Torchwood: Equestria- Parallel Loose Ends

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.”