Adventures in the TARDIS

Perspective: Doctor

I venture back inside the TARDIS, close the door, then lean against it with my entire back pressed against the door. To do this, I have to stand on my hind hooves which does not feel natural to me anymore but still feels like it should be. I also remove my bowler hat in order to wipe my forehead of sweat. After that I look at me forehooves and frown at them. I still miss my hands, but somehow I am still holding my hat with my logic-defying, apparently magnetic-like hoof. I didn’t used to be the kind of person who just shrugs things like this off dismissively and say, “Eh. It’s magic. What can ya expect?” but lately that has been my reality exactly.

Then I look at my hat more thoughtfully as I think about the pith hat I saw young Miss Yearling recently put on. A mare who now likes to call herself Daring Do whenever she wears it.

I just finished sharing an adventure with her as she explored the mystical Lost Continent then dropped her off in her home city of Manehatten.

I snicker as I think of that name. “Mane”hatten. Ha-ha! These adorable little ponies and their horse puns!

Anyway, this hat has got me thinking about Miss Do’s recent adventures. I helped her through it, but now that I’m done, I can’t help but think back to a time when someone else did a similar service for me. Back in the days when I had a mentor. One of the few Time Lords who showed me I did not have to follow the status-quo if I didn’t want to. It was scary to take those initial few steps but, after a while, I started to realize how valuable the lessons were. Eventually I became almost proud to be a rebel. Considering it eventually led to me being the last Time Lord to survive the Time War, at least seemingly for a while, I had to conclude I was doing something right.

But thinking back to my own mentor, it makes me realize how homesick I feel. I don’t dwell on this often, but whenever I do, the pang of loss sinks deep into my hearts. So many memories of a bygone era. There have been times I wished I could time travel far back enough to see the eyes of my own younger self just to see my own youthful look again. It’s been so long since I felt that inwardly.

But I can’t. Some things truly are lost in the past. Even with a time machine, not every era is open for me to return to. Even if I could pull it off, other consequences would follow.

I lift up my muzzle and bonk my head on the door behind me once as I think back to young Miss Do’s youthful smile. A pony who has the soul of an adventurer and, as such, she really is a kindred spirit. Not just because she’s willing to be an explorer, but also a hero. I love that reminder that I’m not alone out here when it comes to that very important fact.

That is important. I am not alone in my struggles. I picked Miss Keystone up when she felt less certain about herself. Someday she might do that for others. It could even be myself one day.

Then I look forward as I sweep my gaze across this empty TARDIS control room other than the spirit of the TARDIS itself. I’m kind of used to seeing my ship like this, but I have to admit it does feel empty whenever it is less than its full potential somehow.

I smile a bit as my mind spins back. Back to a time when this ship had other forms. Different faces and voices used to roam these halls and rooms, including my own. I hear them echo like a ghost as I think back. Year after year. Century after century. So many memories took place here. I wonder how many more there will be at the true end of my journey?

Thinking of my precious companions that used to dwell here is also a reminder of my future goals. My plans have grown since those good old explorer days. Now I’m expanding my network. I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that a long time ago. In plenty of ways I did, but they usually didn’t have their own TARDIS.

I frown slightly when I contemplate how similar my new goals are and how they closely compare with what my people had always done with others. They might not have always been willing to admit it, but they did have arrogant pride as they lorded themselves over others. They really did like to think of themselves as the ultimate arbiters, especially over issues of time. Hence the name “Time Lords”.

I try to console myself that my methods and goals will be different. That it will be a much more collaborative project between myself and whomever else I happen to recruit. Maybe some of them will be fellow Time Lords too, but most likely the vast majority won’t be. Fate will make of that what it wills.

I can’t help but cling to that desperate hope. If I can tame the Time War, that might include the pony-equivalent of my own people too. Someday, I might not be the only hero of my race out there instead of just cold and aloof judges, or worse sometimes.

That’s the thing about ego. It plays with our heads. After a while temptation can get difficult to resist, especially for a race that lives as long as I do. In a way, that’s partly why I don’t easily trust or feel comfortable around fellow immortals. It’s too easy to convince myself that they might have lost that youthful spark in themselves that kept them connected with everyone else. When that is gone, what is left usually wouldn’t amount to the greater good of the universe.

I smile to myself a bit when I think back to how this newest adventure, that I just concluded, got started. I was just minding my own business and cooling off in Ponyville when a mysterious mare showed up at my door who called herself Daring Do. She handed me a message then said that she . . . .

Um . . . . wait!

Oh shoot! The message! I completely forgot about it!

Well, at least I still know where it is.

I walk my way to . . . Well. I suppose trot is a more apt term but whatever.

Anyway, I make my way to the TARDIS controls and soon spot what I am looking for. I pick up the flash drive, again marvel how I can do that with hooves, then contemplate what might be on it. Feeling excited and perhaps also a little anxious, I plug this into a flash drive reader then spin the monitor in front of me in order to read what is on it.

Initially I see two items there. One of them is a simple text file that says, “Read Me” on it. The other is a folder with other items within that. I almost click the “Read Me” file first but the allure of that other mystery folder entices me a lot more. I find myself compelled to open it first. In it, there are several other documents and some different types of documents. I open one of them and find it is a lot like an Excel spreadsheet. I take a closer look at the information. At first I can’t make heads or tails of it. It looks like just a random number of items with a listed price and date. The calendar system of this file is interesting, though. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it is . . .

I gasp in shock when I realize that these are ship manifests of Klaxxian vessels! Multiple documents of them, too.

I lean back almost unsteadily as I grow dizzy while my mind is almost numb. Only recently I had tried, and failed, to get a hold of one of these. That doomed mission sent a bunch of innocent Ood on the ship to crash into some planet, and now someone else just happens to give me what I sought?!

Unbelievable! Un-fricken-believable! Hello, Irony, my old friend!

Who did this? Who the hell did this unbelievable service for me? I could kiss whoever this is but I need a target first.

Almost frantically I make my way back to the “Read Me” text file and open it. When I do, I study the words and syntax of this file very carefully because I feel suddenly determined to figure out who did this.

Dear Doctor.

By now you have undoubtedly skipped this file and opened the other folder with nigh foal-ish glee and discovered, to your astonishment, that I have secured that which you sought in a recently failed mission. You’ll be pleased to know that my crew and I have also managed to secure not only several of the Klaxxian ship’s manifests, but also two out of the five lost Alphalmians. We have also returned them to their homeworld for you.

I have to stop reading for a moment to sort of catch my breath. I lean hard as I press my forehooves forward on the TARDIS controls in a forward V formation. My shoulder plates and muscles flex because of it. When I recover enough to read on, I look back at the screen and do so.

To be fair, you did give us some assistance. When you basically declared war against the Klaxxians because of what they had done, they remembered your promise and actually took you seriously. That, in turn, meant that they were focused and distracted with you. Little did it occur to them that they would also need to guard themselves on other fronts. That, in turn, facilitated a smoother operation for my crew and I.

Oh my god! I know who this is! She isn’t saying it, but I can feel it behind her every word.

This is Vision! A future version of Vision. I can almost feel her taunting me and tantalizing me with hints of her future potential.

I sigh as I realize, once again, how badly I had underestimated that little filly. To be fair, I had good reasons, but now it’s as clear as day to me how strongly she was meant for a destiny like this.

It makes sense, too. The younger version of Vision was there in the foreman's office when I first confronted the Klaxxian Commander and made certain promises. Everything from that moment onward has rippled into this. Step by step, she was there during the most pivotal points of my journey.

I really need to get her back from Ponyville and work on her fragile health somehow. Thanks to Doctor Kelly and the medical nanites she gave the young filly, a fast and efficient method to improve the young foal’s health is there but all it will do is enhance any actual effort made. That effort actually has to take place before any real progress is done.

I look back at the document and read on.

By now you have deduced whom has typed this message for you. As to that, I bow to your evere astute wit.

Oh, now you’re really just taunting me!

Huh. I suppose I deserve it so I’ll let this slip this time.

Future cooperation on the remaining three Alphalmians shall occur in due time, but in the meantime, there are other resources that must be set in place. That includes allies too, some of which travels aboard my ship even as I type.
And yes, I can type. I’ve developed my own ways.
I’ve done this boon for you, Doctor, so that your hearts can rest easier. I need you to do the same for me or else a critical element I have in place won’t be there. This mission you’ll also find personal and sensitive. In many ways, quite complicated too. I’m doing what I can to keep the ball rolling, but you are the one who is going to have to start it initially.
Disclosed in the file, “Wild Card” will be the need-to-know details of your next mission. I wasn’t too precise with it to give you some flexibility, but follow what I have typed to the letter. Trust me. It is important.
And please always remember, Doctor, that you are not alone in your struggles out there. You’ve planted many important seeds and there are many more to come. You provided for them well, too. Don’t be too surprised that they provide you shade now and then when they finally grow up.
We’ve got this, Doctor. Together, we can sculpt the shape of the Future to be more ideal for us all than your Past.
Ever Onwards and Upwards, as you are fond to say. To the Stars and Infinity Beyond.

Sincerely,

A Fellow Captain and Grateful Friend.

It feels almost daunting to me to see some tangible manifestation of all of my plans. This is a reminder that this isn’t just about me anymore or my plans. The Plan has evolved way beyond it. It’s sort of taken on a new life of its own.

It’s eerie, but in a pleasant way, to read this message from future Vision who is now talking to me as if she is an equal. As if she has flown through all the stars just as long as I have.

But in a very powerful and meaningful way, that’s what it feels like behind this message. That there is another TARDIS captain out there that’s getting things done and I even get a strange feeling she’s doing it way more efficiently. I’m not sure how but perhaps being psychic has something to do with it. She once claimed she can have very precise prophetic “visions” of the future too. Precise enough that she can apparently navigate them with confidence.

The mare behind this message doesn’t even feel mortal anymore. She probably is, but she really doesn’t seem that way. She’s way too confident and assertive yet not in an overly forceful way. She’s even bossing me around now. There’s just something behind her language that sounds like, “If you do this, then this will surely happen. I know. I’ve seen it.”

I’m beginning to wonder who is really masterminding this whole operation at this point. It kind of feels like Vision has somehow surpassed me and now she’s sitting in the Admiral’s Chair and confidently commanding a whole fleet full of TARDIS’s.

I push myself away from the console and stand up straight as I realize that, if she can handle that position well and uses it to help guide us all towards a good future then I don’t mind surrendering my “boss” key to her. It would be a relief, in fact.

I blink as I also realize this also feels very unsettling, or at least very different. For so long in many centuries and worlds I’ve had others look up to me. Now that I’m in that position instead, I can’t help but wonder where we are really going and how far we’ll need to go to get there. It’s also possible that this mare might even have a better and clearer “vision” of our future than I ever did. As if she gave me a neutral nod and said, “That’s a good start, but I can do us all several steps better. Follow me and I’ll show you how.”

Well then! This is getting exciting! Let’s see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

With that, I open up the “Wild Card” document and carefully study my mission briefing.