Torchwood: Equestria- Parallel Loose Ends

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.