Torchwood: Equestria- Parallel Loose Ends

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.”