Adventures in the TARDIS

“So let me get this straight,” Margret says as the force disk the whole group is on floats to a stop at the mouth of the crystal cave that the TARDIS crew originally entered this timeline within. While they hop off the disk one by one, Margret asks her friends, “so this time machine can appear anywhere and anywhen and you have a symbol thing that can call upon it? If so, then why did we have to return here exactly? You just told me that you have a device that can signal for its approach and it can appear anywhere and when, so why come back here?”

Doctor Kelly does not stop. She just continues her way into the cave to wait for the ship to materialize there and to scan more samples during the wait.

“Posterity, I suppose?” Feather guesses as he looks back at Daring Do with a raised eyebrow. “You know, she has a good point. We didn’t really need to come back here if the Doctor can materialize his ship pretty much anywhere we are.”

“Well, it’s a habit for me,” Derpy explains as she points at herself using a single feather. “On every other mission I’ve accompanied the Doctor on before, I did it with him and he couldn’t summon the TARDIS wherever we are because somepony would have to be in the machine and pilot it to us, but since he was always with me . . .” Derpy trails off for a moment as she sucks in air through her clenched teeth, lets it out, then continues by saying, “. . . summoning the TARDIS to our location has never been an option before. As a result, we kept needing to return to the location we started and there we’d find the TARDIS again. Quite frankly, it didn’t occur to me that this time it could have been an exception.”

“And depending where else we were, summoning the TARDIS there could have been an issue too,” Stern Wing adds. “For example, we just came from your city and the residents there were recently traumatized by the Daleks and the chaos beasts. Summoning an alien spaceship there at that moment could have felt like pouring salt into a fresh wound.”

“Conversely, this location is isolated and quiet,” Daring adds. “Plus, by coming here, it gave us a little more time with you and provided us with an excuse to do so.”

“And now that you are here, you might as well stay a little longer and actually meet the Doctor,” Feather Wind invites Margret cheerfully.

“Actually,” Margret creates a virtual, 2-D transparent holographic window that has a pair of hands lifted towards the viewer, palm facing forward, and Margret floats the image closer towards her friends as a signal to “stop”. While she does that, she says, “I’d rather take off before I meet him or see the inside of his ship.”

“What?” Derpy asks in surprise. “Why? Did he do something wrong?”

The virtual window vanishes as Margret shakes her head and assures, “No. It’s not that. After all, if he’s chosen companions as amazing as all of you and you all consider him your mentor then I have to conclude that the Doctor might be more amazing still. If I actually meet him or see his amazing ship then I might lose the will to remain behind.”

“Oh.” Derpy tilts her head at her green unicorn friend. “Would that really be so bad? You said earlier you have a fascination with aliens and time travel.”

“Yeah, and that already makes this offer really super tempting,” Margret admits. “But this world and this time could use me too. I’ve already opened a peaceful dialog with Those Below, or The Tribe, and that’s something the rest of my kind hasn’t done before. That feels important to me too. Plus there is all that damage that occurred in my city. My kind might need me to help them rebuild. After everything that has happened to them recently, Commander Viraxis might get a lot of fresh new volunteers now, or at least my race might put a much stronger emphasis on the military.”

“Is that so bad?” Stern Wing closely echoes her gray pegasus friend’s earlier question. “Security is important. You saw what happened up there when little to no effort is made to protect yourselves.”

“But all of you told me that this world and era is more peaceful than most that you have ever encountered,” Margret counters. “If we start giving in to fear more for the sake of security, will something else precious be lost along the way?” She shakes her head. “After you all leave, there is only one secret Time Lord around here that is influencing things and he’s promoting war. I can’t help but wonder what the Doctor would have said if he stuck around and presented a counter argument. Maybe I should stick around here and be the Doctor’s voice for him even though I’d hardly be an adequate replacement for him.”

“I’m starting to see what you mean,” Feather Wind realizes. “That is a tricky issue.”

“We can’t be sure if he’ll keep his word or not but the Commander assured us that he’d only use ponies who are both trained and ready for the Time War to face those kinds of front lines,” Stern Wing reminds. “He also may have a point that holding that line of defense is important. We all saw what the Daleks would do in his place and he thinks those six were just scouts. Even if he’s right, look at all the damage they have wrought by themselves.”

“Yeah, I know,” Margret agrees solemnly. “Believe me, that’s been on my mind too. To be perfectly honest, I’m not even fully sure what the right thing to do is anymore.” She takes a deep breath then releases it before she says, “So I figured the best thing I can do is simplify my perspective. Just concentrate on my life and what I can do instead of focusing on the super big picture all the time. Both Time Lords probably have very valid points so it’s up to us to decide what is right for us personally.”

Margret raises and touches a wrist of her foreleg up near her lips as she ponders, “I’ve only recently come to realize that one society raised in total peace and paradise cannot fully understand the reason or value, if any, of wartime.” She lowers her leg back to the ground. “But what I have learned across this journey is there are plenty of other places and times that aren’t as peaceful. In fact, from what I gathered from you all, our section of the world is actually the odd one out considering the degree in which we are peaceful. If conflict is more the norm in other places, isn’t it wise to prepare for it to some degree?”

“That’s one of the principal reasons that I have learned martial arts,” Daring answers then applies a wing to her chest. “I have absolutely no interest in becoming a bully with these skills even though I technically could with it. Instead, I use them for defense and there really is something to the art that can calm down one’s own mind and invite deeper inner perspective. ‘Why fight?’ is an important question to ask before each conflict. ‘What am I trying to achieve with this?’ Knowing the answer to that question puts focus on the objective. Sometimes injuring an antagonist isn’t really the point. Something else might have been a smarter target to aim in order to accomplish our true objectives.

“When a fight breaks out, it’s important not to panic and to keep a calm, level head as much as possible. Don’t lose sight of your objectives. That way, when you look around, you’re keeping your mission in mind and every step you take moves towards that purpose. Sometimes peaceful negotiations would have been smarter rather than swinging fists. Few ponies know that better than the Doctor.”

“I think a balanced approach would be best,” Stern Wing recommends. “If harsh words or hooves are swung first, it could be much harder to establish peaceful negotiation later. Perhaps that could have solved the problem better too if it was resorted first.

“But, on the other hoof, sometimes you encounter other individuals who really do shoot first and might not even ask questions later. I think it is optimal to prepare yourself for both situations. Practice peaceful negotiations more because it has the power to turn would-be enemies into friends instead, but also practice some kind of personal defense just in case. A good deterrent, like some kind of awesome display of power in some form, might be what’s needed to cause a potential hostile force to hesitate and reconsider their approach. That, in turn, opens the doors for peace to flourish later on instead.”

“Friendship requires trust too, though,” Feather Wind lectures. “That’s an essential ingredient to any stable relationship. A relationship that started on the basis of fear might prevent some conflicts, but it’s not always the best approach to solidifying that relationship towards friendship.”

“Well, I think it can,” Stern Wing argues. “It depends on the approach.

“For example, maybe you display some awesome spell that informs would-be antagonists that it might not be wise to mess with you, so the relationship already started on the basis of fear but it did help to avoid conflict.

“Later on, though, you reveal that you have friendly intentions. At that point they might start to think, ‘Well okay, then. This awesome wizard who can cast this mighty spell wants to be on my side now. If I accept, I’ll be that much safer.’” Stern Wing shrugs. “You see what I mean?”

“If you encountered an alien who proved to you that they have a technique that can cause instant death but then told you that the being wants to be your friend, are you sure you can remain calm enough around that being to completely trust it?” Feather checks with Stern. “Trust is earned, Stern, and a relationship that starts off intimidating probably may have a rocky start.”

“But a relationship with a wimp has its own challenges,” Stern Wing countered. “You may completely trust the morality of an individual yet still be uncomfortable around them knowing they can do nothing to defend you from danger even if they genuinely want to. You might be even more nervous around them by realizing that if conflict really did break out then, not only do you have to defend yourself, but potentially your new fragile friend as well because that individual can’t defend anypony for some reason.” Stern Wing lifts a hoof and tilts it back and forth as she refines her argument by saying, “So I guess trust has various degrees to it and different layers to it. I can trust you to be this way in this situation but not in that situation.”

Derpy cringes a bit to hear that because she wonders if Stern Wing might be alluding to her.

“I’ve had to struggle with issues like that in the past,” Daring Do informs the group. “That is a tricky balance. Is it better to have an innocent but incompetent fool who constantly brings danger to the group by accident or travel with an evil genius who will try to hurt the group later on purpose? And when they do, they might hurt the group very effectively because that individual does so with a hard-to-counter, multi-layered strategy. That individual threatens your other would-be enemies very much as well but man . . . when that backstab finally comes, it could really cripple the group.

“As a result of all of this, I found that a lot of things really do need to be considered for trust to be fully applied. I met plenty of ponies who are great bakers so I trust them to make a delicious and healthy meal that is worth my bits to buy, but put that same pony in a building that’s on fire then they might panic so badly that they are far more of a hindrance than a boon, so everything is very situational.” She looks across the group. “My point is that it is always wise to use your best judgment. Whether you rely more on instinct, education, experience, or any combination of the above, draw upon whatever resource that you can to make the best call that you can. As you observe the results of whatever call you make, learning that can help refine the next similar decision.”

“Ultimately, that is what I have decided to do,” Margret announces then smiles at her friends gratefully. “Thank you all for helping to guide me through this whole process. I deeply appreciate that.”

Just then, they all pause and look into the cave when they start hearing the noise the TARDIS makes upon its materialization process. Shortly after that they also start to see the blue box materializing view.

“Well . . . that’s my cue to leave,” Margret announces with a hint of regret in her voice.

“Are you sure?” Derpy asks Margret with far more obvious regret in her voice.

“Yeah. I should go before this gets any harder,” Margret confirms.

“Then before you go, here. Take this.” Daring Do reaches into her saddlebag and pulls out a sewn image of an hourglass. This she offers to Margret with an outstretched wing.

“But . . . are you sure?” Margret asks with uncertainty. “You need this to call upon the TARDIS.”

“You might need it someday too,” Daring Do counters. “And I can always get another.”

Margret’s gaze continues to shift back and forth between the offered gift and Daring’s face with uncertainty.

“Like you said before, you were interested in aliens and time travel,” Daring reminds. “Passing on this opportunity might cause regret later on so I’m just covering all of our bases here. You’ve also proven to be a loyal and useful ally to the cause, too. At the very least you can be another informant for us just in case you stumble upon any other alien or time travel shenanigans. The better that the Knights are informed of any important events, the more we can be prepared for them . . . so please, take it. As far as I am concerned, you earned it.”

“Absolutely,” chimes in Stern Wing. “I agree one-hundred percent.”

“Totally!” Derpy also agrees as she closes her eyes and flaps her wings happily. “So take it! Please! It might give us a chance to meet later on, too.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Margret relents as she seizes the offered object with her magic.

“Keep it safe,” Daring advises.

“Will do,” Margret assures as she turns about and hops back on the floating disk. The symbol of the Knights also floats into her grasp.

“Take care of yourself!” Derpy cheers bittersweetly. “I’ll miss you.”

Margret simply nods at Derpy once then operates her controls for take off.

“What’s this, then?” asks the Doctor to Doctor Kelly when she trots into the TARDIS and floats some kind of crystal nearby him. He snatches it from the air with his hoof and takes a look at it until she speaks again. At that point he gazes above the crystal at her.

“You can call it a mission report,” Doctor Kelly reports casually. “I’ve been keeping a medical record of myself and the others here during the mission, plus one other guest ally who accomponied us for quite a bit of the trip.”

The Doctor smiles warmly as he asks, “Made some new friends, have you?”

“Did you expect anything less?” Doctor Kelly returns as she matches his smile. “We had some opponents and various challenges too. I’m beginning to think this could be rather typical for any of our adventures with you.”

Doctor Kelly grows more serious as she requests, “It is my professional advice that this group needs some time off while they recover with some psychiatric assistance from yours truly. For that matter I could use a break as well. I actually lost my cool out there once. I did not expect that.”

“Oh?” the Doctor asks with a more alarmed expression this time.

“That information is listed in my report,” Doctor Kelly assures. “And I’m sure the others will do their part to fill you in on some of the details as well. I even think they need that. To get this off their chest with you. I also anticipate a ninety-three percent chance that Derpy is going to seize you in a hug and cry into your chest as soon as she sees you. After all, it’s been quite some time since any of us have last seen you.”

The Doctor’s expression shifts to a fond grin as he says, “I won’t dispute that. I know how Miss Bright Eyes usually behaves around me. To be honest, it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen all of you as well.”

“She loves you, you know,” Doctor Kelly informs rather bluntly then shakes her head. “The reason I can tell you that is that information isn’t confidential. She said so in public more than once. Some of those times were in front of you, too.”

“Yes. I know,” the Doctor acknowledges as he looks down. “And I love her too in my own way.” He looks back at her. “In much the same way I dearly love all of my companions.”

“But you don’t tend to get romantically close with anypony anymore, do you?” Doctor Kelly figures.

“My romantic history is . . . complicated,” the Doctor assures. “Same with my history in general, actually. It’s actually because of my history that I can’t let anyone get too close to me. It’s for their own good.”

“Do you even remember the first time that excuse sounded dry to your ears?” Doctor Kelly challenges him bluntly and this time it really did catch him off guard. He even looks down with a shade of guilt on his face.

Doctor Kelly approaches him very slowly as she goes on to say, “All of your efforts to push others away to enforce isolation. Don’t kid yourself, Doctor. It hurts. You know it does and I want you to know that I know it too.”

“You really do, don’t you?” the Doctor agrees as he looks back at her a tiny bit calmer. “And there are certainly reasons for that.”

“Reasons that you’ll continue to keep to yourself, aren’t you?” Doctor Kelly figures.

“For now, yes,” the Doctor replies. “Believe me, I’m looking forward to the day when we can face each other on more even footing, but for now I simply ask you to trust me. I have good reasons for holding my silence for now.”

“Don’t worry. I do trust you,” Doctor Kelly assures. “That’s part of why I’m still here.”

They are silent for a moment until they start to hear the others coming. At that point Doctor Kelly yawns, stretches, then trots beyond him as she says, “I’ll leave you to the rest of them. In the meantime I’ll soak in a hot bath and have a nice cup of tea.”

“That sounds like a capital idea,” the Doctor agrees with a smirk as his gaze follows after her until she’s gone from sight from the TARDIS control room. Seconds later, the others enter. The Doctor redirects his attention there just in time to widen his eyes, startled, as Derpy quickly dives into his chest from the air. As soon as she does that, she proceeds to soak his chest with tears.

“I saw that coming,” Feather announces quietly as he shuts the door with his silver magic since he is the last to enter.

“Whoa, there. Easy, girl,” the Doctor tells Derpy warmly and affectionately. “I’m here.”

“Don’t you ever do that to me again!” Derpy wails into his chest. “I missed you, Doctor! I missed you so badly.”

The Doctor regards Derpy very sympathetically but he feels he can’t promise that won’t ever happen again. Right now he isn’t planning on it anytime soon but plans can change as the situation changes. In the meantime, he felt it was important for them all to learn that they don’t always have to rely upon him all the time. They can be strong enough on their own.

So, instead of giving Derpy empty promises, he just hugs her. He lets his actions try to reassure her even when his words can’t do it.

Derpy needs several minutes to calm down. Everyone else gives her that time in respectful silence but they also don’t leave. That is a clear indication that they want their turn to speak to him, too.

While he continues to hug Derpy, his gaze meets with Daring. When their gaze meets, there is a silent knowing between them that they are finally facing each other on even footing. Finally, after all this time, both ponies have equal knowledge in this relationship now that he’s come back from his adventures with her past self, although for him, that wasn’t his only adventure before returning to recollect his companions.

When everyone finally calms down, they resume speaking to each other.

“I’ll need a new calling symbol to contact you,” Daring announces to the Doctor.

“That can be arranged,” the Doctor assures. “But may I ask what happened to yours?”

“She gave it to somepony else worthy of receiving it,” Stern Wing informs.

“Well that’s lovely, inn’et?” the Doctor asks with a pleasant smirk.

Daring widens her eyes as she is reminded of something then looks at Feather Wind as she tells him, “And speaking of worthy gifts, I have one for you, too. Finally I have a chance to pass it along to you without getting distracted with one crisis after another.”

“It sure has been,” Stern Wing agreed. “Do you all realize that the last time we slept was with The Tribe shortly before their Joining Ceremony?”

“Oh wow!” Feather exclaims in astonishment. “Gee, Stern. You’re right. That was the last time we slept.” He looks cornerwise up then muses, “That feels like ages ago at this point.” He then shifts his eyes followed by his face at Daring as he asks her, “Anyway, all that aside, what gift are you talking about?”

“It’s something I’ve been told to pass along to you,” Daring says as she reaches for something in one of her saddlebags and pulls out a long red feather that has a prismatic sheen to it.

“Oh wow. What’s this?” Feather asks as he examines it closely.

“It is a phoenix feather,” Daring explains to Feather.

“Oh?!” Feather asks in astonishment.

“And no ordinary one either. This one is enchanted in multiple ways. First of all, it creates ink as you write. Secondly, you can change the ink color in mid-stroke of your pen. Finally, fate will somehow keep returning this quill to you if it ever gets lost or stolen.”

Feather Wind widens his eyes at Daring in even greater astonishment. So much so, in fact, he lost concentration on hovering the feather in question. As a result, it gently flutters down to the ground.

“The one who gave it to you did so with the hopes that you’ll continue your wonderful writing,” Daring goes on. “It is a sentiment that I gladly share.”

Daring now approaches in front of Feather and drapes a wing over his shoulder and back as she says, “Feather, I want you to know you have an amazing talent as an author. Continue pouring your heart and soul into your work. If you do, you’ll produce far greater magic than anything that quill is enchanted with.”

“I, ah . . . I don’t know what to say!” Feather gasps up at Daring.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Daring replies. “Just take it and use it. I’m confident that whatever you choose to use it on will be more than worthy of it. Be confident in yourself and keep on writing.”

“I . . . I will!” Feather Wind cheers. “Thank you!” He then looks down and floats the quill up to his gaze once again. While he stares and twirls it in the air, he grins at himself when he reflects upon the fact that she encouraged him to use this to work his magic as an author. Ironically his father’s actual name is Author Scroll and he really is a trained wizard capable of plenty of magic on his own.

“You seem to have all had a grand old time,” the Doctor acknowledges with a smile. “I can tell.”

“As for you, Doctor, I have a question for you,” Daring begins as she turns to face him again. “Actually plenty of questions, but one of the more urgent ones I can think of is does the name Commander Viraxis ring a bell to you?”

“Commander Viraxis?” the Doctor reflects questioningly then shakes his head. “No. Not as such.”

“He claimed to be a Time Lord commander of the Time War,” Daring elaborates.

“Oh!” Now the Doctor widens his eyes with astonished recognition. “So . . . you mean that Commander.”

“So you do know him?” Derpy checks.

The Doctor lifts a hoof as he says, “Before I answer that question, I’d like a little more context here. How did all of you come across that name? Did you meet him?”

“The pony equivalent, at least,” Daring answers. “And he claims to know you too. He seems to have a lot of respect for you despite the fact you two have very different ideologies when it comes to issues like war.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor agrees as he takes a few steps forward and crosses his forehooves on the rail around the TARDIS console. “I actually met him many centuries ago in the human universe. I knew him before I first left Gallifrey on my first adventures in this TARDIS.” He shakes his head. “We weren’t that close, though, until early on in the Time War. Back then I became a very different person and I’m not too comfortable talking about those days that much, but I will say that I had worked with an individual who called himself the Commander during those dark days.”

“Did he seem honorable to you?” Stern Wing checks with the Doctor.

“To a point, yes,” the Doctor answers. “For the most part he was an individual who kept his word whenever he gave it.” The Doctor shakes his head. “But remember this; this was during a bloody and desperate war time. If there is one adage that I can say he closely adhered to and defines him above all else, it is this: He’s always been a ‘the ends justify the means’ kind of guy.” He shakes his head again. “In other words, he’s a guy that will keep on excusing any atrocity he does for what he believes is the greater good. Homicide, genocide . . . nothing is entirely off the table with him. He may commit these acts with genuine regret in his heart, but he’ll keep on doing it so long as he feels his back is to a wall. He’s certainly not the worst Time Lord I’ve ever encountered. Far from it, but anyone who associates with him needs to know where his priorities lie.”

“If he truly believes that the dark acts he does is justified, does that include any personal sacrifice on his own part?” Stern Wing checks.

The Doctor nods very solemnly then says, “That’s exactly how he died. By that, I mean died for real. More than most Time Lords I know, he pushed his limited number of lives to the brink about mid-way through the war. He didn’t put his troops through anything that he wasn’t willing to suffer through too, at least superficially. In the end he proved that again. When he gave his life in that final battle, it was in pursuit of saving a dozen other civilizations and critical tactical advantages in his perception. Things that he was convinced that, if we lost, then we’d surely lose the war too.”

“I had a feeling that was the case,” Stern muses in a thoughtful but also sad tone. “I just got that kind of vibe from him. That he was dark . . . but also really reasonable.”

“Sounds like this pony is just like my old war comrade then,” the Doctor expresses slightly stiffly then shakes his head again. “I did not want to become a War Doctor back then but we were both driven by desperation at the time. However, if it had to be anyone, at least he had some dignity, respect, honor, and a cool head about him under the circumstances.”

The Doctor sighs sadly as he looks at the exit of the TARDIS before admitting, “However, this time, I’m afraid the two of us won’t see eye to eye as much as we did before.” He looks back at Stern. “Because, this time, I’m going to face the War again on my own terms.” He shakes his head. “I won’t become a Killer again. I won’t embrace war or be a soldier.” He places a hoof to his chest. “Because I know, in the bottom of my hearts, that there has to be a better way than solving our problems with conflict all the time. I am the Doctor and I vow never to forget it this time.

“To me, this is my second chance. My chance for true redemption. I won’t drag this innocent pony universe into the same senseless war that once plagued the other universe. I know there is a better way. A higher way. One more befitting for the innocent and adorable ponies who populate this universe.

“I know it will still be a great challenge. Probably more so than any challenge I have ever faced ultimately. To me, picking up a gun, or some equivalent lethal tool, is tantamount to giving up. To simply accept that an eye for an eye is the only available option, but I’ve grown a lot since the last War. Through all of my adventures and my struggles with my dearly beloved companions, I learned that there is always hope for a better future. Just because it’s harder to see, sometimes, doesn’t mean it's not there.

“That’s also why I’m recruiting a bigger force this time. In a way I am planning on being a Commander too, but one who will fight for peace this time instead of war. One who continues to remind himself that all life is precious and deserves a fair chance.” He stands tall. “I think that is what a real hero does. One who sacrifices for the greater good of all. I say trying to justify evil acts for noble purposes is still evil. It lets evil win! Well no more, I say! I am tired of seeing mothers cry as they embrace the corpses of their children who died in war. From now on I vow never to turn a blind eye to anyone who suffers.”

After a moment's pause, the Doctor tentatively asks a sensitive question of, “Am I alone in this?”

“Of course not, Doctor!” Derpy vows passionately and almost instantly. “I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

“And I certainly resonate with your ideals and general philosophy as well,” Feather chimes in. “I’ve been reminded recently again that I’ll need to retire from this lifestyle eventually but, until then, I’m behind you all the way.”

“I guess I’m a little more conflicted, to be honest,” Stern says while giving her boyfriend a questioning eye after he said, “I’ve been reminded recently again that I’ll need to retire from this lifestyle eventually.” Then she focuses on the Doctor’s eyes as she elaborates. “I certainly agree with the principle of defending the innocent. I just feel a little uncertain about the best way to go about that.”

“I understand that,” the Doctor acknowledges with a nod then tilts his head. “But here’s something I’d like for you to consider. Can you be sure of other people’s guilt or innocence? Sometimes those who are seemingly doing dark acts might be victims who are forced to do it, and some seemingly innocent souls might be hiding sinister intentions. I know it’s hard to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and I’m not really asking for that. Sometimes the guilty really are guilty but that doesn’t mean they can’t be redeemed someday. When examining all of our options, I encourage you to be willing to look beyond the black and white. Any situation might be more complicated than it first appears.

“And thank you for your honesty, Stern Wing. I know that it took courage for you to admit to me.”

“Of course, Doctor. I felt you deserved nothing less,” Stern Wing replies then shakes her head. “I’ll admit there is a lot I don’t know about the universe and how everything works. As long as you keep in mind what you just told me, though, then I can at least trust that you’re trying to do the right thing at every moment. Even if I don’t always agree, I can still at least respect your intentions if you hold to that course.”

“I return the sentiment,” the Doctor says back with a respectful nod. “That said, do you wish to continue your journey with me?”

“Certainly. That’s why I’m here,” Stern Wing answers then nods to Feather Wind while still looking at the Doctor. “My friends are here too and that’s a big deal to me. As long as I am here, I shall do my utmost to protect you all.”

The Doctor nods at her with a smile as he says, “Brilliant!”

“As for me, there’s a few other objectives I have with you all,” Daring Do announces. “For one thing,” she pauses for a moment as she pulls the crystal-frosted Ice Blue Lilly from her saddlebag and says, “Doctor Kelly had a good idea what to do with this. Allow me to go a century or two earlier than my present timeline and replant this there. That way there will be time for more to grow and this extinct flower has a chance to flourish in our world again.

“After that, though, I’d like to retire . . . at least from time-traveling shenanigans. I’ll still serve you all as an informant, agent, and maybe even companion again if another emergency comes up, but for the most part I want to stick with my own time. I have a settled identity there. Two, actually, and I have a lot of books to write.”

“In that case, I have to say it’s been a blast traveling with you,” Derpy expresses with a happy smile. “Part of me wishes I can brag about this to Rainbow Dash and Twilight.”

“Maybe you can if you want to,” Daring partially invites Derpy. “They already know who I really am anyway, but you might want to pause and reconsider what you say to them before bombarding their minds with tales of other worlds and time travel. Even if they believe you, there could be consequences down that path too. Perhaps they have enough on their plate as it is.”

“Yeah,” Derpy agrees almost reluctantly as she looks down. “True.”

“Thank you for taking care of my companions,” the Doctor expresses warmly to Daring Do. “And I hope you learned something from this venture.”

“More than I thought I would,” Daring agrees with the Doctor with surprise. “It’s certainly a lot to mull over and a lot to decide what to write about.”