Mist covered the many pony homes a light fog blanket over them. It was early in the morning and the weather Pegasi have yet to notice the stray clouds that settled on the ground during the night shift. The day was just starting for all so few were even out, however one pony was. The fog serving as a cloak a he crept around making sure any other ponies did not notice him. Anypony that saw him would think he was an average pony, nothing remarkable about him. He was a plain light brown earth pony stallion with a slightly darker brown mane, a pony who would not stand out in anypony's mind. The most remarkable thing about him was his cutie mark which was a golden hourglass tattooed on his rear and perhaps his green tie.
Under normal circumstances he would be free to roam wherever he wanted without the fear of being spotted, however his circumstances were not normal. It was not the fact he was out early in the morning or that he was wandering around that made things abnormal. It was his destination, towering above the pony homes in clear view was a castle. It was the castle where he was headed and since his invite was private nopony else knew about it. Hence the stealth he did not want to be caught not wanting his or the castle residents' reputation ruined by gossip.
He could almost see the headlines in his head, Stallion caught sneaking into castle, criminal or secret lover?, or worse they could think he was sneaking out of the castle. A stallion sneaking in or out of a castle early in the morning did not paint a pretty light on him, so it was best if he was not caught. If it had not been for the invite and recent events he is uncertain if he would of gone at all.
He has been a coward in the past despite other invites, avoiding his friend at all costs. Often he would claim he was busy with an invention or just did not have the time. They were all lies that he hid behind afraid to face his friend. One would think he did not miss them. However the opposite was true, he missed them terribly.
His fears came from his own doubts, he knew they were happier without him in their lives. If he saw them again would he break down and beg them back, could he expose them to dangers once more to serve his own self? Or worse would they say they no longer needed him and banish him from their lives. The fear of both held him tightly in their grasp. It was ironic he could stand up to horrors unimaginable without blinking, but could not confront one friend. What a coward he was.
Fortunately his concern for his friend out weighed his fears. This newest invite seemed like a call for help, unlike the past ones which they just wanted to see him. They knew him well enough that he could not ignore a call for help, but they would not use unless needed. So he swallowed his fear and set out on his trek wanting to see his friend even if it would be for the last time.
He made his way closer to the castle keeping his eyes out for anypony that may be wandering about. He was told his way would be clear, but there was always a chance of an unscheduled wander. Darting from corner to corner, he knew the castle would be mostly empty having aided his friend in forging a few papers giving fun trips to the other residents to make sure it would be only them. From experience he knew it payed to be cautious, even the best laid plans had a chance to go wrong. If it were one of his... scratch that he was terrible at plans, a more play as you go that somehow worked out in the end type. Not to say they are all like that, sometimes his complicated plans work out, however most of the time he has to change something mid plan. Fortunately this was not his plan alone, his friend had aided him and they were quite brilliant. They have gotten him out a few scrapes from time to time, but of course that dwarfs the number of times they got him into trouble. Hence the caution as he made his way ever closer.
Here was at the most dangerous part of his trek with the door in sight, however with nothing to cover him he would have to make a mad dash to get there. If anypony saw him as he charged the door he would be caught for certain. The only thing he was assured of was the door would be unlocked allowing him to get in quickly. Taking on more look around he focused his breath readying himself for a run. As if a gun went off he sprang into action making a rush to the door. His focus entirely on it nothing else deviating him from his path, nopony was going to stop him caution to the poor soul who would dare get in his way. He did not dare think or take a breath until he had slipped through door and slammed it behind him. Taking deep panting breaths enjoying the feel of running almost out of fun, instead of for his life like usual.
Looking around with only barren hall to greet him, of course his friend could not make this easy on him. Nothing he could do, he had to go to them himself. They did tell him where they would be, but would it be so much to ask to have some sort of greeting at the door. Granted that may ruin his secret visit, but it would be nice to know he was thought about. Grumbling, he was here to see a friend not complain about the lack of hospitality. Walking the ominous halls taking in the lack of scenery, perhaps he could give his friend a few pieces advice for decoration or at least add a few more rooms.
Another set of doors have come to greet him, these ones held his friend on the other side. It was easy to find it was the heart of the castle after all, still it would of been more fun if had been a maze to get here. He would of found it either way, but it would of nice to of been challenged. His friend could of easily altered a few walls added a few false paths, it would be like the days when they traveled together. Sadly those days were in the past and they drifted. He would remind them of the fun they had, laugh together before reality tears it away.
Knocking four times, his own secret way to show it was him, the doors opened and he let himself in. He looked around taking the large chamber in letting the words form on his lips.
"I love what you done with the place," trying to break the ice out nervousness. "Crystalline structure, I hear that is very in right now," making a sad attempt at making a joke.
"I love the designs on these thrones, how many are there?" counting. "Six and one smaller one, what no design for him? I think a scroll or quill might do nicely."
Running his arm with his hoof as an awkward silence filled the room. "I know I haven't been the best of friends in the past, but I am here now. That counts for something, right?" Sorrow evident on his face.
"Look I am sorry I never came in the past, but it looks you didn't need me look how far you come," motioning to the thrones.
"I know, I know my presence would made you feel better, but you always had my support," a smile on his lips. "I been keeping tabs on you from behind the scenes, helping out where I can. And let me tell you it is not easy," letting out a tired sigh.
"Getting to a location before your friends do, do you know how hard it is to gather animals that know the history of a town? Or slowing down a portal between dimensions so a group of fairy ponies can get home. Then there is all of the other crazy overcomplicated plans where things need to be checked and doubled checked to make sure events... I am rambling again," shaking his head with another sigh.
"I didn't come here to complain, I came here to see you," giving an awkward smile silence still filling the room. "Don't be like that. Just like I haven't abandon you, you haven't me," giving a sly grin.
"Don't think I haven't noticed your small bits of magic aiding me every so often," The echoes of his own voice the was the only sound heard in the large room.
"There is no need to be shy, I know it is you. Your power gives off very distinct readings," pulling out a device that made a whirling sound accompanied by a soft blue glow. "Or did you forget and this, I program it to pick up your power no matter how small," the whirling tool getting louder and more irritating forcing him to put it away. "Of course since we are in the same place it is going off like crazy...I will have to fix that," making a mental note to himself as he taps his chin.
"How about it, we let bygone be bygones and you tell me why I am here." his request was shot down as not even a sound came from other side of the cavernous room. "I apologized what more do you want," getting irritated by the cold shoulder he was receiving.
"I bet I know why you called me here," fuming as he started to pace glaring. "I bet it has to do with that time travel shenanigans that happened not to long ago," a dead quiet filled the air.
"Ha, I knew I was right. I should of destroyed that time travel spell when it was found the first time. I knew I should of never let Starswirl study time magic," muttering to himself. "But you convinced me otherwise, now look where we are. We are lucky the universe wasn't torn asunder," stomping around as he goes in a tangent.
"More than you was affected by that spell or did you forget that I am attached to the flow of time? I felt, saw, and experienced every bit of it, you remember the images we have seen on the video screen. Well that what it felt like for me, only I was watching myself on the screen regardless of how many different worlds I travel to there I was," a mixture of pain and fear evident on his face as his body shook.
"I am sure you thought you had it contain that only you would suffer, but you were wrong. I suffered too," breath flaring out his nostrils seething. "Now because of that I am guessing something is wrong or broken and you need good old me to fix it, am I right!?"
His frustration echoing through the crystal lined room seeking a response. No response came, the room was mute to his tirade as if he were a tantrum foal to be ignored.
"I have had enough of this, you called me here," his anger at boiling. "I will admit what I have done in the past was wrong, but if you continue to treat me like this then I will leave," his threat was met with not even a draft of air.
"You think I won't make good on my threat? Well let me tell you not only will I leave this room, but I will leave your life as well no longer will you be able to call on this fool. But then again maybe you don't need me," looking at the thrones. "You appear to have plenty of friends, I am sure you will have no problems using them. What is the loss of one old stallion?" depression sinking into his voice.
"Who am I kidding? You don't need me, I will be going now," turning making a slow trot back to the main door. His head drooping as he made the walk sadness and depression overwhelming. Looks like his fears were right he was no longer needed. She survived this long without him and she had plenty of friends to aid her in her adventures. He would only get in the way, but still he should at least say goodbye before leaving her for good and tell her what she means to him.
A tear formed in his eye not from the goodbye he about to say, but from the sound he heard. It started as quiet as a whisper, but his ears could pick up those sounds from anywhere. She was letting him know she still cared, her sound was soft it brightened his hearts to hear it once more. To the normal pony the sound of her voice would seem strange trying to match it with a squeaky door or chalk on a board. They would never understand how beautiful her voice is, how otherworldly she is. Yes he knew the sound of his dear T.A.R.D.I.S. anywhere and he finally hearing her voice after so long.
"Seems like we both had to let our pride go," turning around his eyes welling up at what he sees. At the center of the room, her sound getting louder, the floor opened up as a table raised up. It was smooth and crystalline in structure and took up the vacate spot between the thrones. "Look at you," speaking in awe. "Your a table, why were you never one when I was looking for a place to eat lunch?" a scolding squeal blared.
"Relax it was a joke, it is great to see you again old girl I have missed you," a pleasant hum was emitted. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that from you," a smile on his muzzle.
"Look how much you changed, though I am much more partial to your previous form than this large tree crystal castle thing you become." A spiteful whine sounded, "Don't be like that. I like the classic form over this modern one, it is nothing against you just my taste," reassuring her.
"Besides look at you now," running his hoof over the table. "So smooth, shiny and flat, oohhh could you show me your map?" a high noise went off. "I didn't mean it like that," a small blush on his face. An image of Equestria appearing on the surface, the details of the hills and valleys all the way down to the buildings was immaculate one would think they were seeing whole world from above.
"You have 3D holograms?" acting like an excited colt. "Why must eveypony else get the cool upgrades," muttering under his breath. "Look at the view you can see everything, the castle, Ponyville, What other fun upgrades do you have?," a sound much like a tooting horn bounced of the walls.
"Really! I have to test this... let's try my house," moving his hoof over as if clicking an invisible place zooming in on his home giving him the image of his street. "Look at the detail you even have the sign that I put up with the slight burn marks due to that experiment," chuckling to himself. "Oh look there is Lyra, hi Lyra," waving to her image. "Right silly me she can't see me, what other features do you have?" acting much like a colt with a new toy as more tooting could be heard.
"Really!? A tracking system and a mark the least dangerous path route. How often do your charges use them?" an innocent whistle drafted through the room. "They don't know do they?," signing and putting his hoof on his head, "Alright, what do they know?" Giving him a barrage of whirls and clicks in details.
"That is it? You signal them tell them where to go and let them stumble along the way," shaking his head. "Well you did the same to me, I guess old habits die hard don't they. Though it is slightly better than me, all you did then was drop me off and let me discover on my own," a wave a nostalgia washing over him.
"It has been a long time hasn't old girl," a sound of agreement is made. "Do you think the occupants have noticed your slightly larger on the inside than out side?" making a joke. "I noticed, you must feel so confined staying it one place, one time, and one form. You know that you don't have to," making his plea.
"I know you say your tied to this world now a part of it, but you don't have to be. We could run away together again like we did all those centuries ago. A mad stallion and his machine traveling time and space once more, I think it could be fun," a twinkle of adventure in his eye. A whine emitting through the room.
"I knew you missed it. Who wouldn't? All the adventure, the danger... well maybe a little less danger, but you get the point. We could be together again," running his hoof over the table surface.
"It has been no picnic for me you know," unloading is troubles. "We both been trapped here so long. I love the planet and the ponies don't get me wrong, but their are so many stars out there waiting to be explored." A grinding melancholy noise was made in response.
"I didn't want to leave you either, but we had little choice. You were so damaged that you reverted a seed. When I planted you in that cave we had no clue that you would fuse with the magic of this world." Different sounds danced through the chamber in a series of pitches and lengths.
"I would of never guess you would become tied to the world either, able to see its flow of time and the ponies that inhabited it. But of course you couldn't just leave time as is, nope; you had to meddle. Looks like I am a bad influence on you," scolding and making a joke at the same time.
"You wanted to guide the ponies to a good future and for that you needed help, fortunately for you there was a resident Time Lord for you to drag into your scheme," a sharp noise was made in rebuttal. "Yes I know I went along with it, but you could of tried a different way then making my body spasm," another sound of retort.
"What works for some Earth ponies does not work for all, how many forms of communication did we go through till we arrived at our current one?" five bangs echoed through the roof. "Ah yes, I can still taste the paper when you made me barf up scrolls," shuddering a little. "I like seeing the words much better, though them appearing as I doing something or speaking to another can make things... hazardous at times, but I manage." giving a light hearted chuckle.
Her sounds played off the walls in a kind a musical whimsy, it had been a long time since he heard her so happy. "Yes asking me to help warring tribes find their way to here was not easy, but I managed. The harder part was making sure the chancellor didn't get us lost good thing Smart Cookie listened to me," complaining about his task. "They made it into a story you know, though I not sure why they believe only two from each tribe went," shrugging.
"Then there was Discord," a low noise was made in agreement. "Having me lead the Princesses to you I am still not sure was the best course of action," making his point even after all this time.
"Still using the magic of this world and the Eye of Harmony to make the elements, I would of never thought of that... wait. Eye of Harmony... Elements of Harmony, oh that is clever why did I only figure that out know," smacking himself with his hoof.
"That why you told me to give that name to the Princesses, I am so slow," berating himself. Sounds bounced off the walls in a series of pitches mimicking chuckles, "laugh it up old girl."
Letting out a deep sigh, "It was terrible after that, I stopped getting your messages and I believed you had separated your conscience as well," a deep lonely sadness in his blue eyes. "Then there was Nightmare Moon," a grimace on his muzzle.
"After she was banished, I am ashamed to admit it, but I almost sought out Celestia," a squeal of betrayal. "Don't be like that, you had gone quiet and she had lost her sister. We were two lonely immortals, can you blame me for thinking about it?" a noise of surrendering was made.
"Fortunately you found your voice once more, but if you had waited much longer things might of been very different," warning of how close his temptation came. "She calls me Prophet these days, even though I tell her it is not my name," grumbling under his breath.
"Of course after telling her of the return of her sister and of the pony who would one day free Luna what else would she call me?" a worp responded.
"Trust me I tried, but she claimed I will always be Prophet to her. Though you should of seen her face when I gave her that egg telling her the one to hatch it would be her student," laughing to brighten the mood.
A series of whirls and worps cascaded through the room in a trumpeting fury, "Yes, who would thought one mare could almost make that all come crashing down," the most recent events coursing through his mind.
"Now we arrive to why I am here," his tone somewhat dark. "You are lucky they didn't discover your true nature while time hopping," clearly miffed.
"One little slip up and they could of found out that you don't need magic to travel through time. It was a high risk putting yourself in the middle of all those horrors with the hopes Twilight could solve the problem. It was a very nasty trick you played on her," berating his machine.
"Twilight is a clever mare, if you hadn't made the situations so dire she could of figure out she never left the castle," a thump and squeak of shock pierced the room. "I know what you did, don't act innocent. You are an entire universe in yourself, therefore you contained each alternate time line within making sure they didn't leak out," throwing his accusation at her.
"What you did was reckless and dangerous. You could of been damaged or worse destoryed and that would of ended time itself," Tittering noises were made in explanation. "Don't give me it was for the benefit of blah blah blah," irritated and unwilling to listen.
"That is not even the worst of it, it was very low of you to make that poor mare experience the most horrible of time lines, some were not even real . Really Flim and Flam destroyers of Equestria were you running out of ideas and that wasteland looked familiar," a scolding blare sounded.
"How dare I? I saw what you put her through, I could see her suffering both her body and spirit was declining each time she was forcefully brought back," a scrapping noise retorted. "I am glad she did and everything is back to normal, but things could of gone very wrong."
Calming sounds flitted throughout the room to bring emotions back to reasonable levels. "Yes things turned out okay and Twilight seems to not be suffering, but you could of called for me I could of helped," the feeling of uselessness washing over him.
"You always turn to them now and have them to solve the problems. Do you have a use for an old stallion like me?," looking downtrodden wanting answers. His machine offered no answer instead a light come from the center of the table forming a line which split it in half. From this line the table parted opening up revealing a hole. In the hole rising up was her heart ever familiar to him encased in glass crystal cylinders inside pumping up and down. Revealing the true machine behind the magic.
"I ask for an answer and you show me your heart, you have a way with words old girl," a tear forming in his eye.
"Time to tell me the truth, why am I really here?," Her heart beat faster making the sounds as if she were going to travel, but instead a small glass globe appeared on consul. "You brought me here for a snow globe?" looking at the trinket. "You could of just sent me the gift," rolling his eyes.
Her brakes grinded flaring a small light under the globe, "alright I will take a closer look," getting close to the small globe his knees weaken and he falls on his rear in shock. "Is this what I think it is?" Holding the globe as if it were the most precious thing in the universe, a soft hum was her only reply.
The inside of the the snow globe held two items one was a lamp, one that anypony could find on the side of the street. The other thing was a box it was rectangular in size it stood about half the height of the lamp and looked like it could only fit one pony inside. It only other features were that was blue and and the words Police Box written on the top, but he knew what it truly was.
"It's you, no a part of you, what did you do?" surprised and shocked at what he held as the words filtered into his head. "You no longer can travel through time or space, are you sure you want to do that old girl?" concern in his voice. "I understand, this will permanently attach you to this world you know?" a chittery triumph noise is made.
"Oh you cheeky girl! You are greedy you got your cake and you get to eat it," laughing at his own joke. "Getting to see the universe with me and aiding the ponies here you really want it all," looking at the globe.
"With this little part of you your able to do just that, your not going to send me into problems for me to solve are you?," silence greeting him. "Your are naughty girl, I guess old habits do die hard," laughing.
"Bringing me here to rid yourself of time travel and give me the ability to travel again, you really are the best thing I ever stole," his eyes glimmering with joy.
"Keeping me connected to you so you can pull me back whenever you want a visit, diabolical. You have everything planned out, are we ever going to tell your six friends about you?" she clicked and whirled in response.
"Not yet alright, but you don't mind if I borrow one or two every so often," a steady beat echoed through the room as if mulling it over. "I promise to have them home before midnight," holding his hoof up holding back his snickers.
He could feel her relent as he smiled to himself, "great maybe I should pick that new one Glimmer after all the trouble she caused maybe I should teach her about time," already plotting his adventure.
"You have no idea what this means to me old girl," deeply touched by what she was giving him she hummed in response.
"I am sadden that I will be leaving you behind," a sorrowful noise joining his own melancholy.
"But it is not full goodbye, I will return and you will experience it with me," cheering them both up. Making a few worp noises as the heart lowered once more hidden under the table.
"I do suppose your right it is getting late. I best make my escape lest I get caught, even in an empty castle it does not look good." Turning to the door his spirits much high than when he came.
"I will be around old girl don't get in to much trouble without me," chuckling and she whirled back. "I do too and never doubt it for a moment."
Exiting the room he looks around peering at the small globe and what it holds within a wide grin on his muzzle, "Looks like it is time for another adventure, Allons-y."
Author's Note
It has been a while, in the words of an old guy from a funny movie, "I am not dead yet". I came up with this idea and had to write about it. I hope you like it. I will try an update my other stories. Don't count me out yet, I look forward to continuing to write even if it takes me a while.
