'd been working out of.

A portion of the counter could swing outwards and inwards, to allow staff to come and go from the work area. That portion rested in the gap between Cazan and the rest of the Torchwood team.

None of them knew how much of the hospital staff was compromised. The pony on the brink of discovering them could be helping the strange happenings inside the hospital, or he could be a completely innocent pony. Regardless, he'd soon become aware of the team, and ruin the stealth of their entrance.

Immediately when the nurse pushed the swiveling portion of the counter, he saw a griffon's claws out of the corner of his eye, and turned in surprise. “Hey! What are you doing? If you need assistance you have the call button, nopony should be out at this time of-”

A powerful slap from Cazan's claw smacked into the nurse's head before he finished his sentence. Jack came running from the front of the line, looking down at the pony now laying on the ground. Cazan brought a claw down to the pony's neck, and nodded reassuringly at Jack.

“He's just unconscious,” Cazan whispered. “Benefit of being both a doctor and an agent, strong enough to knock a pony out and knowledgeable enough to not crack his skull when doing so.”

Jack helped Cazan slide the nurse back through the swiveling part of the counter, and together they lifted him into his chair and leaned him down on his paperwork. With no noticeable mark on the nurse's face, now he appeared to simply be asleep on the job.

Seeing no other staff in sight, the team rushed down the rest of the hallway and into the stairwell, not wanting to deal with any more problems. They kept their steps quiet, ascending the steps until they reached the next floor.

The door they found was clearly not meant for typical pony use. There was no knob on the pale white door, and no key hole for the “manager” to put a key in. The only thing that appeared to be a lock mechanism was a large, circular shaped cut out in the wall, but there was no sign of any circuitry.

“How could they possibly keep the entire staff from asking about this floor?” Wing asked. “Unless the entire staff has been taken over...”

“Not many think to question their boss,” Jack said. “If new management came in, they probably justified it as new and important medical research. Higher security needed.”

“I can second that,” Cazan said. “There are actual medical research wings that require security to protect others, even other doctors,” he explained.

“Fair enough that normal staff wouldn't ask questions,” Ruby said, looking behind them to check for any ponies coming up. “But we know better, and we need to get in. A better question for the moment, how does this lock work?”

Jack leaned his head in close, peering into the circle. “I don't see any circuitry. Might be camouflaged like our own headquarters door.”

“The hole's too big for a hoof,” Wing noted. “I feel like something would fit perfectly in there.”

“I've got some tools, I'll see if I can hack in,” Ruby said.

“Wait,” Cazan interrupted, holding a claw up. “I added something to your equipment bag, let me see.”

Ruby turned so Cazan could reach the bag draped over her, and he pulled out one of the two identical gold coins the team found on the pegasus who broke in to Twilight's castle, and the murderer from Manehattan. “Jack, you said you had a hunch events were more connected than we thought,” he said, holding up the coin. “Let's test your theory.”

Cazan reached out his claw, and to everyone's surprise, the coin appeared to match the size of the hole. Cazan pushed the coin in, and a loud hum emitted from the wall, followed by a hard click. Jack gently pushed the door, and found it now unlocked.

“I don't know if I'm more happy or worried that the coin worked,” Jack said.

One by one, the team slid through the door, quickly closing it behind them once they all passed through. The lock clicked back into place, and Cazan noted a similar hole next to this side of the door. The key could get them out as well.

The third floor seemed to be one giant room. One could barely see from one end to the other, however, as dozens of tables and tall shelves took up space, with no hallways and adjacent rooms like the floors below. Whoever or whatever now controlled the third floor of Phillydelphia hospital turned it into one giant experimentation lab.

The main lights on the floor were off, but several lamps scattered throughout the area provided dim, yellow light. All the tall shelves were made of glass, letting the dim lights pass through them and reflect off. The team saw the reason no hallways or extra walls remained; the entire space was packed with furniture and strange equipment. Vials filled with differently colored liquids, odd looking medical tools, and stacks of papers rested on every counter and shelf. They felt as if they just entered a maze.

“Stay... quiet...” Jack whispered. He stared across the floor, and the others followed his eyes until they saw what he saw. A single pony sat on a stool at the far end of the floor, working on something in front of him.

The stallion had an orange coat and dark red mane, and when the team squinted they could make out a horn on his head. They spread out into the maze of shelves, making a careful advance on the pony, giving him as small of a chance as possible to escape.

Step by step, Jack approached with held breath, not daring to make a single sound that would alert the stallion to their presence. There was plenty of physical evidence to examine on this floor, but he hadn't expected to catch an actual worker during their late night break in.

Everyone sneaked up on the stallion at a snail's pace, each member of Torchwood coming in from a different angle. Wing shivered from the cool air, noticing what the patients were talking about when it came to temperature, bud didn't realize how close he was to a shelf. His body bumped against it only slightly when his body twitched from the cold, but the movement was enough to shift a set of test tubes sitting in a beaker, making a slight clink.

Immediately, a pistol levitated out from in front of the orange stallion, and a laser blast shot out in the direction of the noise. Wing dove to the floor, and the other three started to charge at the stallion before his yell ceased their assault. “Stop!”

Hearing the rage in his voice, and not wanting to risk more blind shots at them, Jack, Ruby, and Cazan complied. “Any closer and I'll kill you all now,” the stallion muttered, anger being held back in his voice. His voice was deep and throaty, yet still came out smooth.

“Whatever you're doing here, it needs to stop,” Jack told the stallion.

“Fine by me, I no longer need this place, Jack,” the unicorn replied.

Wing, Ruby, and Cazan all looked at Jack when the stallion mentioned his name. “How...” Jack breathed.

“I know many things, Captain Harkness, many things that others don't bother to know,” the stallion said. “How's that scar, Ruby?”

A mix of dozens of emotions flooded Ruby, mostly surprise and rage, but her intuition kept her from charging forward. “You...” she said, for only one pony outside of her life could know of the scar. “Why are you doing all this? Why did you hack my ship in the first place?”

The stallion placed his head on the counter for several seconds, groaning before he brought it back up and answered. “To try and show you what you seem to have so easily forgotten. All of you, so ignorant.” He paused, letting out a low chuckle. “Well, except Jack. Jack knows a lot that you don't, he just won't tell you.”

This turned everyone's eyes to Jack once more, and Jack only became more confused. He didn't know how the stallion could know his name, or what knowledge he was referencing. He wanted nothing more than to apprehend this stallion, but his aim with the laser pistol had been nearly accurate enough to kill Wing, and the unicorn didn't even look. Another problem came into Jack's view when the unicorn slid his left hoof across the table. He wore a vortex manipulator. If they pressured him, he'd just escape again. Now was the time for information.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Jack said, trying to get more out of the stallion.

“You do, the others don't,” he replied. “They see it all when they go to sleep, then they forget the moment they wake up. Fascinating, how ignorant the universe is of the truth.” He continued to adjust something in front of him, hidden from the eyes of the others. After a few more changes to whatever he worked on, he set it down, grinning at his work. With his magic, he spun his stool around to see the others, revealing his face to them for the first time. His eyes were the same shade of red as his mane and tail, and his sly grin was not one Jack wanted to see. “It's in your dreams, all of you,” the stallion said. Jack and Ruby's hearts dropped when he reached for his vortex manipulator, knowing they weren't in a position to stop him. “I no longer have need for this hospital, my research is complete and you can have it back. Ask Jack why he really came here... if any of you survive the next sixty seconds. You've done much to help this world, but will you sacrifice yourselves?”

With those words, the stallion hit his vortex manipulator and disappeared. Jack and Ruby rushed forward, and their hearts dropped at the sight of the device on the table. Both of them recognized the cylindrical object to be a future tech explosive, and the timer set for sixty seconds began ticking down.

“Can you defuse it?” Jack asked, rushing his words.

“Not with sixty seconds, I can't. Not this type of bomb,” Ruby replied.

“Bomb?” Wing and Cazan said in unified shock, running to see the device.

“We could get it out of the hospital, but there's no way we get it out of Phillydelphia in time,” Jack said, trying to find a plan that would work. “Something is going to explode.”

“What if we took it straight up?” Cazan mentioned. “Do we have time to get it high enough that the blast wouldn't affect anything?”

“Yes, perfect,” Jack replied. “Ruby, can you levitate it high enough?”

“Hold on,” she said, taking a close look at the bomb as the timer ticked past the forty second mark. She recognized the technology of the bomb, and noted the notches of red and orange along the edges, meaning she was incapable of helping. “This is from my time, I've seen this before. It has a magic trigger, I levitate this and we're done.”

“We need something right now, or we lose everyone in this hospital!” Jack stammered.

“Jack, when I mentioned taking the bomb upward, I wasn't thinking magic.”

The other three turned their heads to Cazan, understanding the meaning behind his words. Ruby shook her head, desperately trying to think up another option. Jack looked at Cazan with somber eyes, the pain of this necessity tearing into him. For a long moment, no one spoke, their minds trying to fight back reality, refusing to believe it. Cazan's face didn't move. He stood by the words he said, an reached out for the explosive.

“No, I'll do it,” Wing said, coming forward.

Cazan snatched the bomb into his claw before Wing could get there. “You're young, you're not doing this. I've lived out the good parts of my days.” Wing wanted to object, but Cazan looked at him sternly, and with a tear trickling out of his eye, the pegasus stepped back. Cazan looked down at the explosive in his hand, the timer getting closer and closer to its end, and took a deep breath, letting out a sigh.

“Jack,” he continued, spreading out his wings to prepare to speed down to the second floor and out a window. “Find this stallion who's giving Earth so much trouble.”

Jack nodded. There was nothing left to do, only one terrible decision over a worse one. He stood up straight, looking into Cazan's eyes. “I promise.”

Chapter 13- Truth

Galaxy O, Sector 3
46th Century

“Where are you going?”

Nicole bit her lip, wanting to answer Daniel's question, but under orders not to until her mission was complete. “I can't say,” was all she said in reply.

Given a few hours to rest and prepare, Nicole called the Wanderer crew together in one of the space station's lounges. They sat in a circle on comfortable bean bags, all except Nicole enjoying a small alcoholic beverage. When she was done here, Nicole would be starting her mission, so she avoided the alcohol and went with a cup of hot tea.

“The admirals from my trial have briefed me on what they know. They might have a way of finding Ruby, and they want me to do this mission alone. It's complicated, I can understand why they only want one of us.”

“Well, if any of us can find the captain and bring her back, you can,” Rufus assured her. “I've had good captains and I've had good commanders above me, but never seemed to get both at the same time until the Wanderer.”

Daniel and Luke nodded in agreement, and Nicole thanked them for their appreciation. She stared at the spoon in her tea cup as her magic spun it, around and around, stirring for no reason but to try and calm herself. “I just hope she's alright, wherever she is.”

“You'll bring her back, commander,” Luke said, giving her a warm grin. “But hey, let us in on the story when you return, alright?”

Nicole laughed. “They said I could tell you all what happened once I get back, so I'll be sure to.”

Nicole hung up her uniform in her room, then made her way back down to the Secret Zone. The few hours of break had allowed all the facts she'd been told to sink in, and things started making sense. Wearing a uniform from the future into the past might have consequences; though unlikely it was best to be safe.

She entered a different room of the Secret Zone this time, this one well lit with white lights adorning the ceiling. There was no furniture, the walls and floor both a barren white. The room was usually used for training exercises or testing experiments. Now, it served as a secluded place to send a pony through time. The five admirals stood waiting with the time agent, who held some sort of device in the air with his magic.

“Commander, what I have here is a vortex manipulator,” he said upon seeing Nicole. “This will allow you to travel into the past. The numbers I asked you to memorize earlier will make sense once you see it.”

Nicole moved closer and examined the device. It was mostly black, with two rows of blue numbers lit up on one side. The vortex manipulator was designed to fit around a foreleg, much like tools and weaponry for earth ponies and pegasi.

“The first row is for spacial location,” the time agent explained. “That gets you to a certain place in the universe. The second row is for the time you arrive.” He held out the vortex manipulator towards Nicole, and she slipped it onto her left foreleg. “Now, there are more complicated features that you don't need to worry about learning, but they're still there, so don't change anything on the device unless you're coming back here. Use the memorized numbers. Once you've completed your investigation on the research facility, we're giving you a week to try and find your captain. If you don't find her, come back, and I promise that if you complete your mission successfully, we'll continue helping you track her down.”

Admiral Hura approached Nicole, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Remember, commander, if you don't find her, this was not your fault,” she said. “You were dealing with a pony with knowledge and tech beyond any of us. Good luck.”

Nicole nodded, appreciating the words of kindness. “Thank you, Admiral,” she replied, then looked down towards the vortex manipulator, coordinates plugged in for her and ready to launch.

“I've set it for you to arrive late at night, you should have minimal interference in the facility,” the time agent told Nicole. “If you do encounter anypony, you have full authority to defend yourself.”

Nicole took a deep breath, sitting down so she could hold up her vortex manipulator and activate it with her other hoof. “How's this gonna feel?” she asked.

“It'll daze you for sure, but hopefully not too bad. Everypony responds differently.”

For a moment, her hoof shook above the button, but she steadied it, focusing on the mission. A pony bent on some sort of destruction was on the loose. He'd taken her captain. This mission would help track down Ruby, and bring this crazed stallion to justice.

With one last moment of pause, she slammed down her hoof on the vortex manipulator.

Earth
Phillydelphia
21st Century

Nicole's head seemed to be spinning in circles after she pressed the button. All she saw was a flash of light, blinding her as the sound of an electrical crack filled her ears. When the light and sound faded, intense dizziness overtook her as her body, and though the light was gone she still found it difficult to see, like a massive camera flash had hit her spot on. She sat down and rubbed her temple, trying to regain her senses.

Her defensive instinct managed to push through her confused state. Her ears perked up to a new noise, this one hoof steps rushing towards her. Pain still racked her head, but she tensed, hearing a young male voice shout. “It's a unicorn! She's got something on her foreleg!”

Planting down her front hooves and shifting her weight to them, Nicole pushed her hind legs off the ground, spinning around for a kick to the stallion rushing towards her. He dodged, but bumped hard into something, and she heard the sound of several glass objects falling and shattering on the floor.

Though she was coming to, it wasn't soon enough to turn around again, and the stallion grappled her from behind, locking her forelegs by curling his own around them, then pulling her to the floor. She flailed and kicked, but the stallion held fast, and her heart sank as she heard more hoof steps approaching. Why did she have to be one of the few to struggle with time travel? Her tiny moment of haziness cost her dearly. If she couldn't get out of the stallion's grip, the admirals back at the space station would be missing two officers instead of one. She had a stun spell ready to try and fight back any others, but couldn't get her horn pointed at the pony holding her down.

“You, you work with him, don't you?” the stallion below her said. “How do you disable the bomb?”

“Let me go, please, I don't know what bomb you're talking about,” she responded, hoping a plea may buy her time. Her eyes got their full use back, and she looked up to see a dark blue earth pony coming around in front of her. Her sight returning, she looked around the room, seeing what definitely looked like a research facility. The lighting was dim, and counters and shelves were scattered everywhere, all sorts of papers and equipment stacked on top of them.

“Wait, that's a...” she heard the blue stallion in front of her say as he stopped. “Don't go anywhere, she's got a vortex manipulator!”

The pony moved right up to her face, close enough for his darker blue mane to brush against her forehead as he stared at her. “Listen, you want to live? Give me that vortex manipulator right now.”

Nicole bashed her head against the stallion, sending him reeling back, then hit him with a stun spell. She tightened her abdomen, then swung her hind legs towards her head, moving into a backwards somersault and slipping free of the other pony's grasp. She regained her footing quickly, spinning around to take on the third set of hoofsteps she'd heard from behind her. Her eyes found a red unicorn mare, holding a laser pistol at her, but with eyes wide in shock. It took Nicole no time at all to recognize the pony before her, and she returned the surprised gaze.

“Ruby!”

“Nicole!”

The blue earth pony had regained his footing and come up from behind Nicole, stepping between her and her captain. “Great, you're not an enemy, there's a twist. Now give me your vortex manipulator!” He yelled directly into her face, a tone of ferocity and urgency behind his voice. Though Nicole stood in the vicinity of her captain, who looked completely unharmed, this stallion scared her.

“But who-”

“Do it!” she heard Ruby call out.

Nicole didn't know the usual attitude of the stallion in front of her, but she knew Ruby. Ruby never shouted unless something was urgent. She had no idea who the other ponies were, but if she trusted anypony, it was her captain. Without a second thought, she slid off the device and passed it over. The earth pony hastily slid it onto his hoof, adjusting the coordinates on the device.

“Fifteen seconds, if I don't leave now we all die!” Nicole heard an older voice call out. The voice came from farther back in the massive room, seeming to be an entire floor of a building with no walls to separate anything. She couldn't see where the voice came from. “What's happening?!”

“Toss it to me!” the stallion said back. From the other end of the room, Nicole watched some sort of small object arc through the air, and land in his front hooves. When she looked at it, she realized what bomb the pony who grappled her had been talking about. The stallion gripped the bomb in his mouth, then activated the vortex manipulator, disappearing.

“Jack!”

Wing pushed Nicole out of the way to leap towards where Jack sat moments ago, reaching out a hoof. “No!”

Ruby rushed to Wing's side and wrapped a hoof around him before he broke down. “He knows what he's doing,” Ruby assured him. “He's going to come back.”

“Could he come back to life from an explosion?” Wing replied, finding the thought impossible. “Even with his ability...”

Nicole stood back in silence, not wanting to interrupt the moment. It was clear Ruby had made some allies out of ponies from the time she got pulled back to. She was in utter disbelief that she'd found her captain the moment she traveled through time, but with the possibility that Ruby just lost somepony close to her, she held back her excitement.

“What was that thing?” Cazan asked, joining the others. Nicole now saw the source of the fourth voice to be a griffon rather than a pony. Unknown to Nicole, only moments before she arrived the griffon was on his way out of the hospital to save it from the explosion.

From behind Cazan, a large flash appeared from thin air, just like when Nicole had arrived. After the bright light dissipated, Jack appeared in the room once more. He didn't appear standing up; instead he popped into existence on his back, panting for breath.

“You're alive!” Wing instantly broke from Ruby's caress and tackled Jack, making the blue stallion burst into laughter. Wing hugged him tightly until Jack managed to roll him off, still laughing.

“Hey, you know I can't die, what's the big deal?” he said, grinning. “You were probably thinking that exploding would be an exception. While you're wrong, I don't care for getting blown up.”

Ruby beamed at Jack's success in getting rid of the bomb, now with no one harmed rather than the choice between one death or many. Out of curiosity, however, a question sat in her mind. “The bomb... what did you do with it?”

“It's very tricky to troubleshoot a vortex manipulator to bring you somewhere that would kill you,” Jack replied. “Like space, or the center of a star, or in my case, at the edge of this planet's atmosphere.” He held up his hoof, showing off the vortex manipulator. “Used to own one of these, and trust me when I say I learned from the best on how to time travel. Went way up above ground and about 300 years back to avoid too many witnesses. Let go of the bomb and came back here before I hit the ground. There might be talk of a random fiery blast in the sky, written in some old pony history book.”

Ruby shook her head and chuckled. Jack never ceased to impress her. “Well, good to have you back,” she said. “And Cazan!”

The griffon looked back at her, a smile on his face as well as the adrenaline in his system began to fade away. “Good that you never left,” she told him. “I never want to see you have to make a decision like that again.”

“And I never want to be in that position again,” Cazan replied, laughing as both Wing and Ruby came up to hug their fellow team member. All of them felt giddy and silly, their minds pushing away the horror of the past minute.

Jack stood up and approached Nicole, slipping the vortex manipulator off his foreleg and pushing it across the floor to the unicorn. “Thanks,” he said. “You just saved a life.” He held out a foreleg towards the unicorn.

Nicole blushed, and nodded, using her magic to slide the device back on to her own leg. Once back on and secure, she shook Jack's hoof with her own, silently thanking this stallion for helping keep Ruby safe. “Glad I could help,” she said.

Jack turned his head back to the hugging trio. “Hey, Ruby! Who's your time traveling friend?”

Ruby first thought Jack was making a joke, until the one happy portion of the moments before Jack took the bomb shot back into her head. “Nicole!” she shouted. She stumbled out of the hug, setting Wing and Cazan off balance for a moment, but they recovered without falling. She stared in disbelief, her friend and commander standing before her. “You're... how did you...”

“Long story,” Nicole replied with a shrug, several tears trickling down her face. She was really there. Right in front of her. A long scar on her cheek, which she'd have to ask about, but otherwise unharmed. Weeks of not even knowing whether she was alive, and now, one of the first ponies she met on her journey into the past. “We... we had no idea how to find you when you disappeared from the ship... the others will be so happy...” She sniffled, trying to fight her desire to just let loose a joyful crying fit. “Can I get in on all this hugging going on?”

Jack stood closer to Nicole than Ruby did at that moment, and pointed a hoof at himself, raising an eyebrow. “Do you mean with me? I'd be happy to-”

“Nicole, ignore this stallion as much as possible,” Ruby said, giving Jack a playful punch as she rushed past him.

“What? I was just trying to be nice!”

Ruby threw Nicole into a hug, both of them shedding some tears at the happiness of reunion. Neither spoke, they simply cherished the feeling of finding a dear friend again after so long. Wing and Cazan's hearts warmed when they calmed their own joy and looked at them, seeing that somepony from Ruby's time had come to find her.

Though Jack wanted nothing more than to celebrate their victory and Ruby's reunion, with the threat gone, there was still work to be done. “Sorry to interrupt, Nicole, was it?” he said. “But we were in the middle of a mission before you arrived, which actually brings up a confusing point... how in the world did you know Ruby would be here?”

Ruby and Nicole pulled away from each other, and realizing Nicole was new to her team members, Ruby quickly introduced Nicole as her first officer, then told Nicole the names of the other three.

“Actually... I didn't,” Nicole replied simply. “This is some impossible luck that I came here at this exact time.”

“Crazy things happen in the universe,” Jack told her. “I've seen things much, much crazier, to the point where I'd call this somewhat likely.”

“I was sent here on a mission of my own, with the chance to find my captain as payment,” Nicole explained. “Admirals from my time are working with these ponies called time agents from the future, trying to track down the pony who took Ruby off of our ship. They have bits and pieces of information on him, and found out this place was a research facility of his.”

This was promising news for the Torchwood team. Pieces were starting to come together, proving the former hunches that more than just one incident tied to this unknown orange stallion.

“Time agents, huh? I used to be one myself,” Jack mentioned. “I'll be interested to hear what information they have. Let's clear this place, then I'll show you what Ruby's been helping with while stranded in this time.”

Now certain they'd be undisturbed, the five searched the entire third floor of the hospital, inch by inch. Jack told Wing some stories about the time agency he once worked for in his own universe while they gathered paperwork together. Stacks of documents rested all over the place, and there was no point in reading in depth while still here. With a message to Twilight or Celestia, everything on this floor could be shipped to their headquarters, where the team could investigate in comfort.

Cazan explored the third floor on his own, keeping an eye out for any medical equipment he recognized. He tried discerning the contents of various vials and flasks, to no avail, and spent most of the time opening boxes and checking the contents. He passed any papers he found to Jack and Wing who were compiling all of it. He found some stoppers to seal flasks, allowing transport of them so he could study further, and also found several cases of syringes, seeming to contain the same liquids the flasks held. He hated to think of patients below this floor who possibly received injections from this insane pony.

While Ruby and Nicole caught up on time lost, more time for Ruby than for Nicole, thanks to the possibilities of time travel, the two mares found a ventilation shaft to crawl into and check for anything that might be causing the strange feeling of cold patients complained about. They reached several vertical drops, but luckily none of them extended too far down, allowing them to safely slide down into the vents of the second floor. To not wake patients, they lowered their conversation to a whisper, carefully crawling across the cold metal.

They traveled farther, seeing nothing but ordinary ventilation shafts. Grates were cut out on the bottom side of the vent above each room, and the two stopped to look down at patients each time they passed one, checking for anything abnormal. They discovered nothing of note until Ruby turned a corner at the far end of the building. Attached to the wall of the vent was a large, white hexagon, emitting a low hum.

Ruby approached with caution, motioning for Nicole to stop behind her. She reached out and waved a hoof in front of the device. Though nothing happened, she felt a breeze emanating from the device specifically rather than the vents usual flow of air.

“It's releasing some sort of clear gas,” Ruby said. “This must be what's causing the feeling of cold. Maybe the vivid dreams too.”

Not knowing of the magic lock on the bomb from earlier in the night, Nicole wrapped a magical grip around the device and tried to pull it off the vent wall. Ruby inhaled deeply in fear, but the object simply pulled off with a click, and the hum stopped.

“Well done,” Ruby complimented, letting go of her breath.

“Thanks,” Nicole replied. “Let's check the rest of the vents then stop crawling around in here.”

“Can't wait to get out, sounds like a plan,” Ruby told her first officer.

The main room of Torchwood headquarters once again felt cluttered, for the team confiscated every last item on the hospital's third floor and brought it back for study. The first day back, everyone just rested from the late night mission, and the day after reports came that the ventilation seemed fixed and the strange dreams had stopped. Ruby made a note to keep an eye out for any readings, smal or large, from that area, in case any hospital employees were involved and tried to start anything new. With any luck, however, the orange stallion they sought after, clearly in charge of the operation, would believe the hospital destroyed, or at least give up on it at this point. He'd receive much quicker offensive action if he tried to use that building again.

Nicole was astounded by the work Ruby and her new friends had accomplished. Growing up in a time where seeing an alien was nearly as common as seeing another pony made her never realize what life was like before pony kind was ready for the truth. She felt humbled to be assigned under Ruby's command, seeing how hard she worked. Even when stranded thousands of years out of her time, Nicole's captain still found ways to help others, putting discovery of a way back at a lower priority.

Now she sat in a chair belonging to one of the legendary elements of harmony, still spoken of in her time. She felt so young sitting next to the other Torchwood members, who already grew accustomed to time travel and other crazy phenomenon. Though existence of parallel universes had been proven long before her time, never had she heard of anyone actually crossing from one to another. That, combined with his miraculous ability to heal and revive, made her particularly curious about Jack.

The other Torchwood members sat in the chairs around Nicole, enjoying a cup of coffee as the morning sun started poking its warm light above the bottom edge of the windows. They continued talking to each other quietly, until a purple alicorn entered the room, princess Twilight Sparkle herself.

Though she'd been told not too, Nicole felt ashamed not bowing to this ancient princess as she entered the room. However, after Twilight gave her a warm, welcoming smile, she relaxed a bit, realizing that this alicorn wasn't some legend imprinted in a history book. She was a real pony.

The time had come for Nicole to share what she learned from the time agents in the future. Now aware of the capabilities Torchwood possessed, and the extensive knowledge on time travel Jack held, she trusted Ruby's judgment that sharing this information with all of Torchwood as well as the princess would not damage the time agents' mission. When all focused on her, she started her story.

“The time agents don't know the stallion's actual name, so they call him Ayumu,” Nicole began. “At first, they just thought of him as a time traveling terrorist, causing random acts of violence and chaos throughout the universe and at different points in time.”

This sounded exactly like what Torchwood dealt with involving this stallion so far. The stealing of the device from Twilight's castle, the blood draining murderer in Manehattan, and before all of that, hacking Ruby's ship and consequentially leaving Ruby stranded in the past. So far, only the coins connected incidents, and none knew if any other alien encounters so far were the fault of Ayumu or not.

“Captain Harkness, hopefully you can help with this next part, I don't really know what they're talking about,” Nicole told Jack.

“I'm sure I can make some sense of it, and just call me Jack,” Jack replied. He felt cold eyes staring at him after he made Nicole blush a bit, and turned to see Ruby and Wing glaring him down. Jack threw up his front hooves in a shrug. “All of you call me Jack, just trying to make things less formal,” he said. Wing's face turned to a smile, unable to keep his fake anger up against the blue stallion, but Ruby kept her glare. Jack shook his head. “All I do is introduce myself and everyone freaks out,” he added. “Sorry, Nicole, go on.” He placed his front hooves back down in front of him once more, turning his attention back to the unicorn.

“The time agents said that when they investigated more, there was a connection between the known places and times Ayumu visited,” Nicole went on. “Crazy amounts of time energy that would only be connected to what they call 'fixed points', or something like that. They say they know what points of time can change and what events are set, but the places and times Ayumu's been to don't seem to be fixed, even though they give off a reading that they are.”

This revelation started turning gears in Jack's head. The first place Ayumu had landed. Canterlot, while Wing was still a new royal guard officer. Then Ponyville, at the start of the 21st century. Jack visited both these places before. After this realization hit his mind, his breath grew quick as a memory came rushing back to him. On the cybership, a pony had called out for help over communication lines. An admiral... Jack thought to himself. Her name was... Jack shot a quick glance at Ruby. She'd previously met one of the most important beings in the universe. She'd called him by his name. Well, his title at least.

“Because of this, the time agents think that all these times were once connected, all part of some major universe affecting event. But somehow, without any of them knowing about it, there was a reset, and none of those events ever happened.”

Jack shook his head, the horrors of what once was coming back to him. “It can't be...” he muttered under his breath.

“They think that Ayumu is trying to bring back the events that no longer happened.”

“We have to stop him.”

Jack abruptly stood up, his reaction stronger than the others. Everyone in the room looked towards him, confused by the amount of concern that appeared on his face.

“I get that Ayumu is bad, but what's so bad about these events that got erased from time?” Ruby asked.

“You don't understand. This just got more serious than we realized,” Jack replied, moving to stand in the center of the chairs. “I've seen what happened before. If it happens again, everyone dies. I don't mean everyone on Earth, I don't mean everyone in this universe alone. Everyone. Everything that exists. It's all doomed.” Jack slowly spun while he talked, taking a moment to look at everyone in the room. He paused for a much longer duration when his eyes rested on Wing.

Wing saw that look again. The look he'd seen and failed to understand. The look of pain Jack wore on his face even though he constantly assured Wing that all was fine. Jack held the look for too long this time, and Wing knew now that he wasn't just paranoid and nervous. He needed to ask Jack for the truth.

“Wait, what do you mean everything in existence?” Nicole asked. “What happened before this reset?”

“Chaos struck across the universe,” Jack told the mare, at last averting his gaze from Wing. “Much like Ayumu is causing chaos now. Just a precursor to ultimate destruction. And if Ayumu was on your ship, you were involved in one of the major events. He's visiting places where events involved in the destruction took place. You might have been killed before the reset happened, leaving Ruby without a first officer. Maybe more on your crew died too.”

Worry among the others in the room grew as Jack spoke. Nicole felt something when Jack told her she may have died. It wasn't a memory, it was just a... feeling. Something in the pit of her stomach churned, and chills ran down her spine.

“This is Torchwood's most important mission now,” Jack said. “We have to stop this.”

“Maybe... we should take a short break from discussion, however,” Twilight said. She noticed drops of sweat trickling down from Jack's brow. His body trembled, and glances in Wing's direction continued. The news of Ayumu's likely intent brought back memories that while none of the others could remember at all, Jack had put away. He needed a moment to breath, whether he realized it or not. “Let's all cool off, take in this information, and come back in half an hour.”

Jack made no hesitation, trotting out of the room before anyone else even stood up. He turned down the hallway towards him and Wing's bedroom, and pushed through the door, disappearing behind it.

“Alright, somepony needs to check on him,” Ruby said as she got out of her chair.

“I'll do it,” Wing told her, breaking into a jog after he stood up, not wanting to leave Jack alone at a time like this.

Jack laid down on his stomach on top of the bed, front hooves draped over his neck, resting on his mane. The challenges he'd faced already with this new Torchwood team had been dangerous enough. Stopping murderers and thiefs, scouts who were searching for weak worlds their race could invade, all of Aymu's plans around this time in history. Torchwood had stopped them all, but now just four beings stood between Ayumu and the revival of events cleared away. Jack struggled to think up how any of this was possible. How did he know? Just before the reset, the Doctor had said that only those with extensive time travel experience would remember anything. But if that were the case, the time agents would have no mystery surrounding these reset events, they'd know what was coming just as much as Jack did. There had to be something else, some different reasoning determining who remembered and who didn't. Now, some of Ayumu's words from two nights ago made sense in his mind.

“They see it all when they go to sleep, then they forget the moment they wake up. Fascinating, how ignorant the universe is of the truth.”

Ayumu had told Jack he knew things that the others didn't. He knew about what happened before. All the chaos and death. However, according to Ayumu, those that didn't remember saw the events take place in their dreams. Was that his goal at the hospital? To investigate dreams? All the patients had complained, and when Jack thought back to his dream that night, it had certainly been vivid, and something about it seemed odd...

His rampaging thoughts halted at the sound of the bedroom door creaking open. Wing popped in through the door, closing it behind him and trotting to the bed, quickly climbing up and laying down next to Jack. Jack immediately nuzzled underneath Wing's neck, and Wing pushed back with force of his own, letting out a sigh.

“Sorry about back there,” Jack said. “Guess I scared everyone a little bit.”

“It's ok,” Wing told him, slowly breaking from the nuzzle. He bit his lower lip, and his eyes darted away from the blue stallion for a moment, the words he wanted to say caught in his throat. “But Jack... I need to ask you about something.”

“What is it?”

This was it. Now or never. “I saw the way you looked at me earlier...” Wing began, his words slow to come out. “Rather, I've seen the way you've looked at me for quite a while. Like you're sad, but happy at the same time. Like you know something I don't. And now, if you're right that Ayumu has been visiting times where these events took place, then one happened during my time as a member of the royal guard.”

Jack knew the direction of this conversation. He'd fought to avoid the topic for so long, not wanting to burden Wing with the knowledge he had. Wing made him so happy over the past few months; Jack had fought to keep the pegasus from learning the truth.

“Jack... how do you know who I am? You didn't just see me in the bar and decide to talk to me, did you?”

There was a long silence before Jack nodded his head, letting Wing know he assumed correctly. “I got thrown into this universe on accident the first time. Felt stranded for good until a very good friend of mine found me. We started traveling through time, trying to track down a source of evil much more powerful than Ayumu. At one point, we ended up at Canterlot Castle. Just like you said, it was your time.

“The royal guard had been infiltrated by an alien race. They killed guard members and disguised themselves as them. Their goal was to take over the castle, then the rest of your world. That's when I met you.”

Wing caught sight of Jack starting to tremble again, and placed a hoof on top of Jack's foreleg. Ever since Wing met Jack, the blue stallion had shown such confidence. Before, Wing was just a lonely, nervous new guard recruit. Jack showed him how not to be. He fought on the Torchwood team with newfound confidence, and now came the time for Wing to be the strong one in return, for all the times Jack did so for him.

“You were brand new to the guard, a young officer, cute,” Jack said, managing a slight chuckle. The contact of Wing's hoof seemed to help with the trembles. “You were losing your mind at the horror of it all, and I stepped forward and calmed you down. I promised you that once all the fighting was over, I'd buy you a drink.”

Wing feared the answer to his next question. “What happened?”

“Just before the end of the fight, one of the aliens shot out a blast at me. You didn't know I could live it... you dove in front... I watched you die. Your body landed right in front of me.”

A tear dropped from Jack's eye as he stared down at the bed. Wing welled up as well, desperately wishing he could remember any of this happening.

“When you can't die, you see a lot of others go before you,” Jack continued. “I've seen so many people come and go. Friends. People I love...” Jack sniffed as more memories he suppressed flashed in front of him. Those he didn't just seduce for the fun, those he felt a true connection to. Ianto, who died in his arms in a battle to save the children of earth, and others before him, ones he'd allowed to get close to his heart. Outside of those he loved, he witnessed countless deaths during world wars on Earth, as well as in battles far away from the planet, friends and mere acquaintances, all tearing into his heart with the knowledge that it was impossible for him to join them. “The reason I've been looking at you that way is because I couldn't stand to lose you. You died for someone who couldn't die, and I can never repay that. Not ever.”

Wing moved his hoof from a soft touch and instead wrapped the hoof around Jack's shoulder, pulling him in closer, nuzzling the top of his neck, and Jack spoke again. “Eventually, regardless of what happens, you'll die, and I'll just keep going. For how long, I don't know. I've died more times than I can count.”

Wing wished he knew how to help Jack with his pain. The terrors he must have faced went beyond anything Wing could comprehend. He only hoped that his disagreement with one point Jack made would help him. “You did repay me,” Wing said. He put his free hoof down on Jack's forelegs when he started to rise in protest, and he hugged Jack tighter with his other hoof. “I don't remember the attack on the castle... as much as that confuses me... but the Wing you met, the nervous, scared pegasus. That was me before I met you. Every day I went to work, I was so happy that I was the lowest ranking officer, because it meant I didn't have to take charge of too many ponies. I wanted to protect the princesses, but I was terrified of the thought that the castle might ever actually get attacked.

“You made me into the pony I should have been all along,” Wing told him. “The first time we had to fight, when we were sent back in time to Ponyville, I was more scared than you know. Then the other night, at the hospital, before we knew Nicole was an ally, I grappled her to the ground without a second thought. All this confidence and bravery I have now, it's because of you.”

Jack blinked away a few more tears, and nuzzled up into Wing again. His mind grew calm through Wing's soothing words. Jack knew that holding all the pain he'd felt in his lifetime inside led to breakdowns, but so far that was the only way he knew of coping. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn't know I'd react like this to the news.”

“I can't imagine how much you've seen, how much you've done,” Wing replied. “But you not being able to die doesn't make you bad. You're still good. I mean, you traveled to a completely different universe just to go on a date with a pony who wouldn't remember you promised. Come on!”

That comment got a laugh out of Jack, and he slipped a hoof of his own around Wing's shoulder. He couldn't run from memories of his past. They'd haunt him for however long the universe decided to keep him alive. But for now, he had to focus on the present, without a dreaded outlook towards the future. This pony code named Ayumu may be planning the most destructive attack on all of existence, but this universe wasn't unguarged. It had Jack Harkness, Wing, Ruby, Cazan. Time and time again, the Torchwood on the earth Jack knew stopped certain peril. This Torchwood would be ready too.

Chapter 14- Origins

The next day, the Torchwood members began sifting through the stacks of paperwork and other materials recovered from the hospital. One common theme rapidly became apparent: dreams. Ayumu and whoever worked with him poured their research efforts at the hospital into dreams. This confirmed that the patients' complaints came from something Ayumu was doing. As to his ultimate goal, the team was still at a loss.

Ruby and Wing worked together on the papers, organizing them and trying to make sense of the research. Cazan was in his medical room, working with the serums recovered. Jack left the headquarters to talk to Twilight, and Nicole temporarily returned to her own time.

When Nicole asked Ruby about coming home the night before, Ruby found out she was not as excited and prepared to return as she thought. She couldn't stay in this new time forever; she had too much back home to return to, but she'd grown connected to the ponies around her here as well. Not only that, but the threat of Ayumu made her question where she'd be most helpful. Ayumu had attacked this point in time on more than one occasion.

“Wing,” Ruby spoke up, wanting to hear his opinion on her thoughts. “What do you think about going home?”

Wing set aside the papers for a moment. The entire time the two of them worked, he also thought of home, and whether or not to go back. Ruby seemed to read his mind. “I miss home, but...” he began, trailing off. “I've been gone for a while now, and it feels more and more distant. With Jack here, I'm happy,” he said. “I think I still want to go back... if Jack would come with me.”

Ruby nodded her head. “So what about Torchwood?”

“That's the thing,” Wing replied. “After all we've done, could this planet go without Torchwood? I don't know.”

Ruby couldn't help but agree with that uncertainty. “As much as I like it here, I have to go back,” she admitted.

“Captain for the Equestrian Union, sounds pretty important to me,” Wing said. He still felt wonder every time he tried imagining Ruby's time. Ponies scattered across space, Ruby leading a ship through the stars.

“But hey, rest assured, I'll make sure those time agents let Nicole keep the vortex manipulator. No way I'm not stopping by to visit you,” Ruby said, grinning. While Jack had formed an intimate bond with Wing, Ruby found herself connected to the pegasus through their shared loss of not being home. She considered him one of her closest friends.

Wing laughed, and let out a soft sigh. “I'd like that.”

“What do you say we get Ayumu, then decide when to part ways?”

“Ayumu's definitely the biggest threat we've faced,” Wing replied. “Let's do that.”

With the theme of the research discovered, Jack approached Twilight late in the morning. She sat towards the back of her castle's large library, using her magic to organize books, sending a book one direction, then another the opposite way. He quietly knocked against one of the tall shelves when he got close, to get her attention without startling her.

Twilight turned her head around at the noise. “Hello Jack, how's the investigation?” she asked.

“We know what he was doing at the hospital, we just don't know why yet,” Jack explained. “Do you know anything special about dreams?”

Twilight shook her head. “That's what he was researching? Dreams?”

“Seems so,” Jack replied. “I remember Ayumu mentioning that everyone supposedly sees the time events that never happened when they sleep, then forget when they awake. I can't say if that's true, but he seems to know a lot.”

Twilight put a hoof to her chin, pulling down a couple books from the shelf next to her. “I can look into some things myself, but I know a princess who would be better at helping than me.”

Canterlot

Celestia stood on a pearl white balcony, gazing out at the glorious city of Canterlot below. Her sun now shone down with a warm, late morning light, and the ponies in the bustling city went about their day to day activities as usual.

She turned back into her castle, walking slowly, her mind torn on what to do. Before Jack returned, Celestia relied only on herself and Luna to handle any alien attacks. Although her and her sister managed, she knew it was not a solution that could hold up for long. She needed something to help, and Torchwood became that help.

That help was only meant to be temporary, however. Wing and Ruby were both taken from their own time, stranded in this one. Now, with the arrival of somepony from Ruby's time, as Twilight relayed to her, they both had a way to get home. Jack wasn't even in his own universe. Could she really ask them all to stay? With all the new threats Torchwood had stopped, she didn't know if Equestria could survive without them.

“Troubled thoughts?”

Celestia startled at the appearance of her younger sister. Luna's starry mane flowed with even more grace than her own. She noticed her sister's heavy eyes.

“I thought you'd already be asleep, sister,” Celestia said.

“I will retire soon,” Luna told her. “What troubles you, sister? You always get that look on your face when something lingers on your mind.”

Celestia sighed. “I allowed Torchwood to rise without thinking about its fall,” she started. “The members are not prisoners to this world. I will not keep them here. But all except for Cazan are from other places, other times. They now have the means to return, and I don't know what will happen when they leave.”

“I understand your concern, but it is misplaced,” Luna said. “They are good ponies. They all volunteered to help even though they were lost from their own homes. They will leave, but not without ensuring Equestria can continue without them.”

“Equestria isn't ready for the truth about the universe yet,” Celestia replied. “There would be too much panic. Very few have even considered trying to journey out into space. The harmony and peace we have with almost every nation would be greatly tested if a fear of alien life presented itself. And you know that we alone can't handle the increasing attention the planet has gotten.”

“The current Torchwood members were great to start the organization, because they required no training,” Luna responded. “But training a small group of ponies would be doable. If you don't want to keep the current members here, we must help them. Keep our eyes open for potential replacements. Curious, highly capable ponies.”

Celestia listened, and each word Luna spoke eased her thoughts more and more. “Thank you, dear sister,” she said, looking down at Luna. “You see this issue more clearly than I. I am grateful for the advice.”

“As I am grateful for yours. You have helped me much,” Luna replied. She raised a hoof in front of her mouth, letting out a long yawn. “I must rest. Enjoy the day, Celestia. I will see you again before you set the sun.”

Luna retreated to her bed chambers, and Celestia looked out on the city once more. Her sister was right. Rather than wonder how to either have the Torchwood team stay or go on without them, they needed new members. Ponies with aptitude for the task, that could be quickly trained.

Members in the emergency response police would be a good place to start. She made a mental note to attend one of their practice sessions to scout out the best of them. As for other places to look, for the moment she was unsure. She didn't even know what traits would necessarily be best for a secret extraterrestrial defense force.

A magical pop sounded just to her right, and she saw a scroll appearing, tied with the ribbon Twilight always used. She opened it up right away in case the note was urgent, and found a request for Luna to come to Twilight's castle. Her skills were needed in helping solve part of the mystery around the major threat to Equestria.

Without any imminent danger, Celestia decided this help would be better received if Luna slept first. She walked to her large office where she stored paper and quills, and wrote a note letting Twilight know that Luna would arrive that evening.

Galaxy O, Sector 3
46th Century

Nicole suffered the intense dizziness once more as she zapped from one time to another, reappearing in the same room she'd stood in before going back. She'd misclicked one of the numbers and ended up two weeks past the time she'd left, so nopony waited in the room to greet her.

After regaining all her senses, she remembered the room she'd been told to go to if nopony was around. She left the small room and entered the dark hallway beyond it. She wished the Secret Zone would put a few more lights in. Nopony without a badge could get in anyways.

She walked down the hallway, through the break room, and over to the room where she first met with the admirals and the time agent. She opened the door, finding the time agent and Admiral Hura inside, working on a computer.

“Commander!” Admiral Hura stood up and rushed to Nicole as soon as she entered. “You didn't report back at the expected time, it's been two weeks. Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Nicole shook her head. “No, admiral,” she replied. “Must've hit one of the buttons incorrectly, I apologize for the mistake. Glad I hit a time button wrong and not a space one.”

“Glad indeed, commander, welcome back,” the time agent said. He stayed in his seat, preparing to bring something up on the large display at the end of the black table. “I see Captain Ruby isn't with you. I'm sorry this mission couldn't help, but I promise we will keep working with you until she's found.”

“Oh, she is found!” Nicole told the stallion. “She just can't come back just yet. Things are complicated, I have a lot of news to share.”

“Well, I've got news too, seems we have plenty to discuss.” The time agent waved a hoof to a chair across from him. “Please, have a seat. Let's get each other caught up.”

Admiral Hura returned to her work, and Nicole sat down across from the time agent. She began with her news first, explaining all the events that happened on her journey back in time. She talked about the encounter with the Torchwood team and how she'd just missed direct contact with Ayumu. She explained all she'd been told about Torchwood and what was happening back in that time, and how the team managed to link several attacks on Earth back to Ayumu and those that worked with him. Lastly, she explained what Jack knew about the missing points in time, how the fate of all existence was at stake before some powerful being reset everything.

The time agent listened intently, taking notes at certain points to bring back to the time agency. When Nicole finished, he spoke up again. “All that will be very helpful,” he told her. “I will see if it's possible to get some time agents stationed in that time, but we can't interfere too much. Now, onto the information I have.”

Having already prepared the display, a moment later a picture flashed up on the screen at the end of the table. It showed a group of scientists, standing together and smiling for the photo. Nicole didn't recognize anypony in the picture, unsure what to make of what she saw.

“This is a picture we managed to dig up from a time two hundred years in your future. This team of scientists didn't like the lack of funding and research towards parallel universes, which was their focus. They ignored government restrictions on research and went rogue, pursuing their own desire to discover inter-universe travel, despite the known risks.”

The picture zoomed in on one of the stallions in the photo, the name “Tim Star” appearing above his head. He had a lush, green coat and bright blue mane, and his smile was warm and friendly. Next to his face, the photo of Ayumu Nicole had been shown earlier appeared, and numbers and figures started appearing on the screen.

“After analysis of the eyes and facial features of these two stallions...” The time agent waited for the numbers to stop moving before explaining. “There's a 65 percent chance that they are the same pony, and at some point Ayumu dyed his mane, tail and coat. Hard to tell with just two photos. Now, that alone isn't much to go off of, but let me tell you what happened to these scientists.”

A new photo appeared on the screen, this one solemn to look at. Nicole closed her eyes for a moment, wincing, before looking again. The picture showed some sort of scientific lab. In the center of the photo was some sort of cylindrical machine, at least, that's what it was before it exploded. The walls were charred black from the fiery burst. Chunks of metal and machine parts littered the floor. So did body parts of the science team.

“Some of the team members were accounted for after the accident, some were never found,” the time agent said. “Only one pony was known to survive. The one we were just looking at.”

Nicole tore her eyes away from the horrific sight up on the screen, directing her focus to the time agent. “What happened to him?”

“Doctors described his mental health as deteriorated,” the stallion went on. “He'd gone completely insane. Screaming about 'nothingness' and 'emptiness' and 'the truth'. Let me tell you a little about a concept known as the void.

“Between universes, there is a gap. Nothing exists there. Nothing can exist there, as far as we know. It is an empty space void of any matter or energy. This is the reason inter-universe travel research stopped. Nopony could figure out how to get through the void in order to enter a different universe. The walls between universes are sealed up tight, and it appears to be done like that on purpose.

“As to how this captain Harkness got through, I'm sure that's a secret that I'll let him keep, if he was involved in saving the universe once before. But this team tried to get through and failed, and that left them inside the void.”

Nicole bit her lip, putting the pieces together. “So the team either died or became lost in the void, but somehow this one stallion made it back?”

“Correct,” the time agent replied. “Without proper protection from the void, he lost his mind. The only records we have of him is his spouting about 'the truth'.

“This stallion went missing permanently after breaking out of the hospital. Now, all this tying to Ayumu seems very unlikely. However, in situations like this, likely becomes definite, unlikely becomes likely, and impossible becomes possible. We're talking about the inner workings of the universe that no being alive can seem to grasp the truth of.”

Nicole thought the whole thing over again, adding her own knowledge from her trip to the past. “You already suspected Ayumu knew things you didn't. What if something about being in the void showed him the time events that never happened? Showed him how things in the universe worked? And if after all this time, nopony understands the void, maybe we're not meant to. Maybe that's partly why he went insane.”

The room went silent for a moment. All the pieces of the puzzle added up. The time agent was impressed by Nicole, and how quickly she painted a picture of the situation that made sense. They knew who Ayumu was now. They just needed to figure out his mission.

“One question remains. How does he plan to bring back the events that were prevented?”

Nicole shrugged. “For the moment, we have to leave Torchwood to handle that one.”

Location unknown
Time unknown

Tim Star sat back in his chair, hidden within his private office of his space station in the far outreaches of space. He reached a hoof back to scratch at his dark red mane.

Every living thing around him was below him. Some followed his teachings, yet they were still fools. The rest didn't understand a single thing about the universe. Their minuscule perception of life baffled him. They only saw stars shining down on their planets, jobs, families, money, recreation. All meaningless.

He barely remembered anything from before he was left unprotected in the void. To him, the universe looked small since he'd brought back from the nothingness that tore at him by pure luck. No, not luck. Tim knew better. He was given a new purpose. The true destiny of time and space had been altered. He needed to bring it back.

Earth
Ponyville
21st Century

“I think I found something!”

The other Torchwood members gathered after Wing shouted to alert them to his discovery. Below his hooves rested one of the papers recovered from the hospital. So far, reading through all the paperwork proved of little use to finding out Ayumu's actual intentions. All they described were the devices placed in the vents, without explaining their actual function, or day to day reports of patients. Everyone hoped that whatever Wing just read would give them a break from pouring through endless, useless information.

“This part here: 'If no connections ran from one universe to another, there would be no way of traveling across. There exists a spacial and temporal fabric that permeates across all of existence, slipping through the void effortlessly. This fabric is not bound by the laws of the void, therefore, when traveling through this medium, there is no damage to regular time and space.' This is talking about dreams.”

Ruby read over what Wing just read to them. “Jack, you're the only one here who's gone to another universe. Is this how you did it?”

“If it was, we wouldn't have been digging for this piece of information,” Jack said. “No, I got here through a different means. But it's right that typically travel to another universe causes damage. That's what happened before time reset, that's how I ended up here originally.”

“If dreams aren't affected by the normal laws of time and space, then what Ayumu told us makes sense as well,” Ruby proposed. “It's then possible for us to see the events that didn't happen in our dreams, then wake up and not remember them.”

“Wait, there's more on that,” Wing said. “Right here: 'Time is ever changing, without any being realizing that events in their own lives have suddenly become different events. Normally, only those with intense magical ability, or those in close proximity to a massively consequential time event, have any recollection of changes. These changes, however, can be seen in dreams.'”

“The Doctor's going to hate that he was wrong...” Jack muttered, grinning to himself. Turns out the only ones capable of remembering were either there in the void to see the final battle, or Celestia and Luna.

“Doctor who?”

“Nothing.” Jack shook his head. “Anything else?”

“Just more redundant details,” Wing replied. “So did this help?”

“Immensely,” Jack told the pegasus, patting him on the back. “Well done. He's likely to already know how to travel across dreams. But something still has to be missing.” Jack paced around the room, walking to the other side of their large mail interceptor. “If traveling in dreams was all he needed, time and space would be destroyed already. He still needs something.”

“He's missing something on earth,” Cazan said. The others looked at him, and he explained his theory. “I could be wrong, but think about it. We know of multiple cases connected to Ayumu that we solved. All within just a little over a month. This place and point in time has to be important somehow.”

All the conversation stopped at a knock on the door. Jack walked across the headquarters, opening the door to find Twilight bringing a guest inside.

Princess Luna stepped into the headquarters, taking a look around the operation she'd never seen in person. Her dark, flowing mane and tail seemed to hold stars within it, sparkling against the lights. Ruby looked at the princess in wonder. She'd seen pictures and read stories, and of course met Celestia personally now, but even though she'd met one of the royal sisters, the younger alicorn's beauty was still breathtaking.

“Greetings,” Luna said to all. “I hear that you have questions about dreams.”

Chapter 15- Reset

To get more comfortable, the Torchwood team walked up to the higher level of Twilight's castle, sitting down with princess Luna in the room the elements of harmony usually sat. The team hoped to get some insight from Luna on how Ayumu might go about accomplishing his goal.

“What is it about dreams that you would like to know?” Luna asked. “My typical night's work is helping with young ponies' nightmares, soothing them, but there are much more to dreams than that.”

“Princess, it seems like the pony we're trying to stop wants to somehow bring back the events that happened before time reset, to make the destruction of all reality actually happen,” Jack explained. “He's clearly done a lot of research on dreams. Is it true that dreams connect the universes? And can he reach his goal through dreams?”

“Dreams do connect the universes, yes,” Luna began. “Think back to whenever you've had a strange dream, one with all sorts of weird things happening. Perhaps, you had a normal dream about some life event, but this event never actually happened. You are glimpsing at both parallel universes, and time events that changed.”

Each Torchwood member nodded, thinking this over. Jack already knew that time was in flux, and with the exception of fixed points, your very memories could potentially change if time shifted. He felt glad that one version of him or another got to live out some of the dreams he'd experienced.

“As to your second question...” Luna paused, appearing troubled. She closed her eyes, shaking her head for a moment, before moving on. “Yes. There is ancient, dark magic that could allow somepony to pull back events removed from time, and make them reality again.”

“So he could really do it? Destroy the universes through dreams?” Wing said.

“Not directly,” Luna replied. “The problem that powerful unicorns in the past faced when attempting this dark magic was that more often than not, the events would be pulled back, then removed again. If this Ayumu unicorn brought back the events of Chaos, the Doctor would stop him again.”

Jack looked at Luna. “Unless he stopped the Doctor...”

“Exactly,” Luna replied. She shifted in her seat, seeming uncomfortable. “Once, I almost did what he was trying to do. I planned to return to the past and stop myself from becoming Nightmare Moon. I realized the repercussions would be too great, and that the past had to remain in the past. It seems that Ayumu has not accepted that yet.”

The Crystal Empire

With a pop and a flash, Tim Star appeared deep within the crystal castle at the heart of the Crystal Empire. Knowing his time was short, he silently rushed over to his target. He admired the beauty of the mirror for a moment, wondering just how much power it took the creator to make. Quite a gift for just one pony to use.

Entering the mirror was not his plan, however, nor was stealing the entire mirror. He looked at the gems lining the edge, comparing size, shape, glow. He needed a good one, and after a few moments, he chose one of the gems near the bottom right corner. The last piece to his puzzle.

Ponyville

“What does Ayumu need to carry out his plan?” Ruby asked.

“Several pieces are required,” Luna explained. “First, he'd need the magical capability to enter and manipulate dreams, which he clearly has already. Next, to complete the spell that dark unicorns made so long ago, he would need blood. Blood of ponies can provide magical qualities. Of course, use of such a tool was banned ages ago.”

“He's got blood,” Jack replied. Several ponies in Manehattan died for that component.

“Lastly, a certain type of crystal, which there is very little of in existence. Some of it was used to create the mirror through which you entered our universe, Capatain Harkness.”

Luna's last comment made Jack's eyes widen, and Luna also realized the urgency of their situation. The mirror through which Jack entered sat in Cadance's castle, relatively unprotected, for no one else knew of the need. With the ability to teleport through time and space, royal guards meant nothing. Luna stood up, her horn beginning to glow, brighter and brighter, until no one in the room could see.

With a powerful zap of magic, everyone in the room teleported to the Crystal Castle, the home of the mirror that granted access between universes if used properly. Luna collapsed to the floor, unconscious. Twilight wasn't surprised at Luna passing out, more so at the fact that she was able to pull off a teleport that great of a distance. The power to do so must have drained her completely.

“Follow me, now!”

Twilight took a moment to register Jack's words, but the members of Torchwood responded instantly, used to taking split second commands that sometimes meant the difference between life and death. Jack tore through the castle, digging into his memory of the time he was here, but luckily, Twilight spread her wings and flew into the lead, having a better idea of where to go.

They hurried through the castle, the guards making a path form them after recognizing princess Twilight, until they reached the room that held the magical mirror. Twilight blasted through the door with her body, and Jack skidded to a halt inside, his heart dropping when he ran his eyes along the edge of the mirror, finding one of the stones missing.

“He's got everything he needs,” Jack panted.

Nicole felt a bit better every time she traveled using the vortex manipulator. She zapped from her time back into the time her captain ended up in, surprised to find no one to greet her.

She'd teleported to Torchwood headquarters, so she left the underground area and walked upstairs, calling out as she went.

“Hello?”

Her voice echoed through the castle, with no response. She ascended more steps, up into the main portion of the castle, and still nothing. The team must have gone somewhere.

Nicole took this time alone to admire princess Twilight's castle. Its beauty baffled her. This was the time of the royal sisters, but not only that, two other alicorn princesses were present. Everypony knew this part of Equestria's history. In her time, ponies reached their influence across the universe, and the few alicorn princesses were spread out much more, their power less prominent in everyday life. Now that she thought about it, Nicole had never been inside one of the castles of her own time. This was a first.

“Um, hi.”

Nicole jumped at an unfamiliar voice, relaxing when she saw it belonged to a small, purple baby dragon. “Hello, who are you?” Nicole asked. “I'm looking for...” she wasn't sure how much this dragon knew, or how much he was allowed to know. “...my friends. They've been living here for a while.”

“Oh, those guys,” the dragon replied. “I'm Spike, by the way. I don't know where they went either. They were all talking with Twilight and Luna, then I heard a super loud zapping noise. I ran into the room, and they were all gone.”

“You don't know where they went?”

“Nope, sorry,” Spike replied. “I'm sure they'll be back though. They might still be in the castle, I think they all teleported somewhere.”

After all the ruckus, princess Cadance swiftly found the group who'd come inside all the way from Ponyville. She summoned guards to tend to princess Luna, who started to come to, and Jack left the castle with the rest of the Torchwood team. He let Twilight know that Cadance didn't recognize him when they met sixty years from now. Twilight explained the situation to Cadance, and her heart dropped.

“I'm so sorry Twilight,” Cadance said. “If I'd known-”

“There's no way you would have known,” Twilight replied. “We only just found out.”

“Did you fly here?”

“No, princess Luna teleported us from Ponyville.” Twilight looked back at Luna, who had royal guards holding her up and giving her water. “I didn't know anypony could use the teleport spell for that great a distance, but clearly it took everything Luna had.”

“Well, if he needs anything else from this castle, he's not getting it,” Cadance assured her. “I'll double the number of guards here until we know everything is safe.”

That was Twilight's next problem to solve. Ayumu was clearly almost ready to move on with his plan, but she didn't know how to counter it. Luna drained herself after using the teleport spell, she'd be no help until she recovered. Twilight didn't have the time to learn the magic of dreams Luna manipulated, if she could copy what Luna did at all.

Then none of her worries mattered, because she no longer stood in the Crystal Empire. She was back in Ponyville, sitting in her castle, reading a book, with no recollection of anything known as Torchwood.

Jack's Universe
49th Century

Jack gripped River Song's shoulder as he walked onto the bridge of her archaeology ship. “Good morning,” he said, shooting her a smile.

Jack met River at a bar a couple months ago. She said she was taken, but was so fun that Jack didn't care. He needed something else to do with his neverending life, so he accepted the offer to join up with her on an archaeology team. The two grew rather close, even to the point that Jack revealed his strange ability, yet even so, neither mentioned their shared knowledge of the Doctor to the other. Both wanted to protect him, and so unless the topic was necessary, they usually didn't speak of him.

“Hello, handsome,” River replied, smiling in return. She returned to the new readings that caught her attention, and looked outside the ship. “I might have a job for you right now. There's some sort of temporal storm outside our ship, think you could hop in the shuttle and get some readings up close?”

“Sure thing,” Jack said. He turned to leave the bridge, but stopped when River gripped her arm.

“Hold on.”

River checked and double checked her system. She looked back and forth between her readings and the storm's location. Or rather, former location. The storm no longer raged anywhere near the ship.

“It's just gone.”

“What?” Jack looked outside the ship, and sure enough, the sparking clouds he glimpsed just moments ago were nowhere to be seen.

“Well, that's odd...”

“Oh well, gonna grab some coffee,” Jack said, deciding to still leave the bridge. “Probably would've been dangerous to check it out anyways. That's why you sent the man who can't die out in a shuttle.”

“That does prove useful,” River called out with a laugh. “But you're right about the danger, temporal storms are nasty things. You could have ended up anywhere, maybe even a different universe.”

“I know, right?”

The Pony Universe
Earth
Canterlot

Luna snapped up from her pillow, panting for breath. She'd only been asleep for a couple hours, but she shouldn't have been sleeping anyways. She shouldn't be here, in Canterlot right now. She'd gone to the Crystal Empire, in hopes of stopping what she clearly failed to stop. Her dreams became reality, and reality became her dreams.

Time was back to before the end of Chaos.

Chapter 16- Remember

Jack slept peacefully, enjoying one of his more interesting dreams. He was sharing a romantic dinner with two beautiful women, and a man thrown in there too. They conversed, joked, and ate delicious food, planning how to spend the rest of their evening.

As is true with everyone's dreams most of the time, Jack was unaware he was dreaming. It didn't matter that every other table at the restaurant was empty, or that the waiters were all green, or that he sat in a restaurant that didn't exist. It took a certain stimulant for someone to realize that their dream wasn't real.

That stimulant arrived, and stood in the corner of the restaurant, watching, waiting. For a while, Jack didn't notice, continuing his lovely date. It was actually one of his companions that noticed, happening to look over their shoulder and gawk in confusion.

“Jack, what's that thing over there?” the lady asked, pointing across the restaurant.

Jack looked over, and his smile faded away. Across the room was a large, dark blue horse. No, not a horse, a unicorn, with wings. Her mane and tail glowed like a night sky, and flowed beautifully against her body. At first, Jack was just as confused as his companion, and was about to send a waiter after the strange creature staring at him, then a load of memories smashed into his head like a train crashing through a brick wall.

Luna's eyes glowed white, and her horn started glowing shortly after. The three people Jack had been on a date with disappeared, the approaching waiter vanished, and the food on the table was no more.

“Luna...” Jack said, staring at her with new realization. “What happened... why couldn't I remember...”

“This is a dream, Captain Harkness,” Luna explained. “The laws of the universes are less applicable here.”

Jack sat back in his chair, now seeing the restaurant around him with new eyes. “That explains why this place is so weird,” he said. He motioned to the other side of the table. “Well, you may as well sit down with me, seeing that my dates disappeared.”

Luna walked over to the table, and climbed up into a chair, sitting across from Jack. Eager to learn about what was happening, Jack started asking questions right away.

“What happened? Why am I back in my universe and why can't I remember anything?”

“Ayumu succeeded,” Luna replied. “He acquired everything he needed to bring forth the dark magic, and create a reset in time.” Her horn glowed again, and images of Equestria started appearing. Events of the past, those of which the Doctor originally stopped. This time, however, no Doctor stood in the way of the threats, and though Equestria survived, the outcomes were more gruesome.

“These are key events from the reign of terror that Chaos brought on our world,” Luna explained. “Originally, the Doctor was present at the events you see, and you yourself were present at some of them. But Ayumu also figured out the other piece of the puzzle he needed. To find a way to stop the Doctor, so that the reset in time wouldn't immediately repair itself.”

Jack didn't know how even someone as powerful as Ayumu could possibly stop the Doctor. “How?”

“As residual damage to Chaos's attacks, he created temporal storms that made tears in the fabric of the universes. These tears made gateways from your universe to mine. That is how you crash landed in our universe, as well as Minnuette, as well as the Doctor.”

Just a few days ago, of course. The readings River got, she wanted him to get in the shuttle and investigate. Then, just like that, they disappeared.

“These tears were not necessary for Chaos to finish his rise to power, and eventually start pulling all of existence into the void,” Luna continued. “Ayumu found a way to close them.”

Jack knew that if the Doctor was going to stop Chaos, he needed to crash land in the other universe just like he did before. It took all his experience in that universe to understand how to defeat the powerful creature. “Is there any way to stop this?”

“There is,” Luna replied. “I cannot explain to you the intricacies of how dream magic works. There is a reason that only myself and a powerful unicorn corrupted by the void can manipulate such magic. But the spell he has cast takes time to complete. Think of it as his new, desired reality pushing against the original reality, which is fighting back. If the spell was stopped, the reality where Chaos was defeated would snap back into place. But I can't stop him alone.”

Jack stood up from his chair. “What do you need?”

“I need to get you here, for a start,” she said. “Then I need you to help get the other members of Torchwood back into one location.”

“Can you get me to your world?”

“I have just enough power to create one temporal storm of my own,” Luna said. “Ayumu knows who I am. I have started to feel him in dreams when I search. He underestimates me. He knows that I gave up use of dark magic, such as the magic to create a storm. He does not realize, however, that I never forgot that magic.”

Jack nodded to Luna. He knew her past, knew the torment she put herself and others through, and how she was finally able to return to her formal self after so much time. He held a new level of respect for her, seeing that she planned to open up her horrid past, bring back her haunted memories in order to stop this catastrophic event from happening.

He knew by her presence, however, that she planned to use that one temporal storm to bring him into her universe. And as much as he wanted to fight, he knew he wasn't the best choice.

“Get the Doctor,” Jack told her. “I want to help, truly, but if anyone can find a way to stop Ayumu, it's him. Use your storm on him.”

Luna bowed her head, a frown appearing on her face. “Do not take offense, but the Doctor was my first thought.”

“I'd only take offense if you said he was more handsome than me.”

“But the removal of the temporal storm proved... tragic...”

Luna explained how she could reach out through dreams to find people, as she had with Jack. When she searched for the Doctor, she couldn't find him. That brought back a memory for Jack, when the Doctor explained how he ended up in a universe of ponies. When he sent his ship into the temporal storm, it wasn't out of curiosity. It was to run, to get his damaged ship away from pursuing aliens before they blew him to bits. If the storm hadn't been there...

“I have to assume that the Doctor has perished in this reality...” Luna said. “You are the only hope to fix this. Your team, Torchwood, is the only hope to fix this.”

Jack sat back down, staring at the table in front of him. The Doctor. Dead. Jack never thought he'd see the day, even though he didn't look to be dying anytime soon. Of course, if Jack could stop Ayumu and his plan, the Doctor would come back. If not, all of reality would disappear, and it wouldn't matter anyway. Still, the thought of it shook him.

“I'll help you,” Jack told Luna. “Of course I will. But I've got one question. Won't I forget all this when I wake up?”

“You will,” Luna answered. She had to carry out her plan, even though she didn't know whether it could be done. First, she needed Jack to get here on his own accord. Luna couldn't create a storm and travel through to get him, she'd lose her magic in Jack's universe. She didn't have the magical power to both sustain an intrusion into Ayumu's dream and defeat him, he'd grown too powerful from whatever happened in the void. That's where Jack and his team came in. If her idea proved impossible, then the chance of the universes surviving was slim. “I have to rely on the chance that you will agree to inspect the temporal storm again, as you would have.” She hid her fear from Jack, nearly out of time before the dream would end. “Then, I have to get you to trust me, even though you'll have no idea who I am. If I can get all of Torchwood in one location, and place their trust in me, I can send you after Ayumu, and in the realm of dreams, you'll remember all that has happened.”

Luna stood up from the table. Both knew the grave consequences of failure here. Slowly, starting from her hooves, Luna began fading out of Jack's dream. He watched as her body disappeared, inch by inch, until he stood alone in his fake, fancy restaurant. A few moments later, he opened his eyes and stretched, remembering nothing but the fact that his dream was certainly strange.

“Jack, get up here, now!”

Jack didn't get the chance to slowly come out of his sleep. The moment his eyes opened, River's voice came shouting over the intercom, and he jumped into a trained rush, throwing on clothes and dashing out of his living quarters. He took the fastest route through the ships metal hallways, and burst on to the bridge, panting.

“What is it?” Jack asked.

“The temporal storm is back, and stronger,” River replied. She frantically worked the ship's controls, raising shields and trying to pull back. “It reappeared out of nowhere, and it's stronger now. I can't seem to pull away.”

Jack looked out of the ship's window. The storm was definitely close. No camera needed to enhance the image of the raging cloud of dimensions clashing at each other. This felt oddly familiar.

“Temporal storms don't pull things towards them,” Jack said.

“Well this one does, apparently,” River replied. She tried everything she could to get some distance between her ship and the storm, with no result. “We're not going anywhere unless we figure something else out.” She looked out at the storm, searching her brain for something, anything new to try.

Her thoughts drifted to a strange day she spent with the Doctor. Not to say that any other day with the Doctor wasn't strange, but on this day, the Doctor taught her something for seemingly no reason. They enjoyed a pleasant picnic on a beach, until the sand started swallowing people up. After getting through that fiasco, before she departed his company to go back to prison, he taught her how to detect and track down temporal storms. He never said why that might be important, and now River started to think that he'd have spoiled something by telling her.

“I need to call on the man who can't die,” she said, turning back to Jack. “I can't say why, but I think there's something important about this. Can you scout ahead in a shuttle?”

Jack nodded, not taking time to question River during a clearly dangerous situation. “I was going to yesterday, may as well do it today,” he said. “I'll head down.”

Rushing down the corridors of the ship, Jack found his way to the shuttle bay, while River alerted the rest of the crew about the situation. He entered the spacious bay and approached the ship's single shuttle, with enough room for one or two people to pilot and walk around in, even sleep if necessary. With a loud clank, the shuttle door sealed behind him as he stepped inside and sat at the controls. While the shuttle hummed and beeped, warming up for launch, River depressurized the bay, then opened it up to the empty space outside.

“This is Jack, ready to launch,” Jack chimed in to the ship-to-shuttle comm.

“Good luck, Jack,” River's voice returned. With that, the shuttle lifted off from the floor, getting into motion and gently gliding out of the doors before picking up speed. Exiting from the side of the ship, Jack swung right, flying past the ship altogether, until there was nothing but blackness between him and the temporal storm.

The ship's hull started to rattle and tremor, and several of the shuttle's systems blinked in and out of operating condition. Jack kept a steady hand, monitoring as much as he could.

“River, you plan on telling me how to get us out of this mess?” Jack asked her.

“I don't even know if we're supposed to,” River told him. “A very important man taught me how to track down temporal storms. I didn't know why I'd need to, but there's something strange about this one. I've come across them by chance before, but not one like this. I can't explain what's going on.”

Jack let out a sigh, and shrugged. “Guess I'll just fly closer, then. Keep going until something else happens.”

“You just have to trust me,” River said. “If you knew the man who told me about this, you'd understand. I'd say he's the best Doctor in the universe.”

That comment struck a cord with Jack. Very few people would word a sentence in that sort of way. As he drew nearer to the storm, the shuttle went more haywire, and he fought to stay in his seat. Curious about her comment, however, he managed to punch in a communication. “Doctor who?”

Before River responded, Jack's shuttle disappeared.

Chapter 17- Trust

One moment, Jack was there, the next, he was not.

River stared forward as the temporal storm faded away, just as soon as it reappeared. Navigational control resumed functioning, and River turned the ship away, plotting a course for their next destination. There was nothing she could do to help Jack. Even if she felt prepared to risk the entire crew's lives to follow him into the temporal storm, there was no more temporal storm to enter.

Something stirred in River, a sense that she'd done this before. Thinking you remembered something, even though you've never done it, often proved to be more than just a funny feeling once you experienced time travel. The Doctor taught her that.

The Doctor also taught her how to track temporal storms. The first time the storm appeared, River hadn't even considered that. This morning when it reappeared, however, the thought came to her, and she thought the reappearance might hold some special purpose, something the Doctor couldn't spoil.

She hoped a purpose existed, for if not, she may have just sent Jack into a void of unending death, for no reason at all.

The pony universe

“I must go to Appleoosa.”

Celestia walked after her sister, surprised to see Luna still awake, and confused at her insistence that she needed to travel to the desert. “Luna, what's wrong in Appleoosa? Can't you tell me?”

“I already told you,” Luna replied. “Last night, while you slept, I came to your dream and told you. And you understood everything I said.”

“I'm sorry, sister,” Celestia replied. “I just can't seem to remember.”

Luna stopped, and sighed. “I know, and I'm sorry as well.” She turned to face Celestia, looking up at the taller alicorn. “Reality is dying, Celestia. Normally, by now you'd have noticed, seen the signs. Tragedies that have happened in our history were never meant to happen. You are powerful, but you cannot see into the realm of dreams once you have left it. For the next few days, you will just have to trust me. I'm the only one that can see what's happening when not asleep.”

Celestia started to speak, then fell silent. The older sister of the pair, Celestia held a lot of power that Luna did not. But there was one gift that Celestia did not possess, one that only Luna could truly control, and that was her powers with dreams. She not only saw the fabric that connected alternate times, the dreams and nightmares of adults and children alike, but she could consciously enter the dream realm, exert her power over it, or grant others the ability to do so.

“I'll keep my watch on the castle.” Celestia decided to say no more about the subject, putting faith in Luna's judgment. “And when I sleep tonight, I'll apologize for trying to question you.”

Luna grinned. “And then you'll forget.”

“I guess so.”

Jack woke up. No, “woke up” was the wrong way to describe it. Jack slipped back into consciousness, his face buried in the control panel of his own ship. Any lethal damage done to his body by the crash already healed, but that didn't save him from the splitting headache that racked at his temples. He grumbled, struggling just to raise his neck, and collapsed on to the floor in an attempt to get out of his chair.

That lead to more pain, and more groaning, and Jack decided it better to just lay still for a few minutes. His shuttle certainly wasn't leaving without him, he could figure out where he crashed after some rest.

The shuttle completely totaled itself after whatever took place in the storm. Sheets of metal and frayed wires hung limply from the ceiling. A face shaped crater formed on the main console, and emergency power only managed to run half the lights.

Once his headache dwindled, Jack let out a couple more groans in the effort to stand, then approached the shuttle door. The panel that opened it seemed to still be functional, though why was it so high up? He reached out a hoof towards it.

A hoof.

Jack yanked back what should have been his hand, and held it in front of his face, staring in disbelief. He looked down, discovering another hoof. He took a deep breath, then cranked his neck around to look behind him.

“Yep,” Jack said to himself. “I'm a tiny horse.”

Despite his desire to panic, Jack knew now wasn't the time. The shuttle clearly wasn't in space; looking out the front window he saw empty desert. That didn't give him much to go off of, so he needed to get outside and find out if any danger lurked nearby.

After jumping to reach the door switch, he managed to slap his hoof on the correct spot. Jack really wished he kept a mirror in the shuttle. He wanted to see what his entire body looked like.

The dry, burning air hit Jack as soon as the door started opening. He brought up one of his new hooves to shield his eyes from the sunlight now penetrating in to his previously dim spacecraft. After his eyes adjusted, he staggered back, a much larger horse, this one with wings and a horn, as if out of some mythical legend, stood in his way. He guessed it to be a mare, and stared with a mixture of awe and fear at her dark, starry mane, which flowed of its own free will.

“Do not be afraid,” the mare told Jack. She didn't move, but Jack backed up further into his shuttle.

“Did you make me like this?” Jack accused, his heart racing. “Who are you? Where am I? Why am I a horse?”

“Pony, actually, but that is not the point. You are Jack Harkness.”

“Telling me my name before I say it doesn't help me trust you,” Jack snarled.

“You do not know me, but I know you,” she replied. She sat down on the ground, trying to assure that she meant no harm to him. “My name is Luna, and you knew me once. You've forgotten.”

“I wouldn't forget meeting something like you.”

“You would under the circumstances,” Luna told him. “You've forgotten so much that you should know. I have no way to prove it to you. But every universe in existence is in danger, and in order to stop what is in motion, I need your help and your trust.”

Jack's nerves settled a bit after observing Luna during her speech. She seemed sincere, he saw no weapons on her (though if the horn was real she might be capable of harming him), and if she wanted him dead or captured, she already could have done so.

“You give a man a lot to take in after he crashed in the desert,” Jack started. “So answer me some questions. Why am I a pony?”

“You crashed in a parallel universe, where humans to not exist. You don't consciously know it, but you wanted to transform to appear like us. It's a complicated explanation.”

“Save it for later then,” Jack said. “Why should I trust you?”

“I know a name besides yours, Captain Harkness,” Luna replied. “The Doctor.”

Jack made no reply.

“This has happened to you before,” Luna went on. “You crashed here, ending up a pony. Something very similar happened to the Doctor, and he found you. Reality was tearing itself apart, but together, you stopped it. You then came back to this universe and helped even more, for your own reasons. Time has been altered, reset, and now the Doctor can't help. If you put your trust in me, I can help you reunite with your companions in this universe, and we can stop all of reality from ending.”

Jack sat in silence a moment longer, then responded. “I thought you gave me a lot to take in before, nevermind,” he stated. “That was a lot.” He wished he knew more, but if she told the truth, there was nothing to tell. He forgot whatever happened before. No one who knew the Doctor and spoke of him fondly proved untrustworthy so far. And if the Doctor couldn't intervene, they needed all the help they could get.

“I guess if I said no, I'd be a pony stranded in the middle of the desert, with nothing to do but sit here in my crashed ship,” Jack said. “What do you need from me?”

Jack looked at the new world he found himself in with wonder and amazement. A world where talking ponies maintained a society just like any other civilized race he'd encountered in the universe. As he traveled with Luna to wherever their destination waited, he listened to her tell stories of Equestria, the nation she and her sister ruled together. Since they shared a private cart on their train, eventually the conversation came around to what role Jack played in the pending doom of reality.

He found out more on why Luna required his trust, why he forgot everything. The concept made sense enough, and he never felt more glad that someone knew the Doctor. Without her knowledge of that name, Jack would've either tried to run or find a working weapon in his wrecked shuttle. She picked the right card to play.

“So after the Doctor fixed everything, I decided to come back to this universe?” Jack asked.

“Yes,” Luna replied. “I believe it was because of a connection you made with a pony in the royal guard.”

“I've dated weirder things than a pony. I can handle that news.”

“As to the details of your actions after you arrived, I actually know little,” Luna went on. “As threats to Equestria from other worlds became apparent, you volunteered to stay, and formed a team you called Torchwood. Your authority went above even my sister and I in certain circumstances. You kept this world safe, even pieced together the clues of a plan to bring back the events that nearly destroyed all life. Unfortunately, we were too late.”

“So, what's our next move?” Jack wondered. “If I can't remember anything, and you and your sister weren't told everything, we don't have much to go off of.”

“That will be discussed when you go to sleep tonight,” Luna said plainly.

“So I'm not being included?”

“Trust me, as you did when I found your vessel,” she assured him. “I cannot do this without you and your team.”

Jack shrugged off his confusion, and moved the conversation over. “My team,” Jack started. “Did you have to give them the same speech about trust? Do you already know where they are?”

“Two of your team members will be in Canterlot Castle by the time we arrive,” Luna replied. “The third and final team member is the one we must discuss tonight. I am not sure on the best way to reach out to her.”

The two continued to converse as day turned to early evening. Celestia's sun began to set, casting an array of oranges, yellows, and reds across the sky. The train's wheels turned endlessly, trudging up the mountain slopes that lead to Equestria's capital city. A heavy weight rested on the hearts of those within the private train car. For different reasons, they both felt unsure of themselves, nervous of the catastrophic consequences if they failed to accomplish their goal. One of the original reasons for Jack's Torchwood was to protect Earth when the Doctor wasn't there. Luna didn't tell him why, but she made it known that reaching out to the Doctor was impossible. Just like with Torchwood, this burden was theirs alone.

The true brilliance of what these ponies were capable of displayed itself through Canterlot castle. A towering structure among the mountain peaks, each stone placed perfectly, each hallway decorated with banners or remnants of the past. Jack wished he remembered this place; as he followed Luna through the castle, he never stopped looking up, admiring the beauty of the royal sisters' home.

Luna led him through several rooms and corridors, until they entered a spacious bedroom. A soft, circular rug rested in the center of the room, while half a dozen small beds lined the outer walls. Another tall pony waited for them in the room, with wings, a horn, and a physics-defying mane like Luna's, only composed of brighter colors. Next to her stood a pony closer in size to Jack, a light grey one with wings. Next to him, Jack didn't recognize the creature he saw. His head and front legs were like that of a bird, and wings rested on his back, but the rest of his body looked more like that of a large feline.

“Jack, these are two of your former companions,” Luna said. “This is Wing, a member of our royal guard. The griffon is Cazan, a respected Doctor in Equestria.”

“Princesses, forgive me,” Cazan spoke up. “But there are many patients at my hospital, and I still haven't been told exactly why you summoned me,” he said. Wing stayed silent, though his nervousness showed. His job was to protect the princesses, but he was new. Why were they giving some sort of important task to him? Why not one of the higher ranking officers?

“There is a threat to the world,” Luna replied. “One which the three of you are a part of. Three doctors were sent to replace the incredible work you do for us, Dr. Cazan.”

“I'd still like to know what my purpose is,” Cazan insisted.

“For reasons you could not comprehend, I cannot explain anything until you are asleep this night,” Luna told him. “Once you all go to sleep in this room, I will visit your dreams. At that point, all will make sense.”

“You can do what now?” Jack said in shock.

Luna chuckled. “This first night will be the hardest, but after tonight, things will be easier. I will give you reason to trust me.”

“I don't even know what's going on,” Celestia said. “But I trust Luna with her knowledge of dreams. I ask that this night, you do the same.”

Cazan finally nodded in agreement, and the three were allowed to explore the castle until night time. They all explored alone. Once incredible friends, and for two in the room, even more, the three members of Torchwood only just learned each others' names.

It took some time for the three Torchwood members to fall asleep. All were away from their usual beds, with worries of what awaited them keeping their brains active. Eventually, exhaustion overcame them all, and they found themselves awake, in the very same room they just fell asleep in.

The room looked the same, but there were no beds. They stood on the floor, and felt as if they were really there.

“Is this a dream?” Cazan wondered out loud.

“An enhanced one,” Luna's voice called out. Out of thin air, she materialized into the center of the room. Her eyes, glowing a bright white, dimmed back down to normal. “Dreams can be used as communication. They are also the one place where you can remember events that were erased. You should remember soon.”

“Remember wha-” Then, just like the night before he crashed into Equestria, Jack remembered everything. Luna's heart warmed when Jack smiled at her, a smile that showed he knew her again.

Wing rubbed his head, then glanced around, eyes wide. His eyes met with Jack, and the two burst toward each other, colliding chest first and luckily moving their heads out of each others' way, or else they'd have tested what happens when a pony goes unconscious within a dream. Both threw a hoof around their partner's neck, and held a tight embrace.

“Princess, sorry for my bickering about the hospital earlier,” Cazan said. Jack and Wing turned and ran over to him, adding him to their hugs. “I've never experienced anything like that. I saw Jack and Wing hug, then it all just came back. How did I forget so much?”

“Ayumu succeeded at resetting time,” Luna said. “I'm sorry, but we all have much work to do this night. We must get to it.”

The three sat around Luna, and she explained what she already told Jack before she opened a temporal storm for him to enter this universe. She spoke of her plan to try and stop Ayumu, then went on to other plans that needed to be settled.

“Before we leave this dream, I want all of you to think about something I can say to you tomorrow,” Luna said. “I will remember all that you say tonight. Give me something to help yourself trust me.”

“Do we have a way to time travel? To go and get Ruby so she can help?” Wing asked.

“We do,” Luna replied. “Celestia and I can both time travel, but we forbade ourselves from using it so that we'd focus on keeping our nation and world safe, and so we wouldn't expand our rule beyond its natural length. The only problem would be finding Ruby's location, but there is a solution for that.”

Luna explained that when she didn't have ponies in the same room as her, she had to wander through the realm of dreams at random to find someone. However, once she gets to know a pony, she feels a connection to wherever they are in time and space. For this reason, she was able to find Jack in his world, and thanks to this, she knew where Ruby was.

“Ruby always talked about her crew, she's a good captain,” Cazan said. “She won't leave willingly unless she has good reason to.”

“I've already spoken to Ruby in her dreams, and she agrees with your statement,” Luna said. “She assured me that history was not her strongest school subject, she would not recognize a princess from over two thousand years ago, let alone trust one.”

Jack stomped his hoof down. “I've got it,” he said, proud confidence in his voice. “Luna, you'll remember everything I say?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me this plan tomorrow,” Jack said. “We're going to do exactly what Ayumu did.”

Chapter 18- One Last Mission

Galaxy O, Sector 5
46th Century

“Jump complete, beginning standard orbit around... hold on...” Nicole double checked her readings, to be sure she wasn't mistaken. “We're at the wrong planet.”

“What?” Ruby looked down at the screens, then out the window. Something was wrong. She'd never seen this planet before, but felt strange when she looked at it. Anxiety filled her, and she couldn't think of why. Something she couldn't explain or describe felt familiar, and this unknown familiarity scared her.

She shook her head after staring at the planet for several seconds, turning her attention back to the issue. “Are you sure you entered the proper coordinates?”

“I double checked before launching,” Nicole replied. “There's no way they were wrong. I'm running a diagnostic to try and find the problem.”

Ruby turned on the com again, speaking to engineering. “Rufus,” she began. “Anything strange happen down in engineering during the jump?”

“No, Captain, everything's fine down here. Something wrong?” the stallion replied.

“We're trying to find out,” Ruby said, then closed the com.

“After scanning for errors, apparently the system was hacked to bring us here,” Nicole explained. “But there's no way any computer on the planet could've hacked us before the jump, we were way too far out. That means...”

Ruby's eyes widened as Nicole's voice trailed off. “Somepony hacked us from inside the ship.”

“Sensor history shows no ships were in range of us before the jump, somepony actually here is the only other possibility.”

“There's one more living thing on board than there should be. Sensors picking up a pony in our second cargo bay.”

“Watch every sensor you can, don't let this crazy pony hack anything else on our ship.” Nicole nodded in response, and Ruby rushed down the hall, her magic holding the pistol in front of her.

The red unicorn slowed and quieted her steps the closer she came to the large cargo bay doors. She took a deep breath, then raised a hoof and pushed the entry button. These automatic doors never opened quietly. Whoever hid in this room now knew somepony was after them.

Because of this, Ruby kept herself completely alert. Her laser pistol followed her eyes; wherever she looked, it pointed, ready to let loose at any moment.

“Hey there,” a voice called out. Ruby turned in a flash, but saw nothing, only crates. The voice belonged to a male, a charming voice, at least if the circumstances had been different. To her, the voice belonged to a lethal threat.

“To be honest, I barely understand why,” the voice replied. “But our dreams can answer the question.”

“That doesn't answer why you hacked my ship,” Ruby said, grinding her teeth. “Let's skip the games, shall we?”

“Come on, we're just meeting, lets chat a bit before we start a date,” the stallion joked.

Ruby found no part of this amusing. She kept her steps quiet but hurried her pace, weaving through the cargo bay in search of this pony. At last, she came around a corner, and discovered him sitting on the ground, messing with something on his hoof. The stallion was a dark blue, with an even darker blue mane and tale. He was clearly a full grown adult, but curiously, he showed no sign of a cutie mark. She couldn't make out the exact details of the device, but she guessed it had something to do with teleportation. He was about to escape.

“Don't like the small talk? Alright, guess I'll just be going.”

“No you don't!”

Earth
Canterlot
21st Century

In a blinding flash of light, two ponies appeared out of thin air, toppling through a back alley in the streets of Canterlot. Ruby felt dizzy, struggling to get her grip back on reality as her surroundings spun before her eyes. A cool breeze brushed against her mane, and fresh, unfiltered air filled her lungs. The culprit must have teleported to the planet below. She was certainly not in space anymore.

Her senses returned a moment too late, for the stallion she tackled recovered before she did. Though he couldn't hold it as easily as her, no magic to levitate the laser pistol in front of him, he demonstrated his firearms knowledge by properly holding her weapon between his front hooves. The two sat across from each other, and Ruby wondered at how to get her weapon back, by magic or physical force, without taking a blast to the head.

“Don't move a muscle,” the blue stallion ordered.

“Interesting. You were flirting with me just a bit ago,” Ruby retorted.

“Times change, you decided to make a mess of my escape,” he said. “My job was done, I was ready to go home, but here you are, in the way of my perfect-”

A loud blast halted the conversation as a quick pulse of energy zoomed just shy of the blue stallion's face, leaving a scorched patch on the wall of the building behind him. Ruby looked up to find a young, grey pegasus on the roof, a laser pistol similar to hers trained right on the pony who hacked her ship.

The earth pony raised his pistol in response, firing off several blasts and forcing the pegasus back behind cover. Ruby trained hard to achieve the rank she held. She wasted no time and took her chance to leap at the earth pony, ramming him into the wall and knocking her laser pistol out of his hooves.

He struggled to push her off, but Ruby held fast. Before he could make any moves, the pegasus flew down from the roof. He pointed his weapon so close to the stallion's head, this time a shot would certainly not hit the wall.

“Stand down,” the grey pegasus commanded.

Ruby caught his smile too late. The blue stallion kicked out a hind leg and tripped the pegasus, then in a sudden peak of strength, shoved Ruby off of him. As she regained her balance, the pony took off down the alley in a full on sprint. She heard the grey pegasus shout from behind her.

“Cazan, now!”

Hidden on the roof until now, a brown griffon dove down into the alley and slammed all of his weight onto the escaping pony, pinning him to the ground. Whoever these two were, Ruby thought they planned to capture this mysterious stallion, until the griffon grabbed his head with both claws and snapped his neck.

No more struggle to give, the blue pony went limp underneath the griffon, and the ruckus in the back alley turned to silence. Once sure the stallion lay dead beneath him, the griffon turned around and approached Ruby. She greeted him with her retrieved laser pistol.

“What the hell is going on?” Ruby said. She glanced behind her now and then to keep an eye on the pegasus. She had no clue yet whether these two just saved her or put her in more trouble.

“It's alright, we're special agents with EUIC,” the griffon explained. “My name's Cazan. What are you, lieutenant? Commander?”

“Captain,” Ruby shot back. “Now prove what you just said.”

“Before you ended up here, you discovered that stallion on board your ship. He's working for the tembars, who've shown signs of discomfort with our treaty. They've started staging small attacks against us, and before we could get a lock on this stallion's location, your ship fell victim to an attack.”

Everything Cazan said added up. She knew of the uneasiness between the Equestrian Union and the tembars, and he knew things he couldn't have, unless he killed an accomplice just to gain her trust. That seemed unlikely. Neither Cazan nor the pegasus moved to hurt her, so she lowered her weapon.

“You must come with me, we have a place for you to stay until we can reunite you with your ship,” Cazan told her. “My partner will take care of the body, we should move quickly.”

Ruby nodded, and followed him towards the end of the alley. She admired the griffon's quick action, and calm attitude when she threatened him. She'd never met a griffon, though she knew that many made fine officers in the EUIC. “Do you have a teleportation device? The Wanderer should still be in orbit. Or a shuttle-”

Her words ceased when she stepped out of the alley, onto a paved Canterlot road. Ponies wearing ancient, metal armor calmed and routed citizens away from the alley, who panicked when the sounds of laser blasts interrupted the peaceful day. Their armor proved less confusing than the buildings made out of brick, wood, and other materials she failed to recognize. She found herself in a massive, outdoor museum of unbelievably old architecture.

“Where the hell are we?”

Cazan nodded in understanding to Ruby's confusion. “I'm afraid that stallion's teleportation device is more complicated than you're aware of. You're nowhere near the Wanderer or your crew. We can't speak here, I'll explain soon.”

Wing fought every instinct to vomit, or run away, as he dragged Jack's lifeless body deeper into the alley, disappearing from view. Safely hidden in the buildings' shadows, Wing set Jack back down, and waited.

He didn't know how, but Princess Luna was right. Somehow, everyone she brought to the castle shared some connection that they all forgot. Last night, in their dreams, Luna asked each of them to give her something to say, something to prove that she deserved their trust. The next morning, she repeated what each of them gave her. None of this made sense, but somehow, Wing told Luna just the right words, and now he trusted everything.

Watching Cazan kill Jack, however, sent an icy chill down his spine. He felt terrified and ill at the same time, waiting for the supposed miracle to occur. With all their memories gone, Jack, Wing, and Cazan, were forced to trust the plan Luna relayed to them. The plan came from their own mouths while they all slept.

Part of that plan was quickly earning Ruby's trust once she arrived back in time, and this was it. How could someone die, and just come back to life? Not even the royal sisters could bring back the dead. But when Luna relayed the plan, Jack didn't bat an eye. When confronted, he told them the plan was sound.

Apparently, in the dream, the three decided that Cazan would kill Jack, not Wing. Wing wondered why he'd denied playing out this part. Granted, he had enough trouble watching Cazan kill Jack, and Cazan's claws could snap a neck easier than hooves. But a feeling, something Wing couldn't explain, gave him the thought that he denied for some other reason. Something far in the back of his head, unreachable by his conscious, made him deny helping with that part of the plan.

Wing jumped at the sound of a gasp for air, and looked down at his hooves in disbelief. As planned, from death, Jack returned, inhaling through his once broken neck, now perfectly fine.

Jack looked up at Wing, calming down once his life returned to him. “Did it work?” he asked quietly, rolling onto his hooves to stand up.

“She... trusts us...” Wing replied, slowly, staring with a mix of fear and curiosity. “Jack... how...”

“Too long of a story to tell,” Jack told him. “Let's get back to the castle.”

“You could have let them capture you! That would have gained my trust just as easily!”

Ruby stared daggers at Jack, and he just laughed. “I needed them to trust you immediately! Didn't want to take the chance.”

That evening, Ruby was forced to come to terms with separation from her krewe, not only by space, but by time. She wandered a castle long forgotten from her species' past, wondering if she could ever return home.

Then, after falling asleep, with everyone in one place once more, she found her memories, as well as her friends, waiting for her in her dreams. Luna's power united them, and once more Torchwood stood together, ready to face whatever threats came their way.

Like the previous night, the members of Torchwood sat in a barren room with Princess Luna. Though the princess could create anything for this room with her mind, the nature of this meeting required no flare or decoration. A black carpet blanketed the floor, and bare, white walls surrounded them.

“We don't have much time,” Luna interjected. The room grew quiet, and everyone realized the Joy of their reunion would be short lived. Now, together again, Torchwood stood a fighting chance at taking out Ayumu. However, every second they waited, the universe grew closer and closer to falling out of existence.

Wing looked at Jack, and he held in the tears he wanted to shed. It pained his heart to know that while awake, he looked at Jack with confusion, no knowledge of who he was, how much he'd done for him, how much he loved him. Since they met that night that felt so long ago now, Wing grew more and more attached to the strange, blue stallion with no cutie mark. But if things happened the way Luna predicted, if they defeated Ayumu, then once again, time would reset. Jack would be back in his own world. Right now, all Wing wanted to do was run away with Jack, fight for Earth together, forget about everything else. He wanted to spend the rest of his days in the embrace of Jack's hooves.

But now, if time reset, Jack would be back in his own universe. He'd have to make the decision to come back again. Wing knew what he wanted, but he struggled to decide if he should want it.

“Luna...” Wing broke the silence. “After all this, if we succeed, and time resets itself... will we remember anything? Torchwood, all we did? Or will all this just be in our dreams?”

“I cannot say for certain,” Luna replied. “When it comes to time travel, if there is a major reset in time, you must be in the 'eye of the storm', as it were. You must be at the heart of the event that reset time, or you will not remember.”

“The Doctor was wrong,” Jack said. “So it's not based on experience with time travel. I remember Chaos because I was in the TARDIS when we beat him. Ruby only met the Doctor, so she forgot.”

“Precisely,” Luna confirmed.

“If I remember, I'm so going to tell the Doctor that he was wrong, I love how fuming he gets.”

“As I said, for this, I am not certain,” Luna went on. “When the realm of dreams get involved, things get... complicated. Not even I, a master in the dream realm, can comprehend it. My sister has forgotten the Doctor's deeds, she will only remember if you remove Ayumu from this timeline. From my experience, memory varies from pony to pony. After a key turning point in the dream realm, some remember, some don't.”

“So what do we have to do?” Cazan asked.

“Because Ayumu is exerting his power in the dream realm, I can feel his presence,” Luna explained. “I know where he is. I can't hold my conscious presence here and fight him, and he will have trouble doing the same. Just fighting him will weaken his magical grip. Killing him will reset all, once again locking Chaos away in the void.”

Jack was afraid. Not for himself, but for the ones around him. He'd started this team, but never did they have to face such a universal threat. He took comfort knowing that if any died yet they succeeded, time would reset, they'd still live. If they failed, all would perish. “Then let's hop to it,” Jack said.

“Remember,” Luna had one last thing to say, before sending Torchwood away. “You are in a dream. Reality is not your limit, your mind is. Now-”

For a moment, the room they sat in shook violently. Wing lost his balance, Ruby staggered against the wall. “Did you do that?”

“No,” Luna replied, distraught. “Something is happening in the real world, my mind instinctively made the room shake to match. We can't wake, we must trust that my sister can handle what is happening. Ready yourselves. I must send you after Ayumu, now.”

Celestia stood upon one of her castle's balconies, staring up into the sky. Out in space, what must be just a short distance from their planet, a long, thin blue line, a sort of electric cloud, appeared in the night sky. The line spread out to form an oval, and within that oval rested more than just darkness. The void, the gap between universes, the eternal emptiness between all of reality.

And soon, everything would be lost inside.

Chapter 19- Debt

At first, Tim Star kept his focus on his magic, only feeling a mild disturbance in his dream. The rift into the void opened, and stars already began to die. Planets, solar systems, galaxies, bit by bit fell into nothingness. Reality returned to its rightful state. In the end, he'd be consumed by the void as well, but that was no concern. He'd traveled to the void, felt its presence, endured its torture, seen the truth.

Yet somehow, through all his planning, through all his power, four beings slipped through the cracks and stood in his way. Now he noticed their approach, and cursed Luna for using others as a barrier. He'd have to lose focus on his own magic to fight, while she sat happily in the background, merely keeping the four inside the dream realm.

As for those of his own reality, Tim would deal with them through force. But Jack slept in his testing hospital. Tim looked into Jack's mind, saw his life, and knew exactly how to deal with him.

Remember that you're in a dream. Luna gave that final piece of advice before sending the Torchwood team through an incomprehensible tunnel, across dimensions, to Ayumu's resting place, where he exerted his power. That advice lingered on their minds. Whatever power they needed was at their command, if they could bring themselves to imagine it.

The four landed in a flash of light, and stood upon an open, moonlit grass field. Despite the night sky of the dream, the flat field appeared well lit, as if the moon and distant stars in the fake sky shone as brightly as Earth's sun. They didn't find Ayumu upon entering his dream, rather, they found a human male standing before them. Wing, Cazan, and Ruby didn't even recognize the species, but Jack knew the man better than most.

“Ianto?” he called out.

“Jack?”

Jack stood paralyzed at the sight of him. Ianto was dead, this couldn't be real. Parallel universes existed, maybe this was some other version of him. In his shock of seeing the man he once loved, the man who died because of him, he forgot to question which one was true.

“Jack, I've missed you so-”

An ear-piercing crack echoed through the open field, shattering the silence of Ayumu's dream night. Ianto trembled, and brought a hand up to his chest. Blood poured out onto the fingers that reached for his heart.

“No!”

Ianto collapsed, and Jack ran to him. “No, I won't let you die again!” he said, struggling to lay Ianto out flat. He tugged at clothing with his teeth, cursing his hooves. He watched as the grass beneath him stained red.

In that moment, Wing understood Jack. He remembered Jack talking to him about this before. Anyone Jack loved died before his eyes, either in a flash of suspense, or over the years until old age became too much. He'd told Wing this, but only now did he fully understand.

“Ianto, don't leave me,” Jack said. He sat down on his haunches and clutched Ianto's shaking hand between his front hooves. “Please...”

“H-how...” Ianto coughed, splattering blood onto his cheeks. “H-how could you let this happen to me...”

Distracted by this sudden occurrence, but not consumed by it, Ruby and Cazan scanned the open field for any sign of who fired the shot. If Luna sent them to kill Ayumu from within a dream, then they could die too. They were in danger.

Yet there was nothing. Just an open field, a night sky, the four of them, and someone Jack once knew.

“Jack, I don't like this,” Ruby said. “This is Ayumu's dream, something's wrong, this can't be real.”

As Jack held Ianto, his dying lips curled into a smile. His entire form shifted, remolded, into an orange unicorn, with a red mane and tail. Before Jack could step back, a blast of magic rocketed out from Ayumu's horn, and Jack soared into the air, crashing back down. The next moment, Jack's body disappeared.

Jack sat up in bed, gasping for air. Looking around, he was back in the bedroom that all of Torchwood shared to make this mission possible. The other three and Luna still slept, though his teammates tossed and turned.

Now Jack saw if the mind thought itself to be dead, the body would die with it. He let his guard down, and experienced dying from a dream first-hand. He looked to Luna, and though her body slept, her face tightened in concentration, luminescent trails of magic connecting her to the three living members of Torchwood, the connection between her and Jack severed.

He should have known it was fake. He lost himself in Ianto's eyes the moment he saw them. He didn't dare try and disturb Luna, get himself back in. Now, because of his carelessness, Torchwood fought without their leader. All Jack could do was sit, curse himself for his mistake, and hope.

“Think of something, anything, defend yourself.”

It came out as a murmur, but Jack heard Ruby speak. He rushed over to his three teammates. He couldn't see what went on, but talking in one's sleep seemed to literally apply here.

“Jack!”

In a rage, Ruby whipped her laser pistol forward, blasting two shots right at Ayumu's head. He flashed out of existence, but that part didn't confuse her. She wondered at how she got her laser pistol. Right now, it should be resting tucked away inside a small, white drawer, right next to her bed.

A dream, she thought to herself.

It wasn't her pistol. Ayumu didn't possess the ability to shapeshift. This was a battle of the minds. Willpower against willpower.

“Think of something, anything, defend yourself,” Ruby told Cazan and Wing. “Remember what Luna said.”

Their dream space once again held nothing but themselves and the open, grass field. Only the stain of blood lingered from Jack and Ayumu's encounter, Ayumu was nowhere to be seen.

Wing fell back on his training. His wings carried him into the air, and a long, sharp spear materialized in his front hooves. He forced himself to accept the dream, accept that he could do more. Soon he surrounded himself with spears, each rotating around him, forming a defensive wall.

Cazan conjured no weapon. He took a different approach to the dream, and instead, perked his ears. “I can hear him...” Cazan muttered. He strained to listen, strained to push the boundaries of physical ability, let go of the reality left behind in Canterlot. He heard Ruby's hooves pace atop the blades of grass. He heard her mane shift along her neck as she whirled her head. He heard the ever so gentle gust of wind from Wing's rotating spears. And he heard something behind him.

The griffon whirled, and Ayumu's blast of magical power decimated the grass where Cazan stood moments ago. He shot again, and again, each time missing by mere inches as Cazan leaped away. Wing expected to throw the spear in his hooves, instead he found his mind hurling a piece of his spinning defense at the unicorn. Stronger laser blasts jetted out from Ruby's location; Wing looked to see a much higher caliber rifle now held in place by her magic.

Ayumu disappeared once more, avoiding each assault that sought to end his life. His voice then echoed throughout the field, coming from everywhere, and nowhere. “Were it not for the spell I must hold to change our fate, I could kill you all now.”

“Last time I checked, three of us and one of you,” Ruby said. “We've got three minds to conjure up a way to stop you.”

“And quite creative minds they are, aren't they? A gun, some sticks, and acute hearing,” Ayumu said. “At least the griffon tried.”

The team knew that with each passing second, Ayumu's spell neared completion. Wing looked around, trying to find the source of Ayumu's voice. As his head circled, so too did his arsenal of floating spears, and Wing realized their naivety. Despite some improvements, the dream still seemed too real to them.

Wing shook his head, forcing out the instinct that he looked upon reality. He shut his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened again. When he did, he saw through Ayumu's invisibility.

Before Ayumu could realize Wing's discovery, three spears shot at him, and one made a mark. The tip of the third spear gouged into Ayumu's right foreleg, and he howled in pain. Ruby quickly fired more shots; this time Ayumu dodged with his previous lightning reflexes. But Wing saw the added strain on Ayumu's face, the clench of his teeth, the flare of his nostrils. Where the spear hit didn't matter, Ayumu wasn't actually there. Wing hurt his mind, and that's what they needed.

Ruby dug into her willpower to dodge the blasts of magic that responded to her laser fire. More and more of the lush grass burned to ashes from Ayumu's power. He paused his assault, and touched down in front of them all. Neither side made a move.

“Your minds have not opened to the void,” Ayumu said. “It doesn't matter how hard you try to accept the dream. I have lived in dreams for years...”

Ruby interrupted Ayumu with laser blasts from two rifles and a small cannon. “Shut up.”

Cazan pushed himself more, teleporting behind Ayumu and lunging at him with oversharpened claws. But Ayumu moved faster, and caught Cazan off guard with a breath-robbing buck to his stomach. Losing focus, Cazan fell back, struggling to inhale. He looked up too late to see the orb of magical energy that surged down to end his life.

Cazan's bed shook violently, and Jack rushed to his side. He bowed his head as a small trickle of blood escaped Cazan's mouth. The magical connection between him and Luna faded, and the griffon let out his last breath.

Jack fell into a sitting position, unable to bring his eyes up to his now dead friend. “Please, Wing,” he whispered. “Please, Ruby...”

Ayumu smiled. “Who's next?” he asked. “We can keep playing this charade, where the free half of my brainpower is sufficient to destroy you, or we can sit here and stare at each other until we are all one with the void.”

Ruby stomped her hoof on the ground, her breath heavy and aggravated. Wing returned to the ground, and stood in silence. It seemed that each time he or Ruby adapted their mind to the absence of reality's rules, Ayumu's seasoned, trained abilities already out-thought them again.

They had to do more than just attack with brute force. They had to reach for the detective side of Torchwood, out-think Aymu, despite their inability to out-dream him.

A thought struck Wing's mind. For a moment, he questioned it due to the outcome, then realized it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Ayumu died. He focused again, forgetting reality's rules, and sent a message to Ruby's mind.

Ruby, I hope you can hear me. I'm imagining that I can talk to ponies with my mind, and if I'm getting through, I can tell you my plan. I need you to get a much bigger gun. Get it above Ayumu. He wouldn't imagine that you'd try to hit him if I was in the way.

Wing glanced at Ruby out of the corner of his eye. She stood still, but blinked twice in a row. Wing couldn't ask for more confirmation that she heard. He only hoped she did.

His thoughts turned to Jack as he prepared to step forward. The look on Jack's face when whoever Ayumu mimicked fell dead on the ground. A pain so relentless, so unending, so unavoidable. Wing had debated if he should want what he wanted. He knew now that the answer was no. He began to whisper, only half-hoping Jack might hear his words. He talked anyway.

“Jack, I don't know if you're still here, still in this dream, since you can't die,” he said. “But I need to get this off my chest whether you're here or not. If we succeed, you'll be back in your own world. You may still remember this, you may forget. If you remember, I want... I want you to stay in your world. You gave me that drink you promised, your debt is paid. I wish I could say I'll never forget all you did for me, if I knew I wouldn't. But you've seen me die once. Almost twice. We know what will happen if you stay, and I didn't really see it until now. You don't deserve to suffer the sight of me dying again. If you remember this, don't repeat your decision. Stay in your world. Be happy, and remember me alive.”

Wing flinched; something brushed against the side of his neck. He reached up a hoof, but nothing was there.

“So, stand around and wait it is,” Ayumu said, sitting down on his hind legs. “Half of reality is gone already. Luck seems to be in your favor, the void is yet to suck the Earth you sleep on out of existence.”

Wing let out a shout, and ran towards Ayumu, the spears around him spinning faster. Ayumu smiled, ready to dodge even a point blank attack. Ruby couldn't even back him up, his path put himself between the two of them.

Ruby couldn't bear the thought of killing Wing, even knowing it didn't matter. She closed her eyes, and thought about a memory from a few years ago.

“Come on, can I try it once?” Nicole asked.

“Why?” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“Because our missions will probably never require use of it,” she said. “Come on, Captain, we're in deep space. Just once?”

Ruby nodded. “Alright, fine. Charge it up.”

Wing advanced on Ayumu, his wall of spears spinning faster and faster. Ayumu grew bored with the pegasus's determined face, and conjured a claw of blue smoke with his magic. The claw extended its fingers, then rushed forward to meet Wing's throat.

He ducked, but so did the claw, and soon its grip clasped around his windpipe, crushing with unbelievable force. Wing coughed, his wall of spears clattered to the grass below, and he failed to bring in any new air to his lungs.

As his life faded away, and Wing fell to the ground in front of Ayumu, he looked up towards the sky. He didn't feel sad, or scared, or anything he expected to feel in his last moments. If he could breath, he'd have simply chuckled at his discovery of irony. Jack shouldn't feel too bad about his mistake. They just beat Ayumu with the same trick.

Ayumu's eyes focused on the weapons Ruby held in front of her. Far above them, coasting through the dream's night sky, the EUIC Wanderer charged its defensive weapon system. A photon blaster took aim on Ayumu's position, and fired.

This time, he didn't dodge.

If someone spent a hundred years or so with Princess Luna, she might be able to explain the mechanics of what happened next. In order to bring back the reality that the Doctor erased, Tim Star needed to maintain a powerful spell within the dream realm. Though events began to change, until Tim's spell took permanence, the universes experienced a fake reality, one that was not yet set in stone. The spell acted like a balloon, growing larger and larger, pushing against time and space. With Ayumu's death, the balloon popped.

The tear in reality collapsed. Planets, stars, galaxies, universes, shot back into existence, unaware that anything wrong ever occurred. In truth, since Tim's spell remained unfinished, nothing ever did. The only thing that changed was Tim Star. His connection to the void pulled him in while the rest of reality came back, and he was no more.

Luna remembered the courage of Torchwood once time fell back into place. With her powers in the dream realm, she always will. But whether Torchwood would recall their first time meeting, their decision to form a team, their life-saving missions, would be left to chance.

Galaxy O, Sector 5
46th Century

“Jump complete, beginning standard orbit around Kevvis 4,” Nicole reported.

Ruby looked out the Wanderer's window and admired the planet below. “No problems with the jump?” she asked.

“No, captain.”

“We're at the right planet this time?”

“This time?” Nicole glanced at Ruby. “We've never jumped to the wrong planet.”

“Right,” Ruby said, nodding. “Sorry, I was thinking about a different time. Some old friends.”

Earth
Equestria
21st Century

“Enter.”

After knocking politely, the royal guard pony opened the door. “Princess, he is here as requested.”

“Thank you, let him in.”

A male griffon stepped into Luna's study. “I am honored by such a private invitation, princess,” he said as the door closed behind him.

“Thank you for coming, Dr. Cazan,” Luna said. She closed the book resting on the midnight-blue desk in front of her, and levitated it to one of the many shelves that lined the back wall. The sun already disappeared from the sky, so an assortment of scented candles provided the room with a gentle, yellow light that smelled of flowers. “I called you here for a proposition. Celestia has approved of a new initiative I believe our nation needs. I got the idea from an old friend, and now I'm looking for candidates to fill this position.”

Cazan looked puzzled. “What sort of position?”

“A special team that I will be calling Torchwood,” Luna replied.

Cazan sat down in front of her. “Well, I'm flattered that you think me fit for something so new,” he said. “Tell me more.”

Late 21st Century

“But princess, I've only just arrived,” Wing said hastily. “Why would you want to remove me from the royal guard?”

“You can relax, ensign, it is not for something bad, quite the opposite,” Luna replied. “You may not see why at this moment, but you have the aptitude to be part of a small, special team. A team I created about six decades ago. Have you ever heard of Torchwood?”

Wing paused. “It sounds familiar, but... no, I haven't,” he said. He was shocked to find out he'd never heard of some royal guard assignment that's existed for sixty years.

Luna let out a quiet sigh, but continued. “In a sense, this team does not exist,” she said. “Should you decline this offer, what I say in this room tonight must never leave. Let me tell you more.”

The Doctor's Universe
Earth
21st Century

The school stood out among the other buildings nearby. Painted pink, with the heads of golden horses adorning the edges of the roof. Windows spaced themselves evenly along the outer walls, and glass doors marked the entrance to Canterlot High.

Outside the front entrance stood a beautiful white statue of a horse, balanced on its hind legs, rearing up in a pose of triumph. A man with sleek back hair and a long overcoat stood in front of the statue, not looking at the horse, but the space beneath it, part of the carved white block that held the horse a small distance above the ground. The day was long over; no students questioned what some strange man was doing staring at a statue, no campus security or teachers approached to ask who he was. The school was quiet.

For a long while, he stood, his eyes fixed on the seemingly unimportant portion of the statue. Any passerby would call him lost in thought. His head bowed slightly, his hands remained in his pockets, his breaths were slow. He looked to be debating something, and whether or not the statue was involved in this debate, or if that's just where he happened to stop and think, no one would be able to tell.

For a long while, he stood, his eyes fixed on the seemingly unimportant portion of the statue. Then he turned and walked away, disappearing in the night.

The End

Author's Afterthought- I love this story because I hate it

I don't like this story that much. Hate is a bit too strong a word, but I'm not a fan of this like I am of my first story. The pacing is off, the story as a whole doesn't feel quite right, there are several parts that I think lack the literary quality I wanted to achieve. Also, my interest in My Little Pony sort of fizzled out several months before the fic was done, and I think that had a negative effect on it. However, it is because of these dislikes that I love this story. I'm seriously considering my desire to become a writer. It's been around since I can remember, though as a little kid I wrote a dozen or so chapter 1's to stories, then quickly forgot them and played with pokemon cards. But now, after two complete stories, both long enough to qualify as a novel, I see the potential of that future. I think it's time to go for it.

I have a lot to learn if I'm truly going to become a writer. And that's why I love this fic. Everything I dislike about it, everything that I find wrong about this fic, is now a learning experience for the future. There are two key points of things I learned from this fic, that I wanted to share with any reader who's curious. If you are curious, read on.

First, my opinion doesn't matter. Despite the dislikes for this fic that I listed from my own point of view, since I started work on this fic and through to the end, readers have praised it, praised me, and begged for more. My mom loves both this fic and the one before it. While sometimes pesky things like love for their sons can get in the way of honest mothers, I don't think she's lying this time. I don't think she'd sit through two books about My Little Pony, having never watched the show herself, unless she liked it. But even if not, the most brutally honest people in the world, readers on the internet, have given it praise. People on the internet tend to let you know in colorful ways if they hate your work.

If I'm going to become a writer, if I succeed, there may come a time where a piece of fiction I hate is the fan favorite. And that's ok, because it's not about me. I write because I enjoy it, but more so because other people enjoy it. It doesn't matter that I don't like this fic that much. You guys did.

Second, write a story from start to finish, without pausing. This fic took a while to complete because I worked on other hobbies at the same time, or wrote short stories on other websites. I was starting to feel that doing so was a bad idea. I was losing the feel for the pace of the fic, losing the energy to tell the story. Sure enough, what happens just a few days before writing this final chapter? I'm reading Stephen King's On Writing, and he tells readers exactly that. He says that writers should write every day, not stopping on one story until it's done, or they'll lose touch with it. This guy could have added my name to the end of his sentence. No more pauses on fics. Perhaps I won't write every day, sometimes things just happen, but if I have time for other hobbies, I have time to write.

There are some other minor things that I learned from this fic, but I won't go into all the nitty gritty details. To end this off, I just want to say thank you, to all readers of this fic. I never expected such success when I started Doctor Whooves: Parallel Complications. Now it has over a thousand views. Some of you will be sad to hear, but this is the last story I plan to write for this series. The time has come for other things. But from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for reading, rating the fic, and leaving your comments. I am sincerely glad that you enjoyed.

Chapter 1- The Right Stallion

Author's Note

NOTE: This is a sequel to http://www.fimfiction.net/story/107028/dr-whooves-parallel-complications. It is highly recommended for the sake of this fic making sense to read that story first.

Chapter 1- The Right Stallion

The light grey clouds and sprinkling rain failed to lower Ensign Wing’s cheery mood. He’d made it. The royal guard. Now he walked through the bustling streets of Canterlot as an officer, one among the best of the best who were selected to protect the royal princesses and their castle. He pushed through the vigorous training and the first few months of having to work every day of the week with long hours, but now that he was an official ensign, they gifted him with a normal schedule and days off, something he’d taken for granted in the past. And for the first time since he signed up, Wing had a whole day to spend with his best friend from childhood, whose mood also stayed strong through the rain drops falling onto her silky, red mane.

“Wing!” Crescent shouted with delight upon seeing her friend. She ran up to him, and Wing smiled wide, pulling Crescent into a hug. “Look at you…” she said, pulling back to glance over Wing’s changed stature. “You look twice as strong as you used to!”

“Thanks.” Wing blushed. “You look great too. It’s so good to see you!”

“Let’s order breakfast to go and get out of this stupid rain,” Crescent replied. “I got a great hotel room, we can go there and chat.”

They strolled through the streets of Canterlot, their hooves making gentle splashes in puddles formed from the rain that gently fell. It was summer, and though the warm sun did not show itself behind the clouds, still nopony felt a chill or the need of a jacket, though some unicorns with perfectly styled manes or expensive clothes held an umbrella above them with magic.

Wing looked at Crescent as they walked, longing for some of the vibrant color she was born with. Crescent’s gorgeous red mane and tail complemented her rich yellow body, and her eyes were red too, which was unique among ponies. Wing was a light grey, his mane and tail white, and he was born with blue eyes. Being a bland color helped him fit it with the royal guard. They had to dye their coats if they were too far from a shade of black or white, and Wing didn’t have to deal with that. But he always felt a little too plain walking next to her.

The two were in a time of change across all of Equestria. Though Celestia and Luna would still be around for ages to come, Princess Twilight discovered her castle about six decades ago, and now her and her council grew old. Princess Cadance in the Crystal Empire also grew old, and before the turn of the century, Equestria would likely have to say goodbye to two princesses, and welcome new ones selected by Celestia.
Technology had advanced quite a bit over the years as well. Though unicorns were still highly valued, some of the most basic tasks unicorns had managed in the past now completed themselves through technology. A pony in Appleoosa could talk to a pony in Manehattan with the push of a few buttons on a phone. Speeches from royalty to the public and sporting events were now televised. Trains were faster and no longer spat smoke out into the air. Ponies even began to realistically talk about space travel, though that dream was still a long ways away.

After making a few turns, Wing and Crescent arrived at the Sunshine Hotel, where Crescent slept last night, waiting to meet her friend this morning. They passed through the lobby, nodding hello to the clerk at the counter, and entered the elevator, another piece of new technology.
After leaving the elevator, Crescent used her horn to retrieve her room key, then walked to her door and let herself and Wing inside. She pulled out some orange juice from the fridge and poured each of them a glass. Wing sat down at the small table in the room, and Crescent joined her. The rain picked up, making an audible patter against the closed window.

“You must’ve had an awful few months,” Crescent said. “How much did you have to work?”

“12 hour shifts, seven days a week,” Wing replied. “Sometimes even more. They want you to get used to having to go to work tired, in case anything ever happens and you have to work a long shift. But everything’s normal now. One 12 hour shift each week, the rest are 8, and two days off. Sometimes I’ll get three days off in a week, and that’ll be great.”

“Well, I knew you could power through,” Crescent replied, smiling.

“I sure didn’t!” Wing leaned back in his chair, stretching out his wings a bit. “That was some tough stuff. After spending today with you, I plan to sleep through all of tomorrow.”

Crescent laughed. “Well I’m glad you gave up one more day of sleeping in to come see me. If this rain doesn’t let up, I’ll buy an umbrella so we can go out on the town later without getting soaked.”

“I’ll handle it. You know how much extra money I made working all those hours? That was the only good thing about this initiation. I’ll buy dinner while I’m at it.”

“Really? Well, I’m flattered, and I’ll take you up on that offer.”

The two continued to chat into the afternoon. They ordered room service for lunch, trying to wait out the rain pouring outside. Wing and Crescent caught up on everything, from work, to family, to funny stories over the past few months. For the first time in a long while, Wing felt relaxed. He felt comfortable. It felt like years since he’d sat down with his friend just to talk. However, his ears lowered a bit when Crescent asked him about making friends on the guard.

“I haven’t really made any good friends yet…” Wing was slow to reply. Shyness was an issue since childhood with him. He’d either struggle to approach ponies or ponies tried to avoid him. Now that he was on the guard, nopony was ever rude, but he still couldn’t seem to fit in. “I have a couple ponies that I talk to, they’re nice… But I haven’t been able to hang out with them much.”

“Don’t let your shyness get the best of you, enjoy yourself in that castle,” Crescent told the pegasus, finishing up her meal. “It took a long time for us to become good friends, but look what came out of it! You’re never uncomfortable around me. Just get out there and hang out, you’ll start having fun.”

Wing sighed. “You’re right,” he said. “They really do like hanging out with me, I guess I’m just paranoid. It’s just the couple stallions that I’m friends with have a different schedule than me right now, so it’ll be hard even though I have more free time and days off.”

“You’ll find a way, don’t worry.” Crescent paused for a moment, then a sly grin appeared on her face, a new question burning inside her. “So… outside of friends… there any stallions you like?”

Wing immediately blushed. “Crescent…”

“What? Come on, the royal guard stallions are some of the most handsome ponies alive. Surely you’ve got somepony on your mind.”

“Not at the moment.” Wing was honest when he responded, and he shrugged. “I mean, I have enough trouble making friends. I’ve only had a couple boyfriends in my life, nothing’s ever worked out. I guess I’m just not looking at the moment. I’m waiting for somepony special to come along.”

“Oh, come on!” Crescent replied in a joking tone. “The only reason I didn’t throw myself at you years ago is because you like stallions. You’re a handsome pony. And if the royal guard ponies aren’t special enough for you, I don’t know what you’re waiting for. Unless some perfect, gorgeous stallion suddenly appears in Equestria from another dimension, you’re walking around the best of the best. They’re all inside Canterlot Castle.”

Wing chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

***

The Crystal Empire

Night fell across Equestria, and ponies laid their heads to rest in Luna’s beautiful night. Things were no different in the Crystal Empire, and the glistening town made no sound; it merely sparkled now and then when the moon hit just the right angle.

In the castle, Shining Armor and princess Cadance held each other in their hooves, drifting off to a deep, peaceful sleep. Outside their doors, and in the rest of the castle, the night shift of the royal guard patrolled, making sure that nothing disturbed the ponies and valuables contained inside.

But while the rest of the Crystal Empire was silent, deep within the castle, in a secret room, stood a tall mirror, with a purple outline and pink gems decorating the edge. This mirror broke the kingdom wide silence as a quiet hum began emitting from it.

Slowly, the surface of the mirror started waving, as if the material was liquid rather than glass. A bright light flashed out from the center, and the humming grew louder. Something pushed through the mirror’s surface, forming into the shape of a pony. This thing entered through another dimension, departed from one universe and entering this one. At last, the humming halted, the ripples in the mirror went flat, and a dark blue earth pony, with a mane and tail of an even darker blue, tumbled on to the ground. The stallion groaned, stretching out his hooves and slowly standing.

“That didn’t feel good…” The stallion shook his head, then rubbed his forehead with a hoof. He turned towards the mirror and carefully opened his eyes. At first, he saw nothing, but slowly, he adjusted to the darkness, and could see the reflection of himself in the now still mirror. “Alright, I’m a pony. Glad I wanted this as badly as I thought I did. Otherwise two universes would be falling apart right now.”

He turned away from the mirror, feeling out the small room. Though he could see the rough layout of the room in the dark, he failed to find a door. “Where the hell am I?”

It took a good while longer for the stallion to at last feel the latch he’d missed. “Ah hah!” He pulled down and swung the door open, finding himself in a large hallway. Though windows lined the tops of the walls, the night sky brought little light beyond what he had in the previous room.

He walked down the hall, taking in the sights. This was a castle, certainly, but not the castle he was familiar with. He didn’t know which direction to go, or if he was even in the city he wanted to be in.

When he turned a corner, however, the silence of the night broke once more. A bright light blinded him for a moment, a unicorn guard member shining light from his horn on to the stallion’s face. Two more unicorns joined the guard, and all of them raised spears with their magic, bringing them close to the intruder.

“Woah, woah, woah,” the stallion said, holding a hoof up and squinting his eyes while they adjusted. “Good evening boys, sorry to bother you. Are those spears or are you all happy to see me?”

“Who are you?” The closest unicorn barked. “Why are you here?”

“Hey, you guys are all… crystaly… that’s a sexy look, is that a magic makeover or-“

“Answer the questions!” the unicorn demanded. All three guard ponies moved their spears a bit closer.

“Alright, easy now, easy now, I’m unarmed, and I’m happy to leave, because I think I’m in the wrong place,” the stallion replied. “The name’s Captain Jack Harkness. I’m looking for a handsome grey pegasus that I owe a drink to.”

Chapter 5- Outside the Government

A couple pegasi helped Ruby off of the roof she’d leapt onto, and moved her to Ponyville hospital, which rested on the outskirts of the town. The hospital was small to match the population it served, but within its walls were the necessary doctors and equipment to fix her up.

Ruby laid in bed after getting x-rays taken of her chest. The pain medication helped greatly, and she relaxed against the pillow. She had a room completely to herself, and her closed door provided a peaceful quiet, as if separating her from the rest of the world. Her room offered little to look at, however. The room was a simple, small square, with white walls and a door that led to a toilet and sink. A large painting of flowers hung across from her bed, and the window on the far wall was blocked by closed blinds. She decided to ask whoever came in next to open them, but for now, she just closed her eyes, sinking into the bed even more.

Despite the relaxing atmosphere, her mind began to wander, and worry. The crew of her spaceship were at least a thousand years in the future, likely more, and now they were without a captain. She still had unanswered questions about the stallion that intruded into her ship. Who was he, what did he mean when he talked about dreams, why did is talk about dreams feel like it made sense, even though she could only recall faint images of what she’d dreamed about. The feeling she got when she looked at that planet…

The sudden noise of the door opening interrupted her thoughts. A doctor entered the room, however he wasn’t one of the doctors Ruby had talked with so far. This doctor was a griffon, and despite all her Space travel, Ruby had never seen one personally. His body and wings were a dark brown, while the feathers covering his neck and face were white. He wore a white lab coat and carried a portfolio of papers strung around his neck. The doctor grabbed a chair from the corner of the room with his yellow claws, and pulled it next to Ruby’s bed, afterwards climbing on top of it so that Ruby would not have to strain her neck to see him. He sat down and began pulling some papers out of the portfolio, skimming through some of the text before he looked up at Ruby and smiled.

“Hello Ms. Ruby, I’m Dr. Cazan, I’ll be overlooking your treatment from here on out,” the griffon began. “You’ve been through quite a lot today, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, you can say that again,” Ruby replied with a light chuckle. Even that made her chest hurt. “So what’s my situation?”

“Well, the burn on your face is going to leave a scar, but when your fur grows back it should cover it up for the most part,” Dr. Cazan explained. “That’s quite the burn on your face, but I don’t recall hearing about any sort of fire,” he continued. “Do you know what caused that burn?”

“Oh yeah, it happened…” In the future, she thought to herself. “A little bit before all havoc broke loose. Some unicorn got me with magic, then ran off.”

“That’s quite a powerful unicorn then, using magic like that,” Dr. Cazan replied. “I hope they catch whoever it is, sounds like a dangerous unicorn to just be out and about.”

I hope it’s me who catches him. Instead of voicing that thought, Ruby brought up a different question. “What about my chest?”

“That’s where the damage is more severe, I’m afraid,” Dr. Cazan said. “When you made your leap of faith, you ended up breaking a rib. We’ll have to keep movement of your chest limited for a while.”

Ruby sighed, her ears drooping. “That’ll suck.”

“Unfortunately, it will, but as long as you don’t do too much activity it will heal quickly.

Ruby had broken a bone once before, but in her time technology mixed with magic made healing just a matter of days rather than weeks. Though she lacked a routine exercise schedule, she was still quite active, and even just the three days spent with a broken bone in her own time were painful to bear. However, knowing that she laid here in bed with nothing but a broken rib after jumping a roof, the injury didn’t seem so bad. “Well, thanks for all your help,” Ruby said. “I’ve actually never met a griffon before. Do a lot of you live around here?”

“Actually, no griffons live in Ponyville,” Dr. Cazan replied. “At first the pony doctors here were taking care of you, but Celestia sent me to take care of you as soon as she found out about your injuries. She wanted me to say, ‘a friend of Jack Harkness is a friend of mine’.”

There wasn’t a single thing in that statement that didn’t leave Ruby surprised. Ruby truly had traveled back quite a bit in time. She was now certain that she was on Earth, the original pony planet, and at the time that the first recorded princesses and only recorded naturally born alicorns, Celestia and Luna, still lived and ruled. Not only that, but Jack Harkness, who she recalled saying came from a parallel universe, personally knew princess Celestia. How in the world that happened was a story she needed to hear.

“I’ve been rated one of Equestria’s top doctors, which is funny, given this is my second career,” the griffon continued.

“What was your first?”

“I was a spy for the griffon kingdom.”

Ruby blinked in surprise. “Didn’t think you could just tell ponies that sort of thing,” she said.

“Oh, when I was doing the job, nopony knew,” Dr. Cazan explained. “But now it doesn’t matter. Of course, we’ve been allied with ponies for a few hundred years now, so I didn’t watch any of you, but there are quite a few rare and sometimes malicious creatures out there.”

Ruby nodded, not really knowing what creatures originally lived on Earth, but thinking of aliens that were hostile to pony territory. “So why’d you quit?”

“No griffon is on the secret police for too long. I like this job though, I get to help a lot of ponies, griffons, and other animals alike. I do miss the excitement sometimes…” Dr. Cazan scratched a few notes on Ruby’s paperwork, then climbed off the chair. “I need to get going, but I’ll have a nurse bring you some more pain killers.”

“Thanks,” Ruby said. She nodded and smiled at the griffon as he moved the chair back and left the room. After realizing she forgot to ask about the window, she shifted her hind legs around a bit in the bed, getting into a more relaxed position, then closed her eyes, falling into a light sleep.

***

The sun’s light shimmered through the far window of the main chamber in Twilight’s castle as it began to set, evening approaching fast. Twilight sat in her chair, while Celestia sat in Fluttershy’s. A still silence pervaded the room for a few moments, until Twilight spoke.

“Now that you’ve explained it, I can remember… flashes,” Twilight began. “This is just a whole lot to take in.”

“Your alicorn magic is strong, but you are still young,” Celestia replied. “You may never remember more from the time that was, but more memories might come with age.”

“So this Jack Harkness isn’t actually a pony?”

“Correct.”

“And he played a major role in saving our universe?”

“Every universe, actually,” Celestia reminded her. “We owe everything to Jack and those who were with him. They fought to protect everything in existence from being pulled into the void.”

Twilight paused for another moment. “So why is Jack here again?”

“I’m not sure,” Celestia replied. “I let him take a tour of Ponyville with Wing, so that they could relax after all they went through. His stay is likely a short one, but you and I can both trust him and any friend he has. I want to show him the vault.”

Twilight was shocked. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Celestia said. “Today was a major breach in security, and I won’t make Jack stay in this universe, but I’d like to ask for his help before he leaves. I fear that today will not be the end of occurrences like this. Appearances of creatures from other worlds have gotten harder to handle, and harder to keep secret.”

***

Wing didn’t speak. He didn’t move. His eyes stared forward after the crisis ended. The adrenaline that had kept him going drained out of his body, and his legs struggled just to hold himself up. Everything hit him at once again. The past several hours played in his head over and over, and he laid down on the ground, unable to do anything except relive each individual horror and confusion. He began shivering, and placed his front hooves on top of his head. Where was he? Could he ever get back? Who… or what… was Jack?

Jack exchanged some words with Celestia, after which the princess nodded and left, taking Twilight with her. He then moved to Wing’s side, gently moving the pegasus’ hooves down to the ground. As Jack laid down, he draped his right foreleg across Wing, and hugged him tight. A few tears trickled down Wing’s face, and Jack just laid there with him, gently caressing the pegasus. “Shh…” Jack whispered.

Wing slowly calmed down as the frightful events of today became less present in his mind. Tears still trickled down his face for a few minutes more, but before he realized it, he fell asleep, his exhaustion finally overpowering all his worries.

Jack laid there with Wing on the fringe of the forest, now letting his own thoughts wander. He couldn’t help but feel guilty. None of this should have happened to Wing. His life was going fine until Jack decided to enter it. Now Wing was stuck out of his own time, and Jack had no way to get him back.

He’d thought about just visiting and leaving, however, the situation now further set in stone his thoughts of staying after realizing how much he liked Wing. Jack made a promise to himself that he’d protect Wing, and wouldn’t return to his own universe until Wing was back in his own time.

A couple of hours passed, and Jack stayed with the pegasus. He didn’t make any moves to disturb Wing’s sleep; he simply kept his hoof around him, admiring the lush white of Wing’s mane. Eventually, Wing started to stir, and his eyes slowly opened. When he discovered Jack next to him, he nuzzled into the blue stallion’s cheek.

“Let’s not talk about it yet,” Jack said softly, squeezing Wing with his foreleg for a moment. “It’s almost dinner time, I’m starving.” He sat up. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

Wing felt calmer and refreshed from letting his exhaustion pull him into a nap, and didn’t want all the insanity of the day to return to his thoughts just yet, so he nodded in agreement. He pushed everything out of his mind and stood up, then walked back into town with Jack.

The two conversed like they had back in the bar when they first met up, and soon both felt better. To their surprise, a few ponies thanked them for their help as they walked through town, for some had seen bits and pieces and spread the word. His mood improved even more, knowing how much he’d helped, and his face managed a smile.

Jack spotted a lovely looking diner, and pointed Wing in that direction. The diner was small, but well kept, with booths and tables filling the indoor space, and a couple white tables outside with umbrellas in them to block out the sun’s rays. The two entered through the glass door and took a seat, continuing their conversation. A brown earth pony named Maple took their orders, and a little while later they both had full bellies.

The sun was setting as they paid for their meal and left the diner, and the two stallions wandered around the streets some more. Wing noticed a nice looking path that led to a farm, and they took it to admire some new scenery. The lush grass glowed in the tint of the setting sun’s light, and a rather spacious orchard of apple trees could be seen out in the distance, fresh red apples ready to fall from the branches.

The path ended at the farm’s entrance, but Jack and Wing stopped short at a small hill, leaving the path to sit on top of it and look out at the setting sun. For the first time since Wing woke up, the conversation died out, and the stallions were left in silence.

For a few minutes, neither bothered to break that silence, each simply enjoying the other’s company on the warm evening. Jack looked over at the grey pegasus, seeing his slumped shoulders, his flattened ears, and his eyes now staring at the ground. Jack knew Wing was tired, and they couldn’t avoid this discussion forever. It was time to talk.

“Have you ever read a science fiction book?”

“What?” Wing replied.

“A sci fi book. Futuristic, crazy science, stuff like that.”

Wing nodded.

Jack didn’t look directly at Wing as he spoke, instead continuing to admire the sunset. “Well, all that stuff you see in sci fi books, lasers, teleportation without magic, space travel, aliens… it’s not all fiction. There’s more than just Equestria, and the other places on this world. Way out among the stars you see at night, there are countless other planets, each with its own variety of creatures. And at some point or another, every planet has to deal with the fact that there’s more than just them. Typically it starts with aliens coming to your planet, but someone high up covers it all, keeping it a secret until the public is ready to know. Aliens have probably visited this planet already, maybe even multiple times. For some, that’s a hard fact to swallow.

“Ruby is living proof that what I’m telling you is true. She’s from the future, your future, I just don’t know how far. She’s captain of a ship that travels through space, going from planet to planet. The weapon that she and the stallion we encountered used is a laser pistol, just like in the books.”

Wing slowly nodded, taking the information in. After everything that happened earlier today, it was easier for him to absorb this. Had Jack told him all this at the bar last night, he’d have laughed. Wing always wondered if other creatures existed, if any of the fun sci fi books he read held any actual merit. Now he knew.

“So, that device today. It wasn’t from here?”

“Probably not,” Jack replied. “Your time just recently figured out phones, and where we are now is even farther in the past. The pony was likely using stolen alien technology.”

“Ok…” Wing said, formulating his next question. “So the device came from stolen alien technology. Where… did you come from? You said you weren’t from the future… you were…”

Jack sighed. “That’s where things get even more complicated,” he began. “There’s not just other worlds, there are entire other planes of existence. I come from a reality where magic doesn’t exist the way it does here, everything is different,” he explained. “I came through a portal that connects our two universes.”

“Why did you come here?”

Jack paused, a memory of Wing’s dead body before him flashing in front of his eyes. He bit his lip, then spoke again. “I came here once before,” he said. “By accident, actually. Things got crazy for both this universe and my own, but… a good doctor set everything back to the way it was.” Jack paused again. “I just came back to… see how this universe was faring.”

Wing paused before asking his next question, a bit surprised that he wanted to ask it. “How long are you staying?”

Jack placed a hoof on Wing’s shoulder, and the two looked into each other’s eyes. “I promise you, I won’t leave until I get you back to where you belong,” he said. “I never meant for all this to happen for you. All the ponies you know are still there, going about their days in the future as if you never left. You’ll see them again, I’ll make sure of it”

Wing thought about Crescent, his other friends, and family. If he never returned to the future, it would seem like he just disappeared. The royal guard would think he abandoned his post, his friends and family wouldn’t know what to think. That thought scared him.

“And while I figure out how to get you back, I wouldn’t mind a couple more dates.”

The pegasus’ cheeks turned red, and he smiled lightly. Jack patted his shoulder before setting his hoof back down, and now Wing just had one question left, this one the most difficult to ask. Wing raised his own hoof, and put it on Jack’s chest, where the pistol had fired into him. He slowly rubbed his hoof against Jack’s fur, finding nothing, not even a scratch. “That… thing he had…” Wing started. “the weapon… I thought it killed you. Hit you right here. You screamed… you fell…”

Letting out a sigh, Jack began explaining. “If you stick around with me, you’ll discover a lot of impossible things,” he said. “I can’t even tell you how this one works, but everyone I know finds out eventually. Something happened a long time ago... it changed me. I can't die."

Wing leaned back, his eyes widening. Time travel, space travel, aliens, all these were things that were difficult to grasp, but manageable. But immortality was a trait even Celestia and Luna didn’t have, despite their immensely longer lives.

“If I die, it’s only for a short while, and I come back,” Jack continued. “It’s not as great as it might sound, trust me.”

“How… how long have you been alive?”

“Hard to say, honestly,” Jack said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever die.”

Both ponies sat in silence for a moment after that. Wing felt unsure on an appropriate response to such a statement.

“But hey, don’t worry about it,” Jack said, breaking the silence. “Now you know, and we can leave it at that. It’s getting late, we should check back in with Celestia and see how Ruby is doing. Are you ok with all this?”

All it took was one date for Wing’s life to suddenly get turned upside down. In one day he experienced more new things than in his entire life. However, the nap, the meal, and time to sit down and talk had helped calm all the panic he felt when they first arrived back in time. He felt that if he handled all that happened today, he could handle whatever happened tomorrow.

“I’m ok. You’re right, let’s get going.”

***

Twilight had only just recently received her new castle after solving the mystery of the box. The castle towered above everything else in Ponyville, with a blue, tree trunk shaped base, the base holding a purple castle with yellow rooftops, and a sculpture of her cutie mark above all that. As she went to get some tea, she heard a knock emanate from the yellow double doors at the base of the castle, and she slowly walked down the lengthy stairs to respond. When she opened the door, she greeted the two stallions she’d met earlier today. She strained to remember the blue one, knowing that in some other timeline, she already had.

“Hello,” Twilight said, nodding her head at the two. Wing gave a courteous bow, recognizing the younger version of the princess Twilight he knew of, and Jack decided to do the same in hopes of making a good impression. “I’m princess Twilight. We met before. Celestia and I have talked a lot, I understand who you are now. Come in, we’ll talk more.”

Jack and Wing followed the purple alicorn up a spiraling staircase, bringing them to the main hall of Twilight’s castle. The purple exterior mirrored the inner walls, and the whole place seemed to sparkle just slightly. Rather than doors, large archways led to the other rooms of the castle, with the exception of Twilight’s private library and her bedroom, both located on the next floor up.

The princess led them to a room with seven chairs arranged in a circle. Celestia sat in one, and next to her sat Ruby, some thick bandages around the unicorn’s chest. A small bandage also covered the burned area on her cheek.

“Hey there, Captain,” Jack said, smiling at the mare. “Hanging in there?”

“As best as I can,” Ruby replied. “I’ve got a lot longer recovery than I would if I was in my own time. Broke a rib.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“Jumped from one rooftop to the other to get a better view.”

“Well, we caught the guy, so thank you,” Jack said, chuckling. “But maybe learn some short distance teleportation spells.”

“Already on it, believe me,” Ruby said, pointing to the book resting next to her chair.

“Jack, Wing, it is good to see you both looking well,” Celestia said, motioning for both of them and Twilight to all sit down. Twilight took the chair with her own cutie mark on it, and Jack and Wing chose chairs at random. “I believe we haven’t been formally introduced, Wing.”

“Well, I’ve sort of met you, princess,” Wing replied. He bowed his head lightly in greeting, and Celestia returned the courtesy. Wing took a breath. “I’ve had some time now to take in all that’s happened, and while it’s still crazy, I’m calm enough to believe it. I’m an ensign on your royal guard, but from some point in the future. Not far, I think, but a few decades at least.”

“I see,” Celestia replied. After saying the year, Wing knew he had been sent back six decades exactly. “I’ll keep an eye out for you in the future. I wish I could offer to take you back, but time traveling into the future is even beyond my magical capability.” She turned her attention to Jack. “Now Jack, you are the last person I expected to see,” she said.

Jack nodded. “I came here just to… see how things were going, but then crazy ponies with time travel technology got in the way.”

“A pony with a time travel device? The one you apprehended?”

“No, somepony else,” Ruby chimed in. “I’m captain of a starship about 2500 years in the future. Some stallion, I never got a good look at him because of his cloak, secretly boarded our ship and hacked our systems. When I moved in to apprehend him, I thought he was just using a short range personal teleporter. Turns out he was pulling me back into the past.”

“This is disturbing news, indeed,” Celestia said. “That makes at least two ponies out there, but likely more, that have some sort of agenda they are trying to carry out. And they’re using either alien technology or technology from the future to do so.”

“Speaking of that,” Jack said. “What is this vault the other princess mentioned?”

Twilight looked one last time to Celestia for approval, and she nodded. “The vault is a secret room underground, beneath this castle,” Twilight explained. “This castle was just recently built. Well, grown, it’s a long story. The point is, princess Celestia decided to move all the items we need to keep hidden from the public to this room, so I could watch them. Everything down there is technology salvaged from alien appearances on this planet.”

Wing’s eyes widened, realizing that Jack was right. Aliens already visited here. Multiple times. He shook his head, amazed that nopony, even in his time, knew about it.

“Are alien appearances a well kept secret?” Ruby asked.

“Yes,” Celestia replied. “But I have concerns. Incidents are getting harder and harder to cover up. Not only that, but now a pony has broken in to the vault, and used technology from it. That was the device you saw today that enlarged the insects. I have no idea how many more know of the vault; it will either have to be moved or security will have to be raised.”

“And you saw the failure of our emergency response police,” Twilight added. “If more dangerous situations continue to sprout, we may not be prepared.”

All five sat in silence for a few moments, pondering what had been said. The sun lowered past the windows of the castle, making the room dim. Celestia wanted nothing more than to protect her kingdom and its allies. She’d done so for over a thousand years, however, this was one of the rare occasions that she felt out of options. She needed help.

“Jack, you’ve done so much for this world already, but if you are willing to stay in Equestria for a while, I must ask that you help with this,” she said. “I need someone with your expertise, your knowledge of what lies outside this world.”

Jack had already made Wing a promise not to leave until Wing was back in his own time. He also felt partially responsible for Ruby being here. He’d saved her back in Wing’s time, true, but Ruby sat there with bandages across her chest because she’d helped track down the culprit.

An idea formed in his head. One that brought back memories of the past. 21st century Earth. Quite a crazy place. The world crawling with aliens and no one knew yet. Usually, Jack’s good friend and his friend’s blue box managed to show up and protect the planet, but sometimes, his friend wasn’t there. That was when Jack came in. Now here he was again, the only one around that could help. He slowly stood out of his chair, looking at Celestia.

“I know why the police failed to help today,” Jack said. “Because they’re your police. They can help, but they don’t have the knowledge or the clearance to know anything about what they might have to face. You need something that is even beyond your own jurisdiction.” Celestia leaned back in her chair, listening intently, intrigued by Jack’s words. “A small team with the knowledge and experience to handle situations like this. Outside the government, beyond the police. Arming the world against whatever may be out there. We could be that team.”

“We?” Ruby asked.

Jack turned to Wing and Ruby. “I promise to do all I can to help you both get back to your own time. But you're both involved in the mystery going on with this time traveling pony. I know for sure that you want to catch the stallion,” he added when he looked at Ruby. She rubbed her cheek, and nodded. “And I have a feeling some part of you wants to find him as well,” he said, turning his focus back to Wing, who after a moment’s hesitation, grunted in agreement.

“I know you’re both lost right now, outside of your time. But it appears that, much like on my home planet, the 21st century is when everything changes. If you help me now, then Equestria will be ready.”

Ruby stood up from her chair. “The tech you have in the vault may be alien, but I’ve met aliens. Often times our technology has been based off of older tech from more advanced species. I could be your alien tech guide, and this all sounds like a plan to me. Search for the stallion, help a primitive version of the pony home-world while I’m at it.”

Jack looked at Wing with hope in his expression. “Wing? You’ve had to take in a lot today, but what do you say?”

Wing gulped, but climbed off of his chair. “I joined the royal guard to protect ponies, and we protected ponies today. If that’s the job description, I’m in.”

“I can’t thank you enough for doing this, Jack,” Celestia said. She too now stood. “I can’t thank any of you enough. Any resources you need, you will have it. No authority will have jurisdiction above yours.”

Twilight was the last to stand, however, her confidence in Celestia gave her confidence in the other three ponies in the room. “I’ll show you all how to access the vault, and let you control it from now on,” she said. “I can’t remember you like Celestia does, Captain Harkness, but I trust you.”

That settled the plan. Jack had the companions he needed to do what he did for his own planet in the past. Build a secret police team, defend the world from powers beyond its control. He thought back to the team he had on earth, many of whom he’d lost. He made another promise to himself: to not let any more losses happen. In honor of his former team, the least he could do was bring back the name.

“We’re going to need some police badges made up, Celestia, for our team,” Jack said.

“I can arrange that,” Celestia replied. “However, what shall your team be called?”

“Torchwood.”