Torchwood: Equestria- Parallel Loose Ends

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.”