Adventures in the TARDIS

by Scroll

Rating: teen
Tags: Science Fiction, Adventure, Derpy Hooves, Slice of Life, Crossover, Doctor Who, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Doctor Whooves, Original Character
Length: 484322

An extention of the adventures of Feather Wind, Stern Wing, and Vision's journey with eccentric Time Lord the Doctor and his adorable assistant, Derpy Hooves.

These stories continue the adventures of Feather Wind, Stern Wing, and Vision's journey with eccentric Time Lord the Doctor and his adorable assistant, Derpy Hooves. This is the sort of sequel to "Sky Dancer, the First Flying Unicorn". More specifically, it is an extension of chapter 17, "Adventures in the TARDIS". While reading Sky Dancer is not required, these stories will most definitely have spoilers for everything before chapter 17 but not after that chapter because those chapters haven't happened yet in this timeline. This is a closer look at the years Feather recapped past for his daughter. However, these new stories won't be flashbacks anymore. Rather it will be told as if these events are occurring in the present tense.

Each of these stories will be told in its own arc which follows the formula of the classic Doctor Who series. When an individual adventure is complete, the next story will be told in its own arc. Some threads of these stories might have an over-arcing story, but otherwise, they'll have an episodic formula. Great effort is made to make this series feel like an authentic Doctor Who episodes insofar as characters, setting, events, and plot are concerned but they'll have an MLP twist.

For those interested, there is a youtube recording of this story too by Takeshy >>here<<.

Published 2023-02-05 01:50:01 UTC
Last updated 2025-02-16 16:01:17 UTC

Part 2: Gathering Intel

“Aren't you forgetting something?” the Doctor asks aloud. When he does, Feather Wind and Stern Wing look at him to see who the Doctor was referring to. When they do look, they see the Doctor regarding Feather Wind.

“Hmm?” Feather Wind inquires for emphasis.

To answer that question, the Doctor gestures to his own neck as he asks, “The Red Crystal. You plan on bringing it, right? With it, you could capture positive energy at any potential moment. Since one usually can't predict what will happen in the future," he says with a slightly snide glance at Vision before returning his gaze to Feather with a more casual expression, "it's probably best to carry it around on hand at all times just in case."

“Hoof,” Derpy corrects.

The Doctor snickers a bit before shaking his head.

Derpy gives an exasperated sigh as she rolls her eyes but then regards Feather Wind brightly as she eagerly requests, “Please, allow me to fetch it.”

“Uh . . . you don't have to,” Feather Wind replies to Derpy with a confused blink, wondering why she’s so eagerly volunteering.

“Oh, it's no trouble at all! Here. Stay here. I'll go get it,” she says before racing off.

“And she's off,” the Doctor observes. “Quite a helpful lass she is.” He then regards Feather Wind and Stern Wing. “She's accustomed to delivering stuff, I suppose. Always likes to be helpful.”

Stern Wing regards Feather Wind to her right side and pretty far below her as she asks her foalhood friend, “Does she even know where the crystal is?”

Instead of answering, Feather just looks in the direction of the hallway Derpy went to a moment ago.

“Actually, do you even know?” refines Stern Wing's earlier question.

Feather continues to regard the direction Derpy took off. Slowly his lips take on a very subtle frown, but he wouldn't have noticed until his friend asks, “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Feather Wind looks up at Stern Wing. “Why do you ask?”

Stern Wing now frowns as she says, "I don't know. You looked a little spaced out there for a second."

Feather Wind's gaze, along with Stern Wing this time, snap in the direction of Derpy when they both hear the sound of stumbling then crashing furniture. After that, Stern Wing sighs before starting to trot along and says, “I'll go check on her.”

“No!” Feather Wind cries out in a startled voice. This freezes Stern Wing in mid-step for a moment then turns her attention back to him. In response, Feather Wind blushes in embarrassment a bit as he says, “I'm sure she's fine. Leave her be. Let her feel useful.”

“Useful?” Stern Wing reflects questioningly. “That's implying that looking after Vision in our absence is useless. If so, I object to your wording wholeheartedly.”

Feather Wind frowns further as he shakes his head and says, “It's okay. She'll be back in a moment. She wants to do this by herself, so please let her.”

Stern Wing grunts then says, “Fine. But, in that case, I guess I'll use this time to do something useful myself.” She regards the Doctor as she says to him, “I'm going to go scout on ahead. You two stay here until I tell you both that it's clear out there.”

“My, my,” the Doctor replies in surprise. “That's showing some initiative.

“Um . . . very well. If you insist.” The Doctor gestures to the exit with a grand sweep of his brown hoof. “Lady first,” he invites specifically to her.

In response, Stern Wing just nods in neutral acceptance and then proceeds to the exit. In doing so, this divides Feather Wind's attention between where Stern Wing is going and where Derpy went. He also glances at Vision for a couple of seconds as he realizes the little empathic foal is absorbing the emotions of everypony present, including that which others don't realize they are hiding or don't wish to reveal. At that moment it also occurs to Feather Wind that sensing others’ emotions might be somewhat akin to hearing a sound. Vision can pick it up everywhere around her, possibly even through solid objects and walls. When she does receive that information, she might not know how to process it. Just because she receives an extra layer of information doesn't mean she necessarily understands it. She is a foal, after all. There are likely many emotions around her that could overwhelm and/or confuse her.

When realizing this, Feather Wind privately wishes there was a way to shield her mind from unnecessary psychic intrusion.

Then Feather Wind privately wonders to himself what it must be like growing up constantly influenced by all these extra emotions around her and possibly getting confused about which ones are hers and which ones belong to others. It's more than likely there probably is a way to tell, but it takes time to develop that discernment. It's probably a learning curve just like everything else in life.

Feather Wind looks back at the exit when he hears Stern Wing open it a crack. There he sees Stern Wing pause for a cautious moment before very gradually opening it further. As she does this, Feather glances at the Doctor and notices him raise an eyebrow at Stern Wing, likely considering her behavior considerably more cautious than he's accustomed to seeing.

Feather Wind returns his gaze to the exit when Stern Wing opens the door enough to stick her head through, after which she promptly does.

“What do you notice out there?” Feather Wind checks.

“Crates,” Stern Wing answers. “Lots and lots of crates all around us. Pretty tall stacks, too. Some are about twenty feet high. Most of them are wrapped in either a tarp or some kind of net. They also look secure with ropes and ratchets.

“Um . . . I also smell the scent of the ocean out here. I think we're on a ship of some sort. Looks like a large one from what I can tell from here. The floor below us and the ceiling above us is made of metal. It looks kind of old and a bit rusty, but not enough to believe it's abandoned.”

“Decently thorough assessment so far,” commends the Doctor to Stern Wing. “What else?”

“The floor is a little wet, and it sways back and forth,” Stern Wing reports. “I hear the sound of crashing waves outside of this vessel, but I don't feel it at all from where I'm standing.”

“That's because-” the Doctor seems like he was about to explain something but Stern Wing interrupts.

“Stay here, you two,” Stern Wing orders. “I'll scout the perimeter a little further to see what else I can determine out there.”

Before either of them can say anything about it, Stern Wing steps outside and probably immediately regrets it for, when she does, she yelps as she falls away off to the right side.

“Stern Wing!” Feather cries out, startled, then gallops to the exit himself.

Just when he arrives at the door, however, he hears Stern Wing call from outside, “Stay inside!”

“Are you okay?” Feather Wind checks.

“Yeah. Just . . . give me a second,” she says as she flaps her way right back at the Tardis. The moment she arrives, though, the environment seems to tilt in the other direction she initially fell away from. This causes her to miss the doorway despite flapping in the air, but this time she doesn't fall away as far because there is a large stack of crates on the other side to catch her.

Feather Wind peeks outside and notices the curious sight of Stern Wing trying to recover her balance while being pressed to the midsection of those crates for seemingly no reason.

“The Tardis has its own personal gravity field,” the Doctor explains behind Feather Wind which prompts Feather to turn his right ear back to the Doctor. “It also extends a short distance away from the vessel. That's why we can be where we are without being affected by what is going on out there, but as soon as one steps beyond that field . . .”

“Then the natural gravity of the environment takes over,” Vision concludes. “Which, right now, the vessel we're on is heavily being tipped back and forth due to the violent storm outside.

“Hmm,” she scoffs. “I warned you all you'll get wet out there.”

Outside, it sounds to Feather like Stern Wing is recovering her balance and equilibrium, primarily by flying through the air and not touching anything.

“Are you okay out there Stern Wing?” Feather Wind repeats.

“I said stay inside! I mean it!” Stern Wing insists. “There actually is a moderately dangerous situation out here but I've got a hoofle on it now.”

“Yep, yep,” the Doctor says casually as he strides up to the exit of the Tardis, peeks out himself, then leans on the right edge of the door frame as he announces, “That can happen sometimes. It can be so safe inside the Tardis that it can lull you into a false sense of security.

“For instance, I remember this one time I had just exited the Tardis and I barely had time to turn around before I got shot. It occurred right outside of this vessel. Not even a foot from this door.

“I perished not long after in a hospital which thus induced my seventh . . . No. Actually, it was my eighth regeneration. While not their fault due to their ignorance of my alien physiology compared to them, the doctors there made the erroneous but also understandable mistake of . . .”

The Doctor trails off as he looks at Feather Wind's spooked expression. In response, the Doctor shakes his head as he says, “The point is it is necessary to be cautious out there even right outside of this door. One never knows what exactly we'll find out there until we start exploring. I find the first few minutes of exploration to typically be the most crucial, especially if we don't know where or when we showed up. The very first thing we critically need to do at that point is to gather information.” He nods outside in approval. “And Stern Wing is doing precisely that out there. That mare sure is made of some sturdy stuff, too. That'll come in handy in our adventures, I'm sure.”

Both the Doctor and Feather Wind turn their heads and look behind them when they simultaneously notice Derpy stumbling back into the Tardis' control room. She seems frantic at first, but the more she calms herself as she approaches, the more steady her balance becomes again. She stops a mere foot from Feather Wind and then extends her neck as she offers the dangling necklace with the tri-tip Red Crystal on it. The string of the necklace is otherwise held in her mouth. Apparently, after some sort of trouble, she managed to find it after all. While she offers it, Feather notices her left eye staring right at him with the kind sparkle of innocence in it, but the other eye was lazily drifting away to look off towards the upper-left corner.

“Ah . . . thank you,” Feather Wind tells her kindly as he accepts her offer by wrapping the necklace in his silvery aura magic and then floats it to secure it on his neck.

In reply, Derpy lifts her neck straight again and smiles kindly down at Feather Wind.

However, the moment Feather starts to turn his attention back out the exit, he pauses when he notices the disturbing sight of Derpy's smile fading and sadness twinkling in her eyes. This causes Feather to hesitate for a moment as he privately wonders what he did to upset her until it occurs to him that it has nothing to do with him specifically. Instead, it more likely stems from her desire to join them out there on this adventure, but unfortunately the blind and prone-to-sickness filly here demands a higher priority from her for the moment.

Feather hides a frown upon realizing that. He wishes he could think of something to help cheer her back up again. Maybe write her a poem later on?

Feather is shaken by these thoughts when Stern Wing returns. Feather Wind, the Doctor, and Derpy promptly back off to allow the large dark brown pegasus to return unhindered.

“What did you find?” the Doctor prompts the large pegasus.

“We're definitely in a . . . Oh hey! You got your necklace back,” she says directly to Feather Wind. “Nice. Be sure to hang onto it tightly this time.

“Well, anyway, as I was saying, we seem to be in a cargo bay on some kind of metallic vessel while it, in turn, is being rocked violently back and forth due to really intense weather outside. Giant waves are crashing on this vessel and I hear the groan and strain of the metal threatening to buckle. Maybe it already has a little bit. Some of the water has already leaked inside, but the natives here seem at least decently prepared for it. Despite the violent weather outside, the cargo seems pretty well secure. Nothing is tumbling out there that shouldn't except the water itself. Even there, the water is being drained off by some holes in the floor and grates off to the sides which appear designed to drain overflow. I wonder if that means they've dealt with situations like this plenty of times before.”

“Did you see anyone else out there?” the Doctor checks with Stern Wing. “Perhaps someone living?”

Stern Wing shakes her head as she says, “Not yet, but I might have vaguely heard alarmed cries outside this cargo bay. It's really hard to tell, though. If there is anypony else out there, their cries of alarm are easily being drowned out by the far more overwhelming noise of the storm outside.”

The Doctor cracks up a little bit at Stern Wing's description which causes Stern Wing to narrow her eyes questioningly and accusingly at him. After all, to her, she didn't say anything remotely funny. The situation seems quite grim to her.

“'Their cries were drowned out by the noise of the storm outside,'" the Doctor paraphrases with an emphasis to explain the source of his amusement.

Stern Wing looks taken aback at first but then it occurs to her what he must be referring to. When she finally gets it, she gives a disapproving shake of her head at the Doctor while trying to withhold a slightly amused grin on her face.

“Does it sound like the ship will buckle?” Feather asks in concern to Stern Wing.

“Maybe,” she replies with uncertainty. “All I know is it isn't buckling right now and the crew seems decently prepared. For all I know, this might be a common Tuesday event for them.”

The Doctor winces and shakes his head as he explains, “It seems they are prepared for this to some degree by the sounds of it, but you said the rusty-looking metal is being strained by the stress of the storm.”

Stern Wing shakes her head in confusion as she says, “I don't get it. Why is the storm this strong? It sounds to me like some weather ponies around here made some mistakes. Severe enough to get fired from their job.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, Feather Wind notices an embarrassed flash of a frown on Derpy, but then he regards the Doctor when he shakes his head and speaks.

“This isn't Equestria, nor is it even your planet entirely,” the Doctor explains. “Even if it is, the weather wasn't always under the direct control of you ponies.”

“That's true,” Derpy confirms. “The Doctor and I once visited a few ancient times when the magic in ponies wasn't so refined yet, nor was the magic in the environment refined either. In fact, even in my native time, there are some areas that weather ponies cannot control. The clouds over the Everfree Forest, which borders Ponyville, is one such example.”

“I know of a few places like that as well,” Feather Wind adds. “The Frozen North is another example.”

Derpy brightens a little as she proclaims, “That is where the Crystal Empire is . . . or rather, where it will be in your native time. But, even then, it took a powerful artifact to tame that weather, and even that artifact sort of needs maintenance from time to time. Something about a festival and charging it. Something about crystals, I think, and a Crystaling ceremony.” She shrugs to indicate she can't add much more on that specific topic.

“Are you sure this isn't our world?” Stern Wing asks the Doctor with some clear doubt on her face. “You haven't even set a hoof outside the Tardis yet.”

“But I have gathered some useful intel here, primarily thanks to you,” the Doctor counters with a nod of approval at the large mare. “Decent enough to start to give me a good picture of what we're dealing with here. I think I know which planet we're dealing with, too, or at least I know the human world equivalent. In this dimension, however, I suspect the natives have been ponified which leads me to conclude we're actually in a parallel version of the world I'm thinking of.”

“And what is that planet like?” Derpy asks the Doctor curiously with a touch of concern.

“'Water World' is a pretty apt description if my theory is correct,” the Doctor says with a nod to indicate toward Vision. “If this is the planet I'm thinking of then either ninety-seven to one-hundred percent of it is covered in water, not counting potentially numerous vessels like this. That is to say, the planet has very little or no actual natural landmass. If it does have any land, it's a mostly sparse scattering of islands primarily localized in a certain region on the planet. Only one decently sized continent has ever known to exist on this planet and it sometimes drowns out or re-emerges in other eras. That is why that continent is often referred to as a mythical 'promised land' by many natives of that planet's history. Many do not think it actually exists. Sadly, even when it is known to exist by a few elites, the knowledge tends to be hidden for selfish purposes.

“As for the natives of the 'lost' and 'mythical' continent itself, it has had many ups and downs across the planet's history. In some eras, it is an advanced and technological paradise, and other times it is a cesspool of greed and corruption. Whenever the latter is true, a cataclysm, typically in the form of a great flood, is usually just around the corner as if summoned by the natives' inner turmoil.

“That said, the planet is also far more well-known for its sizable fleets or artificial floating cities. In some eras of their history, they've even been known to make entire giant artificial landmasses.

“But surface dwellers aren't the only natives here. The planet predictably has aquatic races too, including sentient races. If they have been ponified as well, I'm curious to see exactly what form they took and if that has any cultural significance to their history.” He widely grins. “I'm quite excited to explore this place now. I can't wait to see what might have changed.”

“In the dimension you came from, you claim a certain two-legged species known as 'humans' were especially common?” Feather Wind checks.

The Doctor nods and says, “Correct.”

“And you think these predominantly humanoid races were replaced by an equal degree of quadruped races in this dimension?” Feather checks further.

The Doctor rubs the bottom of his chin with a hoof as he says, “I haven't been in this dimension for long, but I'm beginning to suspect so. It's as if, in this dimension, some intelligent designer, who was responsible for all initial creations, almost went with a two-legged race as a widespread default but then suddenly changed his or her mind and said, 'Wait a minute. Why not try a four-legged design by default instead? That might be cuter,' so that being went ahead with that alternative plan.

“Mind you, I'm not necessarily saying that such a being exists. I'm only using it as an example of the pattern I've noticed from each dimension's overall path in their natural evolutionary process. There seems to be a different frame of mind with each example. The more evidence I gather of that, the more certain my conclusions become. That's why I need to keep on exploring. Not just for the sake of fun, although that remains true too. I'm also doing this to gather a general picture of the changes at large. Doing so might be significant because it also means certain races I've known before might not exist in this dimension at all or may have been modified potentially heavily. That's probably both a good and a bad thing. I have known certain races that have been absolutely devastating, but an equal number that has been crucial in a beneficial way. If either example doesn't exist here or has been heavily modified, I need to know because that certainly adjusts my plan moving forward.”

“In what way?” Stern Wing checks cautiously before shrugging and admitting, “I can't hoofle too complicated of an explanation. I'm only asking about your plans in a general sense.”

“That depends on what I discover,” the Doctor announces very seriously. “I've known very important races that have existed before for good and for ill. Sometimes both. If either example has changed then it could have profound ripple effects across the history of countless societies. I don't mean to sound arrogant when I say this, but my race is one such example because we have been time and space travelers throughout much of our history and, as such, affected the history of many other societies. If they never existed here or they do but in some very different way then that discovery is significantly huge. Trust me, you don't even want to know how important that discovery will be.”

“Then let's just stick with the present moment,” Feather Wind advises. “We're here now. Let's see what we can discover. One hoof in front of the other. The start of any journey begins with a single step.”

“We already have discovered some important information,” Stern Wing reminds. “This ship is suffering from a very large storm right now. Large enough to be potentially dangerous.” She lifts a wing in a halting gesture in front of her chest as she says, “I'm not saying that as an excuse to hide in the Tardis despite how wise that would normally be. Instead, I think it's something we need to keep in mind as we continue to explore. Violent storms are never a laughing matter to those being challenged by it. Nature is so much more powerful than any of us can be. Even you, Feather Wind, who can have a significant influence over the weather and sky. We need to keep that in mind because it is never wise to underestimate it.”

“Well said,” the Doctor compliments and agrees. “But that said, I'd count it as a blessing if that were our only challenge in this particular journey. In my many adventures, I have often encountered sentient antagonists and I have never been fond of the idea of having an intelligent enemy because that virtually guarantees that someone's feelings will be hurt.”

Stern Wing looks at the exit of the Tardis anxiously as she says, “I know it's ironic for me to say considering we arrived here in a time machine, but we're wasting time here. We may be safe in here, but there are others out there who are possibly not.” She looks back at her companions. “So if we are committed to the righteous path of a hero then let's stop talking and get this done.”

“Or gather more intel at the very least,” the Doctor somewhat agrees. “Right then.” He looks at Derpy then points at Vision as he says, “She's definitely not going and it probably is a good idea for you to hold back as well. Stern Wing is very sturdy and strong for a pegasus and Feather Wind is a trained wizard who is also highly and very unusually well connected to weather for a unicorn, but you . . ."

He trails off, hoping she will connect the dots so he doesn't have to outright say it.

Derpy shakes her head as she says, “You don't have to say it, Doctor. I get your meaning, so go!” She nods to the exit. “Save the day, Doctor. Same as you always do.” She gives a soft and brave smile that belies the pain she is hiding inside. “While you do, I will be here to serve and cheer you on as best as I can, and I will take very good care of Vision while I am here. I promise you this, Doctor.”

The Doctor passes a very deep smile of appreciation back to Derpy as he confidently says, “I know you will.”

His smile fades away in favor of a more serious expression as he turns and regards Feather Wind and Stern Wing. He nods at them as he says, “Right. Venture on, my friends. May this be the first of many foolish adventures we'll share together.”

Part 3: Nature-al History

"Well, I'll be," the Doctor remarks in an amused tone not long after he, Feather Wind, and Stern Wing exited the TARDIS. "It really is a cargo hold we're in. Fancy that!”

"I told you we were," reminds Stern Wing as she clings to one of the cargo crates to help her not slip and slide all over the place as the ship heavily tilts in various directions. While she does that, Feather Wind clings tight on her back, and draped over his back, is his mystical Mist Cloak. As Stern Wing continues to regard the Doctor, she grows annoyed. "What? You didn't believe me?"

“Oh it's not that,” the Doctor quickly assures her as he, too, clings to the rope securing a crate. When he said that, Stern Wing's look at him shifts from annoyance to curiosity. He goes on to explain, “I'm only surprised because I've recently started to notice the TARDIS has landed in a storage area of some sort an inordinate number of times. If I combine this with every other time that the TARDIS has landed in some place other than storage, then that is, by far, the majority. However, when it comes to one specific category, it tends to be a storage facility of some type more often than not. Plus, this time, we arrived here after I deliberately set a random course with just a few conditions in place, and lo and behold. We land in yet another storage facility of some type.” While one hoof continues to cling onto a rope, another rubs the bottom of his chin as he gives the TARDIS a discerning look while he says aloud, “I wonder if there is a hidden message here that the old girl is trying to tell me.”

“You talk to your ship?” Stern Wing asks with a peculiar look at the Doctor. “Can you get any stranger?”

“Absolutely!” the Doctor replies immediately and enthusiastically.

Stern Wing rolls her eyes as she says, “I shouldn't have asked.”

“Never mind that. Does anypony notice anything else strange about this place?” Feather Wind asks aloud.

The Doctor snickers a bit due to the term, “anypony”.

“Like what?” Stern Wing reflects at her friend on her back as she turns her head to look back at him over her right shoulder.

“Look at all this metal we're surrounded by,” Feather points out. “Rusty metal in some places, but still! How did everypony on this ship get a hold of this much metal if they don't have any or very little access to dry land? A wooden ship would make more sense because at least it's possible to grow some trees in the middle of an ocean voyage.”

“An astute observation, my young friend!” the Doctor commends. “And one which I have a partial answer to. Besides some of the eras where they do have access to dry land, as rare as that may be, the natives also had some access to underwater mines via submersible ships and cities or they traded with their aquatic neighbors. At least, that's the story that I know of from the dimension of this world where I was originally from.”

“And it looks like they have some access to other materials, too,” says Stern. “Look at most of these crates. They are made of wood. It looks like much of the ropes and nets securing them appear to be made of hemp.”

“I guess that is a decent enough explanation for their access to metal,” Feather Wind says with a simple shrug. “This also tells us they have some skills in metallurgy, or at least some of them do.

"Are you sure this is an alien world, Doctor? Because, so far, I'm seeing a unusual number of parallels to our world."

“Alien worlds can still speak the language when it comes to common sense,” the Doctor replies. “If they have access to any kind of materials even remotely similar to the ones on your planet, it only makes sense they'd eventually develop techniques to utilize it. Also, just because you are in an alien world doesn't mean everything within it is wholly different. Some can be, though, and I'll do my best to steer clear of those which are utterly unsustainable to our kind. But just because I avoid those places for survival purposes doesn't mean they don't exist. The universe is very large, my friend, and all kinds of fantastical things exist within it.”

“Wow! That boggles my mind,” Stern Wing expresses. “Similarities aside, it's hard to believe that we really are on an alien planet. And, while the Doctor was an alien in our world, here we all are the alien visitors. There might be an intense reaction to that from the natives so it is best to remain on our guards.”

“But aren't you always on your guard, Stern?” Feather Wind asks casually. “That's kind of your thing.”

“Scoff if you like, but the one who tends to survive unexpected surprises is the one who remains prepared for them,” Stern Wing returns.

“I wasn't scoffing. It's just an affectionate observation,” Feather elaborates which causes Stern to blush for a brief moment, but she clears it a second later as she puts her serious game face back on.

“Be that as it may, I suggest we venture on,” Stern Wing urges. “I don't think we're going to encounter anypony that needs saving here.”

The Doctor nods in agreement with nearly as serious an expression as he says, "Agreed. Let's see where we might be more needed." To that end, he pulls out of his curious hidden pocket on his left flank his sonic screwdriver in his mouth. Somehow he fiddles with it before it shortly emits a curious, low-volume screeching noise. He turns his whole head with the device in his mouth as if to aim it in various directions.

“What are you doing?” Stern Wing asks curiously.

The Doctor finishes what he's doing first before spitting the device out of his mouth and onto his right hoof then says, "Scanning for lifeforms, and I believe I found some. Most of them are in that direction,” he nods in a direction they haven't explored yet, “but I'm much more concerned with the few I detected on the surface level of this vessel because they should be exposed to the elements.”

"Okay, seriously, is there anything that the device can't do?” Stern Wing exclaims questioningly. “You've used that thing in so many ways, I'm starting to think you're making it up.”

“Starting to?” Feather asks with emphasis toward Stern Wing.

Feather Wind notices a look of mischief sink into the Doctor's face as if to indicate the Time Lord grew tempted to give a joking answer for a moment, but instead decided to say, “What this thing does also depends on the skills of the one who wields it. A clever and skilled enough mind can do just about anything with any tool. The reason this thing is called a sonic screwdriver is because that is what the device was originally intended for. It used to be just a tool to screw or unscrew screws by using intermittent and variable frequency sonic vibrations. However, when I got a hold of it, I quickly realized its greater potential which made me think, 'Hey! In addition to using this for what it is designed for, why not also use this to break reality as well?' And so, with a bit of tinkering, a lot of practice, and some clever thinking, it has become an invaluable tool for just about any need. Let that be a lesson for you two. Always keep an open mind to expanded possibilities.

“Oh, and to answer your earlier question, the answer is; this thing cannot affect wood, unfortunately.”

“That's fascinating but we're wasting time,” Feather Wind reminds. “The larger number of collected lifeforms you detected earlier is likely in a lower and more secure deck of this ship which makes sense, of course. However, if there are also some on the upper deck during this intense weather condition then that is cause for concern. We should move to investigate that, and fast.”

“Agreed. This way,” says the Doctor as he crawls carefully in the direction where he detected some of the lifeforms.

The weight and significance of where they are did not fully hit Feather Wind until they exited through a door leading out of the cargo bay. Beyond that is the outside of this vessel. From there, they see a metal chain bridge that leads to another separate ship. The cross-section chains form the basis for the bridge and smaller nets close the gap between the chains. This provides a solid enough step for each hoof. Beyond this bridge, there are significantly larger chains in intermittent metal tubes which serve the dual purpose of keeping both ships from drifting apart and yet also keep them from smashing together. Based on how thick, old, and rusty those huge chain links are, this is obviously meant to be a permanent modification, meaning these two vessels are designed to never drift apart.

There are more of these things out there. A lot more. If seen from high above, it would have looked like a large fleet of square shape ships that are literally linked together like the patches on a square quilt. Altogether, it sort of makes a giant city floating together, but they are linked together in such a way that keeps them flexible. As such, each individual square can curve and bend over the waves instead of buckling by putting too much stress in the center.

More than that, though, Feather Wind is deeply affected by the weather itself. Not just because of the awe of its terrible might, but because he has a deep and intrinsic connection to nature and anything to do with the sky in particular. As such, he has learned to communicate with it on a level that is very different from verbal communication. It's more like a "knowing". Through that communication, Feather hears the song of the wind which, for him, does have a different pitch to it compared to his native world. For him, it is a much stronger indication that he is, indeed, in an alien world because the spirits in nature sing differently.

Not only does he hear and feel that song, but he quickly realizes that the spirit of the wind notices him noticing it and it is surprising that anypony from the mortal realm can hear it because very few others do. It feels to Feather Wind that the wind grew excited at that discovery and quickly became chatty as if it says, "Wow! You can understand me? That's awesome. Few others do. In that case, let me tell you about the entire history of this planet." Then BOOM! A bombardment of information suddenly crashes into Feather Wind as if the spirit of the wind on this planet couldn't wait for its entire story all at once.

“FEATHER WIND! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Feather hears Stern shout in concern loud enough to have a chance to be heard over the powerful storm, but since he is so dizzy and delirious because of what just happened, Stern Wing's voice sounds more distant and echo-y.

For a while, Feather just isn't strong enough to reply other than to continue to struggle to cling to her, but he does try a little (and fail).

It takes a moment for Feather to adjust to the huge download of information, but it later occurs to him that it isn't as heavy as it initially felt because the spirits of nature do not keep track of every single little insignificant detail like what bowl of soup an individual had exactly one thousand, one hundred and twenty-six years ago. Instead of that, it only cares about and is aware of itself and its job. The only time spirits of nature tend to notice the significantly more ephemeral mortals dwelling around them is when those mortals do something that significantly impacts nature directly, regardless if the outcome is positive or negative. Or both. As such, Feather Wind gets information about this planet from the planet's perspective which largely entails things like the cycle and flow of energy. Also, spirits like that tend to not keep track of time the same way mortals do so it's very hard to tell, based on the story given, the precise order of when significant events happened in the past. Instead of that, Feather Wind's mind could only frame it roughly in various types of eras in the past like the era of ice, the era of storms, the era of calm tropical waters, and so on. Altogether, the information is not different enough to overwhelm Feather in some significant, ongoing way. He basically got a synopsis of what happened and there is a simple flow to it like nature usually is if it isn't disrupted by something sudden, intense, and/or unnatural.

“Are you alright?!" the Doctor's voice blares through Feather Wind's mind with shocking clarity. It takes Feather a moment to realize that the Doctor just communicated to him telepathically. It also helped to clear Feather Wind's mind. He quickly regains conscious awareness and focus again. Upon doing so, he sees the Doctor's head veer back enough so Feather can see the Doctor's face, which means they touched foreheads a moment ago. Maybe that was how the Doctor facilitated such clear telepathic communication a moment ago.

“Yes. Thank you,” Feather tries to say but he quickly notices that the storm is so loud out here that it drowned out his voice, so he repeats himself except this time in a shouting volume. “YES. THANK YOU.”

"WHAT HAPPENED?" the Doctor checks. In doing so, Feather Wind can see not just concern in the Doctor's eyes, but also an urgent need to gather information. After all, what Feather just experienced might be significant, and informing the Doctor could affect his future plans.

“I, AH . . . I SPOKE WITH THE ELEMENTS OF NATURE, OR RATHER THEY SPOKE WITH ME,” Feather Wind answers.

“HE CAN DO THAT,” Stern Wing adds. “IT'S A SPECIAL TALENT OF HIS TIED TO HIS CUTIE MARK.”

The Doctor nods in partial understanding to Stern Wing (because the concept of cutie marks is so new to the Doctor at this point) then he looks back at Feather Wind and awaits the small pony to continue. As he does so, he prompts, “AND WHAT DID THEY SAY?”

Feather Wind shakes his head and chuckles a bit then shouts, “YOU MIGHT NOT BELIEVE THIS, BUT THEY TOLD ME THIS WORLD'S ENTIRE HISTORY.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING US?!” Stern Wing asks in astonishment.

“FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE,” Feather Wind elaborates at her then regards the Doctor again. “THEY DIDN'T SAY MUCH ABOUT THE MORTALS ON THIS PLANET. MAINLY THEY JUST TOLD ME ABOUT THE CYCLES OF NATURE THAT HAVE GONE BY.”

An interested look sinks into the Doctor's eyes. He takes a moment to digest the information he received. A moment later he realizes something and then focuses on the small blue unicorn again as he asks, "DID THEY SAY ANYTHING NOTEWORTHY ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR STORM?"

Feather Wind was almost going to say no to the Doctor, but then he thinks on that some more and eventually realizes the answer is actually yes. That little detail simply felt buried beneath all the other information they gave him. He takes a moment to focus on that particular set of information which shortly later makes him widen his eyes as he realizes something startling. He then focuses back on the Doctor as he shouts, "ACTUALLY, YES. THEY TOLD ME THE SOURCE OF THIS STORM IS UNNATURAL. IT'S LIKE THE ELEMENTS OF NATURE ARE BEING . . . OH. HOW BEST TO DESCRIBE IT? SORT OF LIKE . . . BEING TICKLED BY AN EXTERNAL SOURCE."

“EXTERNAL?” the Doctor reflects. “EXTERNAL LIKE OFF-WORLD?”

Feather takes a moment to reflect on that question before he shakes his head and shouts, "HONESTLY, THEY DON'T KNOW. THESE SPIRITS CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THINGS LIKE THAT. THEY FOCUS MORE ON WHAT IS, NOT WHY IT'S THAT WAY. THEY MAY ALSO HAVE A LIMITED CAPACITY TO UNDERSTAND THINGS LIKE THAT OR TO EVEN TELL ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.”

"SORT OF LIKE FIRE SIMPLY REALIZING IT EXISTS, NOT THE FACT THAT IT NEEDS TO CONSUME SOME FLAMMABLE OBJECT AND OXYGEN TO EXIST," Stern Wing muses.

"BUT IT IS EXTERNAL," the Doctor reflects. "THAT MEANS SOMETHING IS CAUSING THE STORM AND IT ISN'T NATURE ITSELF." He looks across the chain bridge at the other ship. "IN THAT CASE, IF SOMETHING ELSE IS CAUSING IT THEN IT ALSO MEANS IT CAN BE STOPPED. WE SIMPLY NEED TO FIND AND DISABLE THIS THING. WE'LL HAVE TO REMOVE ITS FUEL SOURCE. THAT ALSO MEANS THAT, UNTIL WE DO, THIS CONDITION MAY REMAIN ONGOING.”

The Doctor then snaps his gaze back at Feather Wind as he asks, “HOW LONG HAS THIS STORM PERSISTED?”

“AHHHH … FROM NATURE'S PERSPECTIVE, NOT THAT LONG AT ALL,” Feather answers. “BUT REMEMBER. TO TIMELESS BEINGS LIKE THESE, IT MEASURES ENTIRE EPOCHS LIKE IT'S MERELY A DAY.”

"IN THAT CASE, WE SHOULD ASK ONE OF THE NATIVES IF WE FIND ANY," Stern Wing suggests then realizes something startling. "THAT IS IF WE CAN EVEN COMMUNICATE WITH THEM."

"OH, WE'LL BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM," the Doctor promises. "THOSE WHO TRAVEL ON THE TARDIS ALSO GAIN THE BENEFIT OF SOME TELEPATHIC COMMUNICATION. AMONG THOSE IS THE BENEFIT OF LANGUAGE TRANSLATION. THEY ARE STILL SPEAKING THEIR NATIVE TONGUES BUT WE'LL HEAR WHATEVER WE UNDERSTAND THE MOST."

“OH!” Stern Wing blinks. “THAT'S CONVENIENT.”

The Doctor nods as he explains, “MY PEOPLE QUICKLY REALIZED THE INCONVENIENCE OF TRAVELING TO OTHER WORLDS WITHOUT THE BENEFIT OF COMMUNICATION SO THEY QUICKLY DEVISED A MOSTLY FOOLPROOF WAY AROUND IT."

"MAKES SENSE," Feather agrees with a casual shrug as he passes a look from the Doctor to Stern but then he looks back at the Doctor as he realizes something else which prompts him to say, "OF COURSE, IF THAT'S TRUE, THERE MIGHT BE SOME ROOM FOR ERROR HERE. PERHAPS ONE SOCIETY INVENTED A WORD THAT HAS NO TRANSLATION IN SOME OTHER LANGUAGE BECAUSE IT NEVER OCCURRED TO THAT OTHER SOCIETY TO INVENT ONE. FOR INSTANCE, WHAT WORD WOULD THERE BE FOR 'SPACESHIP' TO A PRIMITIVE, STILL STRICKLY HUNTER/GATHERER SOCIETY?"

"EXACTLY," the Doctor agrees. "WELL PUT. THESE TELEPATHIC TRANSLATIONS FROM THE TARDIS CERTAINLY HELP, BUT IT'S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR DISCERNMENT AND GOOD-OLD FASHION COMMON SENSE. ALWAYS KEEP THAT IN MIND WHILE YOU TRAVEL WITH ME."

“WELL, NOW THAT WE HAVE THAT ESTABLISHED, LET'S CONTINUE,” Stern Wing suggests then looks back at Feather Wind. “YOU GOOD FOR THAT?”

Feather Wind nods as he shouts, “GO AHEAD. WHILE YOU DO, I'LL TRY TO HELP BY RAISING A FORCE BARRIER AROUND US. THAT SHOULD KEEP US FROM BEING BUFFETED BY THE WIND, RAIN, AND WAVES TOO MUCH. KEEP IN MIND, THOUGH, SINCE SOMETHING ELSE IS CAUSING THE STORM, I WILL HAVE LESS INFLUENCE OVER IT MYSELF SO I CAN'T RELY ON MY CUTIE MARK ABILITY AS MUCH TO PROTECT US, OR OTHERS, FROM THIS.”

“THAT MEANS YOU CAN'T FLY EITHER,” Stern Wing realizes. “YOUR TALENT IS A COMBINATION OF LIGHTENING YOUR BODY WEIGHT, CONTROLLING THE WINDS, AND GLIDING WITH YOUR CLOAK. HOWEVER, IF YOU CAN'T CONTROL THE WINDS BECAUSE SOMETHING ELSE IS DOING IT INSTEAD, THEN YOU'D SIMPLY BE BUFFETED ABOUT BY THE WINDS FAR MORE EASILY IF YOU DARE TO LIGHTEN YOUR BODY WEIGHT NOW, SO DON'T DO IT.”

Feather Wind nods as he says, “AGREED, BUT THAT'S ALMOST A MOOT POINT. WITH WEATHER THIS INTENSE, I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FLY EVEN IF I WAS BORN A NATURAL PEGASUS. AS FOR YOU, YOU'RE MUCH STRONGER THAN AN AVERAGE PEGASI BUT EVEN YOU WOULD PROBABLY BE OVERWHELMED BY THIS.”

“DEFINITELY,” Stern agrees. “I MIGHT ATTEMPT IT ONLY AS A LAST RESORT, BUT IT IS FAR TOO UNLIKELY TO SUCCEED UNDER THESE CONDITIONS SO I WON'T CONSIDER IT A RELIABLE OPTION EITHER.”

"I GUESS WE'RE ALL LIKEN TO EARTH PONIES NOW WHEN IT COMES TO OUR ABILITY TO FLY HERE," the Doctor figures. "WELP. THAT'S OKAY. WE STILL HAVE OTHER OPTIONS TO RELY ON. LET'S NOT CONCENTRATE TOO MUCH ON WHAT WE CAN'T DO AND RATHER FOCUS ON WHAT WE CAN AND, INDEED, MUST DO." He looks across at the other exit and entrance on the other side of this chain bridge. "ONWARDS AND UPWARDS, MY FRIENDS."

Part 5: Rescue on the Radio Tower

"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO WORK THESE?" Stern Wing asks about their new hook harness after she and Feather emerged back into the stormy rain. As before, Feather creates a protective bubble force field around them. However, since the Doctor and his sonic screwdriver are not among them this time, they once again have to shout to have any chance to be heard by each other.

Feather closely examines what they are wearing and then notices a bunch of clip hooks extending from the ship at various points, each of which looks about twenty feet long. Concentrating on his magic, he levitates one of the clip hooks attached to a twenty-foot rope and brings it toward them. The object in question has to pass through a small hole opening in the field that he created for it. Once it is up close, he examines the clip hook and how to open it. Then he examines their vests and notices several rings that he could attach the clip hook to. Then he thinks about it for a while before nodding in satisfaction when he reaches a conclusion.

"THESE THINGS CLIP TO OUR VESTS TO TETHER US TO THE SHIP," Feather explains as he leans forward and shouts this near Stern's ear. "BUT WE'RE STILL SUPPOSED TO GRIP SOMETHING AS WE MAKE OUR WAY ACROSS THE SHIP. THIS IS JUST AN EXTRA SAFETY PRECAUTION. ONCE WE MAKE OUR WAY ABOUT TWENTY FEET OR SO, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE ANOTHER ONE OF THESE, CLIP IT TO OUR VESTS, THEN UNCLIP THE LAST ONE. WE JUST CONTINUE THAT PATTERN UNTIL WE GET TO WHERE WE ARE GOING."

Stern Wing appears to realize something, then she shouts, “WAIT A SECOND. I GOT A BETTER IDEA! FEATHER, UNCLIP US FROM THE SHIP FOR A MOMENT.”

Puzzled but also curious, Feather tilts his head at her questioningly but then proceeds to do so. With a little bit of trepidation, he unclips them both from being tethered to the ship. After that, he looks at Stern Wing and nods to silently communicate his compliance with her request.

As a test, Stern Wing spreads her wings on both sides to see how far she can stretch them within this force field. Upon doing so, she notices she can almost stretch her wings to her maximum length, but can't. The bubble is just a bit too small. Feather did that on purpose so they would not have to squeeze through any narrow openings across this ship.

"FEATHER, EXPAND THE BUBBLE A LITTLE MORE," Stern Wing requests.

Still confused, Feather complies anyway. Dipping just a little further into his magic, he expands the bubble. Stern Wing tests her wing room again and discovers it satisfactory this time.

“EXCELLENT!” Stern Wing cheers. “IN HERE, WE'RE NOT BEING AFFECTED BY EITHER THE RAIN OR WINDS AT ALL, NO MATTER HOW STRONG IT IS RAGING OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE. SINCE IT COMPLETELY CANCELS THAT INERTIA, IT LEAVES THE AIR WITHIN THE BUBBLE PERFECTLY CALM. SINCE THAT IS THE CASE, I MIGHT AS WELL FLY UP TO RESCUE OUR STALLION.”

Realizing what Stern Wing is up to in alarm, Feather cries out to her desperately, “NO! STERN, WAIT!”

Too late. Stern Wing hops off the ground and then flaps her wings as she usually does to fly. The problem with that in this situation is each thrust she makes on the air within the bubble reflects back at her. Since the calm air within the bubble is just as trapped, it bounces off the interior of the force field and reflects right back at them. Since Stern Wing is flapping using both wings, as pegasi are ought to do, the wind ripples back at them from both directions almost simultaneously. That ends up pushing them back and forth in mid-air and ultimately she cannot get any true useful thrust out of each flap, thus she inadvertently creates a whirling cyclone within the force bubble. Crashing back to the ground, Stern Wing ends up directly on the ground with her belly touching the wet floor and her legs spread about her in an x pattern. Since Feather Wind manages to maintain the force bubble, the outside wind, rain, and even huge crashing waves continue to not affect them. However, since they are not grabbing or tethered to anything, they have no defense against sliding across the upper deck as the ship tilts back and forth. When that starts to happen, Feather reacts fast by floating a nearby hook clip on a rope within the force field and clips it to Stern Wings vest. That, in turn, prevents them both from sliding too much.

When Stern Wing recovers, she coils a hoof around the rope they are now attached to and then uses it to pull herself back to the wall where there are many things to grip such as a rope net attached to many parts of the wall.

"I ADMIT IT; BAD IDEA," Stern Wing confesses. "I GUESS I DIDN'T THINK THAT ONE THROUGH. I'M NOT USED TO FLYING WITHIN A FORCE BUBBLE." She looks back at her companion on her back. "BUT I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD KNOW. YOU CONTROL THE WINDS AND GUIDE THEM INTO YOUR MIST CLOAK SO YOU CAN GLIDE IN THE AIR. HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO THAT IF YOU'RE WITHIN A FORCE BUBBLE THAT CANCELS MOMENTUM BOTH WAYS?"

Feather Wind releases a sigh then shouts, “I ASSUME THERE WILL BE NO OBJECTION IF I ATTACH AND DETACH THE HOOKS TO OUR HARNESSES WHILE YOU CLIMB YOUR WAY TO THE RADIO TOWER?”

Stern Wing nods in agreement as she shouts, “GOOD IDEA.”

Feather Wind looks at the wall as he shouts, “I'LL DO US ONE BETTER. I'LL TAKE SOME OF THIS ROPE WITH US. THAT WAY WE CAN USE IT TO ATTACH THE STALLION TO US ONCE WE GET UP TO HIM. IT'LL BE ANOTHER WAY WE CAN SECURE HIM.”

Stern Wing repeats her nod and shouts, “ONCE AGAIN, GOOD IDEA. I'LL LEAVE ALL THE BRAIN WORK TO YOU WHILE I DO ALL THE BRAWN WORK.”

“THAT OFTEN WORKED BEFORE,” Feather agrees.

It's quite unnerving up here on the ladder of the radio tower, to say the least. Even without the storm, this thing is still on a ship. It would normally sway back and forth because the ship itself is not on a stable platform. Add to that, any degree of wind up a tall tower like this makes it so they can feel the sway even more, especially as they climb higher. That's ten times worse during a severe, hurricane-force storm. Both Feather and Stern can feel themselves being tilted by the wind and dips in the ocean which cause this tower to sway quite drastically back and forth. Feather Wind's force bubble is protecting them in about a three-foot diameter sphere around them, but it is not protecting the tower itself much. The tower continues to be pummeled by the winds and the waves. As that continues, they are additionally unnerved by hearing the stress and groan of the metal bars of the tower as they continue to cling for dear life.

Up here they have a better perspective of the storm all around them. It's actually hard to tell if it's day or night at all since the storm clouds are so thick. It seems so pitch black most of the time except for the brief illumination across the sky due to lightning flashes. Stern Wing and Feather Wind both privately assume that it is a dark and stormy night to nearly the greatest possible extreme while still not being instantly and totally fatal. It feels like the only reason they are alive right now is because of the precautions they took, and even then they are struggling.

Especially Stern Wing. Feather Wind isn't usually challenged too much up here to hold up the force field because any inertia of the wind and rain is canceled by the force field. Only the greater force of the waves stresses him for a moment as he briefly reinforces the force field enough to make sure it does not crack and shatter against the many tons of weight that crashes upon them. Meanwhile Stern Wing has to struggle to hold onto the ladder while the tower is being heavily swayed back and forth for multiple reasons. It's hard enough to just cling to the ladder itself under these conditions let alone try to climb it.

Feather Wind helps a little sometimes when it seems like she is struggling too much and he's doing it in multiple ways. In addition to the force field, he is lightening his body weight a little bit so she doesn't have to carry as much. He also summons a strong gust of wind to help deflect some of the weight of the incoming crashing waves. That not only spares him from using extra energy to reinforce his force field, but that action somewhat protects the tower as well. He doesn't need to see to do this either. Feather keenly feels the force of the weather around him since he's so much a part of it. All he has to do is listen to be aware of what is going on around him.

Lastly, Feather sometimes uses his telekinesis to grab her hook harness and then uses it to pull her in whichever direction that would cancel some of the momentum against her. The reason he doesn't use his magic to grab her flesh, though, is because unicorn magic stings and tickles which is why most of his race do not use it to lift themselves. They normally can't maintain their concentration with that kind of physical distraction. So, to avoid causing her any unnecessary distraction during this critical moment, he just uses his magic to grab and drag something she is wearing instead.

Feather Wind knows that Stern Wing has grown tired through her arduous climb up the tower. Despite everything he has done to aid her, this remains a severe challenge for her nonetheless, especially over time. Her muscles can't recover if she continuously uses them to hold on for dear life.

Due to the darkness of the stormy night, the only reason Feather Wind and Stern have any sort of continuous and soft light is due to Feather's horn. Having to concentrate on sometimes multiple spells at once, it is always glowing anyway. This provides very short ranged illumination within a small bubble of silvery light that barely covers their heads, shoulders, and the ladder they cling to. Still, it is enough for Feather to see Stern Wing wince in tight pain sometimes whenever the tower tilts severely which it keeps on doing at random. To help her cling on, she has hooked at least one of her forelegs around one of the bars of the ladder, particularly whenever the tower tilts quite a bit.

Noticing that tight wince of pain on her face hurts his heart to see, but he also lovingly admires her when he sees her fight through that haze of pain with overwhelming determination. He knows her well enough to know what her mind is locked onto during moments like these. Whenever anypony else is in danger and she perceives it, her talent within her instantly comes alive. Protecting others is exactly what her cutie mark is for. The reason she discovered it so late was that she had to wait for a moment of crisis to occur first before she could fully realize that, but those protective instincts were always a part of her even before that moment. Whether somepony is being verbally abused or physically pummeled, Stern Wing just cannot abide by the actions of a bully without doing something about it. Standing up for the little guy has always been a natural part of her, and this is exactly why she is so strong. Strong enough and endurant enough to be unusual for even most earth ponies. She's more like the rare example of the strongest and toughest version of the earth ponies. In addition to that, though, Stern Wing can also fly, walk on clouds, and potentially modify the weather if she has to.

But Stern Wing isn't just strong and tough physically. She also possesses mental fortitude enough to tough it out when things get rough. If she knows an innocent somepony is in danger, it doesn't matter how often or how hard any force tries to whack her down. Whatever it takes, she'll find the strength within herself necessary to struggle her way back on her hooves.

To Feather Wind, Stern Wing's giant wings always symbolically represented giant shields to him. He can't help but lovingly think that with the way she often uses them. That pained but determined look he keeps seeing on her face is always another reminder of why he loves her. She is just so strong and for all the right reasons. He knows she'd fight that hard to protect him too if she had to and she has proven that many times in the past including in social conflicts. As for nasty surprises, she usually catches them too because she often remains at least mildly alert at all times.

It's taken Stern Wing quite a while to fully realize how much she could trust Feather Wind in return. The little sky blue pony who is often timid, is physically weak due to unusually small size for his age, and had a typically pampered life of an aristocratic, scholarly lifestyle. Nonetheless, Feather has proven his worth to her enough to make her realize that she, too, has a strong ally at her back. Whatever shortcomings that he has, he makes up for with his magic, highly unusual ability to fly for his race, and a similar heroic instinct. Both inner and outer strength always comes more naturally for Stern Wing during times like these, but Feather Wind always manages to find just enough to fit their needs even if it is more of a personal struggle for him to do so.

With all of these current challenges combined, it felt like a much longer climb than it actually was. They are indeed delayed many times because of the tilt, but that didn't actually increase the distance she has to climb. It only increased the challenge of the climb due to fatigue in pretty much all senses of the word. Nevertheless, because of her overwhelming determination, strength, and strong support she receives from Feather, they finally achieve their goal.

The stallion in question is downright unconscious by the time they get to him. For multiple reasons, his health is a concern too but they did ultimately determine he is alive and relatively stable under the circumstances. His health is stable enough to make it possible to move him without killing or injuring him much further.

Like Feather did for Stern Wing multiple times tonight, he grabs the stallion's hook harness with his magic and also uses the same spell to unhook the stallion from being secured on this narrow platform up here. He transfers a hook to both the stallion's harness and Stern Wing's. That, in turn, tethers them to each other so even if her grip on him slips later, they have a backup to keep their hold on him. Feather coils and then knots the rope more tightly around them too so that the stallion cannot dangle a distance greater than Feather Wind's own force bubble.

As for Stern Wing, she hugs the stallion close by her side using a single wing. It's pretty rare for a pegasi's wing to be so strong that it can hold up the dead weight of an entire adult stallion on its own but Stern Wing is just that good, hence her name. The coiled harness also removed some of the stallion's weight and Feather Wind also uses his magic to lighten the weight of the stallion even further, thus reducing muscle fatigue on Stern Wing's wing enough to make it possible to overcome the challenge of climbing back down with the extra added weight.

It isn't as much of a challenge for Stern Wing to descend, but she's got the extra weight this time and there is also the stress of the metal tower to consider. It has been battered the whole time during and before the initial climb. The entire reason this stallion was up here in the first place was to reinforce this tower with extra cables, but that mission failed so the tower continued to suffer damage this whole time. One full, head-on huge wave crashing down directly upon this tower would likely have the potential to knock it down.

There are times when significant waves have threatened to crash upon them along the way up and down, but fortunately for these intrepid adventurers, Feather Wind is unusually adept and connected with the weather. Not only does that mean he can sense weather elements coming, but he can do something to at least minimize it, even if it means forming a temporary cyclone around the tower. Changing the weather fully can't be done as long as whatever force that is causing it persists, but he can at least add his own magic to the weather which either reinforces what it's already doing or helps to cancel some of the inertia.

In the end, just as they are nearing the bottom, a huge enough wave that Feather Wind can't fully cancel does indeed crash upon them. Considering the strain the tower already suffered through, this is finally enough to knock the tower down.

Thanks to Feather Wind's weather senses, though, he receives enough forewarning to plan around it. He tells Stern Wing to let go at a crucial moment as he issues an intense telekinetic thrust to shoot them off the tower entirely and towards a safer cubbyhole in the ship sufficient to shelter them from the worst effects of that particular wave. They have no chance to hear each other as the huge wave crashes onto the ship enough to cause a severe tilt in its own right. The fact that this platform is attached to the others around it is the only reason this one doesn't capsize completely. The wave does, however, knock the radio tower off the ship this time.

They remain in that cubbyhole for several minutes as Feather and Stern breathe very hard. It takes a similar amount of time for the adrenaline pumping in their system to level off enough to restore any decent amount of cognitive thinking.

“WELL DONE, FEATHER,” Stern Wing eventually shouts in appreciation.

“WE'RE NOT DONE YET,” Feather replies seriously. “LET'S GET THIS STALLION INSIDE THE SHIP. WE'LL HAVE THE DOCTOR TAKE A LOOK AT HIM AND SEE WHAT HE CAN DO. KNOWING HIM, HE'LL PROBABLY HAVE A SOLUTION FOR THIS WITH THAT REMARKABLE NOISY DEVICE OF HIS.”

Stern Wing both laughs and scoffs with a shake of her head due to that comment. She then looks about her for something to grab before they make their way back to the shelter.

Part 6: Earned Ancestral Trust

Kleetus and Clyde lead the Doctor, Stern Wing, and Feather Wind to the lower decks. Stern Wing continues to carry the unconscious stallion on her back to safely deliver him down there. This time Feather simply trots beside her close enough to include all of them in his bubble field, but he does tether himself to Stern using the hook vest just in case. In fact, they all do.

From the relative safety of the bridge, they did not have to travel far to reach the hatch leading to the lower deck.

Down in the lower decks there are other crew of the rig which includes some medical personnel as well as their supplies, but Kleetus and Clyde assures the group that those remaining supplies are running thin right about now and the destruction of the radio tower just made that worse because now they can't radio for help if/when the storm passes. When the Doctor asks why their supplies were running low, Clyde says he will introduce the group to another pony who can fill in the answer to that question better than he can. That same individual may also be able to tend to the injured and unconscious pony's wounds, of whom they since learned is named Bhereka.

Once they are through the hatch, Kleetus and Clyde continue to lead the TARDIS crew down a series of metal hallways and metal-grated stairs. Many of these passageways are fairly narrow, making it difficult, or sometimes impossible, for two ponies to cross each other side by side or go opposite ways. Much of the metal is stained with rust that usually trails down. Sometimes they see what is causing that rust right now in the form of dripping water at various points. For illumination, there are bulbs with flickering light embedded in the walls. Whatever is causing those lights is something Feather Wind and Stern Wing are unfamiliar with. They don't even know what the power source is.

Eventually Kleetus and Clyde lead the group to a larger room where there is a large gathering of other ponies. There are lots of cots spread out along the walls and some in the center of the room. In addition, there are other beds attached to the walls further off the ground that can fold up into the walls for more space when not in use. If they are in use, then a chain at the head and foot of the bed helps hold it in place in its folded-down position.

There seem to be thirty earth ponies in this room. Most of them are adults, but there is a few adolescent and foals here too who used to be galloping about wildly and playing some game, much to their parents' chagrin because of the storm tilting the ship every which way, but everypony pauses and observes the newcomers as soon as they step in. Some quickly grow alarmed due to seeing Bhereka's injured and unconscious condition then immediately rush in to further investigate. Still others are taken aback by seeing unfamiliar newcomers. This is made even more surprising since they definitely expected no arrivals during a heavy storm like this. What is triply shocking is discovering two of them are a mythical and never seen before race; a pegasus and a unicorn. When that fact becomes known to them, many of the ponies in this room regard Feather and Stern with awe and, in some cases, fear as well.

“Well, I'll be. There he is,” Clyde remarks in surprise as he regards an individual in a white lab coat. He is a very light brown coat stallion with a darker, short brown mane. This is an individual both Kleetus and Clyde expected to be on lower decks of the ship. “Doctor Waston! Over here!” Clyde calls across the room as he waves at the one in the white lab coat.

Originally the individual Clyde is calling to was kneeling and quietly conversing with another pony who looks a bit sick. When his name is called, he gazes sharply to his left at those who entered and at Clyde in particular, but his attention soon widens out and notices two things of note; the injured pony Bhereka and the unfamiliar newcomers. He widens his eyes which is made even more clear due to the magnification of the glasses Doctor Waston wears. He then regards the pony he was originally conversing with, probably apologizes to her, then makes his way over to the newcomers who, in turn, make their way to Doctor Waston.

“What happened?” Doctor Waston asks in concern when he arrives as he immediately starts inspecting the injured pony. Before anypony can answer, he also adds, “Set him on the cot right here,” he says as he gestures to an empty cot beside him. He turns to a younger adolescent mare beside him and says, “Fetch some warm, dry blankets and get me some water now.”

“Yes Doctor,” she replies then leaves to cooperate.

While they wait for that, Doctor Waston inspects Bhereka's condition through sight and careful tactile inspection. Doing so quickly reveals how wet and cold he is. Seconds later, the Doctor looks over to Clyde and nods to him to indicate Clyde should resume his explanation of what happened. Clyde proceeds to do so and, in the process, everypony around them also hears the explanation. They greatly lament the loss of the radio tower because it means a loss of hope to relieve their situation later.

“Everypony, calm down!” Clyde calls as he raises his voice above the group. “We can rebuild the tower eventually as soon as the storm passes.”

“But when is the storm going to pass?!” a panicked stallion asks. “It's already gone too long to be natural, and even if it passes, we're already very low on supplies as it is. I don't know if we can hold out while we wait for the storm to pass and then wait even longer while the radio tower gets replaced.”

“Relax. I can take care of that,” the Doctor calls out, which is the first time he spoke to this larger group. “The vessel I came in on is equipped with a large stock of food and medical supplies, among other things. I can give you that while me and my companions work to solve your core problem.”

Feather Wind and Stern Wing glance at each other because this is the first time the Doctor mentioned anything about having a large stock of food on the TARDIS, but they aren't too surprised to hear about that either. They already know there are some supplies in the kitchen but they aren't exactly sure how much. So far Derpy has been taking care of their breakfasts on the ship because she simply wanted to. Usually what she has made has emphasis on muffins in particular.

“You're the one they sent to bring us relief supplies?” asks a large dark-coat stallion with a deep baritone voice. “I'm surprised you made it through the storm through all this weather. And speaking of which, just who are you three anyway?” He then flicks an especially awed look over to Feather Wind and Stern Wing.

“We did arrive in a vessel but it's not exactly one most would consider traditional,” the Doctor supplies. “Suffice it to say it worked, we're here, and we can help. As for who we are, I am the Doctor and these are my companions-”

“Doctor?” Doctor Waston says in instant awe as he addresses and interrupts the Doctor. “As in Thee Doctor? The Time Lord Doctor?”

Feather Wind notices how the Doctor regards Doctor Waston in surprise as well as the Doctor asks, “You heard of me? Have we met before?”

Doctor Waston shakes his head as he uses a hoof to nudge his glasses further up his muzzle. Then he says, “No. I never met you personally, but you did rescue one of my ancestors. Ever since then, they passed on the story of that daring adventure along with the claim that the Doctor will one day appear and save us again during another time of need.”

The Doctor lifts a hoof as he says, “Whoa. Say no more, then, because the events you are describing haven't happened to me yet.”

“What?” Clyde asks in confusion. “Okay, what's going on here? And you.” He points to and looks at Doctor Waston. “You never told us about any of this.”

Doctor Waston opens his mouth and was about to say something until the mare he sent a moment ago returns with the requested items.

“Herewh ya gwoh, Dohctah,” she struggles to say because she's carrying some things in her mouth as she spoke and other things along her back.

“Set the blanket on the cot right now then put the water beside it,” Doctor Waston instructs her. “And thank you Mellony. That is very helpful of you.”

She cooperates with his request first before saying more clearly now that her mouth is clear, “You're welcome, Doctor.”

Doctor Waston regards Clyde as he rubs the back of his neck and says, “It's a long story, and if the Doctor doesn't want to hear it now, then I'll explain what I know to you later. For now, I'll just say it is a story that my family passed down between each other and, until now, that's all I thought it was because some of the elements told within the story are very fantastical and therefore very hard to believe. Until now, I didn't really give the story much credit.

“For instance, according to the story, the individual simply known as 'The Doctor' isn't actually the pony that the individual appears to be but rather an alien race known as The Time Lords. In addition to that fact, supposedly he travels in a small vessel that is small on the outside but bigger on the inside. More importantly is the fact that that vessel can teleport through time and space, so,” he shakes his head, “when this Doctor here claims the events I described haven't happened to him yet, he fully means it. What happened in our past will occur in his future. That's probably also why my family insisted on passing on the story about him. It is in preparation for this event.”

Doctor Waston turns his head to regard the Doctor. “While this is a shock for me personally, I guess my role in this particular story is quite clear. You have my vote of confidence, Doctor. I'll do whatever I can to support you in this endeavor. After all, whatever you do for us now will likely save us all in the end.”

“Do you really believe in him that much?” Clyde asks in a soft tone and very honest curiosity towards Doctor Waston.

In reply, Doctor Waston looks back at Clyde as he answers, “If he is the stallion that he claims to be, then yes. We can trust him because he has already proven his heroic intent a long time ago and he will prove it again during another time of need. Namely, now.” Waston looks back at the Doctor as he goes on to say, “Two things about the Doctor that I know of which are distinguishing characteristics is he has a picture of an hourglass permanently embedded on each side of his flanks. That same flank hides a hidden pocket, and within that pocket hides several fantastical devices. Of those, the most notable and frequently used one is some kind of tiny stick with a light at the tip. It also tends to make a lot of noise.”

Because of what Doctor Waston said and the way he said it, Feather Wind grows curious about something. In response to that, he scans the flanks of the other native ponies in the room which leads him to discover that none of them have cutie marks. Furthermore, he also privately notes that they have more muted, earthy colors rather than brighter pastel colors like green, purple, or his own sky blue color. This makes him realize why he might stand out to them even more besides being a unicorn or wearing obviously magical items like his Mist Cloak.

Thinking back to some books he read earlier on the subject, it is said that signs like these are indicative of one thing. If ponies are discovered with more naturally muted and earthy colors with no exception in sight and/or they are all missing cutie marks despite being adults then it is all a sign that they were born and raised in a low to nil magic zone. Furthermore, it is said that in any such zones, unicorns who go there and cast magic later discover that they technically can do so but they later find out that their rate of regenerating their internal magical energy is either slower or entirely arrested in such zones because the environment either has less or no magical energy to breathe in.

However, in this situation, at least so far, Feather Wind has discovered no such hindrance to recovering his own magical energy. It is neither accelerated nor slowed down in any way. Instead of all that, it just seems “normal” to him for some reason. Nevertheless, this may be a noteworthy fact to inform the Doctor of later on. Probably safer to do so during a moment of privacy, though, just in case.

There is also the claim that there is a magical artifact out there somewhere that can control the weather on a wide and epic scale. Even if the environment is currently a lower or no magic zone, the existence of a powerful artifact like The Orb of Storms indicates that magic either used to be much higher or still is very strong somewhere else on the planet and the Orb was probably forged there.

“All of this sci-fi whooey is going way over mah head, Sir,” Clyde says as he turns his head to look at the Doctor. “But one thing you need to know is if Doctor Waston vouches for ya, then you're okay in mah book too. Doctor Waston is easily the most trustworthy, compassionate, resourceful, and educated pony on this ship. If he says you're cool then you have my cooperation too, Sir. Besides, I owe you for saving my man.”

“Excellent!” the Doctor cheers. “That is good to know. Helping me will also go a long way to helping you as well. As long as you are all cooperative, things will go over smoother and faster.

“Alright.” He looks at Doctor Waston and says to him, “along our way down here, Kleetus and Clyde both mentioned something about food and medical supply shortage. In the short run, I believe I can help you all with some of the supplies currently in stock on my ship, and even if it runs out, I can simply use the vessel to go somewhere and somewhen else, re-stalk on more supplies, and bring them back here.” He nods to Waston for a moment as he adds, “'Teleportation' isn't exactly the right technical term for what my vessel does but I suppose, as far as you're concerned, the term is close enough. The more pertinent point here is the fact that I can give you all that you need to endure this trial for the moment and, if it turns out it's not enough, I can later get more supplies and it would only take a few seconds relative to your time. I could be out there for months or years collecting supplies and you all wouldn't know it because I can simply return to near the point I just left.”

The Doctor tilts his head at Doctor Waston as he goes on to say, “What makes me more curious and concerned at the moment, though, is wondering precisely why you've run out of medical supplies so soon. I know the storm has been going on for quite some time, but something tells me there's more to this story here.”

In return, Doctor Waston nods in agreement as he informs, “Indeed, there is. I don't know if either Kleetus or Clyde told you this, but there is also a sickness spreading across the ship. I have them quarantined in a lower deck in the hopes of slowing the spread.”

“Have you isolated the cause?” the Doctor checks.

Doctor Waston winces as he says, “Not precisely, but nonetheless, I have . . . or more accurately to say I had . . . an effective vaccine for it. It used to work to slow, or even to entirely halt, the development of the disease until-”

“-you ran out of supplies,” the Doctor concludes which earns him a nod of agreement from Doctor Waston. “I'm beginning to see the problem here, but tell me, Doctor, more about this vaccine. What precisely was it? And do you have any more samples of it? The reason I ask is to check if I could synthesize it either with the current supplies I have, or find it somewhere else out in time and space, or perhaps come up with a better compound.”

Doctor Waston squints as he thinks on this carefully before answering, “I think I have a little bit of the substance left but not enough to be much effect on the rest of my remaining patients. Instead of that, I've been treating them with other standard stuff like plenty of rest, water, what little food I can provide. I also provided some medicine to treat their symptoms but not the root cause of it. I, ah,” he pauses for a moment before leaning forward and whispering in the Doctor's ears, “due to the constraints of my existing medical supplies, I've been supplementing some of it with placebo for the less critically ill patients.” He then leans back and speaks in a more normal and publicly audible tone, “And I found that it does somewhat help relieve or reduce their symptoms.”

“And you've done very well for yourself by the sounds of it considering the constraints you were under,” the Doctor commends. “I'm proud of you for that, but that said, let's see what I can come up with if I get my hands dirty.” He nods to Doctor Waston as he requests, “Take me to see the other ill patients. If you do, I'll see what I can find out with my resources such as my trusty equipment. Case in point . . .” He trails off as he uses his tail to flip out of his hind pocket his sonic screwdriver. With it, he tosses it up into the air with a graceful flourish before catching it with his mouth. Once it is there, he uses it to emit a small sonic noise which also lights up the tip of the “stick”. In doing so, he also proved that he has the device Doctor Waston's ancestor's stories told him that the Doctor would have, thereby even further proving his identity.

“Um . . . very well,” Doctor Waston agrees with an uncertain squint at the mostly unfamiliar device. He heard about it a long time ago but this is the first time he is witnessing it personally and he still doesn't know exactly what it does. “However, before I take off, let me see to the needs of this patient first and make sure he's stable,” he says with a tilt of his head down to indicate the injured stallion Bhereka.

The Doctor spins and catches his sonic screwdriver to a hoof to clear his mouth before nodding at Waston and saying, “Agreed. Let's take care of him first.”

“Um, Doctor,” Stern Wing prompts the Doctor which ends up catching the attention of both doctors for a moment but she ends up holding the attention of the one she spoke to. With that attention, she asks, “What should me and Feather Wind do? When you go down to investigate the other patients, do you want us to come with you?”

The Doctor smiles at Stern Wing in appreciation for the offer then says, “I want you two to go back to the TARDIS and tell Derpy to gather whatever food and medical supplies she can and deliver them to the exit of the TARDIS. Probably just inside the TARDIS until a team of other ponies from here come by later to pick it up. After that, I want you two to rest. After the trial you've endured to pick up this stallion,” he says with a nod down to indicate Bhereka, “you two have not only earned it but probably need it. I want you two to recover your strength as soon as you can because I get the feeling you're going to need it soon. We're just getting started with solving these ponies' problems. Right now I'm still in investigation mode.”

Stern Wing glances at Feather Wind with a look of uncertainty for a moment before looking back at the Doctor as she says, “Okay, but what about you? Are you sure you'll be fine on your own without us?”

“The strain you two went through likely has taxed your immune system,” the Doctor says back. “It's cold and wet out there, all of which is likely contributing factor to these ponies' gradual decline in health. Declining morale is likely a contributing factor too.” He shakes his head. “I don't want to deal with the risk of you two getting sick as well, so I'm heading this one off at the pass by ordering you to rest. I think you'll be fine as long as we take this early precaution.

“As for me, in addition to the fact I haven't stressed myself out to the degree that you two have, there is also the fact that I have two hearts and, as such, I have a more robust constitution.”

“Really?” Kleetus asks in surprise nearby. “You actually have two hearts?”

In reply, the Doctor simply nods at Kleetus before resumes speaking to his companions.

“Don't worry. I'll use other precautions now and later to even further reduce the risk to my health. Meanwhile, the information I gather from them may help me to lead to a cure for their condition or at least take a step closer to it.” He smiles proudly as he says, “I'm not called The Doctor for nothing. It's time for me to get to work and prove my worth around here.”

“That sounds like a reasonable suggestion under the circumstances,” Feather Wind agrees. “And if we go to the precise destination you described, then you'll know where we'll be just in case you need us later. By then, we might be in better condition to help you as well.”

“Exactly,” the Doctor wholeheartedly agrees as he aims his sonic device at Bhereka and begins using it to scan the injured pony's condition.

“Before we go, there is another thing about Feather Wind that you need to know,” Stern Wing puts forward. “We'll go back to the TARDIS as you suggested, but while we're gone, you need to know that you can send a message to Feather Wind using the wind to deliver a message if need be.”

The Doctor freezes for a second before looking at Stern Wing questioningly and asks simply, “Huh?”

Stern Wing brightens as she asks, “Oh, you didn't know?” She re-thinks this and then verbally expresses, “Ah! I guess we haven't told you about this before. Sorry. I've known this for so long that I forgot about the fact that we haven't told you yet.

“Yeah. With Feather Wind's deep connection to the wind and sky and such, he has also developed the ability to send whispered messages to intended recipients through the wind. In time he later discovered that the same could happen in reverse if others simply say his name out loud with the intent of delivering a message to him. If they do, then they simply need to speak aloud what message they want to deliver and then the wind mysteriously picks up and delivers that message to Feather Wind.”

“That's assuming if either I or my recipient is at a location that the wind can blow within,” Feather Wind adds. “However, I must point out that, in this case, I think the message would be lost if it has to travel through a storm as loud as the one above us.” He nods to indicate the storm above them on the upper decks. “As such, I don't think a whisper would be sufficient and that is all this ability can deliver, at least so far.”

“Oh!” Stern Wing blinks at Feather Wind in surprise. “I didn't know that. As in, I wasn't aware of that particular limitation to the ability.”

“Still, isn't that interesting?” the Doctor asks in a giddy fashion akin to an excited child who just made a very fascinating discovery. “That's good to know. Even if we can't utilize that ability well under these circumstances, we're not always going to be surrounded by hurricane-force winds in every adventure we undertake. At least, I hope not. That kind of repetitiveness would be so boring after a while.

“Anyway, that knowledge might come in handy during our future adventures together.” He grins mischievously at Feather Wind as he jokingly asks, “What kind of data plan do you have with that long-distance service?”

“Ah . . .” Feather Wind regards the Doctor in confusion. “I'm not sure what you mean, but I can tell you that the 'data' I can send or receive is the whispered message itself.”

The Doctor waves Feather Wind off as he says, “Never mind. That's a stupid, inside joke that you'd probably wouldn't ever get in this dimension.

“Anyway, go ahead and return to the TARDIS to do as I instructed.”

“Ooo! Um, can I say something?” Kleetus asks as he raises a hoof.

“Go ahead,” the Doctor invites as he briefly gives the stallion his attention.

Kleetus lowers his hoof as he says, “If we're going to send ponies later to retrieve supplies from this 'Tar-dis' thing or what have you, shouldn't I, or at least one of our ponies, accompony with them to-”

“Whoa! Hold on,” the Doctor interrupts as he raises a hoof then asks, “Did you say 'accompany' or 'accompony', as in pony? The name of the race you are?”

Kleetus just looks confused. He, and everypony around him, always spoke the way they speak and didn't see anything strange about it. As such, he isn't exactly sure what the Doctor was asking about right now.

“Accompony,” Stern Wing answers. “He said accompony.” She then narrows her eyes at the Doctor as she says, “And I know what you're thinking.”

The Doctor literally laughs out loud and slaps his right hind knee for a moment before he slowly recovers and says, “Fancy that! You ponies are so adorable! I can't stand it! You're killing me!”

Feather Wind and Stern Wing develop a dry look while everypony else who was paying attention simply looks confused.

“Anyway, um,” the Doctor says as he starts to simmer down. At this point, he is even fighting to stabilize his mirth enough to get serious again. When he recovers about sixty percent of his serious focus, he says to Kleetus, “I see where you are going with this, and yeah. That's a good idea, my new friend. Yes. Go with them so they can show you where we left the TARDIS. You're going to need to deliver that information to the others so that you can later guide them back to pick up our supplies. By the time you go and come back to gather a bigger crew for that task, they should have some of the supplies ready at the doorstep for later pickup.”

“Forgive me for saying this, but I'd rather not invite a bunch of strangers we just met directly inside the TARDIS just yet,” Stern Wing advises. “Instead of that, we'll hoof them the supplies through the door when they later come back.”

“Always thinking like a security officer, I see,” the Doctor notes with interest. “I had that plan in mind anyway, so sure. Execute the plan exactly as you have suggested.”

Stern Wing nods at the Doctor both to acknowledge his request as well as out of appreciation for him accepting her refined suggestion for security reasons.

Part 7: Reflection

“Here we are,” Feather Wind announces aloud when they arrive in the cargo bay of the other rig. This announcement is for Kleetus's benefit in particular. When the three of them arrive inside, Feather Wind cancels his rain shield. “The TARDIS is located here, but if you'll pardon me, I need a moment to . . . Well, I'm not sure how to explain this. Just need a moment alone to digest what I've experienced.”

Stern Wing and Kleetus both regard Feather Wind in surprise, but not exactly for the same reason.

"What? So you want me to search this whole cargo bay by myself?" Kleetus asks incredulously. "I have never even seen this space vehicle so I don't even know what it looks like." He looks up at Stern Wing, for even he, at average earth pony height as a full-grown adult, is not at her level of this adolescent pegasus mare either. "Unless you are going to show me the rest of the way.”

Stern Wing considers it. After all, Feather Wind did say he wanted to be alone. She ponders this for a moment then opens her mouth to speak, but halts then looks at Feather when he speaks first.

"Actually, my spell will guide you. Give me a moment." Feather Wind closes his eyes and concentrates on a spell. As a result, silvery light emits on the tip of his horn. However, unlike a normal horn light spell, this one hovers away from his horn and then proceeds forward a second after its creation. Feather Wind imbued this particular spell to lead Kleetus on a very specific course through this cargo bay that Feather mapped out in his mind during the moment he cast the spell. From the lead, the silver ball of light hovers ten feet ahead of Kleetus and then waits for him to approach closer than ten feet before propelling forward again until it is exactly ten feet again. Rinse and repeat until either the spell delivers Kleetus all the way to the destination or about thirty minutes expire. The reason for the duration is that it is how much of his own magical energy Feather Wind invested in this particular spell. Had it been more or less, it would have affected the duration accordingly. In this case, Feather Wind assumes, given the relatively close proximity to the TARDIS at this point, this duration should be about double the sufficient amount of time to lead Kleetus there, especially since he's a native and more used to climbing in the ever-present tilt that the waves cause to the rig.

Opening his eyes again, Feather Wind nods to the silver ball of light as he says, “Follow that light. It will lead you to the TARDIS. In addition to that fact, it will also provide you illumination along the way.”

“Wow!” Kleetus gasps. “So that is magic. Is it, ah . . . friendly?” he asks cautiously.

Feather Wind silently regards Kleetus dryly with an expression that seems to ask, “Do you really think I'd create a spell that wouldn't be?”

Kleetus shrugs as he says, “Just asking. I'm not exactly familiar with this kind of stuff, you know.”

Feather Wind's expression shifts from dry to mystified as he asks, "You have never seen a unicorn before, but have you heard of them?"

"Well . . . yeah. According to legend, they are the ones who delivered us to this planet in the first place," Kleetus informs them. "However, ever since then, they have been distant and aloof; seemingly not caring about the affairs of ordinary mortals. So much so that my people have wondered if they truly ever existed. It has been that long since we've encountered one. Supposedly the pegasi serve them too in whatever space vehicle we've come in. The pegasi are like angels serving the magical whims of the gods." He waves a point at Stern Wing as he adds, "Between the two, the pegasi have been sighted more frequently as they have occasionally served the role of messengers of the gods. Sightings of them are still very rare, though. Rare enough to have been a story told by one's great, great grandpappy during an age when we have to wonder if they were going senile by the time they finally told that story."

“Wow,” Feather Wind expresses as he looks away from Kleetus with a minor look of horror in the unicorn's eyes, then he looks back at Kleetus as he assures more calmly, “Well, if all of that is true, then know this: I am not like those unicorns. I didn't travel with them, nor have I ever been a part of their compony. Neither have I been part of their distant, aloof, and quite likely very arrogant society, although my past has some striking and, quite frankly, a bit haunting similarities.

"Instead of all of that, I came here with the Doctor on his TARDIS. I'm from a different world and probably also time as well, although I also now suspect I come from a world that you ponies were imported from."

“Could be,” Kleetus accepts with a neutral shrug. “I don't know, and to be frank, it doesn't really matter to me where we once came from. We're here now so we need to make the best of things.” He shakes his head as he stares forward blankly. “Life is a struggle enough without trying to contemplate ideas that make my head spin. I don't need that nor do I want it. 'Just one hoof in front of the other each day' is all I say.”

“A good philosophy to live by,” Stern Wing cheers in agreement. “Keep it simple.”

“So I just follow the light? Right?” Kleetus checks as he glances back at Feather Wind.

Feather Wind nods in confirmation as he adds, “It won't proceed until you do, or thirty minutes have passed. This spell will expire either when it successfully leads to the TARDIS or the magical energy I invested in it runs out, but you should get there from here long before that in my estimation.” He looks at Kleetus as he further adds, “But just in case that does happen, call out to us for help. We'll come and show you the rest of the way in that case.”

“Alright. Thankee Sir,” Kleetus says with a nod of appreciation before proceeding to follow the magical light.

After Kleetus leaves, Feather Wind wordlessly glances at Stern Wing who silently conveys she's welcome to join him if she wishes. After that, he proceeds away.

Stern Wing waits patiently and quietly nearby while her friend stares out an open window that shows the raging ocean storm outside that is only occasionally lit by a passing lightning flash. When they arrive there, she notices Feather Wind's mane take on the only other form it does whenever it is affected by the winds. Instead of looking like puffy clouds, his mane is blown straight in whatever direction the wind is going.

Stern Wing knows that her friend is a very deep thinker and feeler. Because of that, if he doesn't occasionally take little moments like this to himself and contemplate how his recent experiences can be integrated into his life, he'll be more and more off balance as he stumbles forward. Feather Wind, she knows, is a very sensitive pony. A true poet at heart who is typically far too innocent to easily hoofle the challenges he faces daily.

And, she has to admit to herself, their recent experiences were far more challenging and unusual.

"Look at that out there," Feather Wind invites when he finally speaks. As a result, Stern Wing's ears perk up as she becomes even more alert now that she knows he's finally ready to speak to her, or at least aloud to himself. "Think about it. No matter how far we travel out on that horizon, we will never encounter our native home of Equestria. It's mind-boggling to also realize it never was out there to begin with. All this time, this is and was a wholly different planet that's complete with its own independent history. All along, it existed somewhere out there in its corner of the galaxy. I wonder if any of the natives here, too, ever wondered if there could be other worlds out there as well, just like some of us have contemplated."

They both fall silent again for about another minute. During that time they both just drink in the atmosphere and privately contemplate what that means to them. While that occurs, he continues to stare outside this open window. He occasionally gets splashed with ocean mist because of it, but he doesn't mind or even seems to notice at all. His thoughts lie elsewhere.

"The spirits of nature here have told me that these native ponies weren't always here," he eventually goes on. "They cycled on in nature from time immemorial. Always busy and content doing their own thing and never saw the need to even contemplate other possibilities in reality. Until a new situation confronts them, the existence of other things doesn't enter their minds.

"But when the ponies here eventually did arrive, the spirits of nature didn't know what to make of them at first. Across all that time, the ponies have served a variety of roles. Sometimes they complement the cycle of nature, sometimes they defy it, and sometimes . . . Well, how do I say this? Um . . . it seems to me the pattern shows that they were highly disruptive at first until they later adapted. It's like a foal finding its cutie mark. Until that happened, they were stumbling about to and fro while struggling to find their place in the world. Eventually they found it . . . until the world's climate changed again. At that point, the old ways were no longer working anymore so the ponies struggled and lost their way again.

“Meanwhile, all this time, there exists another sentient race that are true natives to this world. Most likely they are the Alphalmians. If you ask me, an aquatic race evolving and developing in a world composed almost completely of water makes a lot of sense. Their relationship with the ponies has had ups and downs across these many thousands of years. Overall, it kind of resembles the rise and fall of the tides. It comes in waves. How apropos.”

They fall silent for another two minutes this time before he speaks again.

“Something Kleetus told me reminds me a lot of my own past. You might remember that I used to feel quite stifled in it. I was a poet. A dreamer. My father kept telling me, 'Get your head out of the clouds,' but I couldn't help myself. Above all, I felt called to do something that seemed utterly impossible. The wind called for me to join it. No matter how absurd it seemed, deep down, I always wanted to fly. The freedom of it all always had such a powerful allure to me. I always felt it was my destiny even when it was impossible to explain how.

“But then, one day, I did discover my cutie mark when I finally really listened to nature. I flew. I became as light as a feather which then blew on the wind. Freedom at last, and finally a true confirmation of who I am. From that day on, my new name was Feather Wind.

"When I returned home later, my relationship with my father changed in important, fundamental ways. He saw my new cutie mark on my flank and he had some proof of my new, and very unusual, abilities for a unicorn. It was at that point he finally realized my head was meant to be in the clouds. That's who I was. That's who I always was and he could no longer deny it.

“On the other hoof, he also had a point that one's individual talent and destiny didn't have to be the only ones we can acquire. He had a point that there is value in being somewhat grounded and connected to the world at large as well as the society that dwells within it. He told me, or rather reminded me, of the importance our family has to the legacy of Equestria. We are unusually talented wizards, teachers, and most importantly, we are the record keepers. We both create and preserve the most tangible form of memories our race can possibly forge. Through our work, we remain connected to our history so that we can learn from them. Because of that, we don't have to repeat mistakes of the past as often and we can also capitalize upon the triumphs of our forebears. That really is important.

“Since, by then, I finally achieved a great step in my ultimate dream anyway, I didn't feel as anxious about being side-tracked toward other pursuits. The sheer uncertainty of not knowing who I was before made it virtually impossible to fully concentrate on my studies, but after I unlocked my cutie mark and more fully realized who I was, it no longer felt as urgent to me. Discovering my destiny more fully became something of an inevitability at that point. I knew, by then, the fuller implications and potential of this new talent would develop naturally over time. During that time, I could also pursue other things to eventually broaden my list of options even further.

“Aside from convincing me of the importance of acquiring more knowledge and the things we can do with it, my father had a point that our ability to master wizardry is also special to me.”

At that moment Feather Wind creates another spherical light. Like before, it floats down from his horn. He gazes upon it with foal-like wonder as he hovers a hoof on each side of the ball of light as if he is physically holding an intangible force. In his eyes, he looks like he treasures that which he beholds.

"To my father," Feather Wind goes on. "magic is just a science and a tool. It is a discipline. It is structure. It is logical and repeatable. To him, it is almost ordinary. It is the glue that holds our society together. Magic is like breathing air to him. It's what we are so he didn't see a reason to regard it as anything too special.

"I have to admit, too, that he's so darn good at it that there had to be some inherent value in his way of thinking. As a system, it works for him. Casting magic is like following a recipe in a cookbook. It's just formulas and numbers. As a teacher, that line of thinking gave him a stable platform to rely upon. As long as his students follow that same system in the way he teaches it, he was convinced they could be just as successful potentially.

"However, to me, magic is a thing of beauty and wonder. It is an art. It is living energy. It is the essence of existence beyond that which we can fully grasp. It's like a taste of a potentially unlimited reality. I always found the depth and mystery of it all tantalizing. When I hold magic in my hooves, some deep part of me never forgot to treasure and marvel at it. Within it holds the keys to unlocking deeper potential. It's like a song. Something about it stirs my soul and always beckons to reveal greater secrets in the depths beyond. As a result, I feel I cannot ever take it for granted. It's just too precious. I don't think of it as a tool. I think of it like a cherished friend."

At that moment Feather Wind pulls the energy ball into his body with the same motion as if giving it a warm hug. When that happens, his body reabsorbs the energy. This caused his body to glow for a moment in shimmering light. It is somewhat dazzling for Stern Wing to behold.

After a deep and content sigh, Feather Wind slowly opens his eyes and lifts his head. His forelegs are also lower to rest on his lap.

“My unusually wise uncle, Ramadon, once told me that magic is actually drawn from two primary components of the caster,” Feather Wind continues. “He says the mind gives the spell structure. Without that, it won't really do anything. One can only summon it and, without putting it in a container of some sort, it'll just flash almost uselessly.

“However, he also said that the heart of a pony, as in their individual emotions, is akin to fuel for the fire of magic. Without that, there is no energy to summon in the first place. At that point, it doesn't matter how strong the caster's concentration is. Without that fuel, there is nothing there to shape at all.

“Personally, I guess I've always kept both components in mind and heart. My father's discipline helped me to give my magic potentially very solid and useful form, but the way I have always felt about magic meant it has become so much more. That is so very hard to explain. I guess that's always been the symptom of raw emotion. Without logic to give it structure, it's just a feeling we can't describe. To me, it is a kinship, a warm companion, and a promise for more mysteries to steadily be unveiled. It is the excitement of discovering new plateaus beyond every horizon. That raw and pure allure just keeps drawing me ever onward.”

He sighs again in deep contentment then settles down as he continues to gaze forward out the window. During that time, another moment of silence passes between them before he speaks again.

"Although I did not achieve what I was initially after by joining the Wonderbolt Academy, I nevertheless found value in the experience. My flying skills did get refined beyond anything I had ever done before, and my methods baffled our drill instructors. They didn't know what to make of it or how to teach something so utterly unique. They had to rely a lot on feedback from me to even begin to get an idea of how to fit me into this tight and cohesive unit. That's something I gradually came to understand as my time there continued, and despite all my misgivings about the experience, there is something I found precious about learning to work so tightly as a team.

"I always felt like there was something inherently wrong about disciplining the pure element of the wind like that, yet I still find great value in the experience as a whole for multiple reasons. Without that experience, I wouldn't have realized the greater depth of my potential with my cutie mark talent. Also, there's something noteworthy and a special way one can grow from exploring the wrong path. Such a thing guides and teaches the individual pony. It sort of lets them know where their boundaries are. If that can be discovered, then their true destiny can develop more structure and momentum. Once that happens, very important self-confidence gradually ensues.

"When I moved out into nature during the next phase of my experiment in self-discovery, I fully anticipated that I would find flaws in it. By leaping from one extreme to the other, I figured there was a good chance I would miss my mark again but also ultimately get a better guide to zero in on the perfect target. By abandoning all of society and all its structure, I was alone out there. No goods or services, including emergency services.”

"That was one of the things that concerned me the most," Stern Wing finally pops in. "You remember how I insisted upon daily wind-delivered reports, right? It was because I wanted that constant assurance that you were alright. By keeping general track of where you were as well, I could move in and rescue you just in case your health later deteriorated for some reason."

Feather Wind regards Stern Wing calmly in a manner that seemed to wait to see if Stern Wing was finished with her point. When it later seemed like it was, he looks forward out the window again and continues.

“To my surprise, I found my place in raw nature far more easily than I had initially anticipated. I mean, I was born and raised among the aristocracy. We are so accustomed to always having plenty of goods and services available at our beck and call. So much so that most of them grow, at least subconsciously, to rely heavily upon it. By being raised with that continual mentality of, 'always far more than we need in life', the sheer idea of not being with any of the luxuries our station can provide in a society like that feels pretty much unfathomable to them.

"But I guess I've always been the odd one out among my peers. I figured I could never really fully explain it, especially as a foal, but it was always there. A calling to something beyond anything the walls of our mansion could provide. Because of that, the luxurious and heavily fortified walls didn't feel like shelter to me. It felt like a cage instead.

"But out there, within the bounds of virgin nature, something clicked within me. I've always accepted that I Am the Wind incarnate, and finally I went to the place where its natural equilibrium was present the most. The cycle of nature and the joy of simply being swept up within it. Timelessness ensued. The concerns of society melted away. I became simply another part of it, like a living pure element of nature. It definitely has its own vibe to it. In that, I found an important aspect of myself. The only real flaw of it all was the ever-building loneliness. That was the only thing that signaled I was just a bit off target with this experiment.

“But then you came for a visit and it basically confirmed something I already knew. By then it was hard to talk because I hadn't done it in so long. I didn't even know how long it had been until you told me. You were the only one who was loaded with stories to tell. By listening to it, it revealed to me, to a greater degree, the differences between being lost as a pure element of nature and the comparatively fast-paced pony society normally runs. The day-to-day differences that usually always provided some detail that they never encountered before.

“It felt strange to me, yet still, I was glad for your compony. Being with you and sharing your existence revealed an emptiness within me that finally got somewhat filled."

Feather Wind pauses as he looks up before going on to say, “But then an apparition of Vision's mother showed up thanks to a spell she cast, of whom I mistook for Vision herself at the time. She told me that her daughter was in danger back at her temple and that I was the only one who could respond fast enough to matter.”

“I remember,” Stern Wing confirms.

Feather Wind lowers his head and gazes forward again. He then leans forward and releases a heavy sigh before saying, “And then she told us, and me in particular, that the threat which plagues her temple was the same which haunted the Orchard's farm a few years ago. I have never encountered a pony more frightening than he so far, but that's the point. He's deliberately designed to be scary so that he could gather fear energy for King Sombra. King Sombra . . . the disembodied spirit of a tyrant that still floats somewhere out there and is gathering energy from multiple sources for nefarious purposes. It also turns out that my family is from a lineage that stems from him. That is why he sought me. That is why he sent his agent, Puppet Master, after Vision. Sombra was simply exploiting another avenue to gather more information which could later lead to another large leap in his dark design."

Feather Wind pauses again as he closes his eyes. After a moment of silence, he says, "I still have nightmares about that horribly animated puppet. Behind that, I can distantly sense the hooves that pull Puppet Master's strings. Ultimately he, too, is a victim."

Feather Wind glances at Stern Wing for a moment. In doing so he notices he still has her rapt and lovingly patient attention. Secure in that knowledge, he looks out the window again.

"There is much I didn't expect in that adventure. I didn't even expect that adventure at all. After the horrors we suffered at the Orchard farm, there was a part of me that always felt something important was unfinished, but it eventually drifted away and a sort of normalcy gradually returned . . . but then he reared his ugly head again and I was once again confronted with that dark past. Just like the last time, too, you just happened to be there to get the message, and once again you got swept up into my wind currents of destiny. For that, I feel . . . guilty."

“Why?” Stern Wing asks with a minor tone of alarm.

“Because look at what this adventure has taken from you,” Feather Wind answers right away. “Your friends aside from me, your family, your career as a professional player of Puffball. Geeze, Stern Wing, you were that good! You not only kept up with other ponies who had cutie marks specifically for either that sport or others like it, but you surpassed them. You did that back when you didn't even have a cutie mark at all.

“Powerful and beautiful. That's what you were and still are to me. You dominated the skies like no pony's business. It was incredible to behold. You seemed like you really enjoyed it, too. There really seemed like you had a sense of purpose as you worked to win those games, and often because of your efforts, your team was more successful than most. You really could've gone all the way.”

After a brief moment of silence, Stern Wing chipped in with a request. “Can I talk now?”

Feather Wind regards Stern Wing questioningly as he says, “Of course you can, Stern. You are always welcome to do so. I'm not even sure why you think you need my permission.”

“It's not permission I'm requesting, exactly. I just don't want to interrupt your train of thought,” Stern Wing explains.

Feather Wind smiles and then nods at her in silent understanding.

“Anyway, I think you need some clarification here,” Stern Wing begins. “First of all, while you weren't a completely good fit with the other Wonderbolt Academy students, I think you've been there enough to at least understand something about team spirit. There is no 'I' in teams like that. It rather is a 'we'.” She points to herself as she says, “I have always understood that, only I learned to a greater degree as I continued my games with my fellow teammates. Practice makes more perfect than anything. Working together as a unit also fits that bill. I was very aware of my strengths and talents but I didn't allow them to get to my head. Neither did our coach. She knew what she was talking about and I seriously took those lessons to heart. I knew that any talented pony who tries to dominate the spotlight is ultimately a detriment to us all as a team. I had to be willing to set my ego aside and be an equal team player instead. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Instead of putting all the focus on myself, I supported my team. I passed the cloud ball to them even when I easily could have scored a goal. I knew they needed the practice. Sometimes that decision cost us a few points and even the game as a whole, but I sincerely believed we won a greater prize. If everypony on the team has a fair chance to feel included, our ultimate potential pools into one. When we're strong as a whole, we're far more ready to meet any challenge head-on. I have always felt it was important to realize that and I also figured you knew about that too on some level after your experiences at the Academy. Despite all of your problems there, I was proud of you for that because I figured you carried something with you that ultimately made you a much better pony on the inside.

“I still think I'm right.

"But you need to know something else as well. In all that time I played the game in my earlier years, I still never got my cutie mark. I was still very great in the game because of my natural talents and also because of my general attitude towards it overall. However, in all that time, deep down, I've always known that even if I'm great at the game and even if I really enjoyed it, Puffball was always just a hobby to me. It was like a pit stop along the way toward a greater destiny. I didn't know what it was and I suppose it's fair to say that I was more patient with its arrival than most other ponies would have been in my place, but that's where I was.

"And then it happened. At that farm, while all those goblins were busy burning things and laughing with insane evil glee, I found my purpose as I stood up for those who were in need. I put myself on the front lines of danger and raised my wings defensively and almost unconsciously. All I could think about at that moment was how important it was for me to be there. I would not let that danger pass me. I would not allow it to hurt these innocent ponies. No matter what it took, I would stand as a wall.

"As a result, you need to know something important about me that I discovered within myself on that day. Later I lay bleeding at the hospital and recovering from multiple fractures, but I have never felt more proud of myself. I have never felt that inwardly fulfilled. Just as you felt a thrill on the first day you flew, I laid back on that hospital bed and simply thought that, because of my efforts on that day, lives were spared. I am strong. I can take the punishment. The Orchard family might not have been so lucky had I not intervened. That is such a sacred gift, and I knew, in my heart, I had the power to do it again. And again! And again! Each time another life is saved. Each time the value of my existence is doubled again. Because I live, because I exist, and because I was there in time to make an important difference, other lives continue. I look upon these facts and I realize, in my heart, I don't even care about the credit. I can take it or leave it. What is more important to me is lives were saved.

"I love Puffball. I love my teammates, and of course, I will always love my friends and family . . . but being out here, in this place and time, feels far more important to me than anything I have ever done. We're here to save lives, Feather Wind. That is an incredibly powerful and important gift. I also get the sense that the TARDIS is naturally drawn towards places and times when we are needed the most, so just imagine it! Strewn throughout all of time and space are countless little moments when somepony desperately needs a hero. The journey of the TARDIS allows me to fulfill the inner depths of my potential over and over again. No longer is it necessary to simply wait and vigilantly scan my surroundings. Instead, those moments are now drawn to us or we go to them.

"So please, Feather, I beg you, do not demean me by claiming or feeling guilt or shame over me being here when this is otherwise my proudest and most important moment. I think we are all driven to where we need to be by a vast variety of circumstances. I feel even better about this because I get to do this with one of my most cherished friends who also coincidentally complements me in nearly every possible way. You are strong in the areas I am weaker at and vice versa. Together I think we can make an unstoppable team. The destiny of your family legacy led you here, but it led me here too. Do you think it's just a coincidence that I happen to be strong and unusually well-prepared for adventures like this? To that, I say no, Feather Wind. I say no. I will always say that proudly and strongly too.

"I don't know what tomorrow will bring but I'm content to wait to find out. For now, I'll concentrate on what is in front of me. One hoof in front of the other every single day. You can overanalyze and worry about various possibilities to your heart's content, but personally, I choose to narrow my focus to whatever purpose seems most important right in front of me. If I see anypony innocent in danger, I'm going to be flying forward to help however I can. While I do that, I hope you'll have my back too because, despite your inner struggle with your confidence, you are incredibly good at this as well. I wish you wouldn't doubt yourself as much, but I'm still content to let you be you. Whatever that is, it's working somehow. I think we'll always find ourselves scraping by or better."

Feather Wind just stares at her as if trying to decide how sincere she is. Eventually his expression sinks into a loving smile toward her. It is an expression she quickly returns.

After that, he settles himself against her body, particularly at her neck area. He wraps his own head around her neck almost as if to hug it. In return, she wraps her giant wings around his tiny body and pulls him closely next to her. When she does so, she feels a chill from his tiny body that he was surprisingly good at hiding until now, yet their close proximity in this intimate moment gradually warms that away.

For Feather Wind, this moment makes him recall when they got stuck in the middle of another storm. Fortunately for them, they found shelter in a cave nearby where they waited out the storm. He used a hornbeam to heat a rock nearby both for warmth and light, and she used her body to hug him close to share body heat. Something was intoxicating to him about smelling her wet body during that moment.

Feather Wind realizes that she is often very symbolic of moments like that. She always like this warm and cozy shelter that juxtaposes sharply with harsh and dark weather like this. No matter how hard a storm rages just outside the cave, he knows he's always safe with her sufficiently enough to nod off into peaceful rest. All the storms of the world cannot harm him in her protective and loving embrace.

This moment proves to be no exception.

Part 8: A Moment with the Doctor

Being the more vigilant of the two, Stern Wing is naturally a light sleeper. As a result, she is more aware when there is a change in her environment. This isn't just a byproduct of being more in tune with her five senses either. She has a sharp instinct too.

When she cracks her eyes open to verify if that feeling of being watched is indeed true, she is greeted by the sight of the Doctor sitting nearby them and closer to the window. After her vision focuses more clearly, she notices him smiling upon them.

All of this stirs her more awake. Her movements, in turn, alerts and awakens Feather Wind. When he opens his eyes and his vision starts to focus, he gets the same feedback that Stern did a moment earlier.

“Aren't you two just so precious!” the Doctor squees as he beholds them affectionately. “I hope you two will forgive me for saying this, but am I crazy to imagine that when I asked you to take some time off to rest, I thought you'd do so in a place that is considerably more stable and dry than here?”

Since neither is fully awake yet, they do not answer the Doctor right away.

The Doctor looks behind him out the window for two seconds. This window is blocked by nothing but iron bars to prevent anypony from falling out of it. In particular, he gazes at the dark storm beyond the window as he contemplates what he knows of these two so far. After that, he gives a knowing grin to Feather Wind as he asks the young blue stallion, "It was your idea to come here . . . wasn't it, Feather Wind?” The Doctor sounded so confident with that question that it almost sounded like a statement instead.

The only reply the Doctor receives from Feather Wind is a sheepish smile which is telling enough to an individual as cunning, knowledgeable, and observant as the Doctor.

The Doctor gives a confirming nod as he says, “Very well, then. I will remember this about you and be sure to take such things into account in the future.”

Finally awake enough to speak, Stern Wing asks the Doctor, “Did you get any useful feedback about the sick patients in the lower decks of the other rig?”

The Doctor nods again as he says, "Indeed. I did. What I discovered basically amounts to something equivalent to the Common Cold. The disease is actually native to this world and its inhabitants, but it is something so common that the average native has a pretty good immune system against it by the time they reach adulthood." He gestures behind him out the window as he adds, "However, under the strain of present circumstances combined with diminishing food and medical supplies, what normally is a nuisance has escalated into a genuine threat. The symptoms have grown more severe and the condition is spreading." The Doctor settles his back against the oval curve of the window as he stands up straight and crosses his forelegs across his chest. He continues. "If this keeps up, we can expect their symptoms to escalate. Eventually we might even start having fatalities. Things have not gotten that bad yet but this is definitely not an ideal path they're on."

“Why would Doctor Waston say he hasn't isolated the virus yet if it turns out to be something so common?” Feather Wind checks.

“Because of the severity of the symptoms,” the Doctor answers. “In truth, the information I attained merely verified what Doctor Waston has suspected for a while. The fact that the medicine he had was so effective in treating the condition further verified his theories.”

"Okay, then let's talk about the medicine," Stern Wing proposes as she rises to a straighter sitting position which is an indication, to the Doctor, that she is quickly growing more alert and awake. This is most likely indicative of how serious she regards this situation. "What is the medicine exactly and can we synthesize a suitable replacement using the resources we have access to?"

"The medicine in question was a kind of coral reef crushed into a fine powder and mixed with the medicinal applications of a certain seaweed," the Doctor informs them. "Both of which are more common in other regions on this planet. At a place with a more warm and tropical climate, there is another community, much like this one, permanently parked over a region that is teaming with all kinds of aquatic life. The Alphalmians are more common in that region too, and they are the primary ones to harvest these substances and trade them with the ponies on the surface. In turn, the Alphalmians get a lot of various things in exchange. For example, one of them is here,” he says as he points down at the floor. “This community is known as Salvage and there is a reason for that. Not only is this the better place to gather new raw metal ores from some sea caves below, but this place is also parked over a drowned city of considerable magnitude and technological advancement. In fact, it is too advanced for the ponies in Salvage, or any other community, to fully utilize. They have forgotten how to use such things and, quite frankly, they just don't have access to the same power source that their ancestors did. However, what these ponies do have access to is the various materials salvaged from the drowned city. This they use to trade with the rest of the world.”

“A drowned city?” Feather Wind repeats questioningly then widens his eyes in startled realization. “Oh! I get it! Salvage is parked over what used to be one of the rare landmasses of this planet. It must have a higher topography compared to the rest of the world.”

The Doctor flicks a point at Feather Wind as he says, “Ding-ding-ding. We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen. You, Sir, get a gold star.” The Doctor crosses his foreleg back across his chest as he continues. “Besides the landmass, there were other resources their ancestors used to have in this region aside from the land itself. For example, it had far higher than an average volcanic activity which was useful. They utilized other power sources too as their civilization continued before it got lost. Now their descendants are basically picking off the corpse of the old civilization.”

“So Salvage gains food, medicine, and probably also lumber from another region that has a more tropical climate,” Stern Wing reviews. “In exchange, Salvage gives the ore that they excavated. Maybe they also refine the ore or even process it into some useful product.”

“Exactly,” the Doctor confirms to Stern Wing. “Salvage is known to the ponies of this age as the best miners, salvagers, and metallurgists. So, not only do they have the most access to the greatest supply of metal on this planet in the current age, they are the best at refining it too.” The Doctor gestures behind him at the storm then recrosses his forelegs. “However, because of the storm, it has ground their trade to a halt. Also, because this has gone on so long, it is choking the life out of this community in more than one way.”

“Fortunately for them, we came by and . . .” Stern Wing begins but trails off when she realizes something. She then widens her eyes and cries out, “Oh SHOOT!” She snaps her gaze at Feather Wind beside her as she complains, “We forgot to tell Derpy to get those food supplies ready!”

“Relax,” the Doctor bids as he gives them a brief calming gesture before recrossing his forelegs. “It's been taken care of. Fortunately for you two, Kleetus managed to find the TARDIS using the spell you created to guide him there,” he says with a nod of appreciation to Feather Wind for that. “Well done. Once he got there, he simply knocked on the door and eventually got Derpy's attention. Vision was also able to tell Derpy that this pony had no hostile intentions before Derpy even opened the TARDIS doors.”

Stern Wing expels a sigh of relief before saying, “Oh good. I'm glad it all worked out. And, ah . . . sorry we dropped the ball on this one. I guess we really were very tired.” Stern Wing tilts her head at the Doctor as she then asks, “What about you? Aren't you going to need some rest soon?”

“I have two hearts,” the Doctor reminds them. “As such, I have a more robust stamina. That includes needing virtually no rest at all.”

“Really?” Stern Wing asks as she looks taken aback.

“I can rest,” the Doctor goes on to say. “And I have done so in the past, especially if something else artificially induces it. Under natural conditions, however, I can go on for a very long time. In fact, it's been my observation that I can actually outlast the majority of other Time Lords back when they used to be a more common thing. I believe that is because I have an especially hardy constitution even by the standards of my race. The most likely cause of that is my vigorous adventuring lifestyle. I don't sit around for the majority of my lifespan like most of the others do. Instead, I'm always traveling to and fro. Encountering and beating many kinds of diseases and sampling all kinds of various foods. I work very hard through many trials and struggles so I really have earned my peak health condition.”

“Well that is good to know,” Stern Wing says with genuine interest. “That may come in hoofy plenty of times now and in the future.

“And, ah . . . speaking of now . . . what is the plan now, Doctor?”

The Doctor releases a slow breath as he looks over his shoulder out into the storm for about three seconds before looking back at his companions and saying, “I did say that the coral reefs and special seaweed that produces the cure they need are more common in other regions of this planet, but it is not entirely absent here. We need to cultivate some of that to produce the cure that these ponies need now.”

“There is a catch, isn't there?” Feather Wind figures. “If it was that easy, they would've done it by now.”

The Doctor nods as he commends to Feather Wind, "Very astute of you, Feather. I've come to expect that from you.” The Doctor sighs before he goes on to say, "Yes. There is a catch. First of all, there isn't as much of that stuff in this region. Secondly, simply getting to it is harder to access, but they can do it with the technology they currently have. If the Alphalmians were here then this could have gone easier. Thirdly, unlike the tropical region, the area that these ponies need to access to get to this stuff is guarded by a giant beast much akin to a shark which you two might have at least a passing familiarity with.”

“I have never seen one, but I read about them,” Feather Wind informs the Doctor. “They can be very dangerous.”

“Okay, well take that concept and imagine that it is the size of a whale,” the Doctor goes on to describe. “In addition, it has a really thick hide and it can generate an electric current around its body to shock its prey into easy submission. Toss in about twelve tentacles on it, six long ones on each side of it, then what you got there is a worthy contender for the title of an apex predator as well as a serious problem on our hands.”

“Yikes! That sounds scary,” Stern Wing agrees. “Is it intelligent? Can it be reasoned with?”

“The answer to your first question is yes, but barely. It does have intelligence but is not advanced enough to develop tools or a language. It is animal intelligence. As for your second question; can it be reasoned with?" He shrugs, "Well, that depends if you have something it might be interested in. Fortunately for these ponies, the creature, which the natives call a Tatavax, by the way, isn't generally interested in hunting these ponies down, especially when they dwell in their metal machines. The Tatavax has no interest in the taste of metal. Curiously it rarely hunts them even if they are swimming in the ocean unless the ponies venture close to the Tatavax's hunting ground. The Tatavax is a very territorial species. Not only does it vigilantly guard its territory to guard its food supply, but such a region is also where they lay their young and where they grow up in their early years. The Tatavax is just defending its nest, basically. If the ponies leave it alone, it leaves the ponies alone.

“Unfortunately, however, these ponies are driven into a corner now because of the persistence and sheer power of this storm. Without the ability to get more supplies from the other regions, this is now the closest, if not the safest, option to get more of that medicine.” The Doctor shrugs. “But we only need to cultivate enough to help these ponies with their current crisis. If we get a handle on that then it buys us important time.”

“Couldn't you just time travel to a time when those resources were, or will be, more plentiful?” Stern Wing suggests. “That might be easier than going through this giant shark-like creature.”

"That actually is an option," the Doctor agrees with an approving nod to Stern Wing. "One we might resort to eventually. For the moment I'm just seeing what we have access to right in front of us. If we can find a way to safely deal with the problem in this era then I favor that, but above all, I won't let these ponies die. Not if I can help it.”

“Do you think you can deal with the Tatavax?” Stern Wing checks.

“That's also a possibility," the Doctor informs. “And one I am currently leaning on because I think I have a non-violent solution for dealing with it.”

Stern Wing develops a dry look as she asks, “Does it have something to do with your sonic screwdriver? Same as usual?”

“Sound does pass through water very well,” Feather Wind realizes. “Perhaps you can tune that device to emit a frequency that either pacifies it, drives it off, puts it to sleep entirely, or at least stuns it long enough to cultivate the medicine.”

“My thoughts exactly,” the Doctor agrees with another approving nod to Feather Wind. “To do this, I'll need to find the right frequency to achieve one of those results. I, of course, would much prefer an option that harms the creature to the least degree. Of those, putting it to sleep is my favorite.

“However, in addition to needing to find the right frequency, I'll also need to develop a method to amplify my sonic device.” The Doctor shakes his head. “By itself, my screwdriver is a very useful tool, but I'm afraid it isn't strong enough for this particular task. That creature is huge so I'm going to need an option with a little more oomph to it to expect favorable results in this case.

“But eh. Don't worry about it,” the Doctor assures as he gives off a dismissive wave. “A task like this is well within the capabilities of my ingenuity, and I appreciate the challenge involved.”

“Okay.” Feather Wind lifts a hoof to signal for attention. “Let's say you do manage to accomplish that and we get the supplies for the medicine these ponies need.” He shrugs. “What then? That doesn't solve the underlining problem here. We already know this storm is unnatural so we should expect it to continue if we do not solve the root cause.”

“Kleetus sounded convinced that the Alphalmians are the most likely cause of the storm," Stern Wing reminds. “He says this largely because they can do this with an artifact known as The Orb of Storms.” Stern Wing tilts her head a bit in the Doctor's direction as she says, “I am curious to hear your opinion on this, Doctor, primarily because you have access to more knowledge than we, and maybe even the natives, do.”

The Doctor looks down as he sighs before saying, “The Orb of Storms. Huh. I heard of that device before. It even went by that name before in the other dimension where ponies used to be humans. The name Alphalmians is also familiar to me. I'm curious to find out if they have the same form and abilities that they had in the other dimension, or if they changed too.” He looks back at them. “I'm not entirely sure my knowledge can be reliable in this case, but it's also too accurate to be dismissed.

“The thing is, according to what I remember about the Alphalmians before, they are an exceptionally peaceful aquatic race. They are not capable of an advanced form of linguistic communication insofar as sound is concerned, but they still are capable of producing sound. As a matter of fact, they can produce hauntingly beautiful music under the water. This is especially true if they do so in a choir or if they sing in an especially acoustic environment.” He nods at Feather Wind as he goes on to say, "We already established sound travels well underwater, and this is a highly intelligent species that figured that out a long time ago. While their mouths, throats, and tongues cannot produce many sounds that we can, they have a keen voice for pitch and they can produce sounds at a much higher and lower frequency than nearly any other species that I know of. They can also switch between the various frequencies very fast. Sometimes even my sonic screwdriver can't keep up with them, and they do this biologically! That is extremely impressive.

“But the sound isn't actually their primary method of communication, especially at shorter range. Instead of that, they are telepathic.” He nods to them again. “Empathic and telepathic. When it comes to communication, they are like Vision is on steroids. They can actually communicate vast stores of knowledge in an instant and directly give each other their memories using their telepathy. Can you imagine how much knowledge a race like that can hold when they can share it that easily? Even their young can quickly catch up to the knowledge of the adults using a method like that. In addition, they have even learned to store telepathic messages in crystals which they can later access. To them, that's their form of writing and reading.

“There are many reasons why they are so peaceful. To begin with, their empathy and telepathy make it so that they feel whatever harm they cause to others which naturally makes them disciplined. For the same reason, they also feel encouraged to spread peace and joy. They consider it one of their primary purposes in life. They love to serve and promote harmony to a far greater degree than I have ever encountered even during the most peaceful and joyous days in Equestria. Individuality isn't as keen in a society that can simply share all of their memories that easily.

“In addition to all of that, there is the symbiosis to consider with the ponies. Why would the Alphalmians attack the very race they are benefiting from? By harming the ponies, this race would only be harming themselves in more ways than one and this particular race is unusually wise and mature enough to fully understand the consequences of such an action." He shakes his head. "It just isn't in their nature to do something like this.”

“For every rule that exists, don't you always eventually encounter an exception?” Feather Wind checks with the Doctor.

The Doctor sighs and closes his eyes in an almost pained sort of way before nodding and admitting, “Yes, and that goes both ways.” He looks at his companions again. “Even among the vilest race I encounter, I eventually find a virtuous one. Likewise among the kindest and most loving of races, I eventually encounter a cruel taskmaster. I'm not saying that this is the case yet, but I at least acknowledge the possibility.

“Yet, even from a logical standpoint, this situation doesn't make any sense.

“Consider Kleetus's argument. He thinks the Alphalmians are guilty simply because the Alphalmians have the means to accomplish this storm at all, but on the other hoof, according to my memories of them and quite likely the majority of the native ponies who encountered them, they discovered that the Alphalmians very likely wouldn't want to do this. So you have the means to do it on one hand but a lack of motivation on the other. That doesn't add up.” He shakes his head. “Something is not right here and I intend to find out what. To that end, I eventually plan to confront them to at least get their side of the story. If, in doing so, I discover that there is a problem that I can solve then I will proceed to do so.”

“But how will you contact the Alphalmians?” Stern Wing checks. “You said yourself that they aren't as common in this region. I don't know why, but that's what you said.”

The Doctor nods as he says, “True, but do you want to know what else I know?” Without waiting for an answer, he goes on to say, “I know that Doctor Waston said I helped one of his ancestors in the past, and I am a Time Lord. I don't want to sound cocky when I say this, but there is a tendency to leave an indelible mark upon history by the time I finish with an adventure.” He waves at his companions. “That is strong enough of a mark for the Alphalmians to have noticed, and once they notice something, they can pass on their history to a greater degree than most. Because of that, I don't think I have to approach them. I think they'll come to me instead. When they do, I think they'll be quite eager to explain their side of the story either to assure me that they are innocent of this crime or to explain why they had to do what they did. Either way, I intend to listen to them and do whatever I can to help.”

Stern Wing looks off to her side as she thought of a suggestion that might help with that aspect of his quest, but there is a reason she's also reluctant to offer this. Since the Doctor notices her expression, however, he prompts her, “What is it?”

“I, ah . . . I got one idea that might help with that aspect of your quest,” Stern says as she looks back at the Doctor. “But I'm not sure if it is a wise idea.”

“Spit it out anyway,” the Doctor encourages.

Stern Wing winces as she says, “Well, you said that this race is highly empathic and telepathic.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor confirms.

“I don't think either of those facts guarantees that they'll tell us the truth,” Stern Wing expresses. “If they are so good at reading others, that probably means it's hard for them to fib to each other. After all, they are all equally empathic. They'd probably sense if they were telling a lie to each other.” Stern Wing shakes her head. “Under normal circumstances, however, it may be easier for them to get away with fibbing to another non-empathic or telepathic race.”

“I see,” the Doctor says as he lowers his eyelids a bit. “So you were thinking that maybe I should invite Vision to join me when I see the Alphalmians in order to verify if they are telling the truth or not.”

“Maybe, but she's also a sickly and blind foal during an adventure where it is difficult for even the natives to stay healthy,” Stern Wing expresses with a wince. “I got to admit, I feel torn over this issue.” She shakes her head. “To say nothing about potential balance issues. She wouldn't be able to see any of the nets she could grab to help secure her or some other obstacle that could swing in her way. If we resort to this option then she'll need to be very carefully supervised. That's advisable for any foal in general but especially so for a foal this unusually vulnerable.” She half shrugs as she adds, “But can we afford to ignore this option either when so many other lives are also at stake?”

The Doctor grunts in frustration and turns about. He now faces the direction of the window leading out to the raging ocean storm beyond. He is quiet for quite a while before he turns his head enough to speak over his left shoulder at his companions. “It is pretty rare when I invite other children to join me in my adventures in the TARDIS, especially as a long-term thing. Now I am perfectly content to use that ship to deliver them out of danger and I have done that with Vision in this case. Had I not done that, she may remain a target of a creature we cannot kill yet or even slow down that much. Her mother requested for us, and you in particular Feather, to keep her safe. It was an option you didn't expect but nevertheless is a good one. I was more than happy to help you deliver her safely from harm.”

The Doctor turns to look back at them even further as he goes on to say, “But you have to be aware of something. My journey in the TARDIS has delivered me towards danger many times now and many forms of it too. By having her stay long-term, that risk gets multiplied as the journey continues. In this case, I didn't choose this time or planet, but even if I did, I can't control what we encounter within it. Even in the most peaceful and hospitable places, danger tends to have a way to find me and that puts anyone I travel with at risk as well. Add to that, Vision truly is the most vulnerable and fragile companion I have ever had."

Now the Doctor turns to face his companions fully as he goes on to say, “Inviting young children to the TARDIS may be very rare but it has happened before. There is one young lad in particular that stayed with me for quite some time. I tell you now that sometimes there are kids out there who are so incredibly talented, it fools us into thinking that they might be capable of keeping up with us full-grown adults. That is a fallacy, however, and I learned that the hard way.

“I'm telling you,” he shakes his head, “this kid was so bright, he could almost keep up with my intellect. In addition to that fact, he was brave, just, and had a strong moral compass. Whatever he did, I had confidence that he'd do it for the right reasons. He was a treasure to behold. It tantalized me to consider how much greater his potential would be as he grows up. If he's this talented as a mere child, then how much greater would he be when he fully matures? Sometimes I thought he had a chance to surpass even me, and in some ways . . . he did.”

The Doctor looks down for a moment as his face gets clouded with memories, some of which are clearly painful. He closes his eyes and winces in pain as he swallows hard. It takes him a while to compose himself. When he finally does, he opens his eyes and regards his companions again as he speaks.

“I have had many companions in the TARDIS before. Most of them were human and there is a reason for that. Humans have a . . . a kind of destiny about them which eventually grows into a legend. Spread out into the furthest corners of the universe, many other races have been deeply affected by them enough to at least have heard of them. I actually remember overhearing a conversation between two non-human individuals in a remote corner of the universe and a very distant time. One of them asked the other, 'Have you ever heard of the humans?' The other replied, 'Of course I have.' The first asked another question. 'Do you think they really exist?' The other replies, 'No, I don't, for no single race can possibly exist with a legacy that great. With all the trials they've endured, the history they affected, the sheer extremes of both bad and good actions, and a basically unstoppable glory . . . no. They can't be real. It sounds too fantastical to be true.'

“Inwardly I cracked up when I overheard that, but it also left me with an even deeper sense of purpose. I had traveled with them and encountered them often enough to confirm that most of those legends were true and then some. That is why I fought so hard to protect them. Perhaps what was even more important was to guide them, and for them to guide me.” He shakes his head. “I would not be the man I am today if it weren't for the lessons I gained through traveling with and observing humanity. By knowing that they would be the source of so many other cosmic legends and actions that ripple and spread to the farthest corners of the universe, I knew it was extremely important to guide them on a righteous path as best I could because, if I succeed with that monumental task, I could ultimately make the whole universe a better place too. What better way to do it than to influence the source that influenced so many others? There have even been some legends that say that they were the predecessors of the Time Lords as well, and if that is true then it means everything the Time Lords have ever done, for good and for ill, is simply another step in the unstoppable legacy that is humanity.”

He pauses again for another moment as he sighs, then goes on to say, "And as I said before, one of the companions I traveled with was a child. The fates of my former companions are many and varied. I have lived a very long time and lived very vigorously during that time. That is why they ended up in many various directions in the end, but occasionally . . . and despite my best efforts, I will add . . . they die.”

The Doctor closes his eyes again and squints in pain. This time he also cries a bit.

“That boy . . . was one of them,” he finally squeezes out. “It was a heroic sacrifice. He didn't just save the rest of my crew. It was far more than that, but I still remember how pain stabbed my hearts back then. That boy looked up to me and this is the fate I led him towards. Like any child would at least on an unconscious level, he did it to seek some approval from a parental figure. I helped to raise him. I tried to protect him . . . and I failed!”

The Doctor sobs for a moment. Seeing that, both Stern Wing and Feather Wind almost approach him to give him a comforting hug, but he lifts a hoof to halt them and then quickly tries to simmer down.

“I'll be fine,” the Doctor assures them. “I've carried this pain in my hearts for a long time now. I'll . . . endure . . . and I've almost finished with my point anyway.”

The Doctor takes another moment to compose himself before he continues.

“My point is there many reasons children are so rarely invited on my ship. Adults have more fully matured in many important ways. They matured physically and mentally so they can endure more punishment and solve more problems. They have matured emotionally so they can better endure greater mental stress. Above all, they are old enough to more fully realize the value of their choices. Unlike most children, adults tend to be more independent. They can accept the responsibility for their actions since they had more time to grow into it.

“But children, no matter how talented they appear to be, may indeed be ahead of their time in a vast variety of ways, but most likely not in every category that matters. They are still dependent. They are still looking up to adults for guidance and being cared for. They don't tend to have a good grasp on mortality yet so they can be more willing to charge straight into danger heedless of the risks. They are still being shaped during the most critical period of their lives when they are still trying to figure themselves out, the world around them, and their place in it.” He shakes his head. “And inviting them into the TARDIS greatly complicates that development because suddenly they have to contend with the challenges of many worlds and times when they were still struggling to find their balance with even one world. In a vast majority of cases, that is not a good baseline to start with. I'm not saying challenges should be entirely discouraged and there can be some value that this journey can offer them, but in the end . . . they are significantly more likely to be overwhelmed than an adult would, and trust me . . . you do not want to know the torment of seeing such incredible and largely untapped potential come to a sudden end. When that happened to me, it felt like an important part of the whole universe died with him on that tragic day. At least it was for a worthy cause but that can still feel so hollow next to the sheer magnitude of that kind of loss.”

After another moment of silence, this time feeling necessary in a respectful sort of way, Stern Wing eventually checks, “In that case, what are you going to do with her, Doctor? As you know, you can't return her to her native time and home without putting her back in severe danger, so what's the best alternative considering everything else you just told us?"

The Doctor casts a long sigh as he bonks his head several times on the rim of the oval window behind him. By now the splash of ocean mist drenching his body has long ago disguised the tears that yet linger on him as well.

“I don't know,” the Doctor eventually expresses with partial defeat. “I just don't know yet, but I can assure you of a few very important things . . . and that is something I'm working on and I shall not give up until I find a good solution for this precious little one.”

Part 9: Vision of Doom

An intense crashing sound, followed by strong shaking, disturbs the balance of the Doctor, Feather Wind, and Stern Wing. As they yelp and collapse to the ground, cracks spread in the glass, tubular tunnel that they are in. Because of that, water starts to leak into the tunnel as a result of the vast ocean that is beyond it.

“What was THAT?!” exclaims Stern Wing as she tries to get up again but another crash and shaking put her right back down. When that happens, cracks spread in the glass even further.

"Oh NO!" Feather Wind cries out in alarm and then immediately gives a pushing motion with his forehooves as he creates a force field in front of the cracked glass to reinforce it. That, in turn, relieves some of the pressure off the glass as well as halting the leaks.

“Doctor, what's going on? Are we under attack?” Stern Wing asks fearfully.

“Clearly the answer is yes. The question is . . . by what? And why?” the Doctor replies as he rises to his four hooves shakily.

Outside the clear glass, they see an unusual and greatly alarming sight. Many kinds of aquatic sea creatures are just ramming themselves into the underwater base they are in, sometimes at suicidal speed even for the creatures. Some of them explode into an aquatic balls of blood and guts, but the facility they are in took some damage as well. That in itself is scary enough, but the sheer amount of sea creatures attacking the facility is alarming in the extreme. At this rate, the whole base will collapse within minutes and likely kill everyone who is inside since there is a lot of pressure out in these deep ocean depths.

That, and the ponies can't breathe underwater.

“The sea creatures have all gone berserk!” Stern Wing reports in alarm after she scans the carnage.

“And their target is really specific!” Feather Wind adds with a grunt of effort as he struggles to fortify his force field after the glass gets struck by several more sea creatures outside. “None of them are attacking each other. They are all aiming only for this base!”

“This doesn't make any sense! Why would they all do this?” the Doctor cries out in near panic but he is clearly struggling to maintain his wits. “Think, Doctor! Think! What am I missing? There has got to be something.”

The Doctor paces back and forth frantically with three hooves while the fourth hoof, his left forehoof, repeatedly taps his head four times with the head of his sonic screwdriver as if doing so might induce faster wit in him. While he trots back and forth, his other three legs are splashing in the water that is quickly collecting below them.

“First of all, what is out there that possibly could do this?" the Doctor asks himself aloud then proceeds to answer his own question as if he is another person talking back to him. "Well, Doctor, you marvelously handsome devil, one of the things that could cause mass hysteria in animal life on this scale, especially while underwater, is a bi-polaric, crystalline oscillator device. Such a thing can send out huge waves of psychic energy just like a tuning fork that is struck.

“But such a thing is way ahead of the technology level of this current pony society. Even if they did have such a thing, why would they wield it against themselves?

“On the other hand, such a thing is quite likely within the means of the Alphalmians except, again, they would have no motivation. They wouldn't do this. It simply isn't in their nature.

"But who else could possibly control such a device? Under most circumstances, it would have to be wielded by someone with telepathic abilities.”

"Ah . . . DOCTOR!!!" Stern Wing cries out in alarm as she beholds a massive body closing in on their side of the facility. Unlike many others, this one isn't coming at them directly. Rather than that, it is about to side-swipe the underwater facility.

Seeing this as well, Feather Wind widens his eyes to an extreme degree as he cries out, “YOU TWO, GET BEHIND ME!”

Almost out of pure reflective instinct and because of the intense urgency in Feather Wind's voice, Stern Wing and the Doctor proceed to do so without much thought. That's good because they did not have time for much thought. Just as those two get behind Feather Wind, the small blue unicorn stretches his force field in front of him from a curved second layer of a window pane to a full circular bubble around them. Just as he does that, the huge body outside rams into the facility from its side and shatters what is left of the glass tubular tunnel completely. The next thing they know, they are tumbling outside as the rush of water current comes in to claim them and then sends them spinning outside.

When they start to settle, Feather Wind's intense grunt of strained effort gradually rises into a pained scream. He is constantly shaking and almost suddenly sweating a bucket full because of the extremely tense amount of effort he has to exert just to hold this bubble intact and keep out all the highly pressurized water because of the depths they are in.

“He can't hold this for much longer!” Stern Wing warns the Doctor.

The Doctor doesn't pay attention to any of that, though. Instead, he looks below them in horror as the underwater facility they were in is being crushed, rammed, and flooded in many directions. Bursts of air from many pockets around it explode into the water and then rise to the surface.

“I failed!” the Doctor says with numb shock. “I can't believe this! I failed!”

In remorse, he closes his eyes and bonks his head once against the critically spreading cracks of Feather Wind's desperately formed force bubble.

But, before the bubble collapses, they hear a giant, low-pitched gurgling sound around them. That was their only warning before a giant mouth closes in on their position. A mouth that has an arrow-shaped horn above and below the mouth that is as thick and as strong as a tower. Such a bony cartilage, due to its massive size and strength, could likely easily shatter through the hull of any wooden ship if this creature rammed it at full force and most likely greatly damage a metal ship as well. As the maw approaches them, it sucked in the water nearby them which drew them in. They briefly screamed in a panic until the bubble collapsed which suddenly silences them for good.

Vision wakes up from her nap drenched in a cold sweat. As her wits quickly return to her, she contemplates how familiar waking up in this fashion is.

Her eyes are now wide open, but she sees absolutely nothing around her. That is somewhat ironic to her considering she would visually “see” perfectly fine in most of her dreams only to awaken from them and be denied sight altogether. It is only because of her dreams that her mind can even fathom what “seeing” is like at all since she was born blind.

One curious difference about this nightmare, in comparison to most of her others, is Vision personally knows the subjects of the dream well this time. Often in the past, she has had nightmares of many other individuals and societies that she never met before. It was a great talent of her mother, as well as the other monks at their former temple, who figured out how to properly interpret these dreams and know who to warn in order to prevent these visions of doom from coming to pass.

But now Vision is all by herself in this room. There is no pony else she can rely upon to properly interpret and act upon these vivid prophetic dreams.

Which makes her realize it is all up to her from this point forward.

Vision gets out of bed and struggles to find her way outside of the room.

“Good morning, Sleepyhead!” Derpy cheers when Vision arrives in what the young filly assumes is the main console room of the TARDIS. That's good because it means she's that much closer to the exit of this place.

Also, Vision privately notes how tired the former young mail delivery pony sounds at this precise moment. For some reason, she must have gone through a heavy exertion recently. Noting that actually makes Vision pause for a moment and tilt her head curiously in the direction she suspects Derpy is. While doing that, the ears on top of Vision's head swivels about to try to determine the other mare's more precise location.

“Are you okay?” Vision asks in concern. “You sound like you need some rest yourself.”

“Yeah! No kidding!” Derpy agrees. “I've just finished going back and forth, back and forth delivering food and some medicine to other ponies at the exit of the TARDIS. I even let some of them in to help me out even though I wasn't supposed to. I'm used to delivering a saddlebag full of letters in the past, but this much cargo and so many trips later . . . I'm exhausted.”

Vision hears Derpy just collapse on the spot she's at. She also gives a strained sigh at first but it shifts to a relaxing one in the middle of that sigh. There is also a plopping sound as the mare's body collapses on the floor, but Vision can't tell exactly what pose or position the other mare is in.

Vision scrunches her face. That is not good to hear. She may need Derpy to soon guide her out into that dangerous and wet world just outside of the TARDIS.

“Honey, what's wrong?” Derpy asks with sudden and sharp concern in her voice. Vision can feel waves of concern emanate from the other mare. “Please tell me! I'd like to help however I can.”

“I need to go,” Vision answers as she turns her head to where she suspects the exit of the TARDIS is. “I have to join the others.”

"What?!" Vision thinks she hears either Derpy rise again or at least sit up straighter. "But Honey . . . you'll get sick out there. You'll catch a cold! It's very wet and chilly outside. Brrrrr!" Vision can almost hear Derpy shuddering out there. Frankly, it is kind of adorable even to this little foal.

“Nevertheless, I have to do this,” Vision insists. “I either go out there and risk getting sick, or wait in here while our friends die out there.”

“What?!” Derpy screeches in sudden and intense alarm. “Wait! Hold on, hold on. Time out here. Back it up a second. What do you mean our friends are in danger and are going to die? Did you have another prophetic dream of that happening?”

“Yes,” Vision answers in a tone heavy with the weight of finality.

“Oh dear,” Derpy moans with worry. “What am I going to do?”

“I know what I am going to do," Vision replies. "I'm going to go out there and help them. I used to have a bunch of monks and my spell-casting mother to help me spread these warnings out into the world, but now it is just the two of us. I know there are many risks involved, but quite frankly, if we felt fully unprepared to face them, we have no business being in the TARDIS at all with the Doctor. Adventure is the name of the game while here. We have to be brave, step up, and do what is right or there will be heavy consequences.

“Look . . . I know it's very scary for you to face these challenges out there and that is for many reasons. You're scared for me too and, believe me, I get that and I even appreciate that to some degree. However, if you want to protect me then that also means protecting that which I value, and that includes my new friends out there. They need us, Derpy, and they are lucky to have us to help them overcome this dire warning.

“Something you need to keep in mind is my psychic visions can be prevented, but they will definitely happen if no effort is issued to stop them. At least, that's what the other monks told me. I don't know. This is the first time I participated in the adventure myself.”

There is silence between them following Vision's statement but, in the air, Vision can feel the electric charge of raw emotion as she can feel Derpy struggling between morality and courage. Both sides are giving her a noble message and yet they also somewhat conflict with each other in terms of what is the best course of action moving forward. Derpy cares about the fate of her friends very much but that includes Vision as well. If Derpy does decide on supporting Vision's argument, then it means putting a foal who is very vulnerable at grave risk. Not only does it seem like it might be difficult for the Doctor to forgive Derpy for that later, but quite frankly it might be difficult for the young mare to forgive herself if Vision gets hurt.

Because Vision can feel that internal dilemma pushing and pulling within the other mare, Vision realizes she's going to have to make another push to convince her friend.

“Fate and destiny are often a very tricky thing to decipher,” Vision begins again. “Especially with the extra complication of free will being tossed in the mix. That's the X-factor. The wild card is always there. Destiny is like a river that we can swim within. We can either swim with the currents, against it, or do nothing and let it drag us. The choices we make can help us avoid obstacles we can foresee in the river or we can blindly crash into them. I'm giving you a warning of what is incoming on the course of the river we're currently on. It's up to us what we decide to do with that information. Ultimately what will happen in the future is whatever we decide to happen.

“And look . . . the Doctor himself may have chosen this planet and time at random, but the TARDIS didn't. Like me, it sees the big picture too and it knows when and where we are supposed to go.

“And Derpy . . . fate didn't just choose them to wrestle with this challenge. We are here too . . . so ultimately this is a fate we all share. So are we going to take it relaxing on this river while our friends get washed over a waterfall into the spiky rocks down below, or are we going to get off our lazy flanks and go help them? You can fly, Derpy, so you definitely have an alternative to prevent your friends from falling to their deaths. It's up to you to choose whether or not you'll use that power, though."

“Geez, Vision. Are you really just a filly?!” Derpy exclaims in surprise. “You're lecturing me, a full-grown adult, in a way that heavily reminds me of the Doctor himself.”

"Um," Vision blushes a little because of this compliment. "Well . . . I am kind of used to doing whatever I can to help prevent a nasty fate." Vision firms up again as she asks, "And I'm willing to do whatever that takes. Are you?"

“Stop growing up so fast!” Derpy complains with a bit of a playful tone. “You're making me feel very nervous and inadequate.”

“Help me save our friends first and then you can lecture me about maturity,” Vision bargains.

“Okay-okay! Geez. Cut me some slack, will ya? I'll do it,” Derpy assures. From what Vision hears next, now she's definitely certain that Derpy has risen fully to her four hooves. "But you have to promise me something. Promise me that, no matter what, you'll immediately obey me the moment I request something of you because, whenever I do that, I'm only looking after your well-being and it's likely to help you avoid that which you cannot foresee. Whatever happens out there, I'm still going to try my hardest to keep you safe. You're precious to me.”

“So are they,” Vision counters and then insists, “Don't forget that. As long as you keep that in mind as well, I'll cooperate with you because yeah . . . I feel your affection for me too so I know I can trust you. I know you're being sincere about your concern for my well-being, but there other factors to keep in mind as well.”

“I know! That's why I'm agreeing to take you along,” Derpy retorts. “But not until you promise me. Do you?”

Vision grunts as she realizes Derpy is waiting for a more concrete answer. To speed things along, Vision just silently nods her agreement to keep the promise itself as ambiguous as she suspects Derpy will allow at this moment. After all, there may come other circumstances in the future where Vision may need to extend the risk to herself to prevent even greater harm from befalling others. Realizing that possibility is very real, Vision wants to keep her options as open as possible by necessity.

“Alright. In that case, I'll go get some warm gear and a raincoat,” Derpy decides. “If we're going to do this then let's be as prepared as we can be while we have these resources still available to us.”

Part 10: Into the Depths of Truth

“ . . . Four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . Dive!”

Right after that intercom announcement, an artificial sounding horn issues. After that happens, all occupants within the giant yellow pod can feel their bodies lurch upwards for a moment.

“Here we go again,” Stern Wing comments as she holds tight to a metal rail around the outer perimeter of the pod from the inside.

Feather Wind and Stern Wing watch with some fascination, and a bit of concern, as the giant spherical pod they are in, which has massive amounts of cargo space behind them, dives into the ocean. They watch this out from one of the many porthole windows built around the pod. The primary reason for their concern is the huge waves still crashing about due to the storm. It shouldn't knock the pod off the giant and sturdy metal chain that the pod is attached to which is also lowering the pod towards the ocean, but the waves could knock the pod sidewards for a moment when it is struck.

Fortunately for them, the moment they hit the water it isn't too rough. The pod shakes for a moment which briefly threatens their balance, but when the pod sinks below the waves, things become much more steady within.

“We should be much more stable from this point forward,” the Doctor announces nearby as he lets go of the rail while still viewing outside. “Most of the kinetic energy of the storm is on the surface. We should be able to-”

As if to contradict him, the pod violently rocks to one side for a moment then quickly shifts back. Doing so threatens the balance of anyone inside. Shortly later Feather Wind and Stern Wing pass the Doctor a dry, “Really?” kind of look.

“I did say most of the kinetic energy,” the Doctor reminds. “We're still close to the surface and this pod is attached to the chain that is still being affected by the storm above.”

“Speaking of chain, Feather, come take a look at this,” Stern Wing invites excitedly as she goes to another porthole which reveals the giant chain traveling upwards on this side of the pod. Both of them know they'll find an identical thick chain like this on the other side of the pod except that end is still because they are traveling down with it. The chain, they know, continues all the way to the aquatic base these ponies have far beneath the surface. A base known to them as Allon.

Allon, which is a small section of the sunken underwater city that the ponies salvaged and renovated to serve as their base of operations under the water. It is there that they deliver all the rest of the scrap metal they gather from the sunken city. Allon also gives them access to one mineshaft that they don't have to dive underwater to get to and, as such, has been their primary revenue for rare ore.

"Amazing," Feather Wind marvels after he leaped onto Stern Wing's back to be tall enough to have a clear view to look out the porthole. In fact, she is so tall, he has to stoop a bit to see out the porthole once he is on her. "Do you know how much weight water has, Stern Wing? Or how much pressure there can be in it if we sink deeper?"

“No, but I get the feeling you're going to tell me,” Stern Wing replies casually.

"Actually, our scholars largely don't know," Feather Wind informs her. "But they do know it is considerably more than it is on the surface. They also know that the pressure gets worse and worse as we sink deeper."

“Then why aren't we being crushed by it right now?” Stern Wing wonders aloud.

"That would be because of the pod itself," answers one of the laborer stallions who happened to hear their conversation nearby. Looking back at him, they notice he is a mostly brown-coat stallion but he has patches of white sploshed in some places. Most notably around his left eye. "More specifically," he continues, "it is because of the hull of the pod. There are actually two such hulls. The one on the outside and one on the inside which is called the 'pressure hull'. That thing is very reinforced and is the primary reason why we're not being crushed to death. Yes Sir.” He knocks on the inner wall three times. “As long as this thing holds, it keeps the water out and the air inside. With that barrier in place, the air inside won't be affected.”

“The pressure of water, or even the air, is also different from world to world,” the Doctor adds as he trots nearby. “So even if you can identify how much pressure a certain amount of depth gives underwater in one world, it doesn't provide you an accurate answer on another world and that is because of the density of the liquids from world to world as they could be made of different stuff. The gravity of the planet is also a factor.”

“If gravity is different on other planets, you'll be sure not to take us to those with gravity too heavy or light, right?” Stern Wing checks cautiously.

"If we ever need to, I'll be sure to bring the appropriate precautions," the Doctor assures. "Gravity isn't the only factor that can determine suitability though. There are many others to consider, like temperature, atmospheric composition, or, as we discussed," he gestures above, "air and water pressure. If I were to throw you into a gas giant, for example, you would not long withstand the overwhelming pressures those planets can exude."

“Ah,” Stern Wing passes Feather a questioning look for a moment before directing it to the Doctor. “Gas giant? What is that?”

Feather Wind and the nearby laborer also listen for the answer.

"It's a type of giant planet that has no solid surface area," the Doctor answers. "They can be made of many kinds of things, but they are primarily just giant balls of gas in space which have collected together so much, its own gravity keeps it from escaping into space." He winces slightly as he says, "Think of them as something akin to giant balloons in space except it doesn't have a tangible surface. If you fall into one, you'll just keep falling until you are either crushed by the pressure or torn apart by the storms that may be within it. That's if the gas itself doesn't melt your lungs or something."

“Lovely,” Stern Wing says sarcastically. “Since outer space seems so cozy and inviting, it is a wonder why many more civilizations aren't exploring it.”

“Just getting to it can be quite a challenge,” the Doctor replies more seriously. “Let alone surviving it once you are there.

"But still, take it from someone who has been traveling within it for almost a thousand years. As dangerous as it can be, it is full of wonders for those intrepid enough to venture through it."

“Remind me again, why are we traveling down to this underwater base?” Stern Wing checks as she looks out the porthole to see the giant chain that continues to travel upwards. During that time, they are also occasionally hearing a “click-click-click” sound from somewhere above them.

“To get some samples of the medicine needed to cure the ponies up on the surface,” The Doctor answers. “I'm also being thorough by turning over another stone." The Doctor looks out the porthole too. "Perhaps it is a long shot, but I am also hoping that, by being down there, I can get a hold of more information about the Alphalmians or for them to contact me. Failing that, I can at least uncover more information about the going-ons of these ponies' operations under the surface. That is a critical part of their revenue up there at Salvage. Who knows? It might also be somehow related to the source of the motivation for whatever antagonist is causing the storms up above."

“Do you think the storms are artificial?” the mostly brown coat laborer asks who is still nearby and still listening intently to their conversation so far.

The Doctor turns a curious eye towards that laborer as he ponders for a moment and then he asks, “I'm sorry. We haven't been introduced. My name is the Doctor and these here are my faithful companions, Feather Wind and Stern Wing.” When the Doctor said that, he gestured to each pony in turn.

The laborer grins for a moment before extending a hoof and says, “The name is Ashwin. Ashwin Cobberfield.”

“What an interesting name,” Stern Wing muses aloud. “Does it mean anything?”

“Ah . . .” Ashwin gives them a curious look. “I don't know what you mean by 'mean' anything. Should it? As far as I know, it's just my name. Plain and simple.”

“How did your parents come up with it? Were they inspired by anything in particular?” Stern Wing continues to probe because she's trying to find some common ground between their two cultures. This society should be an extension of their own back in Equestria, after all. She just wants to know what their thought process is in this case.

In partial answer to Stern's question, he just shrugs as he regards her with uncertainty but then suddenly focuses and gets much more serious as he regards the Doctor. “I repeat, do you think this storm is artificial? In particular, do you think the Alphalmians are involved?”

“That's a fairly specific question,” the Doctor observes.

Ashwin shakes his head as he explains, "I just hear it from so many of the other guys out here and those who work on the surface. Alphalmians this and Alphalmians that. Blah-blah-blah. The whole shebang. A lot of the ponies around here think they are to blame for the storms simply because they might be capable of it.”

The Doctor's expression toward Ashwin turns shrewd and discerning. Eventually he says, "Before I tell you that, I would like to gather your opinion on this whole affair. Something tells me you might not have a popular opinion on this for some reason.”

“And before I tell you that, Doctor, let me ask you this; have you ever met an Alphalmian before?” He then looks at the rest. “Have any of you?”

"I think I have," the Doctor answers. "Or perhaps something similar. If memory serves, they sort of look like a cross between a jellyfish and a squid, except their head is where the butt would be on a typical squid. They are translucent and luminous. They cast off a natural bioluminescence that, quite frankly, seems otherworldly to behold. They are quite beautiful, and not just physically."

“So you have seen them,” Ashwin says to the Doctor with a smile of approval. “Have you heard them too? The music they make in the depths of the water?”

The Doctor nods as he says, “Yes, indeed, I have. It is very enchanting.”

“Wow.” Ashwin regards the Doctor in awe. “Now there is an understatement.”

"I've seen their capital city too," the Doctor kind of brags. "Imagine tall stalks of what kind of look like mushrooms and coral reefs, except they also shimmer with natural bioluminescence which also prismatically shifts. While one is trying not to get hypnotized by that sight, there are also many kinds of colorful fish swimming about in their city. Incredible and unearthly music also swims through the depths of the whole city. It truly is a marvelous sight to behold."

“Are you serious?” Ashwin asks in surprise. “Are you sure this wasn't just some telepathic memory they implanted in your mind?”

“No,” the Doctor assures as he shakes his head, but then he pauses as he thinks on that question more, then says, “Well, actually, that too but I've been there as well to verify that the memories they share of that place are indeed genuine."

“I envy you then, Doctor,” Ashwin marvels at the Time Lord. “You must be part fish too to survive the depths of that water or breathe underwater. Also,” he tilts his head, “they don't just invite anypony into their beautiful capital city. Both for their own sake as well as their potential visitors, they are quite sensitive on this subject.”

“It has become abundantly clear to me that you also speak from experience,” the Doctor realizes. “So I take it you are not a proponent of the theory that the Alphalmians are the cause of the storm?”

“Actually, I share my brethren's opinion that they might be responsible,” Ashwin finally answers.

“Really?!” the Doctor asks in genuine surprise. “I certainly didn't expect that opinion from someone who clearly has some experience with them. They are one of the most peaceful, wise, and mature races I know.”

“Nevertheless, all races have their limits, Doctor,” Ashwin says with a flash of anger across his face. “And theirs is reached. However, unlike my fellow ponies, the thing that is vastly unpopular about my opinion is the fact that I may share the opinion that the Alphalmians could have caused this, but if they did, then we deserve it."

All of a sudden Stern Wing, Feather Wind, and the Doctor all glance at each other in equal levels of alarm. After that, they look back at Ashwin as the Doctor encourages him, "Tell us more. Just why do you think the Alphalmians are responsible, and what motive do you think they have to do this?”

For once, Ashwin appears reluctant to answer, yet another part of him seems clearly tempted to tell them anyway. He is torn. Amidst that reaction, he is clearly very bitter and upset about something.

But this group gets distracted by a startled yelp from someone feminine elsewhere in this giant pod. Luring their attention, they see a very familiar gray pegasus mare with messy yellow hair get dragged away from her hiding spot behind a few crates near the other end of the pod. One detail that is new about her, though, is she is wearing a heavy raincoat.

“Derpy?” the Doctor exclaims in surprise.

As they continue to observe this encounter from a distance, they witness yet another get dragged away from behind the crates. Unlike the older mare, though, this white filly is much quieter and she doesn't struggle that much. She, too, is wearing a heavy raincoat.

"And Vision," the Doctor realizes as his shoulders slump. "That's just perfect." He then scans among his closer companions then looks at Ashwin before pointing at the brown stallion as the Doctor says to him, "Stay here. We are not done with this conversation,” the Doctor says insistently. “And you two,” he points back and forth between Feather Wind and Stern Wing, “stay with him. Make sure he does not take off.”

“Where would I go anyway? Into the water?” Ashwin asks the Doctor incredulously.

“Just stay put! I mean it!” the Doctor insists again stubbornly over his shoulder as he rushes off to save his other companions and to find out why they are here against his orders.

“Let go of me!” Derpy cries out frantically as she squirms and struggles against a couple of other stallions that are somewhat roughly manhandling her, primarily because of her struggle and the fact she is panicking so much.

As this continues, a spark of hope alights in her eyes when she notices the Doctor rushing over to their position. Because of that, she struggles to lift a hoof as she cries out, “DOCTOR, HELP ME!”

"Doctor?" one of the gray coat stallions echoes as he continues to hold Derpy moderately roughly but also turns to regard the other approaching stallion. To that stallion, this one calls out, "HEY DOCTOR. THIS ANOTHER FRIEND OF YOURS?"

“Yes, she's with me,” the Doctor confirms upon arrival. “And do as she says. Let go of her now!” he demands very insistently.

“As you wish,” the worker stallion replies then lets Derpy and Vision go immediately. That same stallion also says to the Doctor, “You should have told us we'd have more compony aboard this pod. That might have settled some misunderstandings in advance.”

“I would have told you had I known they would come,” the Doctor assures as he glowers at Derpy which causes the shy little mare to shrivel visibly. “Trust me, gentleman, this was not part of the plan and I would very much care for an explanation.”

“Dah . . . Doctor, I'm sorry!” Derpy stutters a bit as she cries a little. “I deh-didn't mah-mean to upset you or anything. I was jah-just trying tah-to do the right thing.”

“Which is what, exactly?” the Doctor asks as he softens his expression considerably since he very much feels deeply moved and concerned about her emotional outburst. “Please, Derpy, help me to understand what's going on here. Why did you two leave the TARDIS where I told you it's safe?”

Derpy looks down in shame as tears from her eyes drip down to the floor. At this very moment, she feels too weak and ashamed to look him in the eyes anymore.

“It was my idea,” Vision speaks up.

“I beg your pardon?” the Doctor asks as his gaze shifts to Vision and a bit of an icy look and tone returns to him.

“This was my call,” Vision insists bravely. “Derpy is only here to help me find you and continue to protect me out here.”

The Doctor's eyes at Vision suddenly widen as he realizes aloud, "You had another prophetic dream, didn't you? Something to do with me and my companions out here I take it?"

Vision nods at where she suspects the Doctor is but she's a little off-target. She also simply says, "Yes."

“Prophetic dreams?” a grizzled old stallion with a long bushy beard asks nearby. “The heck she talking about?”

“It's a long story,” the Doctor assures the other workers nearby. “We don't need to get into it. At least not here and now.

“And, frankly, don't you gentlemen still have a job to do?”

“I hear ya,” the grizzled old stallion says with a nod of understanding as he takes the hint. “Come on, boys. Let's get busy.” He nods his head elsewhere to indicate precisely where they should get busy, which is noticeably away from here.

The Doctor waits until they are gone and out of earshot. When that happens, he regards Derpy sympathetically and says, "Derpy, come here."

Feeling very sensitive right now, Derpy hesitates to cooperate at first, but when she sees the Doctor's very soft expression toward her, she eventually complies. When she does, he hugs her from the front side by wrapping his forelegs and neck around her back and neck.

“I'm not mad at you, Derpy,” the Doctor soothingly assures her.

“You're not?” Derpy asks with a cracked voice but also with an inflection of rising hope.

“Yes. I am not mad,” he reassures. “Just . . . surprised, I guess, and more than a little concerned.

“Derpy, you know how fragile her health is and I know how much you care for her. I thought this arrangement would work out.”

Derpy closes her eyes and settles her face against his neck as she says, “It did, Doctor, but then she told me you might die if we didn't come and save you and . . . and . . . Oh Doctor! I just can't lose you! You mean so much to me.”

“And you do to me as well,” he reflects warmly.

Derpy sniffs then puts on a pouting expression as she complains, “It also hurt me to be left behind. I . . . I know I get so scared sometimes out here but I'm even more scared to be away from you, Doctor. I didn't know what might go wrong.

“And then, when Vision promised me that you would have a dire need for us, I just couldn't help myself.”

“That's because you have a lovely and compassionate heart,” the Doctor assures her proudly. “I am more than proud to have you as one of my companions. Privileged, even.”

“Oh Doctor! Thank you!” she cries out very gratefully in what she tries to put some volume into, but it ended up sounding like a meek little squeak instead.

"There, there," he reassures her as he pats her back. "It's alright. Everything is going to be fine. I will save the day. Same as always. I promise you this, Derpy. I Pinkie promise. Cross my hearts, and hope to fly."

“Stick a muffin in your eye!” Derpy finishes with a playful giggle.

“Ain't that the truth?” the Doctor replies affectionately with a snicker of his own.

They take a moment to settle and calm down with each other. Eventually the Doctor pulls back. When he does, Derpy does so as well cooperatively.

“So what's all this about a vision of doom?” the Doctor asks as he transfers his look back and forth between filly and mare, but his focus is on the filly a little more since she's the one he primarily expects to answer the question.

“You need us, Doctor,” Vision assures with incredible confidence for a filly her age. “The TARDIS sent us all here, not just you, Feather, and Stern. You all have a role to play in this affair, but so do we.”

“Care to shed some light on this affair?” the Doctor challenges her.

“Well, for one thing, I know you've been talking to the one who secretly has and has been using The Orb of Storms against his own fellow ponies,” Vision assures.

The Doctor's eyes explode widely in shock at Vision. He then passes that same expression over to Ashwin Cobberfield. The same pony who recently expressed some bitterness about his race for some reason.

“Oh damn it!” the Doctor curses in frustration as he paces away in random directions. “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! You really like to spoil my fun, don't you, kid?” he complains in frustration.

Vision purses her lips but otherwise bravely holds her silence.

The Doctor growls in frustration then curses again, “Damn you, kid! Will you please shut up about spoilers and let me solve my own mysteries? Believe it or not, I'm pretty darn good at it and like to do it myself. I had already suspected him of something akin to that. I would've reached that conclusion eventually.”

"The real reason I'm here is to prevent your death," Vision assures. "I won't apologize for doing the right thing. When I receive a vision of the future, it is usually a dire warning that must be acted against to prevent it. The universe needs you, Doctor, for plenty of more adventures to come. Likely to a greater degree than you know. I am here to make sure you get a fair chance to fulfill that destiny."

“I know, and trust me, I understand that,” the Doctor assures the young filly. “But please, please, please, for the love of all the stars, also give me a chance to solve my own mysteries. I need that experience, too, to grow. You can't just cut straight to the answers like that. That's not fair to anypony and, quite frankly, it feels like cheating to me." He points at her but realizes, a second later, she can't see that anyway; as a result, he lowers his hoof back to the floor again as he says, "Don't get me wrong. I appreciate what you are trying to do here and why you are doing it. My death is not a fate I welcome either. I very much wish to continue my adventures for as long as possible. That way I get to explore more and help those in need. I also know there is very little else you can contribute to this group and I get that. There is only one thing you can really do here and I know it doesn't sound fair for me to tell you to shut up about that. It's just . . .”

The Doctor trails off with a sigh as he tries to figure out a way to explain this more tactfully and effectively. He actually has to remind himself that he's talking to a child because she certainly sounds way more confident, firm, and mature than she actually is. Kind of to a scary degree.

"I'm sure that . . . there is a moment . . . when your advice and assistance is required," the Doctor begins as he looks back at Vision. "Sometimes maybe I won't reach the answers we need fast enough or sometimes there is more at stake than even I can handle. I assure you that saving lives remains my top priority. That is far more important than protecting my ego. If I make the wrong decision and there's no other choice, then yes. Please speak up about what you know, but as a seer, learn to use your talents to guide you into knowing when those right moments have come. Learn to discern when to speak up and when to maintain your silence. There is wisdom in both paths, and I think you can be wise and mature enough to learn the difference. Pick your battles carefully. Can you do that for me?"

“I . . . I will try, Doctor,” Vision promises with the weakest confidence she's ever displayed so far. “But in this regard, please be patient with me. It will probably take some time for me to fully learn that role. I am still young and I am learning.”

“Fair enough,” the Doctor replies evenly. “That's all I ask. In return, I shall strive to be more patient and calmer about this. I shall withhold my frustration as best I can because I understand that this is still a learning experience for you. Believe me, I have never had a companion quite like you before. This is going to be quite a learning experience for us all.”

“As well it should be,” Vision agrees with a slow but deep nod that almost resembles a bow. “Such is the point of our existence. Without growth, we shall know the greatest pain of all . . . stagnation.”

“I'll take your word for it,” the Doctor replies. “And believe me, I can sympathize.

“Well then. Since the two of you are here anyway, you might as well make yourselves useful. To that end, please proceed to tell me anything you can about the vision you foresaw. Together, we shall do our best to make sure that future does not come to pass.”

Part 11: The Orb of Storms

"Well isn't that interesting?" says the Doctor as he returns to Ashwin, Feather Wind, and Stern Wing along with Vision and Derpy accompanying him. "I just got a tip that my timetable in this adventure is thinner than I thought, so I'll get straight to the point. Ashwin," the Doctor calls to the worker stallion. When the Doctor secures that stallion's attention, the Doctor then asks rather bluntly, "where did you hide The Orb of Storms?"

Feather Wind, Stern Wing, and Ashwin are all shocked by that question. Likely Ashwin most of all. Feather and Stern both give sharp and sudden surprised gasps over to Ashwin.

“Who . . . who told you that?” Ashwin asks with a guarded expression and stance.

“Ashwin . . .” the Doctor begins but trails off for a moment as he looks straight down, takes another step to be right in front of Ashwin, then gazes up above the Doctor's head and slightly to the left because of the Doctor's tilted head. From that position, the Doctor gives the worker stallion a hard stare as he slowly repeats, “. . . where . . . did you hide . . . The Orb . . . of Storms?” the Doctor asks with frequent pauses in his question to put more weight on each word he spoke.

At first, Ashwin's expression is aghast, but then it sinks into depressed acceptance as he asks, "How did you know it is me who has it?"

“Because you just confirmed it by asking me that question,” the Doctor replies matter-of-factly.

Ashwin widens his eyes as he looks momentarily aghast again, then looks down with a stunned and almost numb expression on his face as he asks them, “Who are you ponies?”

“If you were paying attention earlier, you would've noted that I've already answered that question. At least, as far as you need to know for now,” the Doctor replies but then widens his eyes in realization. “Except for my new companions. I forgot to introduce them. Behind me to my left,” he gestures to the gray pegasus mare, “is Derpy Hooves, and to my right,” he then gestures to the little white blind filly, “is Vision.”

At first, Ashwin does not regard them. He is still looking down, feeling depressed. Eventually, though, he does look above his head to regard the two new companions. What he saw surprised him enough to look at them more fully because something is off about both of them so he wanted a more careful look at them to confirm if what he saw is accurate, and indeed, something is strange about both of their eyes. In the case of the older mare, only one of her eyes is staring right at him. The left, in this case. However, her other eye is eerily gazing in another direction. If both of those eyes work, it is mind-boggling to imagine what she is actually seeing between two inconsistent perspectives.

As for the smaller filly, her eyes seem to be obscured by a milky white filament. That visual detail seems to suggest that that little one might be blind entirely, and didn't the Doctor just tell him that her name was “Vision”? Because, if so, that is strongly ironic.

Ashwin almost asks about those two newcomers' visual condition, but then decides it might sound too rude to ask so he shut his mouth seconds after opening it. Besides that, there is a much more important issue to address.

“It's safe,” he answers simply.

“Why would you use The Orb of Storms against your own fellow ponies?” Stern Wing asks with rising fury. “And against yourself, too. You're a part of this community as well. Surely you must be aware that you're also destroying yourself.”

“I don't care,” Ashwin says quietly and bitterly.

Stern Wing's eyes flare and her fur stands up straight as she starts to roar, “YOU DON'T-”

“Stern Wing, please. Let me handle this,” the Doctor calmly requests as he holds up a hoof to Stern Wing.

Stern Wing almost complains about that request, but when she gazes back at the Doctor, she notices him giving a soft and pleading look. There is also a hint of confidence in his eyes that seems to assure her that he knows what he's doing. So, instead of complaining, she just whips her gaze away and closes her eyes in a huff.

“Thank you,” the Doctor replies gratefully to Stern Wing then turns to re-address Ashwin. “There are many things I am wondering about in this situation. I'll admit that motive is one of my questions, but I got a few theories in that regard as well. Right now, what I want to know the most is how you even got The Orb. It should have been in the Alphalmians' capital city and guarded by no less than their king himself as well as his most elite guards, not to mention the entire population of the city because they are telepathic and empathic. They share a very similar mindset and values and one of those is to guard The Orb. If anyone tried to sneak into that city to steal The Orb, it would be too easy for any of those citizens to sense that intention and they have the motive to work to prevent that. Add to that, their city is located very deeply underwater where no average species from the surface could even endure the water pressure let alone the fact that there isn't much air down there. What few places do have air is where they permitted it to be, primarily for honored guests who won the trust of those who can scan very deeply into the minds of others.

“So, considering all of that, how did you get The Orb? How did you even use it, for that matter? It should require at least a minor form of telepathy.”

Ashwin shook his head as he says, "I did not steal it. I have never been to the city at all, in fact. The only reason I have any memories of it is because I gained it from one of them. The Princess, in this case."

“Oh! I see,” the Doctor says as his expression alights with realization. “Now The Princess could get access to The Orb, but again, her people would sense anyone's intentions to steal it. This still doesn't make complete sense. Besides, why would she want to steal it and give it to you anyway?”

"There are ways to shield their minds from being scanned,” Ashwin informs them. “She told me that herself. First of all, it requires an awareness that their minds can be scanned and an intention to prevent that. After that, it requires something about the right visualization technique and . . . I don't know. I'm not an expert on these things, but what I do know is using that technique while being directly observed is still suspicious among her kind because they know that they should be able to sense anyone who is there, and if they can't then that already indicates they have something to hide and might be up to no good. To get The Orb out, she couldn't be observed at all. She had to be sneaky.”

"Okay," the Doctor accepts with a confused wince of one eye, "but again, why give it to you? This is a race that can sense others' intent very deeply. She should have no motive to give The Orb to someone who would intend to use it to harm anyone else."

“Exactly,” Ashwin agrees as he looks back at the Doctor sharply. “She didn't hoof me The Orb to harm my kind but rather to protect us.”

“Huh?” the Doctor, and his companions (with the exception of Vision), all look taken aback. “Okay.” The Doctor shakes his head. “You lost me there, so explain this more clearly. How is using The Orb to conjure a deadly storm protecting your people?”

Now it's Ashwin's turn to look confused as he asked, “Pee-poll?”

“Your kind,” the Doctor clarifies. “Your race, basically.”

Ashwin continues to regard the Doctor a little strangely for a moment since he is wondering why the Doctor would choose that foreign word to begin with or how he learned it, but then Ashwin shook his head and decided to get back on topic.

But, before he speaks, he carefully observes the other ponies in the background. Because he does that, the Doctor glances over his shoulder at the others too. They both notice that the other ponies in this room have gathered together in one corner and speak quietly amongst themselves. Sometimes they also glance over to this group as if to suggest that they are talking about this group. They look a little weary as if nervous about what this group might be discussing.

“We're in danger just by discussing this,” Ashwin quietly warns those around him. “I think you are all in danger by just talking to me.”

“We'll deal with them shortly if we have to," the Doctor assures as he turns back to Ashwin. "For now it is important to get my facts straight, so continue with your explanation.”

“Do they know you have The Orb of Storms?” Stern Wing asks aloud while subtly gesturing back to the other group with a flick of her right wing back at them.

“I don't think so,” Ashwin answers with a little uncertainty. “But that doesn't matter to them. What is more important to them is I'm not involved in the plot to kidnap, sell, and enslave some of the Alphalmian population and they don't want you to know about it.”

The group, with the continued exception of Ashwin himself as well as Vision, gives a collective gasp. The Doctor then says in approval, “Okay, now that is pertinent information! And now we're talking about good motivation for an Alphalmian to do something unusual, but if she still had to sneak The Orb of Storms away from her people, then I suppose it means she still didn't have a popular opinion. My guess is using The Orb itself is what they would've opposed.”

Ashwin shrugs as he says, “When it comes to the motivations of her kind, I can only guess. I know what they are generally like but that doesn't mean I can guess what they want and why they want it with precision. What I do know is she was determined to rescue her kind and hoofing me The Orb of Storms was kind of a backup strategy just in case she fails.” He looks down gravely. In fact, he looks like he's downright grieving. “And the fact that she hasn't responded or called to me after this long leads me to conclude that she's failed in her mission. Worse, she's probably been captured, too.”

“Of course,” the Doctor says with a sigh as his eyelids droop half way. “It's practically in the job description for a Princess to be easily captured. I just hope we end up searching the right castle when we finally do go searching for her.” The Doctor regards Ashwin again. “But that still doesn't explain why she'd . . . um . . . 'hoof' you The Orb in the first place. And by the way, Alphalmians don't have hooves in the first place so the term is a bit of a misnomer.”

Ashwin waves a hoof dismissively to disregard the last thing the Doctor said and instead says, “While it is true that the storm is choking the life out of my kind, it is doing something else important as well." He focuses on the Doctor as Ashwin asks the green tie stallion, "You have heard about the fact that the storm is delaying relief supplies from coming here, correct? Shipments that would have provided us with a fresh new stalk of food, medical supplies, and lumber. In exchange, we provide them with refined metal ore. Sometimes we also supply finished products using said ore."

The Doctor nods as he confirms, “I am aware of this.”

“Well,” Ashwin tilts his head a bit, “there is something else that the storm is keeping at bay, but unlike the first example, the second does intend us harm.”

“Oh?” the Doctor asks with sharp intrigue.

“And, whatever it is, it is something too powerful for us to oppose,” Ashwin informs them so quietly, he is almost whispering this. “Whoever they are, I suspect they are after the captured Alphalmians. In exchange, we are receiving some critical supplies for when . . . um. Well, the mines have had problems lately. I don't know exactly know what the problem is and this is not supposed to be public information. On top of that, I think some of my kind are accessing technology we never could have invented. Among that, I think one of them is helping my kind to capture and secure the Alphalmians in the first place. I suspect that, whoever is coming for the captives, they are not from this planet."

Feather Wind widens his eyes in realization then looks at the Doctor as he asks the taller stallion, “Do you think it might be the unicorns and the pegasi? You did say earlier that they were capable of space travel and that they delivered these earth ponies to this planet in the first place.”

The Doctor shakes his head as he regards Feather in return before he says, “I don't think so. At least, not if this world follows the pattern of the other dimension that I know of. Not only are the unicorns probably not responsible for this, but they should be doing the opposite and guarding this world against extraterrestrial interference."

The Doctor notices that the others, minus Vision, seem confused, so he explains further.

“That's the point of bringing the other earth ponies to this world,” the Doctor explains. “And the humans in the other realm. If this dimension follows the same example as the other dimension, then the unicorns planted the earth ponies on this world on purpose to observe how the earth ponies interact with the rest of this water world and, more importantly, observe how they interact without any outside alien interference. Watching the earth ponies develop here in this world is kind of a social and science experiment. To them, it is important to observe this development while also protecting their project from external interference and making sure that such influence doesn't taint the results. To the natives here, at least the earth ponies, the unicorns may seem remote and aloof, but the truth is the unicorns are actually paying very close attention.

“Unlike the other dimension, however, one curious difference here is the unicorns seem more interested to provide occasional advice and warnings if the earth ponies are on a very obviously self-destructive path. After all, if the earth ponies die, then the experiment ends and all future data they would have collected remain permanently out of their reach. As such, they have occasionally sent in the pegasi to act like spiritual messengers but the real purpose of their visit is something like, 'Hey! I'm here to warn you that if you continue on this path, it's going to lead to your deaths.'”

“I see,” Feather responds with an intrigued expression. “In that case, I take it that means that those who used to live in the drowned city below probably didn't heed those warnings?”

“Most likely,” the Doctor concurs then looks confused again. “But if all of this is true, the unicorns should have worked to prevent this other external influence. Furthermore, I happen to know that, in the other dimension, what is equivalent to the 'Alphalmians' are aware of this experiment and some of them are in contact with those who guard their world. In this case, it seems clear to me that at least one of the Alphalmians was aware of this plot and that race can easily spread their information. If the Alphalmians were aware of this external interference then the unicorns should be tipped off about it too, so why aren't they stopping this? Is the communication between their two species cut off? Are the unicorns perfectly aware of the interference but can't stop it for some reason? Or is there corruption within the unicorn society? A sect of them that turns a blind eye to this interference?

“Whatever the case may be, I have decided that I'll pay the unicorns of this world a visit next and find out what's going on with them from their side of the story.”

“You can do that?” Ashwin asks the Doctor in awe. “Just drop by in front of the throne of the gods like that whenever you want?”

“I am a man of many talents,” the Doctor informs smugly. “Such is within my power.”

“So, the only reason you are using The Orb of Storms is to prevent this other race from coming and interfering?” Stern Wing checks with Ashwin.

“I have some personal and vindictive reasons for using The Orb too,” Ashwin tells Stern darkly and honestly. “But that is not why The Princess gave me and taught me how to use The Orb. The Orb was only meant to be a safeguard just in case she failed in her mission. As long as the storm continues, then it is too strong for even this other race to approach us. In other words, it's keeping everything at bay.”

“Um, clarify something for me,” the Doctor requests as he looks down for a second, taps his noggin on the side of his head with four hoof taps, then regards Ashwin again as he lowers that hoof back to the ground. “So the plan was to use The Orb to keep this other race at bay if The Princess's mission fails. A sufficient enough time passes and it has become clear to you that she has indeed failed, so you use The Orb as planned. In doing so, it is choking the life out of this community but it is also keeping this great evil at bay. However, with all the damage that the storm is causing, as well as the diminishing supplies, it should be clear, by now, that this strategy is not sustainable even if it also has a good side effect, so here is my question; what comes next? The storm has successfully delayed the arrival of this other hostile race. Great! But if this continues, there'll be no pony left to guard in the long run, so the next step to more permanently solve this problem is . . .?" He trails off as he gives a swirling, inviting gesture to Ashwin to encourage him to finish that sentence.

Ashwin looks down with a defeated sigh before admitting, “I don't know. I just don't know. To be honest . . . I've kind of lost hope here.”

The Doctor casts a long sigh that kind of also sounds like a frustrated grunt. While he does that, he looks down, shakes his head, wipes a hoof down along the bridge of his snout then reaches forward to rest a hoof on Ashwin's left shoulder before expressing, “My dear friend, you are sooooo lucky that we have come here.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” Vision mumbles quietly under her breath. Since the Doctor still overheard her, he looks back and stares at her silently for four seconds then turns to regard the rest of his friends.

“Okay! I have decided," the Doctor announces. “By now, I have collected some really good and relevant information about this latest adventure. This includes some information that I've gathered from some rather cheating sources, but hey! It still appears accurate and I'll need to react accordingly. So . . . here's what we're going to do,” he declares as he rises on his hind hooves and then falls forward to stomp his forelegs on the ground hard. “Step one: We are going to find this Princess of the Alphalmians and rescue her. Step two: We are going to use The Orb of Storms and get the artificial storm to end.” This statement he says very emphatically to Ashwin in particular.

“Gladly,” Ashwin replies enthusiastically. “I love her, Doctor, and I would do anything for her. If you can free her, I have no reason to continue to use The Orb of Storms except for one thing.”

The Doctor nods in agreement as he says, "Right. Step Three: We deal with these foreign intruders and get them to knock the heck off of their nefarious schemes around here. We'll also give them adequate pressure to convince them that returning the Alphalmians they already stole is in their best interests.

“Finally, we have step four; pay the unicorns a visit and find out what is going on from their end of this deal. Once we do that, we provide whatever assistance is necessary to course correct their little ship and then it's onwards and upwards through all the rest of time and space, and voilà! That'll all wrap up this adventure in a neat little bow, making it all ready for Hearts Warming Eve.”

“Sounds like a tall order to me filled with a lot of ifs,” Feather Wind observes cautiously. “For now, it sounds like a general plan, but I advise we all continue forward carefully.”

“What? Me? Cautious?” Stern Wing asks Feather Wind sarcastically. “Perish the thought.”

In response, Feather Wind snickers a bit.

“Well, whatever you all are going to do, you better do it soon,” Ashwin warns as he looks out the porthole window of the pod. “We're almost to the underwater base of Allon.” He looks back across at them. “And I know somepony down there is guilty of kidnapping the Alphalmians. Whoever they are won't take too kindly to you all snooping around down there. Not when they actually do have something to hide.”

“I expect we'll be done with this adventure in short order,” the Doctor assures pretty confidently. “With all the information I've collected so far, it's almost time for me to go to 'go mode' towards the end of this story. Aside from that, I have access to some new assets that I usually don't have in my previous adventures. As a result of these new trump cards, I can cut straight to the answers I need and dig these problems out at the root. I've been plenty formidable enough on my own in the past so, for any antagonist who remains in my way from this point on, I kind of feel sorry for them."

Part 12: Unwelcome Reception to Unusual Visitors

Feather Wind tries to fight back a wave of panic as he watches the giant pod bay doors slowly open. He feels this way because he knows that whatever lurks outside of this pod is probably trouble.

One thing that occurs that momentarily distracts Feather from his fears, however, is watching and listening to the sound of the water drip as the pod bay doors open gradually. At first, it is a heavy amount of water but it quickly thins. He watches the stream of water descend the ever-widening gap as about a quarter of the spherical wall lowers down to become something of a giant ramp. The streams of water reminds him of a waterfall at first. There is also something soothing about listening to the sound of the water splashing below.

Eventually the pod bay doors lower enough to gradually reveal a partial ring around of earth ponies waiting to greet the occupants, and there is something about their expression and stance which reveals that the occupants of this pod are not entirely welcome this time. Seeing them reminds Feather of what the Doctor implied that Vision said, and that somepony down here has something to hide. Feather's instincts are also ringing like crazy.

Then Feather marvels at those instincts as he looks back at Vision. He realizes that if even he can sense this, Vision must be sensing it so much more. What must it be like to somepony like that who can always sense a greater depth in reality? Lies and all falsehoods must seem like looking through a transparent glass mask that attempts to hide a pony's true feelings, but the attempt is all in vain around her.

Although the giant pod bay door that opens is spherical, somehow it flattens out when it finally does fully connect with the floor outside. When the first part of that door to touch the ground is done, the rest of the door somehow continues to lower until it flattens outside.

Of the procession outside, one particular pony, who has a hide that is so dark brown that it almost looks black, glowers at the newcomers with an especially grim attitude. When the pod bay doors fully open, he opens his mouth and almost takes a step forward, but the Doctor reacts quicker. Likely on purpose.

“Thank you all for welcoming us into your lovely little community here,” the Doctor greets brightly as he practically prances down the new ramp. “It's always nice to have so many caring and concerning escorts to show us around.”

The dark brown pony looks taken aback by the Doctor before glowering again as he says, "You misunderstand our intentions, Mister . . ." The rest of his sentence is left hanging as he waits for the introduction of the newcomers.

“Doctor,” the Doctor answers the implied question.

The dark brown stallion appears to wait for more of an introduction before looking confused as he asks, “Doctor who?”

The Doctor suddenly widens his eyes in delight then jabs a point at the dark stallion several times while he cries out, “Ah! He said it! He said the thing! Finally someone from this universe does it. You two,” he says with a gesture and look back at Feather Wind and Stern Wing, “simply accepted my name at face value.”

Feather Wind shrugs as he explains, “Well, that's because we've grown up to accept that a name like that can actually be somepony's name so there's no need to question it.” Feather focuses on the newcomers outside. “However, it appears that ponies in this world have a different naming convention for some reason.”

“Just 'The Doctor,' my fine old chap,” the Doctor says to the dark brown stallion. “I can tell you of a bunch of other frivolous titles I sometimes have but I see no need to get into that yet."

“Ah . . .” the dark stallion pauses as he looks momentarily mystified. Eventually he just shakes his head and says, “Um, very well, 'Doctor'. Whatever your name is, it is irrelevant right now because that does not change the circumstances. The truth is you are unwelcome around here.”

The Doctor hears Vision gasp for some reason. First, he directs his left ear back at her and then his entire face. Doing so causes him to notice that Vision just realized something but fights to keep her mouth shut to avoid telling the Doctor more 'spoilers'. Regardless, her reaction alone already tells the Doctor volumes. This, combined with the reception they've received thus far, indicates to him that he's already encountered one of the main antagonists of this adventure.

The Doctor sighs as he looks away from Vision with a shake of his head. It dawns on him how different his adventures are likely to be if he continues to travel with her. This is going to take some getting used to.

“I don't know if you got the memo, but the main radio tower at Salvage got washed away,” the Doctor says as he lifts his gaze back at the brown stallion. “But that radio tower is only for long ranged communication. Something that intricate isn't necessary for the distance between Salvage and Allon. For you to already be aware that we were coming before we got here indicates to me that you have an informant somewhere up on the surface, but I wonder if your informant was thorough enough to also inform you that we are not ordinary inspectors and this is not some ordinary visit. Case in point,” he whips his head back at Feather Wind as he says, “Feather Wind, please make your presence known to this kindly old stallion who intends to block our way forward.”

Feather Wind got the hint, and although he knew this is going to make him very uncomfortable, Feather steps forward and then ignites his horn with a brilliant silver glow. In doing so, the semi-ring of ponies around the pod that was originally intent on blocking them are now awestruck instead.

“That is a unicorn?” one of the stallions asks when he finally recovers his wits. “Funny. I thought they'd be way . . . taller. I'm not the only one to think that, right? Is it just me?”

“Maybe they are all that short," another stallion answers with an uncertain half-shrug.

Hearing that stings Feather Wind's feelings. He has been teased by others before about that even in his home world. Some of the snooty and arrogant rich peers at the Silver Horn Academy come to mind as well as some of the fellow recruits at the Wonderbolt Academy. He had also been mistaken for a downright foal at many shops he visited that weren't accustomed to Feather's presence and unusually short stature. At least, in their case, those innocent shopkeepers didn't intend any direct offense. It was just a silly little mistake.

But here, in this world, the awe in the voices of those who are beholding him is on a whole different level. They are reacting like they are beholding a god and it's amusing to them that this so-called 'deity' is less than half their average height. This causes a clash of reactions in them as if part of them thinks that Feather Wind should be a marble statue on a pedestal to be worshiped with awe from afar while another side of them privately snickers and wonders how far they might be able to punt this tiny and pathetic-looking unicorn.

As for Feather Wind, he feels overwhelmed by being the center of attention to those who regard him in awe mixed with disgust.

Tears start to burn at the edge of Feather Wind's eyes so, to hide that, he changes the focus of his magic from projecting light off his horn to a telekinetic grip on the hood of his Mist Cloak. Using that, he pulls it over his head and inserts his horn through the hole at the top of the hood. He lowers the hood enough to conceal his face if he angles his face down enough. From that point, all the others can see is the horn sticking through the top of the hood and the almost disembodied look of his mouth sticking forward. Feather realized doing this could be regarded as a 'power' move by the others which preserves a sense of mystique to him, but all Feather Wind really wanted to do is hide how hurt their reaction made him.

The Doctor understands Feather Wind's true feelings which causes him to regret exploiting Feather Wind like this, especially since he already knows Feather Wind doesn't like to be the center of attention normally because he's too shy, but a unicorn has very special significance in this world and the Doctor wanted to prove that he has an authority figure with him high enough that these ponies can't afford to ignore or block him even if they are highly motivated to do so. It is a non-violent strategy to get them out of his way, but the Doctor vowed to himself privately that he will apologize to Feather for this later.

What Stern Wing does next even further illustrates the Doctor's point. She steps forward in front of Feather Wind and spreads her wings protectively as if to indicate, “I am his guard. If you want to get to him, you're going to have to go through me first." That honestly is a role they've come to expect from pegasi in this world anyway. To be subservient to the unicorns but otherwise still too god-like for ordinary 'mortals' to oppose. They probably also think she has supernatural strength, agility, and endurance. While, in truth, those expectations are too high, she is indeed way stronger and tougher than an average pony of any breed. That alone almost supports the myth they have about her race.

But the true reason she stepped forward like that is to show emotional support to her friend. She knows he's hurt and she knows why. To show he's not alone and to reveal her love for him, she now stands in front of him and blocks his sight of the others with her wings. They can no longer see him either, so he isn't suffering from that visual inspection.

“Thank you,” Feather Wind whispers quietly then has a tiny breeze blow that message to Stern Wing's ears alone. In response, Stern Wing nods quietly and subtly to help illustrate the fact she got the message, but her stance remains firm and resolute in front of her friend.

“I assume I've made my point?” the Doctor checks with those who originally intended to block them. “We are indeed not ordinary visitors to your facility and this is not a casual inspection either. Rather than that, we are the natural consequence of the current crisis. The weather has been raging above for far too long and it is clear to us, by now, that such things are not produced by ordinary means, so we have come down to your planet to find out what is wrong and why this has all happened. In addition, the Alphalmians, who have chosen to be our emissaries of their own free will, have been unusually quiet lately. That reason alone is enough to summon our concerns over this situation so we cannot afford to ignore this any longer. Something must have happened to them and we intend to find out what.”

The Doctor trots down the ramp and stands directly in front of the dark brown stallion. In fact, he deliberately stands uncomfortably close. The Doctor looms above the stallion, especially since the Doctor is still standing on the slightly elevated height of the ramp. From that position, the Doctor just silently stares down at the stallion which causes the dark stallion to shrivel a bit.

“Um, it's, ah . . . not safe around here,” the dark stallion informs in an obviously desperate excuse to keep them at bay.

The Doctor just continues to loom over and stare down at the stallion.

"We haven't prepared all the proper security precautions and . . ." the stallion's voice trails off as he looks above him uncomfortably at the Doctor who is still staring down at him as if the stallion were a mere insect being viewed by a powerful god above.

Eventually he sighs in defeat, lowers his shoulders, then gestures into the facility as he reluctantly says, “Welcome to Allon.”

“Fantastic!” the Doctor says in sudden remarkable cheer. “I knew you'd see things our way.

“Very well, then. Onwards and upwards, I say. We'll just make a quick round of the place to help verify your innocence and then be on our way, or we'll help you solve a problem that you might have accidentally overlooked.”

With that, the Doctor trots past the bewildered stallion. As if that is a signal, the others in the pod shortly do so as well.

The dark stallion grunts in frustration then gives a quick, dark, and meaningful nod to some of the others here to indicate they may need to move on to plan B.

Part 13: It's a Trap!

Right now, it's very difficult for Feather Wind to adjust to this constant shock of “Encountering Something Not Even Similar To What He Has Experienced Before”. What gets to him even more is the fact he seems to be the only one to notice this.

In the Doctor's case, that makes sense. This isn't new to him or, at least, he has experienced something like this before. As a result, he can stride into a new environment like this underwater base and still seem so casual about it.

This makes sense to the natives too. To them, what they are surrounded by has always been that way for them. This is their world so there's no reason to treat it as beyond the ordinary. It's everything else out in the universe that might catch them off guard.

But looking back at his other companions like Stern Wing, Vision, and Derpy, it feels strange to him that they are not in as much awe about what they are encountering as he does. Does this mean they are failing to grasp the situation as deeply as he? Or maybe it just means their focus lies elsewhere for the moment.

Derpy and Stern Wing, for example, both seem on edge, but they are reacting to it in vastly different ways. Out of all of the Tardis's companions, Derpy seems to be closest to being charmed by what she sees. She seems to at least occasionally look at something and appear to think, "Oh, this is neat!" But she senses tension in the air, too, and that is causing her to be very worried. However, unlike Stern Wing, Derpy isn't facing that fear with much confidence despite being a companion of the Doctor longer. It's like it lingers in her mind, "We're in danger and we might fail the challenge we are about to face. It isn't necessarily going to be the worst-case scenario. In fact, with the Doctor, avoiding the worst case is rather likely. However, I still worry about how good it will turn out. Tainted victory is a rather likely option. Like I'll probably survive along with a bunch of the natives too, but will they all survive? And what about those of us especially fragile like Vision here?"

For Stern Wing, she actually is very deeply ingrained in her element down here. It isn't necessarily "fun" for her to be in danger, but moments like that she regards as important. Because of that, she remains on high alert. Probably even more than usual. For her, there is this determination and unwavering confidence that the worst-case scenario can most definitely be avoided but it will be because of dedication and hard work. Because of that ultra-serious mode, she's not casually looking around at her environment thinking, "Ooo! That's pretty."

No.

Rather than that, she's scanning for good ambush spots for her friends or any potential enemy. She's keeping herself aware and alert that there might be a trap around every corner. She's looking at the rivers of lava that they are passing and considering how it could be used in a tactical battle rather than a means of ore refinement as it is actually intended for.

Vision is even harder for Feather to explain. Perhaps because he doesn't know her as well? But the young foal seems to strut about as if slightly in a daze and yet there is an unusual level of confidence in her that doesn't seem at all normal for a foal her age. She's behaving like she's aware that she's a character in a story and that that story will play out however it's meant to. It's like she's surrendering to it and trusts that process. She probably isn't an all-knowing figure even if she does, perhaps, know more than usual. Rather than that, her self-confidence might stem from her perspective and attitude in how she regards the unknown.

Vision is visually blind and that fact is very clear to all that observe her. She would have made many more mistakes had she not been so carefully guided. Derpy, at the very least, keeps a wing wrapped protectively around the young foal not only to protect the filly but to also guide her. Even with that, Vision still stumbles into Derpy sometimes or has jerked in a direction that would have led the wrong way, but that wing kept on guiding her steps.

All of that makes sense, but why isn't she more emotionally bothered by what they are going through? That is something Feather can't put his hoof on yet.

As for himself, Feather is soaking everything in. For him, it isn't just about the awareness of the danger, it's about everything else too. The awareness of the vast dark ocean that exists beyond metal or glass walls. Out there is an incredible amount of pressure and coldness, yet there is beauty in it too that he'd have a hard time explaining to others. It's also rich in history. That environment out there used to be empty air. Wind used to pass through this valley that everypony breathed in.

As for the more local environment, there is a very stale and artificial quality to it. It also seems old and perhaps dangerously close to needing critical maintenance. There is the sight of rusty walls and the near-constant sound of dripping in the distance. Up on the surface, the cause of such dripping could have been excused as merely the weather, but down here it has a more ominous quality to it. It suggests a leak that might get far more severe if it is ignored for too long.

For all that, the technology around them also appears pretty stable, and for good reason. More than once they felt minor earthquakes down here and that is because this section of the drowned city has an active volcano in the middle of it. Geologically, it provides a strong hint why this valley may have sunken at one time, but he's been told the exact opposite. That this valley is, if anything, rising, but it can't keep up with the higher ocean levels of the warmer periods of the planet just yet. Someday it might break to the surface even when the planet is as flooded as it can possibly get, but that day has not come yet.

In the meantime, some of the lava has been channeled down here in really tough metal tubes and collected in giant bowls. Any fire, if hot enough, can melt things like steel, but the ponies here are channeling something that the environment naturally provided for them so they don't have to try as hard to produce it artificially. Maybe that lack of necessity is also why they don't know how to make a fire that hot artificially. They are just working with what they got and not innovating much beyond that point. It's like a pony living from paycheck to paycheck. It's just enough to survive and nothing extra.

As for the ponies themselves, Feather Wind isn't observing a vast population down here. Considering the large amount of space they've been trotting through ever since they arrived, the pony population is noticeably rather sparse. They have accomplished a lot while down here, but there are also multiple signs that indicate that what they have accomplished stretches across a vast amount of time. Because the personnel they are working with is so little, the grand work that they have accomplished can only be explained as a multi-generational project. That also explains why many things are in poor maintenance. They just don't have much pony power to spare keeping everything they have in tip-top shape. Instead of that, they are digging ever deeper into the earth for more ore or scrapping out the corpse of the sunken city around them. They are doing this through many kinds of underwater subs and smaller, almost pony-shaped vehicles which have extra appendages for either digging, drilling or grabbing.

In the contextually rather rare instance when they do pass another pony, the general attitude that Feather has observed is a mix of surprised curiosity and guarded for some reason. They kind of react like they have a secret to hide, or perhaps are concerned that the newcomers may cause them harm. In any case, it is not opening and welcoming expressions they are passing to the group, although their attention lingers stronger and sharper at either Feather, Derpy or Stern in particular. That isn't just his horn or Stern's wings that make them standout. Feather Wind's natural hide color as well as his mystical Mist Cloak has also drawn their attention because the cloak looks like actual clouds consolidated into the shape of the cloak. It spills mist from it and sometimes flashes with tiny amounts of lightning.

It took Feather a while to notice there is another reaction among the natives, and it is particularly common among the younger ones. Beyond just regarding the newcomers in fear and awe like the others, there is also a sense of hope in a few of them as if regarding the newcomers as potential saviors from . . . something.

All of this tells Feather that, whatever is wrong down here, everypony that lives here is in the know about it. No pony, not even their youngest foals, is reacting like they are ignorant of some potential danger. Rather than that, there is a sadness and weariness to them all. They are miserable and they seem concerned that things might get worse, but a change is a change. That can include the possibility of a change for the better, but the adults lived with despair for so long that it felt pointless to hold on to hope for this long.

Feather Wind also noted how some of the natives glanced at their escorts as if to suggest the others would have been more forthcoming about what was going on if not for the company they are keeping. Being as alert as she is, Stern Wing probably noticed that too. Naturally the Doctor is as well because he's used to being observant. Vision probably also detected it but on a psychic level instead.

It takes Feather a moment to realize that, of this group, that only leaves Derpy remaining who is likely ignorant of the hidden glances of the natives. It fits her character, too, based on what Feather has observed from her. Recent trends may have trained her to be more alert than usual, but her walleyes put a natural hindrance on her anyway as well as an adorably ditsy personality that usually results in her being happily oblivious. As he understands it, she comes from a time when Equestria has been in peace, for the most part, for a thousand years. Even when the occasional crisis shows up, some other heroine swoops in and saves the day. That leaves the day-to-day living of the mail pony happily serving her community as best she can. She didn't have to worry about big-picture stuff until she started traveling with the Doctor regularly. Even then, that seems relatively recent for her based on the way she's acting.

It may be that she'd have a hard time describing exactly how long she's been with the Doctor because they keep time hopping for as long as she's been with him. Time starts to lose all meaning when that pattern continues often enough. In thinking of that, Feather Wind can project a prediction for himself as well. Someday he'll be like that too if he remains with the Doctor.

"This is it," Vision suddenly announces while they are crossing through a glass tunnel which provides a clear visual inspection of the dark ocean around them as well as occasional oceanic vehicles traveling within it with headlights of some sort. "This is the glass tube that shattered at the end of my last prophetic dream."

The Doctor activates his sonic screwdriver to send a sonic pulse within the tunnel to the one he privately wishes to communicate to. To that individual pony, he sounds loud like he's speaking through a metal tube, yet everypony else around them can't hear a thing.

“How close are we getting to the source of the psionic disturbance?” the Doctor surreptitiously questions Vision in concern. “Also, how well are you?”

There are multiple reasons for the Doctor's concern. Vision was raised as a very sheltered foal in the temple she came from. She was kind of a religious icon there, but more so was her mother. Her mother was the unicorn who was the public face to deliver the warnings that her daughter gave her. Their culture knew that Vision was the actual source of those forewarnings, but most other cultures didn't know that. They thought the psychic visions were coming from the mother directly.

In any case, Vision isn't used to this much physical stress. They already traveled quite the distance down here in Allon and, of all of them, Vision is clearly the most winded by it.

But aside from that, they are marching steadily towards what essentially is a psychic bomb. If that bomb goes off, all the local animal life down here in this ocean, which includes some very formidable kinds, is going to go berserk and target the source that caused their rage. The Doctor knows he needs to disarm it before that happens and it is the main reason he's in a rush right now.

But to find it, his best resource is also his most fragile one. The closer they get to the bomb, the more it'll likely exude psychic pressure on the one pony here who is most sensitive to it, so that is a catch twenty-two. A lot of creatures he has encountered heavily underestimate how dangerous a psychic attack can be. It can lead to many hostile side effects which include being fatal. There can be even worse fates than that as well.

“I'm fine,” Vision assures with as much confidence as she can muster, but the Doctor does notice her grimacing a bit.

“Also,” Vision adds after a moment. “beware, Doctor. This is the location where our escorts will choose to ambush us."

As soon as Vision said that, to him at least, the steel metal doors they crossed to get into this glass tunnel in the first place shuts on them then locks. The one ahead of them isn't open either.

The Doctor groans in frustration before whirling about and regarding their escorts wearily as he complains, “Really? You're going to do this now? And you've been so helpful to us up to this point.”

The dark pony who led the escort team, which they since learned is named Foreman Chovix, presses a button on his end of the door to open an audible channel to speak with the Doctor and those now trapped with him. When Chovix does speak, there is an audible crackle to his voice which signifies some flaws in the tech he is using.

“You should have listened to me, Doctor,” Foreman Chovix says with a voice and expression heavy with regret. “I told you to return to the pod you came from for your benefit, too. Now you forced my hoof, and believe me . . . I take no pleasure from what I'm about to do.”

With that, he releases the button that opens the intercom from his end. He then glances at somebody to his left that the Tardis crew cannot see then nods sadly to that pony. Seconds later, he regards them sadly again as water starts to flood the tube they are in. In particular, it rises from the floor through a metal grate and starts to flood the surface below the grate. Eventually it will rise enough to rise above the grate.

"He's telling the truth, Doctor," Vision quietly informs the Time Lord. "He doesn't want to do this."

The Doctor turns his eyes, but not his head, to regard Vision for a silent moment as he contemplates the implications of the tip she just gave him then nods to her in appreciation for that.

“And why, for pony's sake, would they deliberately design a glass, underwater tunnel to be able to flood any victim within it?” Stern Wing asks in confusion.

"The means they are using to flood this tunnel is designed to drain water from here,” the Doctor answers immediately. “They have simply reversed the pressure in order to flood this tunnel instead.”

“Shall I use my barrier magic to block the flood?” Feather Wind offers somewhat casually. “If I do it now, it won't be that difficult to hold it.”

The Doctor thinks about that for a moment as he glances at Vision again, then shakes his head as he looks back through the small square and thick window on the large steel door which leads to the foreman beyond. The Doctor then says, “No . . . at least for now. I want to explore other options first.”

“How about I simply open one of the doors, then?” Feather counter offers as he looks back and forth between both of the doors that trap them in this tunnel. “They are not accustomed to unicorn magic, including basic telekinesis. I could spin the wheel locking the doors shut then simply open them.”

“No. Hold off on that as well,” the Doctor instructs. “Don't reveal any of our abilities yet when it might not be necessary to do so.”

“Um . . . Doctor, that water rising below is very, very cold,” Feather Wind warns grimly. “And Vision . . .” Feather trails off as he eyes the young filly in concern.

In response to that concern, Derpy lowers to her knees and bids Vision, “Honey, climb onto my back right now. Please.”

Vision does not hesitate. She immediately turns to her side and climbs onto Derpy's back. Once there, though, her balance is a little shaky as she searches for her equilibrium which is challenged again when Derpy rises.

“Hold tight to me,” Derpy bids after she rises. “Bite on to my mane if you have to. I won't let you fall.”

As if to make sure of that, the gray pegasus tucks her wings up a bit as if to create a minor wall on both sides of the young filly on her back.

“Thank you,” Vision whispers quietly to Derpy.

“Whatever you're going to do, Doctor, you'd better do it fast,” Stern Wing encourages as she eyes the rising water level below them in concern.

"You don't have to tell me twice," the Doctor agrees as he trots his way to the door they passed a short while ago. As he approaches and then stands on the other side, he gives a hard look to the foreman beyond the door before reaching and pressing the intercom button on the Doctor's side of the door without looking at it.

“First of all, I want to tell you that I believe you when you say you don't want to do this,” the Doctor begins to the foreman. “I don't even think you're doing this of your own free will necessarily. You know something of what's going on down here and, whatever it is, both you and your people regard it as unfortunate. I want to make it clear to you, even at this very moment, that we only came down here to help.”

The foreman shakes his head with regret on his side of the window then glances to his left for a moment, reaches for the button on his end, then looks back at the Doctor off to the right side of his face as he says, "You just don't understand the circumstances that you are meddling with and that I had to deal with before you got here. Believe me, the lot of you dying right here, right now, might be a more merciful fate compared to what we'll continue to go through."

“I don't understand? Then explain it to me!” the Doctor emotionally encourages. “Don't just kill us off, especially when you know that it's wrong! If you explain your side of the argument well enough, I might even join you in your cause. Did you even consider that?”

Once again, the foreman shakes his head as he says, “Perhaps that could have been a viable option at one point except for one thing; you brought a unicorn down with you into the abyss, Doctor, and current circumstances make that particular scenario . . . complicated.”

“Then tell me this!” the Doctor demands as he pounds the thick metal door when he said the word “tell”. After that, he goes on to ask, “Are the unicorns directly responsible for your current crisis? Yes or no?”

The foreman knows the answer to that immediately, but he appears to pause a moment to contemplate if there is any point in telling the Doctor that or not.

"You're trying to kill us right now," the Doctor presses when he sees that the foreman is on the edge of whether or not to tell the Doctor that information. "You owe us at least that much."

“What good would telling you now do?” the foreman reflects. “You who are about to die.”

“Let's just say I don't like going to my grave without straight answers,” the Doctor responds. “Especially if those circumstances were responsible for causing my death and that of my friends. One of whom is a foal, by the way, just in case that isn't clear to you yet.”

The Doctor appears to have struck a nerve with the inclusion of that last fact. Chovix looks behind the Doctor at the foal in question. While he does so, the Doctor leans out of the way a bit just to ensure the foreman gets a good look at one of his victims.

Seconds later, the foreman looks at Feather Wind directly, shakes his head, then focuses back at the Doctor as he says, “No. The unicorns are not responsible for our current crisis. At least not directly. Those who are directly responsible have to sneak through the blockade high in the sky.”

"Really?" the Doctor checks. "That's great, then! That means those who put pressure on you are regarded as unwelcome by those they fear to have the power to stop them." The Doctor shrugs. "So all I have to do is inform the unicorns about this little leak. Once they get that tip, they can put an end to those who pressure you for good."

“Unfortunately, it's not that simple,” the foreman says sadly. “Because the services they provide are also needed. Without them, the situation we suffer from above will get so much worse.”

"Your civilization is dying right now!” the Doctor cries out with another angry pound. “What can possibly be worse than that?”

“Not much, I'll admit,” the foreman agrees. “In fact, that is the worst-case scenario here, but still . . . we have to solve the storm crisis somehow without blocking our crucial benefactors."

“Benefactors?” the Doctor reflects. “So these guys are also paying you?” The Doctor lifts a hoof. “And let me guess . . . the payment that they demanded are the lives of the missing Alphalmians, correct?”

“You're unusually well informed, Doctor,” the foreman says as he narrows his eyes. “In this case, however, it's not too much of a mystery how you found out that particular fact.

“You know, I was content to allow Ashwin to merely complain as he has, but now he's involving strangers from who knows where. In doing so, he has graduated from a nuisance to a threat.”

“If you take out Ashwin, then believe me . . . you'd only be shooting yourselves in the hoof,” the Doctor firmly assures. “He's only trying to do what's right.”

“And you think I'm not?” Chovix reflects bitterly then shakes his head. “You think I'm the villain here? You who just arrived in our world then immediately claim you have the moral high ground?"

“What would the Alphalmians you kidnapped say?” the Doctor asks as he raises an eyebrow at the foreman.

“You have no right to judge or condemn us,” Chovix stubbornly insists. “You don't know what we've been through.”

“No right to judge or condemn you, you say?” the Doctor shoots back as he glances down at the water rising from below before looking back at the foreman and continuing. “Then come over here and try saying that to my face on this side of the window. Let's see how well you can justify yourself then.”

“This isn't about me!" the foreman argues as he finally pounds his side of the door. "It's about all of the pony kind in this world. We'll all perish if we don't hoofle this carefully.”

"Why?" the Doctor immediately asks in an almost demanding tone.

The foreman growls in frustration as he looks down for a moment then sharply snaps his gaze back at the Doctor as he asks, “You really want to know?”

“Yes,” the Doctor insists simply.

“Fine then!” the foreman agrees with another pound at the door. “We discovered a toxic gas in the wing of the most promising section of our ore mine,” he explains. “I lost a lot of good ponies down there and we had to collapse that section to avoid spreading the toxic gas." He shakes his head. "On top of that, a lot of our machines we needed to salvage the rest of the city were breaking down. By then, we just lost access to the ore we could have used to refine and replace the broken parts we needed, so we were stuck both ways.

"But then, in our darkest hour, salvation came to us from the stars above. A race that came to us in these giant metal suits and not only claimed they had the means to help us, but they also proved it. But, in exchange, we had to do a favor for them. One I'd be unwilling to do under most circumstances, but they caught us in a particularly desperate moment.”

“Did they say the name of their race?” the Doctor checks with a softer voice and expression.

The foreman shakes his head as he says, “No, they didn't, so we just got used to calling them the Iron Suits.”

“Does your whole community down below know about this?” the Doctor probes further.

“Probably,” Chovix answers with a sigh of regret. “It's a small community down here, Doctor. Rumors fly fast. It's an even smaller community after I lost some of my best miners to the toxic gas.”

“How long ago did that occur?” asks the Doctor.

“Long enough to know for sure they could not have survived down there,” Chovix assures.

That answer causes the Doctor's expression to grow grim because that was part of the reason why he asked. After a while, he eventually asks, "Did it ever occur to you that the problems that caused you to so desperately embrace their offer was likely because they caused it in the first place?"

Chovix sighs and bumps his head on his end of the door once, then regards the Doctor solemnly as he admits, "To be honest, yes. That has occurred to me because their timing was unusually perfect. They came just after we had to collapse the most lucrative branch of our mine and while we desperately needed replacement parts for our other salvage machines. Without both, our entire operation here grinds to a halt. If we cannot produce any more ore by any means, then we have nothing to trade for supplies from other colonies.” The foreman shakes his head as he goes on to say, “Nevertheless, despite suspecting that they might have caused this whole affair, we were driven to a desperate corner at that point so we had to give in to their demands.”

“Perhaps, at the time, it might have seemed that way,” the Doctor partially concedes. “I still espouse that a clever enough mind can find an ideal solution through almost any problem, but I digress. Right now your options are more open than they used to be, but that's starting to change. You're about to kill the very ponies who can save you from this whole mess.”

"Sorry, Doctor. I truly am, but I cannot take that chance," the foreman argues. "Too much is at stake here, and I don't believe that you'd be powerful enough to oppose what we're up against."

"Tell that to the unusually persistent and aggressive weather on the surface," the Doctor points out. "You don't seem to have a solution for that and neither do your new benefactors, but I do.”

The foreman looks surprised at that declaration then narrows one eye suspiciously as he says, “You're bluffing.”

“You're new benefactors haven't shown up ever since the storm didn't let up, have they?” the Doctor asks. “You think that is a coincidence? At the same time, you've been attacking the Alphalmian race. A race known to have some influence over the storms, and you just gave them the incentive to use it.

"DAMN it, man! Think this through! Use your brain for once," the Doctor encourages. "You don't trust me and I get that, but can you trust the Iron Suits more than I? They provided conditional services during a highly suspicious moment. I, meanwhile, wasn't hiding in the shadows as they have. I even came with the support of one of the unicorns, a race that is known by your people to guard you against influences like this. I came to you all openly with open arms. Or . . . forelegs or what have you. Furthermore, one of your most trusted citizens vouched for me. Have you ever heard of Doctor Waston?"

“Of course I have,” Chovix answers softly. “He's the most educated and respected pony I know.”

“It is a pony like that which tried to assure the others that both my crew and I are on the up and up. I'll also bet you anything that Doctor Waston did not give the Iron Suits his thumbs up in approval. Hell, he probably doesn't even know about them entirely. You made sure of that, and so did the Iron Suits. That is because they know they are operating on this planet illegally so of course they would like to keep their operation here clandestine.” Upon seeing the foreman's immediate confusion with that last sentence, the Doctor clarifies, “They like to remain a secret.”

“Doctor, I don't mean to interrupt your conversation with our potential killer, but it's getting pretty darn cold back here!” Stern Wing complains in the background.

When Stern Wing said that, the Doctor turns his head halfway back to her but not enough to glance at her over his shoulder, then he shifts his eyes back to the foreman and asks, "You hear that? You're about to kill your saviors here. I came at you out in the open and I did it through official channels. I'm not hiding behind any iron suits but rather showing up with my open face. The only thing that I am asking you to do is to save us from destruction. In return, I'll do the same.”

“Why?” Chovix asks with suspicion. “I mean, besides wanting to be spared from being killed right now, what's in this for you ultimately?” He shakes his head. “You have nothing to gain by sparing us.”

"Au contraire, my young friend. There is much I stand to gain from this," the Doctor assures. "But it isn't something that is going to cost you anything. I just like to explore and have fun with other sentient lifeforms such as yourself. That's more of a challenge for me if you're all dead. Believe me, chatting with corpses gets rather boring quickly."

The Doctor pounds the door as he says, "Look, any way you look at it, the situation you're in isn't sustainable. The Iron Suits haven't shown up ever since the storm started. That either means they can't get to you or no longer wish to. Either way, that means they have abandoned you. In the meantime, I'm here and wanting to help and I've asked for nothing in return except for you to stop killing us and to allow me the honor and privilege to help you all."

“And why would that be a privilege for you?” Chovix asks skeptically.

“Because I am the Doctor!” the Doctor declares dramatically. “Saving others is what I do. You can even say it's practically a byproduct of my cutie mark. A mark of my destiny.

“Now, with all of that being said, by all means, please be a smart old chap and STOP KILLING YOUR SAVIORS!”

Foreman Chovix just continues to stare at the Doctor while considering the situation very hard.

“PLEASE!” the Doctor begs desperately with another pound at the door.

Chovix casts a long sigh as he looks down and shakes his head, then looks back at the Doctor as he says, “Don't make me regret this, Doctor.”

“I can assure you I have no such motivation to do so at this time,” the Doctor promises.

With another reluctant sigh, Chovix looks over to someone to his left and nods to that pony once again. Shortly after that, the pressure pumping water into the glass tunnel pauses and then reverses its flow.

Part 14: I Am the Doctor

After another long while of trotting, the TARDIS crew, the foreman, and six of his other cronies arrive at the large foreman's office which has two layers to it. The lower part at the entrance and a raised platform further off to the right side from the entrance. Light ignites in the room with flashing, fluorescent lights. Doing so reveals the clutter in the room that those entering will need to carefully circumvent. There are also dozens of windows along the far side of the wall away from the entrance that stretches up and curves back partially along the roof. Beyond displays an ocean so black that the lit interior mostly make these windows better for reflection of those standing inside the room. There is a cross-network of steel I beams visible along the roof too which provides a very steampunk atmosphere.

“It's here, isn't it?” the Doctor asks Vision beside him, but this time he asks that openly. Upon seeing Vision wince in heavy distress, he takes it as a strong sign that they are very close to the source of the psychic disturbance.

“Yes,” Vision answers with a pained strain on her face. “It's somewhere close by. I can feel it.”

“What exactly are you looking for?” foreman Chovix asks. “Perhaps I can help you seek it out.”

The moment Chovix asks this, his local cronies look at him with concern because they are still not certain they should trust these new strangers. After all, their whole race on this planet is at stake. This is a very big gamble for them.

Chovix notices their glance of concern and he returns it with as confident of a nod as he can muster, but in truth, he is very concerned as well and very much aware of the degree of responsibility that lies on his shoulders with this decision.

“Something that will soon annihilate you all if I don't defuse it,” the Doctor answers as he lifts his sonic screwdriver. The device emits a high-pitched but overall not too painfully light buzzing noise. A light ignites at the tip of the tool as well. Using this, he waves it about the room in various directions. As he does so, the pitch of noise from the device changes when he aims it in various directions. Using that strategy, he homes in on something towards the back of the room on the raised platform off to the right side of the entrance.

“Annihilate us?!” the foreman gasps. “What exactly do you mean, Doctor? Are you saying our benefactors also gave us some kind of bomb or something?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” the Doctor says as he roams towards the raised platform. From there, he continues to wave the metal stick about which seems to home in towards what appears to be a globe of this planet in the far back corner. The Doctor approaches it while spinning his sonic screwdriver with unnecessary style then puts it away on the right pocket of his flank.

As the Doctor approaches the globe, he notices some of the foreman's cronies gasp in shock and then almost jerk into motion to stop the Doctor from approaching something sensitive, but the foreman makes a sharp whistling sound to signal for their attention. Once he has it, he shakes his head in disapproval, thus silently informing them that they should allow the Doctor to examine this.

“Are you sure?” one of the cronies asks in distress and uncertainty.

Instead of answering that question, Chovix looks back at the Doctor and swallows hard while he obviously tries to muster his own confidence.

All of this basically confirms to the Doctor that he has, indeed, found something important in this adventure. That, in turn, reaffirms his own course of action. He examines the globe carefully and then soon realizes that the upper half of the globe can be unscrewed and removed. The Doctor proceeds to do so. When he does, it reveals a curious-looking alien device hidden beneath which looks like a series of violet crystals clustered in the center of the device and complicated tech surrounding it, especially compared to the standards of technology he has observed from these ponies thus far.

“I knew it,” the Doctor declares triumphantly as he continues to examine this device. Shortly later, he pulls out his sonic screwdriver again and proceeds to aim noise at the device. No pony else can easily tell what the Doctor is doing now, but he is scanning it to help him verify certain theories of his as well as figure out exactly how to manipulate it later. The information the Doctor later discovers because of his scan causes him to look down, sigh, shake his head, then twist his head to his left side to regard the foreman. Once he locks eyes with the stallion, he asks, “Do you have any idea what kind of dangerous tech you've been meddling with here?”

“I only know enough to use it,” the foreman answers. “Which is basically too-”

Foreman Chovix cuts himself off when he hears somepony else approach his office. He looks back at the entrance and notices that it is Ashwin Cobberfield. Two of the foreman's cronies stop Ashwin from entering the office.

“That's okay, Chovix,” says the Doctor. “Let him in. He brought something with him that we're going to need to solve our current crisis.”

Those that stopped Ashwin at the door look back at Chovix to see if the foreman agrees with the Doctor's recommendation, to which Chovix nods his confirmation. Upon doing so, those that blocked Ashwin initially by lifting their forehooves now lower the appendages back to the floor and thus remove themselves as an obstacle to Ashwin's entrance. Ashwin then proceeds to enter while giving this group a strange look because they are behaving quite differently than he remembers. He regards the Doctor especially long with a questioning look as if to silently ask, “Are you sure we can trust them?”

The Doctor nods at Ashwin as he says, “Go ahead, Ashwin. Pull 'it' out.”

Ashwin does not cooperate immediately. Instead, he gives a final suspicious glance at the rest of the ponies in the room, particularly those who work here down in Allon. This ends with Ashwin giving the Doctor another nervous but also hopeful glance as if to say, “I hope you know what you're doing.” After that, Ashwin turns his head into the saddlebag off to his right side and fishes for something with his mouth before pulling out a crystal orb that has what appears to be a tiny stormy cloud trapped within it. The storm cloud flashes silently to those who observe it.

Those that work in Allon gasp at the sight of this device. One of them even asks, “Is that the . . .?” He trails off with uncertainty as if afraid to finish asking that question.

To answer the question, Ashwin lowers his head to the floor and carefully spits out what he's been holding in his mouth. To keep it from rolling away, he then applies a hoof directly on top of it. After that, he lifts his head to gaze at his fellow workers with a bit of tight fury as he answers, “Yes. This is The Orb of Storms.”

“You had it?!” Chovix asks Ashwin with shock and fury. “You had it this whole time, and you used it against your fellow ponies?!”

“Yes!” Ashwin growls in anger. “Because I can't be proud of being a race that is willing to capture and sell another race so indiscriminately.”

“Indiscriminate!?” Chovix asks with rising fury. “You knew what we were up against! How we were backed into a corner and we had to do what we did.”

“That doesn't make it right,” Ashwin argues back. “How is it justice to be willing to impose misfortune upon others but conveniently be willing to deflect it from ourselves?”

“CONVENIENT?!” Chovix shouts back. “THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING CONVENIENT ABOUT WHAT I HAD TO GO THROUGH. WHAT WE HAD TO GO THROUGH.”

“Enough of the blame game!” the Doctor demands. “Don't you see? None of that is going to solve our problem now. Everyone here had their own personal reasons for believing that what they've done was for the best, but right now we need to move past all that and get what needs to be done, done. To that end,” the Doctor regards Ashwin directly and nods to him. “Use The Orb of Storms and cancel the weather up on the surface.”

Ashwin flashes the Doctor a cautious look as he reminds him, “If I do that, you are aware that another problem will come and replace the storm, right?”

“That's why you did it?” Chovix asks Ashwin incredulously.

Now it's the Doctor's turn to whistle to signal for attention to the foreman. Once he has it, the Doctor simply shakes his head before turning his attention back to Ashwin and says, “I'm well aware of that and I plan on dealing with that problem next. For now, one step at a time, please. You ponies can't sustain yourselves as you are right now so we might as well get this over with.”

“If necessary, you can use that to summon the storm back,” Feather Wind reminds Ashwin. “So go ahead and drop it now. We're not out of options later if you do.”

“We're going to have a long discussion about this later,” Chovix assures Ashwin tightly.

“I plan on confessing what I've done to everypony once this gets settled,” Ashwin returns. “While I am at it, you should do the same. We all deserve to surrender to our communities' judgment once this is done.”

Finally, the foreman's expression towards Ashwin softens a bit as he admits, “That's the plan.” Saying that evokes immediate and sharp concern from the rest of the foreman's underlings around him to which he quickly assures, “Don't worry. I'll take full responsibility for all this. You were all acting under my command so I won't surrender any names beyond my own.”

“That's admirable of you,” Stern Wing tells the foreman with approval. “That is the way a proper leader should behave.”

“I don't need you to tell me that!” Chovix barks in sudden and sharp anger at Stern Wing. “Whether you approve or not of my past or future actions are irrelevant to me. I know my duties and I shall follow them.”

“And on that note,” begins the Doctor to the whole room before he nods at Ashwin specifically. “Ashwin,” he says with encouragement.

Ashwin takes a deep breath to summon his confidence before sitting down, lifting The Orb of Storms between his hooves, then for all intents and purposes, appears to meditate after that.

“Did you disable the psychic bomb, Doctor?” Derpy asks the Doctor in concern.

“As I said, one problem at a time, my faithful companion,” the Doctor tells the gray pegasus in a reassuring voice. “I know what I'm doing.”

“Okay, Doctor,” Derpy tells him back while raising a thin smile. “I trust you. I just want everypony to stop being in pain or in danger is all.”

“I share that goal as well,” the Doctor returns to her. “Now, everyone, a moment of silence please while Ashwin completes his task.”

That's exactly what happens next. Everyone remains on quiet standby while Ashwin finishes using The Orb of Storms. Four silent minutes later, Ashwin opens his eyes and he is the first to break the silence.

“It's done,” Ashwin assures. “The storm should be dissipating right now.”

“Excellent!” the Doctor cheers.

“Can you verify that?” Stern Wing asks Feather Wind beside her.

“It's not as easy to do so down here in these depths, but I can try,” Feather Wind offers.

“How would you be able to tell?” one of the workers asks the light blue unicorn.

“Oh trust me, he has his ways,” Stern Wing assures confidently.

“So do we,” Chovix returns evenly then looks at one of his underlings who has the whitest hide. “Chalman,” he says which gathers that stallion's attention, “I want you to tell Shtoliz to radio our contacts up on the surface. Ask if the storm is indeed dissipating.”

“If it is, Shtoliz might get the memo before I even get there,” Chalman guesses.

“Either way, report back to me whatever the result is,” Chovix orders.

Chalman nods and says, “Yes Sir,” before taking off to do as ordered.

“In the meantime,” Chovix begins as he eyes Ashwin narrowly.

“You're not getting this orb from me,” Ashwin growls as he stands up and backs off a bit with the orb in one of his hooves.

“I wasn't planning on taking it,” Chovix quickly assures. “After all, you're probably the only one in this room who is somehow trained to use it anyway.”

“That's what happens when we engage the Alphalmians more peacefully,” Ashwin partially explains.

“No doubt,” Chovix agrees. “Because they are the only ones who could have given it to you and trained you in its usage. As a result, you are an indispensable resource at the moment and therefore I'm not letting you out of my sight. On the contrary, you're going to stay here and help me confront what is coming next. I want you to see the Iron Suits for yourself just so that you know exactly what I've been dealing with all this time.”

Ashwin suddenly looks partially confused as he asks, “Iron Suits? Is that the name of the slavers you contacted?”

“Sort of,” Chovix answers Ashwin before shaking his head as he says, “They never declared what their name is, so that is what we've been calling them in the meantime. The reason for that shall be obvious to you soon.

“More to the point, I want you here in case whatever happens next goes south. If it turns out the Doctor can't hoofle them then perhaps you can use that orb.” Chovix then looks questioning as he asks, “Is it possible you could summon a storm to attack a specific target? Something like a spaceship, perhaps?”

Ashwin's expression softens from guarded and accusatory to uncertain as he answers, “Probably not, especially if I can't see it. This orb can only help me affect the weather in a general location.”

Ashwin's answer causes Chovix to be very thoughtful.

“Sir,” Chalman gasps as he returns to the office. Once there, he tries to speak, but he keeps wheezing instead.

“Take your time,” Chovix commands his underling. “Catch your breath. Just breathe.”

Chalman nods at Chovix in understanding then closes his eyes as he forces himself to breathe. At first he is doing it quickly, but he deliberately tries to slow his breath.

Observing this, an idea suddenly pops into Feather Wind's mind. An experiment that he never really tried before. Knowing how well he is connected to the wind and sky, Feather Wind attempts what he considers a slightly risky move by intensifying the air pressure around Chalman in such a way that it might squeeze oxygen closer to Chalman. Thus, while the other stallion attempts to catch his breath, Feather Wind tries to see if he can enrich the quality of the oxygen itself directly around Chalman.

Air is hard to see, though, so it is difficult to tell if Feather's experiment is working. The only result he can tell is feeling stronger air pressure on his own skull. It's probably worse for Chalman so Feather releases the air pressure some. In the end, Feather gains no idea if his experiment helped to enrich the oxygen itself, but he definitely succeeded to intensify the air pressure at least.

“Better?” Chovix asks after a few minutes' pause.

“Yes Sir,” Chalman verifies.

“Then report,” Chovix orders.

“Yes Sir,” Chalman repeats and then says, “Good news. The weather has indeed relaxed up on the surface.”

“Told you,” Ashwin lightly taunts.

“There's more, Sir,” Chalman adds after he casts a brief glance back at Ashwin when that stallion spoke. He then focuses back on his boss as he adds, “They are now here too, Sir.”

“The Suits?” Chovix double-checks.

Before Chalman can answer, he pauses when they all hear an usual sound pick up around the office. It sounds like something large is approaching them from outside in the dark ocean which makes a rhythmically repeating "wow-wow" that no ordinary tech of these pony's age could possibly make. Moments later, something even more spectacular happens when a giant metallic spaceship gradually becomes visible outside the foreman's office windows. As this ship appears, there is a wavy quality to it as it gradually gains visible solidity. When it fully becomes visible, some can notice there is a vague egg shape to this giant vessel. It is particularly rounded and fat on what appears to be the bottom decks. Smaller bubble shape bloats lie on top of the fattest part of the ship and it narrows out into an oval curve at the top. Many lights are visible through the other vessel's porthole windows. In addition to that, unusual-looking lights are beaming out from the ship that seems to shift across a rainbow spectrum of light. Those lights also appear a bit wavy because of the giant ship stirring up motion in the ocean water.

“Yes Sir,” Chalman finally confirms after it has become abundantly obvious that the Iron Suits have indeed arrived.

To Chovix's credit, he gives a completely serious and non-sarcastic nod of understanding and acceptance to his underling as if saying, “I have received and understood your report, and I'm glad to have received it.”

“I hope you understand that it is my every intention to be sure that these guys walk away empty-handed,” the Doctor warns Chovix.

“Duly noted,” Chovix confirms as he looks back at the Doctor. “And it's up to you to give them an incentive to leave empty . . . um . . .” Chovix suddenly looks confused. “You did say empty hoofed, right?”

The Doctor snickers for a moment then waves Chovix off as he says, “Basically, yes. Same difference.”

“I think he actually said something about empty han-ded?” another one of Chovix's underlings says with a confused squint to his face.

“That's just the Doctor's quirky nature,” Derpy assures with a playful giggle. “You get used to it . . . sort of. Eventually.”

Outside, the Iron Suits vessel continues to get closer and closer. Pretty soon it becomes impossible to see the upper or lower end of the other ship because it is too close. Moments later, Allon shakes a bit as the other vessel collides with the underwater station. More giant metallic sounds soon follow as the other ship docks and secures its position.

“They are coming here?” the Doctor checks with Chovix as the Time Lord points down to their current position.

“Yes,” Chovix confirms. “More specifically, through the secret passage behind you.” As the Doctor checks over his shoulder, Chovix adds, “It's behind the bookshelf.”

Curious, the Doctor spins about and approaches the said bookshelf. He aims his sonic screwdriver at it and it emits a small buzzing noise as he waves it about the bookshelf for a few seconds. Five seconds later, the device extends, revealing a new compartment in the center of the device. The Doctor glances at it for a second before looking back at the bookshelf with a nod as he says, “Yes. I see. Very interesting.”

“That was their idea,” Chovix goes on to mention. “They didn't feel comfortable marching through our station in public, but nevertheless, most of my staff knows something about them because their vessel is quite noticeable, as you can see. Well, at least as you can see now.”

“A cloaking device,” the Doctor realizes as he looks out the foreman's windows at the other vessel that is now too close to see anything other than a giant wall and a few porthole windows. “That somewhat explains how these guys can pass right through the unicorn's blockade around this planet.”

No pony else in the room entirely followed along with the Doctor's terminology, particularly around the word “cloaking device”, but they somewhat got the idea based on context clues.

Several minutes later, they all hear the sound of marching from those who must be traveling with thick metallic boots. Shortly later, the bookshelf slides off to the side along with another thick steel door behind it. From beyond that, the TARDIS crew, as well as Ashwin, got their first look at this visiting alien race. This race stood upright on two pretty thick legs. They only stand about five feet tall. Based on what they can see of this race's suits, they are very broad and rounded in the shoulders. Their faces jut forward from the rest of their head to something that kind of resembles an ant-eater, but the resemblance stops there. They also have thick arms and thick hands. There is the sound of steam occasionally hissing as it escapes their suits at various points. To those who observe this, it quickly becomes apparent that this race is wearing an environmental suit so they can preserve whatever condition they need to live down here. In addition to that, the suits look pretty durable from a physical standpoint as if they are meant to endure punishment from possible combat. There are large boxes placed in their chest area which have many dials, switches, and gauges. Flexible tubes extend from the box on their chest that each arc back to their helmets from the left and right side. For their eyes, they all have what appears to be a pair of reddish-tinted tiny windows in their helmets that is too opaque to see anything beyond from the outside looking in.

“Klaxians,” sighs the Doctor as his shoulders lower wearily. “I should have known.”

Those in the room barely hear some quiet, wheezing sound from within one of the suits. Moments later, a robotic-sounding voice box booms in a slightly echo-y tone as if it is speaking through a metal tube. The question that the Klaxian in the lead asks is what one might assume to be a translation of what the one within the suit asked a moment ago, and that is, "Cho-vix, why are there ex-tra in-tru-ders in your of-fice right now? We thought we had made our feel-ings quite clear on this ma-tter a long time ago.”

“You might be able to tell that there have been some complications since our last visit together,” Chovix says back to the lead Klaxian. “For instance, you might have noticed the unusual storm that has only recently dissipated?”

“In-deed. The weh-ther ah-nom-ah-ly proved to be quite the in-con-venience for us,” the lead Klaxian agrees. “As a re-sult, and as you can well ee-mag-ine, this has put us quite be-hind sched-u-le. So, if you don't mind, we would de-spense with the pleas-an-tries and swift-ly move on with our trade ah-gree-ment.”

“Well . . . you see . . . there is a problem with that too,” Chovix replies a little nervously but he clearly tries to muster up his confidence mid-sentence.

“We are not in-teres-ted in fur-ther de-lays or ex-cu-ses,” the Klaxian says back in annoyance. “Do you have our new sam-ple or not?”

“He does, but you will not be receiving it this time or any other from this point forward,” insists the Doctor as he boldly steps up and makes his presence more known.

“Who is this? Who dares to speak to us so bol-dly?” asks the flat, echo-y, and robotic sound of the Klaxian's voice translator.

“I'm glad you asked. I am the Doctor!” the Doctor announces boldly.

After a short, probably confused pause, the Klaxian then asks, “Doc-tor who?”

“Thee Doctor, actually,” the Doctor announces. “If you haven't heard of me then, I promise you, you soon will, for there is unlikely any greater force that you have reckoned with. I am the last of the Time Lords that I'm aware of. There are some who have called me Time Lord Victorious, and to my enemies . . . I have also been known as The Oncoming Storm!”

The Doctor's recent declaration stirs greater interest, and perhaps even alarm, among the gathered Klaxians. This time they discuss something amongst themselves and, when they do, their voice translator does not pick it up. They are barely audible to anyone outside of their artificial suits, but one can guess that they can easily be understood by each other, possibly because of some built-in intercom system within their helmets. After a quick and possibly also heated debate, the lead Klaxian asks, “You said you are Thee Doc-tor? Time Lord Doc-tor? He who pi-lots the Tar-dis?”

“So you have heard of me. Good!” the Doctor cheers rather aggressively. “Then you know I am not an individual to be crossed lightly and that I am an individual that always keeps my word. With that in mind, gentleman, I hereby make unto you this pledge.” He nods back to the rest of the ponies behind him. “These ponies here, and in any other world as well, are under my protection and I shall not allow you to harm or corrupt these innocent ponies any further. Furthermore, I hereby also demand the immediate return of every Alphalmians you ever stole to be returned to their rightful planet here, or there shall be consequences.”

“You do not scare us, Doc-tor,” says the lead klaxian. “For we have heard of you. No weh-pons or arm-a-ments of any kind, nor in your ves-sel. You tra-vel the stars uh-ter-ly de-void of any re-spect-ful ah-ffen-sive or de-fen-sive qual-lit-ies. Mean-while, we have sub-stan-tial might in our tech. You can-not beat us.”

The Doctor pauses a moment as he just stares at the klaxians. Eventually he slowly looks among each of his own companions one by one then scans among all the rest of the ponies standing in the room. Without exception, everyone in the room seems to wait with bated breath to see what the Doctor says next. During that time, tension clings to the air within that deafening silence.

“Well . . . that's certainly true,” the Doctor concedes as he looks back at the Klaxians. “At least about the part about weapons and armor and such. I do not have those things, but it's also true I don't have them by choice. It's further true that I don't require them either, for I will tell you what I do have. I have a time and relative dimension in space machine. I have a nifty tool that can do anything my clever mind can fathom. I have well over nine-hundred years of experience trouncing bullies like you into submission. I also share the company of some of the most marvelous companions these universes have ever seen, and each of them is formidable in their own right. They are brilliantly shining stars who stand by me loyally because they are my friends and . . . as some of them like to say and clearly demonstrated, there is such magic in that friendship. All of that stands loyally beside me.

“And do you want to know why some call me Time Lord Victorious and/or The Oncoming Storm? Those titles have largely been awarded to me by others who were foolish enough to cross me or my friends. They lie strewn across many worlds broken and shattered, and in the wake of my passing, they could only utter either one or both of those titles.

“Heed my warning, oh dangerously ambivalent one; you are about to join a legacy of the vanquished who wear that title with overwhelming shame. 'If only I did not cross the Doctor,' they cry out in misery.”

The Doctor closes his eyes and looks straight down as he pads up next to the lead klaxian who, meanwhile, has done or said nothing else as if possibly stricken with terror, but their faceless masks make that hard to tell. Meanwhile, the Doctor does not say another word until he stands directly in front of the lead klaxian.

“Among all of my vanquished foes, there is another pattern that is common among them,” announces the Doctor as he stands directly in front of the lead klaxian but he still has his eyes closed and his face aimed downward. “A piece of advice they would give to all others who are unfortunate enough to earn my angry eyes upon them, and that is one word in particular.”

For dramatic tension, the Doctor pauses again before suddenly lifting his face and opening his eyes to give a focused and narrow angry stare at the lead klaxian.

“Run!” the Doctor announces with focused anger.

Right after the Doctor said that, a red alert emergency beeping noise emanates from their suits. When the lead klaxian answers it, he demands, “Re-port.”

“Sir, men-ny ah-qua-tic life-forms are now ah-tack-ing our ship!” announces the crackled and static-sounding klaxian (presumably) at the other end of the line.

“What?!” the lead klaxian asks in horrified shock.

“We suh-fered some hull dam-age and they are con-tin-u-ing their ah-sault,” the one on the other end further reports. “Your or-ders, Sir?”

From the sounds of the outside, this appears to be no bluff. Everyone standing in the room can now hear numerous banging sounds out there and they are growing louder and more frequent as time goes on. Since the other vessel is so close, however, it visually conceals everything else out there.

“Your or-ders, Sir?” the one on the other end of the line repeats after a five-second pause.

“Pre-pare for de-par-ture,” the lead klaxian finally answers.

“Aye Sir,” confirms the other one on the line.

The lead klaxian turns about then gestures for his five escorts to fall back. In unison, they do an about-face, although somewhat clumsily, then proceed to more waddle away since they lean so heavily from side to side as they venture away. The lead klaxian starts after them a few dozen steps in the same manner, but once he's beyond the thick steel door of the hidden passageway, he pauses a moment to turn back to the Doctor and announce to him, “I will re-mem-ber this, Doc-tor!” the lead klaxian promises in a somewhat threatening tone for a flat, robotic voice box.

“Oh yeah?” the Doctor reflects. “Well, unfortunately for you, I will remember you as well. Take heed from this moment forward. Wherever you go and whatever you do, even if you venture to the farthest corners of the universe in time and space, you'll find that I have already arrived there, more or less, ten days ago and I've been using all that time to arrange the local circumstances to be as unfortunate for you as possible. So, whenever you find that the local authorities are unusually well prepared to engage you, whenever you find that your cargo hold full of ill-gotten gains is suddenly empty, and whenever you find what you thought were ironclad deals with potential customers and clients suddenly, and mysteriously, back off from you . . . take a moment to fearfully peek over your shoulder because all of these are a sign of The Oncoming Storm! For as long as you keep the stolen Alphalmians from returning to their native planet in an uninjured state, then you are only keeping a target forever plastered on your foreheads. Remember that, too!” the Doctor barks sharply and very harshly. It is rather close to a hardcore growl.

The lead klaxian's gaze lingers on the Doctor for two seconds longer then wheels about to waddle away in a hurry. Each of his steps makes a loud clang-clang noise. Soon after that the giant steel door slides to a close. Following that, the bookshelf then slides back to hide the steel door again.

Long after the klaxians have departed, the rest of the room remains in spooked silence. Even Stern Wing and Feather Wind have never seen the Doctor angry to this degree.

It honestly is the Doctor himself to break this tense ice. He does so by releasing a long breath then suddenly snaps back into the semblance of his old cheerful self as he says with a roll of his head, “Weeeell . . . now that that unpleasantness is taken care of for the time being, it's time to address some other urgent concerns. Namely this thing.” The Doctor nods to the psychic crystal device that was hidden in the globe in the room. “This bomb is now unleashed. I have tweaked its energy to target the klaxian ship for the time being, but even after they take off, the hostile psychic energy of this thing is projecting will still be there and the now berserk sea life will need a new target for their rage unless we can disable this bomb.”

“Uh . . . yes! Disable the bomb!” Derpy encourages. “I'm strongly in favor of the 'disable bomb' option. I absolutely do indeed concur with that option. Wholeheartedly!”

“Well said, my lovely and faithful companion,” the Doctor says as he flashes her a fond smile which soon sinks into a serious frown. “But, unfortunately, I cannot do this on my own. Now, with my sonic device, I can at least tweak this device, but to disable the hostile energy itself while it is in the middle of explosive projection, the pain and anger it is producing must be quelled.”

Derpy tilts her head cutely at the Doctor as she asks with a bewildered blink and a mismatched gaze of her walleyes, “What do you mean, Doctor? How can we quell the hostile energy?”

The Doctor taps the psychic device in question with his sonic screwdriver four times to indicate it as he explains, “This device was given to the native ponies here to serve as a trap for the Alphalmians. In particular, it sent out a, more or less, false psychic distress call, or rather to say it is sort of a recording of other Alphalmians who went through real pain. Once this device captured that psychic 'recording', it projected it upon command within the waters of this planet. That kind of energy can be detected at an impressive distance. Once another Alphalmian heard that distress call, they came in, one by one, to rescue their wayward companion, little realizing that the one that the psychic imprint is gained from had already left the planet a while ago. Once the others are lured by this trap, this device then sends out an intense dissonance psychic frequency to stun the minds of these would-be rescuers and they end up captured as well.

“However,” the Doctor turns to the group, “crystals like these are natural harmonic resonators and receivers of psychic, and perhaps even magical, energy. In short, the distress call recording imprinted upon this device is not the only psionic energy it captured. With each Alphalmian it lured here, it captured their resonance frequency of pain as well. Over time, this device has been capturing more and more waves of hostile psychic energy and it just can't contain it anymore. It's sort of like an overflowing cup or more like a dam that is about to shatter.”

“Okay,” Derpy says with a mist of tears in her eyes because of the pain the Doctor describes. Wrestling internally to control her emotions, the gray pegasus asks, “So now that we have established what it is and why it is causing all these problems, how do we solve it?”

“Be that as it may, this device is little different from a crying and wounded child,” explains the Doctor. “If a real child was hurt and wounded in front of you, how would you go about soothing such a being? What is the most effective way you can think of? Case in point . . .” He trails off as he nods toward Vision. When Derpy looks, she grows startled to notice how distressed and haggard Vision looks.

All this time, Vision has been enduring the intense waves of hostile psychic energy of a device radiating from nearby. Until now, her mental fortitude held out for the most part with the intense inner strength and mental discipline she gained from the monks she grew up with. Her feats are especially impressive considering her youth, but now the source of the hostile psychic energy has burst and is sending out even more intensive waves of hostile psychic energy everywhere. For the moment most of that energy is concentrated upon the desperately retreating klaxian ship, but eventually, that vessel will escape and the energy will still be there. That hostile energy will need a new target unless the pain can be healed at the source.

“VISION!” Derpy cries out, startled, as she wraps her wings protectively around the young foal who is now shivering with exhaustion and pain. “I'm so sorry, Honey, for not noticing your distress!” Derpy weeps over the foal.

Vision wants to reply that was the point. She tried her best to endure this mental torture quietly so that she would not be a more obvious liability to the others than she already was, but now the pain had grown too strong for her to entirely conceal. It is taking all of her remaining mental fortitude to avoid screaming in raw agony.

“Oh Doctor, what are we going to do?” Derpy wails over Vision.

“What did your mother do whenever you were in pain?” the Doctor reflects.

The question momentarily takes Derpy aback. She pops her eyes open since she is so surprised he asked at this moment, but then gives his question some serious thought a second later. After a short pause, she answers, “She sang to me soothingly.”

The Doctor flashes her a knowing grin as he says in a cocky way, “Singing, huh? Now that can produce some pretty darn soothing psychic energy. It's too bad we don't have a sonic amplification device so that we can . . . Oh wait! We do!” The Doctor proudly, almost to the point of being smug, lifts his sonic screwdriver and ignites it. The tip visibly lights up. A moment later, his expression dramatically shifts to tenderness as he encourages her, “So sing, my faithful companion. Sing your lovely heart out. Pour all your love and tenderness into each note of the song. Sing to express the fullness of your wish for all to be well.”

“Um,” Derpy blushes in embarrassment but there is resolve that hardens in her eyes, too. If doing this can help others in any way, especially those that she loves, then she can't contain herself for much longer anyway. “Okay, Doctor,” she says in a small and meek voice, but there is hidden steel in there as well. “If you think that is best.”

“I do, my lovely companion,” the Doctor reassures soothingly. “Now pour your heart out. Let the magic within you flow through us all. Meanwhile, on my end, I'll do my best to carry your voice high enough to soothe what needs to be healed. What needs to be heard.”

Derpy takes a moment to gather her composure and sort of sink into a trance as she remembers the song that was once sung to her by her own mother as well as the tender feelings those memories evoked. She captures that feeling and brings it to the forefront then adds her own love in her heart to this moment.

When all that happens, magic projects from lips in the form of the following lullaby.

“Stars and moons

and air balloons

Fluh-ffy clouds to the horiiiiiii-zon

Iiiiiiiiiii'll wrap you in raaaaaaaain-boooooows

and rock you to sleep agaaaaaaaaaain.”

The others in the room, really without exception, sink into a trance themselves as they hear not only Derpy's soothing voice but enhanced to a near ethereal quality along with a slight echo to it thanks to the Doctor's sonic device amplifying her angelic voice. It's hard to describe to most who are hearing it, but regardless, the song, along with the genuine love and affection behind it, melts their stress away.

She continues.

“Teh-ddy bears of Pink.

“Ducks . . . and lambs of whiiiiiiiiii-ite

Don't you cryyyyy dear, I'm here now

Iiiiiiiiii'll be your niiiiiiiight-liiiight.”

A short pause, then she continues.

“Stars and moons

and air balloons

Fluh-ffy clouds to the horiiiiiii-zon

Iiiiiiiiiii'll wrap you in raaaaaaaain-boooooows

and rock you to sleep agaaaaaaaaaain.

“Smiiiiiles to cure the frowwwwns.

Twirling and tumbling in laugh-ter.

Some-day life will alwaaaaays be . . .

happily ever ahhh-ahh-af-ter.

“Ne-ver more will the stor-ums come,

to destroy your lit-tle worllllld.

Ne-ver more will the wah-ters rise,

til the mountains no longer touch the skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiies.”

Another short pause and this time a little longer, but she eventually resumes again.

“Stars and moons

and air balloons

Fluh-ffy clouds to the horiiiiiii-zon

Iiiiiiiiiii'll wrap you in raaaaaaaain-boooooows

and rock you to sleep agaaaaaaaaaain.”

She repeats the last stanza, but much slower and tenderly this time.

“Iiiiiiiiiii'll wrap you in raaaaaaaain-booooooooooooooows

. . .

and rock you to sleeeeeep agaaaaaaaaaaaaain.”

From this point on, her song fades off and she hugs Vision more tightly but also gently. She nuzzles her muzzle tenderly on top of Vision's head as tears drop down her closed eyes.

Vision is now peacefully asleep.

The other occupants within the room remain quiet as they gradually recover their wits. That even includes the Doctor who has to sniff and wipe away his own tears before he looks over his shoulder at the psychic device that is now emitting a much slower and soothing frequency. He waves his sonic device as he raises its pitch to double-check the results. Sure enough, he discovers, to his relief, that the hostile energy that was built up within this bomb has successfully been defused with love. It sounds corny to him, but it also makes sense to him in a way and he won't argue with positive results.

And that is not all. Not only did the hostile psionic resonance of this crystal gets successfully defused, but it also freed the mind of the one who was originally feeding negative energy into this crystal. A mind that, until now, could not escape that trap, but now that it is gone, freedom awaits.

Outside, light begins to pick up which soon draws the attention of anyone within the room who isn't blind or downright asleep. When those that can look, they behold a wondrous sight, especially for those who are not accustomed to this.

Outside, a luminous jellyfish-like creature elegantly drifts into their sight. A creature that looks like a cross between a jellyfish and a squid. As told to them earlier or observed before, black eyes are at the butt of this creature which actually makes it a head. Down below, long beautiful tentacles swish and sway gently as the angelic-like creature more floats than swims into view.

Aside from that, soothing waves of warmth and gratitude drift into the minds of all within the foreman's office. This is doubly true for Derpy, to which this angelic creature was freed because of her soothing song, and Ashwin gets some special messages as well. Love is communicated within that message, but other important messages are too. Messages which bring him to tears but he also nods in confirmation and understanding of that silent but warm communication.

As for Vision, she's communing with the creature in her dreams on levels nobody else in the room, not even the Doctor, can fathom.

Chovix actually bows to the noble creature. His heart is filled with regret but also some resolve. Certain promises are made to the creature to make amends for what he has done. As for his cronies, they bow too shortly after their leader does, but no particular special communication is passed between them other than general love and warmth.

Special attention is also devoted to the Doctor. Between them, whole memories are being passed back and forth as if to catch up between old friends. This is actually the first time the Doctor is encountering this being in this particular universe and this linear timeline, but that isn't the case in the reverse. She's met the Doctor before and secretly tells him what he needs to know to prepare for certain aspects of his future journey. Camaraderie is also shared between them in a way that transcends all time. A timeless and special moment shared between them that will have a lasting impact on them both.

When it ends and the Doctor returns from his timeless trance, tears are shed in his eyes. He almost mindlessly drifts towards one of the office windows and reaches a hoof to touch the glass. On the other side, the Alphalmian princess reaches the tip of one of her gentle and glowing tentacles right back to touch the other side of the glass. Because they are both telepathic to some extent, another moment of warm energy passes between them. In doing so, they both feel energized almost as if they arose from the grips of one of the Doctor's regeneration cycles.

“I will,” the Doctor promises the noble creature to some unspoken request. He does this so quietly that it's almost a whisper. “I promise.”

Author's Note

Derpy's Lullaby written in this chapter is very strongly based on the below. I just added more flair to the text to showcase how it is sung and there is some description between the lyrics to show what else is happening in the scene. This will give you a very good idea what it should sound like in this chapter too.

Another theme song that well fits this chapter, particularly when the Doctor was confronting the Klaxian commander boldly, is this song below which I personally keep hearing in the back of my mind during that speech.

Part 15: Onwards and Upwards

Feather Wind turns about on some kind of soft surface before he fully realizes that the surface is a bed. If that is true, then it means the reality he just experienced a moment before was a dream.

Feather Wind's eyes pop awake and then blink tiredly. As his waking memories flood back to him, he recalls how the last time he awakened on this bed, he was confused and delirious.

But not this time. This time he awakens more fully aware that he is on the TARDIS. Along with that knowledge comes the realization that this ultra-strange reality he's been waking up to lately is very gradually becoming the norm. Becoming that which he expects to find when he awakens. That, in itself, is already a strange feeling.

As he rises out of bed and the silky bed sheet slides off of his upper body, Feather Wind dwells on the triumphant moment yesterday when he got out of the submersible pod and looked up to a clear purple sky. That, at first, struck him as strange, but then he recalled that he was, indeed, on an alien planet. Something in the atmosphere, the ocean, or the alien sun caused a different hue in the sky, but that feeling of strangeness soon passed back then as he took a deep, clean breath in. Magic and a feeling of oneness with the air flooded into him. Moments later he also realized a subtle feeling of gratitude flooded his system as well. For several weeks the sky was tickled and agitated into a raging state, and finally, it had a chance to relax. There was freedom in that. Freedom to be what the sky naturally wanted to be.

Feather Wind soaks in that peaceful feeling of gratitude and triumph again as he did that previous day. It feels and felt so good to know that all of their challenging efforts had paid off in the end. The world did become a better place again because of their efforts, and that is a very great feeling!

Feather Wind's ears above his head perk up then shift to his left when he notices more noise pick up outside of this room. Curious and excited, he climbs out of bed and moves to investigate.

Upon arrival at the TARDIS's main control room, Feather Wind discovers that it is the Doctor that has returned. When he sees that, more memories come flooding into the adolescent unicorn's mind. Principle among this is an explanation of why the Doctor wasn't here until this moment. While everyone else was exhausted from their latest journey, and Vision was already asleep, the Doctor kept on going. He, once again, credited his unusually robust stamina to the fact he had two hearts.

Aside from that, the Doctor made the claim he still had a few loose ends to tie up in this adventure. Chief among them is to return to Allon shortly so he can finish the task of gathering the medicine needed to help cure these ponies.

When the Doctor said that, those of his companions that were still awake voiced their concern for him, but the Doctor assured them that he could probably easily handle the rest. Now that he knew one of the Alphalmians was around, and their princess no less, the Doctor felt confident that they could quell the rage of the tatavaxs guarding the coral reefs where the medicine would be. Once that is secure, all that is left is to distribute it among the sick ponies who need it.

Judging by the goofy grin the Doctor is wearing on his face now, Feather Wind can already assume that the Doctor has, once again, returned triumphantly. Feather didn't really expect any less considering the scope of challenges that appeared to be left, but like everyone else, there was at least a thread of concern that the Doctor was going about the rest of this alone. Still, it appears that everything has, indeed, worked out in the end.

“So how did it go?” Stern Wing asks the Doctor with an affectionate pound on the Doctor's back using her left wing.

“Um,” the Doctor pauses a moment to consider his answer then says with a nod, “pretty good, actually. Of course, things could be better. The sick ponies are going to need more time to recover their health but, armed with the medicine they need to do that, Doctor Waston and I are confident that they should make a full recovery.

“The fact that the radio tower has collapsed is a bummer, but the extra food supplies we gave them from here, along with the extra medicine they secured from under the ocean, should tide them over long enough to build a new radio tower. Once that is complete, they can radio the rest of the ponies to signal that the storm has finally passed and that is now safe to resume trade.”

“I'm glad to hear that our efforts helped here, but Doctor . . . we needed those food supplies too,” Stern Wing points out. “I have no objection to what we used them for in this adventure, but I hope it is the plan to re-stock our supplies again. Not only for our sakes but for the sake of others we might encounter later who might be under similar constraints.”

“I know, and we'll soon address that,” the Doctor assures. “There are plenty of destinations I know of where we can safely re-gather supplies. Among them, I know of some cultures that owe me a few favors, or at least they did in the previous universe.” He lifts a hoof and twists it from side to side as he says in an iffy way, “There might be some valuable opportunities among that. That could also give me a chance to check on some old friends. If they have been ponified as well, then I really look forward to catching up with them.” He lowers his hoof back to the ground as he goes on to say, “It may be that I'll have to build a rapport with them again, but as it has possibly become clear to you all by now, I don't shy away from a challenge.”

“What about the collapsed wing of the mine?” Derpy asks the Doctor in concern. “Chovix said he could no longer access one of the most important wings of his mine shaft due to discovering lethal pockets of gas. That was the very circumstances that originally encouraged him to cooperate with the klaxians. Also, what will happen to Chovix and Ashwin now, and what do you know of the klaxians anyway? Are we going to chase them down next and pester them to return the Alphalmians they stole?”

“Whoa! Easy there, girl. One question at a time please,” the Doctor encourages. “First of all, there's no easy answer to every problem we encounter. It is likely going to take time to work around the problems they encountered in the mine shaft. I passed a few suggestions that may help eventually, but even then will take time to fully come to fruition.

“But considering the need in play, it is likely Chovix and his cronies will be sentenced to community service, not jail. That is because his services are too invaluable right now. Chovix was telling the truth that he doesn't have the personnel to spare considering the crisis he was under. That same logic can easily be understood by everyone else in Salvage. It may take a long time for Chovix and his crew to fully earn the trust back of the rest of the community, but they are committed to doing precisely that and they have the means to do it. With dedication and hard work, they should be able to accomplish whatever they set their minds to.

“As far as our role in this affair is concerned, it is not a wise policy, in general, to bog ourselves down solving every tiny little problem that we observe other societies having. We should instead concentrate on the big crisis that they can't handle. Once that is quelled, it is typically time for us to mosey on unless we have some other purpose to tie us to the same place and time. That includes fun, by the way. I want to make that clear to you all right now. Solving a crisis is not the only reason I'd want to linger somewhere. If there is a really fun-looking theme park in the area, for example, I may want to stick around to check it out even if no danger is involved.

“As far as my knowledge of the klaxians is concerned, what I will tell you all now that they are traditionally space pirates essentially. In most systems that they operate in, they do so illegally. They are merchants too, but a particularly dirty kind. Not only does that mean they are willing to sell off immoral goods, but they'll do it with rip-off prices if they feel they can get away with it. They're not above arranging external circumstances to fall into their financial favor as well. If they think it would benefit them to sell weapons to both sides of a war, for example, then they would do so with no hesitation even though they know it would continue to drag out the war and make it far more bloody for both sides.

“I generally can't stand most of them. They are among the worst lifeforms I have ever encountered. Not the most powerful or dangerous, mind you, but well worth the negative attention they earned from me simply because of the sheer evils that they have wrought into the universe and with very little redeeming qualities to boot beyond a few very special specific individuals who have helped me out in the past.

“Like anyone else I have encountered, they are at least manageable if you know what buttons to press. Money talks very well in their society, for example, and that is their biggest weakness as well. If I want, or need, for them to fear me, then I need to threaten their wallets and bank accounts. There is usually no surer way for me to get their attention than that, but exceptions exist for anything, everywhere, and everywhen.

“As for my intentions to chase them down to make sure they maintain some incentive to return the Alphalmians they stole, the answer is an emphatic yes. I have absolutely no intention to revoke the ominous promise I gave to them because I genuinely can't stand bullies and slave traders. I know the Alphalmians they took did nothing to deserve this fate either, but that's beside the point. For me to be me and uphold the principles that I hold dear, I simply must punish them until they relinquish that which they took from this planet.” He shakes his head as he then adds, “I made a promise to this effect anyway. Not just to the klaxians, but to the Alphalmian Princess as well.”

“Much like everything else you have encountered, this particular scenario isn't likely to go as smoothly as you hope, Doctor,” Vision warns from within the same room. “It was difficult to sense their emotions through all the turbulent chaos that I was suffering at the time, but I picked up this much at least. Doctor, the moment you promised their leader that you would not relinquish your pressure against them until they return all the Alphalmians they stole unharmed, I felt their leader momentarily panic. The most likely reason is that he already considers that option too late. It is very likely that they sold some of them off, and as for the 'unharmed' clause of your condition, what if some of them are already dead? If that is true, then it makes it impossible for him to return that which he stole in a sound condition.

“Whatever the case may be, he ended that encounter with a determination to harden his resolve. When he realized that he may have no choice but to consider you an enemy because of the circumstances that already pin him to a corner, he was trying to find the courage within himself to plan around what he must.”

“Yeah, well . . .” The Doctor trails off for a moment as he looks down and briefly rubs the back of his neck. When he looks back at Vision, he resumes. “That happens sometimes. Sometimes it is too late to save someone because the harm already occurred before I arrived, or occurred during my adventure despite my best efforts. I am formidable, but I'm not perfect. I can only do the best I can.

“To that end, I'll continue to apply my best efforts to get those Alphalmians back eventually. It could be quite a while for us to finish that quest personally, but we have a time machine so it's at least possible to go where we need and when we need to achieve the best odds of success.

“That said, there usually aren't many options to undo a situation once it occurs. I cannot mess with my own history, for example, once I applied myself to a particular adventure. If someone dies during the course of an adventure then that sort of becomes a fixed moment in time, at least for me. I can't go back in time and save them again further into the past if that would also result in negating the very reason my attention was brought to that adventure in the first place. Timey-wimmy shenanigans pervade throughout much of my life, but there are rules that I have to follow as a Time Lord. That's not just for my own sake, but for the very integrity of the whole universe and all of time and space, believe it or not. I learned firsthand what happens when I try to undermine the integrity of a fixed point in time. Trust you/me, there are indeed consequences that even Time Lord Victorious cannot ignore.

“Thanks to Chovix's report to me, I now know there are a total of six Alphalmians that he sold to the klaxians from this planet. That information was also verified by the Alphalmian Princess. If there are any more taken from this world, then both Chovix and the other Alphalmians are somehow unaware of it.

“So . . . okay. There are six out there that I need to find. Going after the klaxians themselves is still probably a good start, even if they already sold some or all of them to other clients. I might at least be able to wrestle a contact list from them. Using that, I can trace my quarry down and otherwise do my best to secure the Alphalmian's safety. While I am at it, I might as well make a firm impression on the bad guys involved. They need to be taught that there are consequences to their actions as well. I'll make sure of that.”

“Speaking of which, I never heard you lay down the law so hard on anypony else before,” Feather Wind comments. “I didn't know you were capable of so much anger. I thought you sought peaceful resolutions to every conflict and that no pony is beyond forgiveness.”

“That is actually true, in a way,” the Doctor counters. “I am always hopeful of a path to redemption even if I don't think it is very likely. There is always that desire nonetheless. I do generally always seek a peaceful resolution to every encounter, but I have to take my knowledge of what I'm dealing with into account. While I might hope for some peaceful solution, that may be a sentiment that the other party doesn't share. Whenever that is the case, I'll have to adjust my tactics to minimize damage as much as possible but I'll have to balance that out with the odds of success. What value is there in committing to some effort if it ultimately proves futile? To speak the same language as other bullies in the universe, sometimes it requires me to give them a bloody nose every once in a while just to ensure that I at least have their attention and respect. If I can't prove that I can be a threat against them at some level then that could also close off potential opportunities for them to listen to me later. I'll need their attention if I'm to have any chance at a negotiation, so it sometimes becomes necessary to step outside our own comfort zones in order to give us a fair chance at success in whatever endeavor we happen to face at the time.

“Also, when dealing with somebody that been rescued, they may feel the need for retribution rather than justice. There is a fine line to walk between the two that is also worthy of consideration.

“Furthermore, we have to always be open to the possibility of adjusting our tactics as the situation gradually unfolds. I often find that adaptation is typically key to success.”

“Point well taken,” Feather Wind accepts with a reluctant nod. “It's too bad we have to get aggressive every once in a while. I have always wished that the universe could be more peaceful.”

The Doctor suddenly looks apologetic as he says, “Speaking of which, I promised myself that I would later apologize to you for calling you out when we first arrived at Allon. I used your heritage as a unicorn to impose negotiating leverage in an attempt to non-violently circumvent an obstacle we faced at the time, but doing so has hurt your feelings. I know you generally don't like focused attention on yourself from strangers so, for that, I apologize.”

Feather Wind looks back at the Doctor as he gives a faint grin while saying, “That's okay, Doctor. I'm not going to lie to you by saying I wasn't wounded at the time, but I would have been far more hurt by resorting to a violent solution instead. In your place, I might have done the same. It at least follows my general intention even if I couldn't think of it at the time. The reason I trust your judgment, Doctor, is because I also trust your general intentions. You and I are much akin in that respect. The main difference is you have significantly more experience in affairs like this than I. I'll adjust to this lifestyle eventually, I think, but in the meantime, I may rely on your insight very often.”

“And on that note, I'm curious about something, Doctor,” Stern Wing speaks up to the Time Lord. “Considering the fact that this is the first adventure that Feather Wind, Vision, and I have participated with you off our native planet, how did we do in your fair assessment?”

“How did you do?” the Doctor reflects which earned him a nod of confirmation from Stern Wing. When she does that, the Doctor looks down as he reflects on her question before looking back at her with a small smile. “In my, admittedly, very long life span and throughout the various cycles of each of my regeneration, I have been blessed with many fine companions. Companions that I have not only enriched by showing them all that time and space has to offer, but it is simultaneously a time when they have enriched my life in return. I said it before and I'll proudly say it again. The companions that I have traveled with in my lives have affected me very deeply just as I have affected them. I would not be the man I am today were it not for those valuable lessons, and the exciting thing is that I have found every single individual I traveled with to be wholly unique. As a result, I learn a new lesson from each one which is then carried on into all of my future journeys. All the wisdom and experience you see in me now is the byproduct of all who came before you. If you appreciate what you see in me, then thank them as well, for they are still very much a part of my mind and hearts. You will be too. We shall all grow together.

“Up until this point, starting with Derpy in particular, I have mostly traveled with a species that have largely called themselves humans, but they have been known by other names in other worlds. Their influence and spread are that legendary. That is why I kept such a close eye on them and traveled with them for so long. They were inherently capable of anything. From the best of what the universe has to offer and simultaneously the worst. Results vary from time to time and world to world, but that general rule usually stuck except, over time, they mostly evolved for the better. I might have had something to do with that.

“No. Scratch that. I had something to do with that general path line towards their higher state, but the fact remains that they were responsible for their own improvement too. With every encounter I make, there are always at least two sides to the coin. A vast variety of choices that we sculpt together, and together . . . that makes for a legendary story. I was proud to play some part in that. I always have been and I always will be.

“Now, with ponies, I am noticing a similar pattern here as I had with humans. There seems to be that same inherent quality of destiny and legendary potential. Beyond the fact that ponies are quadrupeds and humans have mostly been bipedal, the strongest difference that I have observed is the more innocent nature of the ponies. That can work both for and against them. They also seem to have a naturally higher morality in general.

“For example, had I encountered this same adventure but every pony was replaced with a human counterpart, then the odds are strong that at least one of Chovix's underlings would have betrayed him and sided with the klaxians in the end purely because of their own sense of insecurity and fear. However, in this universe, there is a stronger sense of camaraderie and harmony that naturally seems to pervade even the most basic of pony instincts. A 'follow the herd' mentality if you will. Humans didn't lack that quality, but overall they were naturally a blank slate and, as such, they had an equal chance to be inherently anything. That, in turn, made them much more unique. As such, it is never wise to judge any individual by the standards of the race as a whole. Being exceptions to any rule actually was, in itself, the most common pattern about them.

“Now, because of the more inherent innocent qualities I have observed in ponies but mixed with that same infinite potential that I have observed in one other race, I feel a little more protective of ponies here. In them, I see a spark of something very precious and I'm quickly developing a pet peeve towards anyone who attempts to corrupt that innocent spark like the klaxians tried to do in this world. I do think that the pony race, as a whole, will eventually mature beyond that innate innocence and child-like wonder. However, until then, I feel driven to protect them especially carefully because there is a special quality to that. That is why, for as long as they need me to, I will uphold the promise I made. You ponies are now under my protection. When other races heard such promises from me before, they eventually learned to rightfully respect and/or fear that bold declaration. That is a big deal and I'll spend eternity, if I have to, proving why that is so.”

The Doctor pauses a moment as if to gather himself again for what he is about to say next. When he is ready, his face beams in a brilliant smile that is so bright and proud that he is nearly in tears. His face actually scrunches up for a second as if it is painful to even attempt to reveal how proud he is of them all.

“And you are all so brilliant!” the Doctor cries out with nearly overwhelming emotion. “You are like brilliant stars ever shining against the backdrop of an otherwise eternal night. Such shining examples you are of the best of pony potential. It not only fills me with hope but gratitude to see. Thank you! Thank you all for this overwhelming privilege to travel with you, even if it is but a moment in the vast stretch of time and space. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I cannot possibly say it enough.”

Driven to tears by his words and display of powerful and raw genuine emotion, Derpy waves at all of her friends here to collect together using her wings as she says, “Hugging. It is time for hugging now!”

The group gladly acquiesces. They collect together and reach wings and hooves across the backs of each of them and they bunch up together to share a happy, warm, and deeply affectionate hug. Vision needed a little guidance towards the group but, once she had physical contact with any of them, she is pulled into the group without fail.

“Wherever we go and whatever we do on our journey together, I want you to know how much you all mean to me,” the Doctor very gratefully restates as they continue their hug. “I'll do everything in my power to protect you as well, for if I lost any of you . . . then I'll lose a precious part of myself.”

“Well said, Doctor,” Feather Wind agrees while his own voice is a bit shaky with emotion. “Very well said. I'll have to write a new poem immortalizing this moment of affection we are sharing soon.”

“Actually, why don't you try to capture this energy right now in the Red Crystal?” Stern Wing suggests.

“Because I still need to learn how to attune myself to the crystal,” Feather Wind answers. “I wasn't given the time for that yet. We just dove into this adventure.”

“I'm sure you will,” the Doctor assures Feather as he is the first to break off from the group. The others do so as well a second later. After that, the Doctor then gallops up to the TARDIS's controls and declares once there, “And now then, we are off to boldly explore where no pony has gone before. Strap yourselves in as we launch to yet another adventure. Onwards and Upwards, I say!”

“But there are no seat belts to strap ourselves into!” Stern Wing complains. “And, actually, there should be! That is a very good idea.”

The Doctor merely flashes Stern Wing a playful wink before he boldly yanks a switch back that launches them off into yet another of their amazing adventures together.

Author's Note

That is the conclusion to the first arc of this story, but stay tuned. Next week will be proceeding with other arcs and intermissions. It is much akin to starting a new episode of Doctor Who or more like a new storyline of the old classic Who.

I'd also like to give a head's up about the TARDIS Intermission chapters that are coming up since their format is somewhat different. Those chapters are when the crew may or might not even leave the TARDIS at all. Instead, the crew mainly focuses on some downtime activity. If there is any adventure to be had, it is strictly between each other. This is during a time when they are still getting to know each other. Reading that will inform the readers more about these characters as well. Not every chapter is about them rushing headlong into another adventure. Sometimes they need downtime to recover from the last one or prepare for the next. When they do so, they'll do so in their own unique way. Shows like Doctor Who usually skip this, but I like to display these moments to show what they can be like when they are not always running for their lives. It reveals some character development individually and as a group. Sometimes it also explains some new ability they gained, a tactic they discussed, some major new decision reached, or a goal established.

With all that said, I'd like to know what you all think. Please share your thoughts in the comments, and I hope you'll all enjoy as as the Adventures in the TARDIS continues.

On a different note, today also marks the day I received good news about getting a voucher for section 8. I set an appointment to receive it next Wednesday, May 17th. With that in my hands, I'll be moving to my own place after staying at the place I am at for nearly twenty years. For me, this is the longest time I ever spent in one place. I'll see what happens next.

So . . .

TARDIS Intermission: Trot In Encounters

Feather Wind trots into a room in the TARDIS that is new to him. A quick assessment of it reveals to him why his foalhood friend, Stern Wing, would be so interested in this room. It is filled with none other than a bunch of exercise equipment. This basically means that this is a gym.

Feather Wind sits down as he quietly observes his foalhood friend doing bench-presses with her forehooves while simultaneously lifting heavy weights that is tied to her wings. The barbell she is pushing up and down, which is tied to and secured to her forehooves, does not look all that impressive at first. They look like small iron balls attached to the ends of an iron bar but the balls have glowing numbers off to the sides of them. Feather has been told before that the device can make themselves heavier or lighter depending on what its settings is.

What Stern is doing here would normally be considered very dangerous without a spotter, but there is a safety feature with this equipment where it can shift its weight to nothing if it collapses down on the pony too fast. At that point it could crush down on her neck with nothing more than the weight of a feather. It almost exactly resembles his own magical talent to lighten his body weight.

Feather smells her sweat in this room which he finds very mildly intoxicating, but it is the sharply focused look in her eyes that really makes him swoon. She is pushing herself with titanic but also focused determination. It is incredible for him to see.

It also strikes him as overkill. Stern Wing was already so powerful before. She was good enough to be a really good player in a professional sport, and unlike Feather's own previous attempt to join the Wonderbolts (and notably the very first unicorn to attempt that), Stern Wing actually made it to the major leagues. She was the best of the best. The kind of pony who already cast a long shadow. It seems strange and daunting to Feather how hard she's pushing herself now to become even stronger. With that much of a lead above and beyond every other pony kind, it almost feels outrageous how she's pushing herself even further.

But Feather also knows why she's doing this. On their last mission, which was notably the first new planet that Stern and Feather had ever traveled to, she had to push herself very hard trying to climb up a radio tower which was in danger of being washed away while it was pounded by a harsh, hurricane-force sea storm. She did that to help rescue a stranded earth pony at the top. Feather was there to assist her as much as he could, and ultimately they did succeed. Just barely in time, too, for that tower did get washed away when they neared the bottom.

That moment is probably playing in Stern Wing's head over and over again. How she succeeded against an enormous challenge with just barely enough strength and stamina to spare. Succeeding in a critical mission is fine, but she probably wants a much greater degree of strength and stamina in preparation for the next equivalent challenge. For her, it probably feels more comfortable entering a challenge like that with more leeway. Perhaps, next time, this extra training will again result in being just barely enough despite all this extra training.

This is so much more important to her than scoring points in a game of professional league Puffball. Lives are on the line out here, and Stern Wing has always been the kind of pony to take issues like that ultra seriously.

Stern Wing's diet was already pretty strict too. That makes a lot of sense for anypony in a professional league sport. Doing stuff like that probably is considered standard practice for anypony who plans to remain competitive with and against other players who have standards equally high.

These days, however, have shifted Stern's destiny to something more akin to a war soldier, police officer, or fire fighter. The kind of profession and lifestyle that specifically drives her towards danger on a regular basis. It's not enough for her to be strong enough to defend herself or her friends. She has the drive and determination to defend anypony she perceives as helpless in that situation. In her eyes, this is precisely why she has to be so strong. This is her cutie mark destiny. It is who she fundamentally is.

Feather hadn't read too many stories of comic book style superheroes before but he had a few friends and acquaintances who read such things at his father's school, the Silver Horn Academy, which is an elite and high class institution for education and magical practices. From there, those few friends and acquaintances, who love to talk about such obviously fictional superheroes whenever they had the chance and inclination, describe such beings as overwhelmingly powerful just because. The reasons they are that strong doesn't seem as important as what they do with that strength. In Feather's eyes, such beings sound like mere wishful thinking of the writers and readers of the story. A wish that they, too, can be that powerful and invincible for no reason in particular. If that were true, there would be no reason to fear anything else in life as well. To have the kind of hide where magical hornbeams bounce off of them or the strength to blow through an iron wall with ease. In other words, to be unstoppable and unmovable. To be a force so powerful that one can easily, and almost effortlessly, achieve their dreams regardless what oppositions foolishly attempts to stand in their way.

But, in Feather's eyes, Stern Wing stands as the best representative of what such superheroes could look like if they actually existed because what she is doing right now is a path towards making such unrealistic standards look like it might actually be possible. She was already born a pony so innately ahead of the curve in terms of size, stamina, and strength. In this case, “strength” is in terms of physical, mental, and emotional. Stern had started with a baseline that was very high but, for her, that still isn't enough. She pushes herself even further with intense and refined training.

In real life, most individuals who are that gifted usually are more lazy because they've always been so far ahead of the curve already that it didn't seem necessary to try so hard to remain ahead, but not Stern Wing. She applies herself very strongly because the reason behind that goal is so incredibly important to her. If all of this effort can save even one life than it's already worth it to her.

She does all of this not for fame, not for glory, not for riches, but because it is right at the core of her being. As long as others are saved, that's enough. She couldn't care less about the credit unless, somehow, it might result in helping her save yet another life.

This feels wholly unreal to Feather, yet Stern is among the best representatives of the kinds of ponies who are ideal for a role like this. Under that perspective, Stern doesn't appear so random in being picked for a journey like this. After all, the captain of this vessel is intelligent and knowledgeable to a degree far beyond the standards of any average pony.

But for Feather himself, despite all of his unusual talents and training, he never felt like he is an individual special enough to warrant a destiny like this. Honestly, he's always been a pony still searching for precisely what that destiny should be. So far he found it best by being in wild and virgin nature, yet still that wasn't quite enough. Something was missing and he was in the middle of trying to figure that out when, all of a sudden, he got swept up in this grand adventure.

In this, Feather feels insecure, like he might not be good enough for this, but with Stern? There simply is no question of that. Not only is she worthy, but she'll continually push herself in an effort to further ensure she remains worthy. For that reason, he doesn't know how he can possibly be more proud of her.

Feather Wind's train of thought snaps back into focus with present reality when he hears, then sees, Stern Wing set the barbell back on the bar above her, unstrap her hooves from the bar, then proceeds to sit up. She also dislodges the weights off her wings then uses her right wing to fetch and pull a towel which she then uses to wipe sweat off her face. Only after doing all of that, then draping the towel over her neck, does she finally turn to address her foalhood friend.

“How is Vision?” Stern Wing asks in concern.

“Still sick, I'm afraid,” Feather honestly reports. “We all knew she had a naturally frail constitution to begin with given her sheltered history in the monastery she was raised in. Sure enough, she fell ill after traveling through a planet in the midst of a heavy storm and then trotting many miles in that aquatic ocean base.”

“She knew the consequences of her actions and accepted them,” Stern says bluntly as she turns and sits on the workout bench to face her foalhood friend even more. “Perhaps we should count our blessings. Her later illness notwithstanding, it may be that she honestly did save our lives by warning us of her prophetic dreams.”

“That seems likely,” Feather agrees with a slight twinge of sadness in his voice. “She saved my life, or maybe I should say our lives, before by warning her mother of the impending attack on the Orchard's farm which we later then went to also rescue. She told her mother who then told Princess Celestia who then sent the Wonderbolts out to the farm and they finished off the remaining threats. I owed her my life, Stern Wing, so it's not like this situation is too difficult for me to believe. Regardless of how things would have turned out, I'm glad she helped.”

“But for now, as long as she remains sick, the Doctor plans to keep the TARDIS parked on . . . wherever the heck we are?” Stern double checks.

“Yes because he is attending to her health personally,” Feather explains. “He's not called 'The Doctor' for nothing.

“Aside from that, I think he wants to be focused when we finally do launch onto our next mission. Knowing Vision is sick probably would have been too distracting if he resumed right away.

“I also think the Doctor has a point. Because we have a time machine here, we don't need to rush into things before we're fully ready to commit to it. I think the Doctor's policy is wise in this case given the circumstances involved.”

Stern Wing gives her friend a strange look as she asks, “Why are you telling me that as if I might disagree with you?”

Feather's eyes momentarily enlarge because he is startled by her reaction. When he recovers, he says, “I didn't mean to imply that you might disagree with me. I just wanted to explain our situation clearly and concisely.”

Stern releases a small breath as her hard look at her friend relaxes. She dabs herself with the towel that's still draped over her neck then uses her left wing to reach for, then pull, a sports bottle to herself. From it, she drinks her fill but does not gorge on it, likely because of the advice her professional sports coaches told her in her past.

“Very well. I understand the situation,” Stern Wing says when she's finished drinking from her sports bottle. “Be that as it may, that means we have some extra time on our hooves. You can see how I chose to spend it now and it's likely even clearer to you why I am doing this. For now, my question for you is . . .” she pauses a moment as she more fully focuses on Feather Wind “. . . what will you do to pass the time?”

“Exercise seems a little productive to me,” Feather Wind replies, “but it feels daunting to even imagine trying to catch up with you.”

“Then don't,” Stern replies bluntly. “Don't get me wrong. I have no objection for you to use any of this equipment to make yourself stronger, but the idea of doing this to catch up with me seems absurd to try. We're all on our own individual levels and we all have our own strengths and weaknesses. Quite frankly, I'd be disappointed if you did catch up to me because it also means you probably devoted much less time refining your own strengths. You can do things that I can never do. Versatility tends to keep us more prepared for any potential situation. Don't forget that.”

“That sounds like a good suggestion to me,” Feather Wind agrees.

“Take it as you will,” Stern Wing invites. “In the meantime, I need to get back to my training.”

“Before you do, indulge one last curiosity of mine,” Feather requests. “Just how far do you intend to push yourself? I'm just wondering what standard is in your mind when you realize enough is enough.”

“Now there is an inherently flawed question,” Stern Wing says as she rises off the workbench. “What makes you think there is some standard I can reach that will encourage me to ever stop? My life is a journey, Feather Wind. I don't ever plan to stop getting stronger until my life is completely done.”

“Touché,” Feather replies in a tone of acceptance as he rises to his four hooves himself. “Well, I'll let you get back to it, then.”

Derpy Hooves uses her muzzle to nudge the door open which leads into Feather Wind's private study room. In doing so, she's taken aback to notice how dark it is in that room save for a few lit candles around the desk he's working at. From there, Feather is bent over just a bit at the desk as he looks intently at whatever he is writing. His horn glows a soft silvery light. As that happens, she can hear the light scratching sound of his quill writing something on a parchment on his desk.

Still at the door, Derpy takes a moment to pause and admire the young stallion because she always adored intelligent ponies. That's one reason, among many, why she finds the Doctor so attractive as well.

At the same time, though, such ponies made Derpy feel grossly inadequate because she felt like the farthest thing from an intelligent mare. That might even be why she's so attracted to such stallions. Opposites attract, as they say.

Since he looks busy, Derpy doesn't want to disturb him. Already her cheeks burn with shame. The whole reason she cracked the door open without knocking was to avoid the risk of disturbing him just in case he is busy, and now it seems she confirmed the fact he is. Best to leave quietly now.

In an attempt to do precisely that, Derpy reaches forward with her teeth in order to bite down on the door handle then use it to close the door. However, when she tries, she ends up leaning too far forward which throws off her equilibrium. Instead of biting down on the door, she ends up falling down on her face with a startled squeak.

“Huh?” Feather asks as he looks up from his desk then looks back over his left shoulder at the open door. “Oh! Derpy. Are you okay? Here. Let me help you.”

Feather Wind uses his magic to lightly grab on her hide and use it to steady and pull her back onto her four hooves. In the process, Derpy's cheeks burn with hot embarrassment. At that moment she is glad that the interior of this room is presently so dark.

“Um . . . thank you,” Derpy says in a small and timid voice then speaks up louder. “You didn't have to do that, and I'm sorry for disturbing you.”

“Trouble not at all, milady. You're fully welcome to come in at any time. Please come in right now,” Feather encourages.

“Um . . . are you sure?” Derpy asks in a small voice again.

“Uh … what was that? I'm sorry. I didn't hear you,” Feather expresses back.

Derpy burns brighter beet red, but she shakes her head fiercely in an attempt to clear her head then speaks again after she musters up greater amounts of courage. “Uh . . . I asked if I might be disturbing you. I don't want to do that.”

Feather smiles lightly as he replies, “As I said before, you're always welcome to come in with your innocent and bright smile. What can I do for you?

“And please, come in and shut the door.”

“Um . . . okay.” Derpy fully steps in then proceeds to do so. When she does, she more fully realizes how dark the room is until it brightens for some reason. She turns about to look back at Feather then notices how he uses his magic to somehow intensify the candlelight almost as if they are a lantern that he can adjust the brightness of. Derpy smiles at him as she blushes a bit and says, “Um . . . you know that there is a light switch in here, right? You could have used it to brighten the room for you.”

“I'm aware of that,” Feather assures as he gazes softly at one of the candles. “This is just an old habit of mine. I used to do this a lot back at my father's mansion. I often used candlelights like this while I stayed up doing my studies in my room. I find the soft flicker of gentle candlelight relaxes me.”

In response, Derpy simply smiles more brightly.

The two of them pass a couple of moments in silence before Derpy trots up behind Feather then peers over the small, sky blue stallion's shoulder at the work on his desk. While she does that, she asks, “What are you writing?”

“A journal, mostly,” Feather Wind answers as he gazes down at his own work wistfully. “You see, I haven't learned to attune myself to the Red Crystal yet and I need to do that before I can use it to soak in positive energy around any moment that I may encounter it. Until then, I was hoping I could use this journal to capture some of those feelings of my latest adventure. That way, when I later do master my attunement to the crystal, maybe re-reading this journal will help me to recapture the feelings I had back when these moments were fresh. Perhaps that'll be enough to summon and capture some of the positive energy I felt at the time.”

“What a clever idea!” Derpy expresses brightly.

“We'll see if it works,” Feather says as he rubs his chin with his left hoof. “Until then, this is all I can do to prepare for that moment. Aside from that, this is something I've grown used to doing as I grew up. My father considered it good practice to do what our family is best known for; spellcasting and record keeping.”

“You're really amazing!' Derpy says admiringly along with a shy blush.

“You really think so?” Feather asks as he looks back over his left shoulder with his golden eyes at her. Deciding that wasn't enough, and since doing that hurt his neck a bit (especially to maintain), he then turns about in his seat to more fully face her.

“Oh yes! As a trained wizard, you're simply amazing! Also there's all that incredible weather control you can do and you don't even need your horn for that. Plus there is your writing.” She looks down at his work. “I wish I can do that.”

“Really?” Feather asks in delight. “Do you want me to teach you? Because I can.”

“Oh no.” Derpy vigorously shakes her head which causes a brief rattling sound. Her strong denial of that suggestion actually confuses Feather Wind. “I could never be as good at writing as you are.”

“Why? Because you lack a horn?” Feather Wind guesses.

“That's only part of it,” Derpy says with a shy blush. “I could be decent with my mouth writing except for one thing; I'm kind of cross-eyed and that messes with my depth perception. I've tried and tried before but I just don't seem to be any good at this.”

“Really?” Feather asks while raising a questioning eyebrow. “And yet you've taken to the services of a mail carrier pony in your time?”

“I've had some trouble with that too, to be honest,” Derpy admits with an ashamed blush. “Even reading is somewhat troubling for me, but I struggle with that less compared to my writing. Trust me, I've had many years to get used to my limitations. I know who I am.”

The two of them are silent for a moment before Feather Wind offers, “Well, if you ever change your mind about this, come and let me know.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I doubt I'll change my mind,” Derpy replies a bit despondently.

“You shouldn't sell yourself short. I think you're plenty talented enough,” Feather says as he turns about to face the desk again. He ignites his horn and uses it to float his quill up from the ink bottle. “Writing can be a lot of fun, too. I think it feels good to have one's thoughts locked on paper. A record for all time to see.”

Instead of arguing with him, Derpy decides to tactfully change the subject a bit by mentioning, “I heard you write poetry too. In fact, you later get a bit famous for that. At least, that is what the Doctor told me.”

“Which means I'll definitely not die until then,” Feather Wind realizes shrewdly. “That's good to know, I guess. It also means I'll eventually become famous for my work. Nice to know I'll one day be regarded that positively, but I won't use that as an excuse to get lazy about it in the meanwhile. That's probably why my work will eventually be noteworthy. More than likely my future work will secretly be inspired by the journey I'm taking with the Doctor as well.”

“Oh shoot! I said something stupid again,” Derpy pouts. “I think the Doctor told me that in confidence. I wasn't supposed to say that, especially not things about your future.”

The quill floating across Feather Wind's work suddenly halts when he realizes something alarming. More than once he has noticed Derpy putting herself down in some subtle ways and this is starting to become a noticeable pattern.

Feather Wind looks at, then frowns at, his work when he realizes he had accidentally paused his quill strokes at that one spot for too long and it's caused an inkblot, but his father taught him a spell to later fix this even if the ink dries. As such, he floats the quill back into the ink bottle then fully turns to face Derpy as he now addresses what he realizes is a much more pressing issue.

“Derpy, look at me,” Feather encourages with a very slight edge of firmness in his voice. Because of that, she eventually cooperates but it clearly is a struggle for her. When they finally have full eye contact, he asks her, “What's wrong, Derpy? Please tell me.”

“I don't . . . I . . .” Derpy somewhat stutters and breaks away eye contact in the process.

“Please look back at me, Derpy,” Feather requests.

“Um … okay,” she says in a small voice as she struggles to look back at him again.

“Now, again, tell me what's bothering you,” Feather encourages.

As she maintains eye contact, Derpy's eyes start to glisten with tears. Her chin starts to wrinkle with pain and quiver a bit. Eventually she can't take it anymore. She screws her eyes tightly closed and bows her head.

“I just . . . I just hope that you and Stern Wing have many wonderful adventures together with the Doctor,” Derpy says with a wildly unsteady voice. “I truly mean that. I hope you'll all be happy together.”

Feather Wind's eyes silently widen at Derpy as many pieces about the gray pegasus start to click into his mind. He realizes that she's worried that he and Stern will replace Derpy as a companion on this ship. The reason for that fear is pretty evident to him too. She clearly regards the two of them as vastly superior and more talented.

More than that, Derpy was likely teased harshly during her foalhood about her walleyes which she clearly seems insecure about. The reason for that is not only getting teased about it, but for the fact that she has, indeed, made many clumsy mistakes across her lifetime because of it. Time and time again she's gathered reasons to feel inadequate. Reasons to feel hopeless and powerless. Reasons to feel insecure and depressed.

Yet Derpy's many smiles he's seen seem genuine too. Was she just being brave or was she honestly happy as well? She has floating bubbles for a cutie mark which seems to perfectly fit her normally bubbly personality. As such, he doesn't think she's faking being ditsy or happy. There has got to be many instances when both was true, but sometimes those traits have drawbacks.

Just like anypony. They all have weaknesses. Even the Doctor. Feather Wind hasn't been around that long but he's seen enough to know there is a lot of weight on the old Time Lord's shoulders. Weight caused by the accumulation of regrets across these centuries. Why would they be there if the Doctor was always perfect? And he's an alien despite current appearances. That means being imperfect isn't a trait exclusive to ponies. Everypony has regrets, so it's disheartening for him to realize that she thinks her faults are greater than anypony else's.

Feather Wind sighs, leans forward, collects his forehooves together then presses them beneath his chin.

Speaking of flaws, one of his is his confidence. Much in life is new to him. He does have a gifted mind and it means he can see deeply at whatever he does observe, but he also has a very sensitive heart. That makes him feel really anxious about hurting anypony else's feelings. Right now choosing the right words feels especially important and he can't help but worry that he'll fail this test. If he does, he might lose a dear friend from this journey. That feels intolerable to him, but what can he say that has a good chance to prevent that? Knowing he is already starting with a dangerous baseline with her undermines his confidence even further.

Thinking back to their last adventure together, he can see the pattern which led Derpy to her current conclusions. Because they have a blind filly who is prone-to-sickness among their company, Derpy felt obligated to remain behind to take care of Vision. While the kindly and innocent gray pegasus felt that duty was important, it nevertheless hurt her to remain behind because she wanted to go too. Feather Wind knew that by looking at the pain that was in Derpy's eyes at the time. Part of him didn't want to acknowledge that because it felt distracting to maintain his focus on that issue when there were dozens of other critical issues he had to pay attention to back then.

Part of him must have hoped this issue would solve itself while he was on the journey because he had no idea how to deal with it afterwards. This issue was probably made worse by all the tales of what he and Stern did during the journey which Derpy must have thought she could not handle. If she felt she couldn't handle it and she saw others who seemed to handle it easily, her self esteem must have got flushed for it.

And the Doctor, someone she strongly looks up to, agreed with her plan for her to remain behind and watch after Vision while his more “useful” companions joined him on that journey.

Feather Wind squeezes his eyes shut as pain clenches him as well. During that time, he dwells on the many moments when he, too, felt he was inadequate. There were lots of reasons he felt insecure too. He still struggles with that, so it's easy to imagine why somepony else might look to him with envy.

The thing is, how can he convince her otherwise when her reasons are so understandable to him? He doesn't agree, but he at least understands her.

He slowly cracks his eyes open when he starts to realize the virtues of telling her the truth.

Then he focuses his kindly golden eyes on Derpy as he asks her, “Would you like to read some of my journal entries?”

“Um . . . huh?” Derpy tilts her head in confusion. “Wha . . . what do you mean? Why would I do that? I don't want to intrude upon your privacy.”

“It's not intruding if I invite you to,” Feather points out.

Derpy purses her lips in a pouting expression as she asks, “What would that prove?”

“It would prove nothing, but it would also give you evidence that I, too, often feel insecure. Thoughts like that circulate in my mind and heart all the time.”

“Rah . . . really?!” Derpy asks in surprise. “Bah-but you're so powerful ah-and strong and rich and talented and-”

“Do you think all of those reasons equates to perfect confidence?” Feather interrupts. “Pretend, for a moment, we switch places and bodies or something and you suddenly acquire my body and all of my talents and knowledge. Now it's you that has my mage training and talent for manipulating the weather. With all that power under your control, do you think you can face the world feeling invincible? Or are you still so concerned about the welfare of others that you might fear that this power could be used in the wrong way and therefore get somepony hurt?”

“I, ah . . . haven't thought of it that way,” Derpy admits.

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Feather Wind lectures. “My uncle taught me that and my father too, in his own way. I think the reason they said such things like that was a warning to be mindful, but I took it to heart in a somewhat detrimental way. I sometimes fear my power because I'm afraid that it might hurt others if I'm not careful. I care about that a lot.”

Feather Wind leans back enough so he can prop his head up by a hoof, the elbow of which rests on his desk behind him. From this position he continues to regard Derpy.

“Power is a double-edged sword. It is as capable of harming as it can do wonders. It can attract others as well who might want to exploit me for that power. Many have tried. Some have succeeded. There are also those who tried to hurt me and tear me down to their level out of jealousy, pure spite, dark ambitions to control me, or outright fear of me. Again, some of them have succeeded, at least at the time.

“The only time I have ever enjoyed my gifts fully, or at least to the greatest degree so far, was when I was alone in nature for a bunch of moons. Back then, I did not have to worry about being judged by others. It was just me and nature, and nature has a natural way of balancing things out. Those who properly attune to that find their own natural equilibrium.

“But in pony society, or any other for that matter, there are a lot of complex issues to contend with. Some hoofle it easily and brashly. I've encountered more than one of those at the Wonderbolt Academy, but I'm not like them. I second guess myself all the time. I feel insecure with or without any power. None of that removes the same core issues that lies within myself. I care for others . . . perhaps to an unhealthy degree.

“I'm not sure, but it also seems wise to have some checks and balances with all of my power. Great power could also mean having many and/or strong options to solve a potential problem, but then there is the pressure of trying to find the best option among those presented. That also means there is a worst option among them, and it's up to me to figure out how to avoid that. The possibility of failure always plagues my mind no matter how gifted I am and that alone limits my fullest potential.”

“I haven't thought of that either,” Derpy realizes. “It's funny how two ponies, who have almost opposite backgrounds, can also lead to the same thing. Ponies who feel emotionally insecure about ourselves.

“Oddly, though, you telling me this makes me feel a tad bit better. Thank you. I also deeply appreciate the fact you truly care about me so much.”

Feather smiles at her very lightly as he says, “I just want to make sure you know that you're not the only one to feel this way. Perhaps we reached the same conclusion for different reasons, but what we have in common is enough for both of us to feel validated in our own ways. Both of us are searching for the best possible answers in our lives. We are searching and worried what will happen if we don't find it.

“The key thing I think we have in common, despite everything else that seems to make us different, is how much we care for those around us. That's fundamental because it affects how we view and feel about everything.

“I don't think you have to worry about being replaced on this ship, Derpy. Rather than that, I rely on you to help me get through this journey. Power has nothing to do with it. Rather what I need, or I should say what we need, is a supportive and understanding friend who genuinely cares for us. Everything else will feel more trivial if we can feel secure in at least that one bit of knowledge. That alone takes practice, but we'll keep at it one step at a time.

“So how about it, Derpy? Will you do that for me? Will you be here, as my friend, for every step of our journey so long as we need each other? If you do, then I promise that I shall do likewise. Heck, I'd do that anyway regardless because I have to always be honest with my own feelings and passions.”

Derpy stared at Feather Wind in silent shock for several moments as his words slowly sank into her brain and heart. When it does, a smile explodes brightly on her face as she enthusiastically promises, “I will!”

Stern Wing searches for her friend, Feather Wind, in every room she can think of. She searches through the most obviously places first, of course, but when that proves fruitless, she goes down the list of suspects until she eventually realizes the front door and exit of the TARDIS is slightly ajar. That definitely isn't a place she'd think to check first.

After she notices that, she grows greatly alarmed because, out there, it can be anything. No pony has scouted the local terrain around where the TARDIS landed to her knowledge which means, if Feather Wind is out there, he's alone with no backup in unchecked territory. The environment alone can be hostile on some planets let alone the lifeforms that may exist out there.

“What does he think he's doing?!” Stern Wing mutters angrily under her breath as she marches her way to the exit of the TARDIS. “He should know better than to venture out without backup. He should have at least informed one of us.”

“He did,” somepony says behind her which causes Stern to pause then look behind. There she notices the Doctor fiddling with the controls of the TARDIS for some reason, but it seems he's doing it with an absent-minded attitude as if doing this just to pass some time.

“He told you he was going outside?” Stern Wing checks with the Doctor.

“Indeed, he did, and I did not land on this planet as randomly as the last,” the Doctor assures her as he looks over his shoulder and gazes at her softly with his confident blue eyes. “There isn't many sentient lifeforms out there and those that are there aren't much of a threat to the likes of him.”

“So they are not likely to be a threat to him, but still could be?” Stern Wing double checks.

“Go outside and check on him yourself if you really want to,” the Doctor invites. “I know you will anyway.

“And, for the record, there isn't anywhere I can take you all in time or space where I can perfectly ensure your safety. Threat levels greatly vary from different times and places, but I never once met something that is absolutely immune to any potential threat. That's just the nature of the existence we share as mortal beings, my dear.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Stern Wing accepts. “Given those facts, I'd appreciate being included in the loop when it comes to my friends in the future, especially if they get exposed to the security risk of whatever may be outside this vessel.”

“He told me about his departure along his way out of here,” the Doctor reminds. “At the time, I saw no reason to go out of my way to make sure everybody aboard this ship is aware of that fact, but if you wish, I can make a more concerted effort next time to at least inform this ships security officer,” he says with an emphatic nod to Stern Wing.

“Indeed. You do that,” Stern Wing replies curtly. “Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check after my friend.”

“As you wish,” the Doctor absently says dismissively as he returns his focus to the TARDIS controls.

Once at the door, Stern Wing pauses there, looks back at the Doctor, and requests of him, “If Vision's status changes, I'd appreciate being notified of that too.”

“Will do,” the Doctor promises with the same attitude. “Until then, I shall do my best to induce a positive change for the young girl.”

Stern Wing nods in agreement then steps outside.

The first thing Stern Wing notices when she steps outside the TARDIS is the cool, crisp air. There is daylight out there too, but greatly shaded by the gray skies above. She notices mist not only nearby the vessel, but in many spots out in the surrounding valley. Shortly later she realizes that they are resting upon some mountaintop in a heavily forested environment. The trees themselves don't look all that alien to her either. Part of her even wonders if this is, indeed, Equestria. But, if it is, she isn't exactly sure where within it.

Feather Wind isn't far from the vessel. In fact he is, more or less, only a few paces from it. However, he isn't touching the ground. Instead of that, he is sitting up straight in a meditative pose on top of a cloud just a few feet off the ground that he probably created himself.

Although, judging from the fog in various parts of the environment, there exists a possibility he merely hopped on to one that was already present.

Nothing about the local environment appears immediately threatening. Now that she is witnessing it, her instincts aren't crying out danger either. More of the opposite, in fact. Everything out here feels still. Calm. Relaxing. About the only activity out here is what sounds like avian life somewhere out in the distance and a bit of rustling through the trees caused by the wind, or perhaps even caused by Feather Wind himself.

Just in case, Stern Wing takes off into the air to do a quick perimeter check. That's easier to do from a bird's eye perspective. In doing so, she mostly just verifies her earlier findings. Plenty of things might be hidden from her sight among the vast array of trees, or the fog, which stretches across every horizon even from high above. All appears calm in the area, especially within the immediate vicinity of the TARDIS which was her primary concern.

Stern Wing lands back in front of the TARDIS about two minutes after taking off. She glances over her shoulder at the open door of the small, blue, and mostly rectangular vessel. For security reasons, part of her is tempted to shut the TARDIS doors, but then she and Feather might be trapped out here. Besides, the Doctor is immediately within the room adjacent to the main exit and entrance. For as long as that remains true, those within the vessel should be safe enough for the time being.

It's actually Feather that is her primary concern right now, for he is out here exposed to all the elements. Before she showed up, he was alone at that. That's definitely one issue she plans to rectify.

On the other hoof, she does not wish to disturb her friend either. Since that is the case, her course is clear. She'll stand guard nearby and maintain a vigilant watch.

At first she thinks she should remain still near the TARDIS exit, but that quickly starts to grow too boring. Since that is the case, she instead opts to patrol the immediate perimeter a little from the ground level this time. That, at least, affords her an opportunity to get a closer look at her environment. As she does that, she gradually realizes that, potential threat levels aside, this place is rather beautiful.

More to the point, this seems like the kind of place Feather Wind himself would be the most comfortable in. Her friend may have been raised as an aristocrat, but at heart, he's always been more akin to a true druid. Places like this, with pristine nature, was always where he really belonged. The stillness, the timelessness that can come from such places . . . Stern Wing can kind of see the potential appeal of that. Personally, she prefers the hustle and bustle of pony society, but once in a while it's nice to get back out here in raw nature for the difference, the beauty, and the challenge.

The ears above her head perk further up, more especially alert, when she hears the relatively quiet sound of thunder rolling across the sky. Sometimes it gets louder and more prominent as the roll continues, but it generally is pretty steady and calm.

Around that point her innate pegasi senses for weather alerts her to the fact it is going to rain soon. She focuses up in the gray skies and realizes that should have occurred to her quite a while ago. When it finally does, she grows curious if her friend realizes that as well. Most likely the answer is yes. In fact, his senses for the weather is far more keen than any average pegasi because he can directly communicate with the weather. It talks to him on some level she cannot fully understand. It's probably just a feeling for him. He claims the messages of the wind become especially clear to him as he breathes it in. It's as if there is a message built within the oxygen itself.

Since her curiosity is not abating, she quietly trots around her friend in order to gaze at him more from the front side. In doing so, she sees what she most expects. His eyes are closed and his mind appears distant from here. Where his mind is instead, she can hardly guess, but he does appear very relaxed. That's good.

She almost returns to her post at the front of the TARDIS, but before she fully takes her first step, something about Feather Wind changes. She sees him gradually lifting his muzzle until it totally aims up into the air. At first she wonders why until she can feel the light pitter-patter of raindrops gradually picking up. When that happens, she lifts her own muzzle into the sky and closes her eyes to protect herself from the raindrops. She also unconsciously spreads her wings as if to expand the surface area of her body and catch even more of the raindrops.

She takes in a deep breath. Rich oxygen fills her lungs and invigorates her with life and magic. Peace starts to settle within her as well and, for a brief moment, she even drops her guard a bit. It's just nice out here.

More thunder rolls across the sky which drifts her consciousness back up to the surface. She's more alert again, but still relaxed.

The sound of different, deeper breathing tips her off to a change in the status of her friend. She gazes upon him. His eyes are still closed, but he's breathing in much more deeply and a bit more loudly. Since she's not entirely sure what that means, she continues to remain observant.

“It's nice out here . . . isn't it?” Feather Wind eventually asks as he slowly opens his eyes while the rain continues and he still gazes up into the sky. “I'm telling you, Stern . . . this is the life for me.”

“It is nice,” Stern Wing somewhat agrees. “And I appreciate the fact you have a deeper connection to the weather than anypony I know. Even other pegasi. They may fly through the sky, but you are the sky.”

Feather Wind takes in another very deep intake of breath then slowly releases it. Stern Wing hears every second that it continues until his breath abates.

“How are the others? Any change that we should note?” Feather Wind checks as he finally looks at her directly.

“Stable,” Stern reports. “Including Vision for the most part. The Doctor sounds confident she'll make a full recovery, such as it is, but then there is the question of what to do with her afterwards.”

Stern Wing momentarily gets lost in a trance when she sees Feather Wind gaze upon her with a look she hardly ever sees from him, and that is a look of serene calmness. At that moment it feels like he isn't just Feather Wind but something more as well. Something grander.

“Life will always find a way, Stern Wing,” Feather Wind calmly assures.

“I, uh . . .” Stern pauses for a moment as she swallows a gulp before continuing. “I'll take your word for it.

“In the meantime, I'd like you to promise me something. The next time you decide to venture out of the TARDIS in new and uncharted territory, please have the courtesy of alerting me first.”

A smile grows on Feather's lips that is a mix between serene and amused. It slightly annoys Stern to see as if he's looking upon a young and innocent child, but it also fascinates her to see because it seems to give him an otherworldly quality as well.

“My apologies, Stern. I shall be more mindful of that in the future,” Feather promises.

“Be sure that you do, or I'll have cause to worry,” Stern replies with a cheeky frown. Four seconds later she releases her frustration with a long exhale of breath as she sweeps her gaze across the landscape before saying, “But, as you've said, it is nice out here. However, I'm a little concerned about the weather. We should probably return inside the TARDIS before too long. We don't wish to compound the Doctor's problem by getting sick out here ourselves.”

“The weather can never harm me, Stern,” Feather Wind calmly assures which draws her attention right back at him. Shortly later he adds, “But that said, you won't go back inside until I do. Am I correct?”

“You know me well enough to answer that,” Stern Wing replies. “For as long as you, or anypony else I can perceive might be in danger, I'll be there and alert.”

“Let's go back inside, then,” Feather concedes. He pushes himself up with a hoof on the cloud below him. He floats up as if in low gravity, but she can tell he simply lightened his body weight. As he floats up, the cloud below him dissipates which leads Stern to think that he did, indeed, originally form that cloud. After that, he gently floats back to the ground. Along the way down he uncrosses his hind legs then lands on all four.

“I can enjoy the weather through the open door just as well,” he compromises.

“While you do that, how about a nice hot cup of coco?” Stern Wing offers. “I can make us a cup in the kitchen. I'll even add marshmallows.”

Feather Wind smiles at her brightly in appreciation as he says, “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

Author's Note

This is a little different, isn't it? A low-key slice-of-life type of chapter/episode. Get to know the characters during their downtime activity when they are also getting to know each other better. This better helps to establish who they are, how they treat each other, and what they have to bring to the table on their next adventure. The reason Stern Wing remains so strong, and perhaps stronger later, is she kept exercising. Feather continued with his writing and communing with nature, and Derpy feels a little out of place, especially with her own role in consideration of the inclusion of her new friends. These are character-driven chapters that drive the story forward through interpersonal relationships. The best ones usually are.

But let me know what you think.

Here is some nice music that I kept thinking of which helped to inspire the end of this chapter where Feather Wind mediates out during the light rainstorm and Stern kept vigilant watch nearby.

Part 2: Empty Chalice

When Feather Wind and Stern Wing step outside the TARDIS's doors, their breath is taken away by the sight of a gigantic forest all about them. For some of these trees, they cannot even see the top at all. Some branches are closer to the ground, however, and they gasp again when they see the leaves of the gigantic trees shift colors before their very eyes. Most of the leaves shift colors within four seconds apart from each other, but a few of them are doing their own thing.

Down below and a few feet away from them, the Doctor is just standing about with his sonic screwdriver in his mouth. The device is busy making noise and he is slowly turning his head. He seems to be scanning for something. However, the look on his face indicates some minor frustration as if he is failing to find what he is seeking.

“What's wrong, Doctor?” asks the ever-cautious Stern Wing. “Is something amiss? Something we need to be on guard against, perhaps?”

The Doctor keep scanning for a few more seconds before spitting out his sonic screwdriver into his left hoof. He continues to have a flustered look on his face as he says, “No. It's just that . . . Well, maybe, but first I want to check something.” He snaps his head and gazes back at Feather Wind as he asks, “Feather Wind, what do you detect about the local environment? Can you speak to the air here like you can on any other world?”

Reminded of that, Feather Wind closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in. He holds it for a few seconds to let the message of the air really sink in but then pops his eyes open as he realizes something alarming.

Noticing her friend's alarmed expression, Stern Wing quickly asks, “What is it? What's wrong?”

“I, uh . . . I can't really explain this one. I have never felt anything like this before!” Feather Wind exclaims in unpleasant surprise.

“You're not getting anything from the air, are you?” asks the Doctor with an educated guess.

“Ah . . . no! I'm not! This is the first time the air I breathe has been dead silent.

“Ah . . . hold on. Let me examine this a while longer. Maybe I'm just not familiar with the language of the air on this world,” Feather suggests.

“Take your time,” the Doctor encourages. “We're not in a rush for the moment,” he adds with a thoughtful visual scan of the environment. “I want accurate feedback. If taking more time to examine this place improves our odds of gathering reliable information, then I'm all for it as long as no sudden urgency pops up.”

“In that case, while he does that, I'm going to patrol the local area,” Stern Wing proposes. “I suggest we do this together on two fronts. I'll take to the skies and get a bird's eye view of our situation, and you patrol the ground within sight of Feather Wind. Make sure nothing happens to him while I am gone.

“Oh, and just in case you do run into trouble, use your sonic device to project a noisy signal of some kind. Maybe the shrill cry of a bird or something like that. If you do, I'll come diving back and back you up as soon as I can.”

“Sounds like a reasonable proposal, but you be careful up there too,” the Doctor cautions her then waves to indicate the upward direction with an uplifted and spiraling hoof. “There are a lot of branches to be caught in up there, and we still don't know if anything dangerous lives up there as well.”

“I can be dangerous too if I want to be,” Stern Wing assures with a confident grin. “Don't worry about me too much. If anything does take me out up there, then they really earned it.”

“Just be back in a few minutes,” the Doctor requests.

“I'll try, but I don't have a watch,” Stern Wing points out.

“Then I'll send an audible signal either within two minutes or when we run into trouble,” comes the Doctor's refined proposal. “That will also help you zero in on our position unless you find your own way back to us first.”

“Sounds good,” Stern Wing agrees before crouching down and then leaping upward with a big flap of her large wings. With that, she shoots off into the sky.

Two minutes and thirty-eight seconds later, Stern Wing lands back on the ground near the Doctor and Feather Wind. Feather Wind already arose from his meditative focus and the Doctor stopped issuing the sonic scream the moment he realized Stern was fully aware of where they are.

“Okay, let's compare notes,” the Doctor proposes. “Who wants to go first?”

Feather Wind and Stern Wing look at each other with a mutual questioning look. They soon realize they have a stalemate in that regard so Feather nods to Stern Wing invitingly and with a questioning look as if to say, “You want to go first?”

Stern Wing nods then says, “You're not going to believe this, but this is incredible! We seem to be on . . . um . . . I can almost describe it as a tiny island floating in the middle of a vast empty sky, but it's more like we're on a tiny planet because the landmass we're on is spherical. I also spotted several dozen of these floating tiny planets and each of them seem to have a vastly different environment on them. Some of them are desert, some of them are the arctic, others are the ocean, and still others . . . I don't even know how to describe them. Lots of neon and artificial lights. That's about all I can tell you.”

“Wow! That's . . . unpredictable,” Feather Wind says with wide eyes in amazement then narrows his eyes as he goes on to say, “But that might partially explain what I'm getting.”

“Which is?” the Doctor checks with Feather.

Feather Wind shakes his head as he says, “For the first time in my life, the air is dead silent to me. I searched and searched and breathed deep, but every breath I took felt hollow somehow. It's like it's not really there. That we're not really breathing air. I keep getting this very odd sensation like we should be suffocating right now due to being in an airless void, but we're not. I'm thus getting conflicting feedback.

“That's not all. I'm not feeling anything from the local environment either. Not the trees, not the earth, not the life in the forest. Nothing! About the only thing I can feel is magic, and that particular category is unusually abundant. I feel like if I cast any magic, my magic will replenish in this environment unusually fast due to its thickness, but something feels off about it as well.” He shakes his head. “I don't know how a substance like that can feel so strong yet empty at the same time. It's like I'm beholding a beautiful and bejeweled golden chalice that is totally empty of anything else, including air.”

Feather and Stern both grow curious when they see the Doctor nodding in neutral acceptance before he finally says, “Thank you both for that information. That's about what I expected to hear.”

“What's going on, Doctor?” Stern Wing presses the hourglass cutie-marked stallion. “You seem to know something about our confusing situation. Would you care to explain it to the rest of us?”

“Certainly,” the Doctor agrees in a light tone. “The short version of it is we're in an artificially produced environment. Nothing feels real to you,” he says with a nod to Feather, “because nothing here is real. Rather, it is a simulation. A solid illusion. It has sound, texture, taste, color . . . everything it takes to fool your five senses that this place is real, but it's not. It's a projection made solid with very sophisticated force fields and other kinds of advanced technology.”

“Which is what you encountered before!” Feather Wind realizes. “In the other dimension predominately run by humans, this world in that dimension ran on a similar principle, didn't it?”

“Very similar, except for one thing; the power source,” the Doctor points out with a lift of a hoof. “Back in the other dimension, the simulation was supported by a computer that ran everything, and before you ask, a 'computer' is basically a thinking machine that can produce quantum-level calculations, store and retrieve a huge amount of data darn near instantly as well as process and scan a bunch of things. Think of it like an advanced artificial brain.

“Anyway, back in the other dimension, I managed to hack into and edit this computer by using my sonic screwdriver. By emitting a certain sonic frequency, I was able to tap into this machine, especially when I did it near one of the environment's hidden projection nodes which is the cause of simulating everything else you see here. I had hoped to use this access to acquire certain kinds of data, but this system runs on a different power source and therefore the sonic frequency I used before is no longer valid here. I think, eventually, I can learn to attune to the new type of frequency, but it will take me some time to figure it out.

“I do know of one local sample I can try to scan to help me figure it out, though.

“Hey Feather, cast a spell for me, would you? Anything non-hostile will do,” the Doctor requests of the young wizard.

“Anything non-hostile?” Feather echoes as he ponders that, then nods with a dim smile as he says, “Okay. I think I got it. I'll go for something simple.”

Feather Wind closes his eyes and concentrates. One second later a light projects from his horn which shines as a silvery ball. He has it float off his horn and hovers a foot in front of him. Feather Wind then pops his eyes open and looks at the Doctor as he asks, “Does this help? I can make it stronger if you want me to.”

“No. That should be fine,” the Doctor says back as he aims his sonic device at the sphere and then activates his device. “I only need to compare the magical energy of your signature versus the energy of the local environment. By comparing the difference, I might be able to get a mental picture of what I'm dealing with here faster.”

“Strange you never thought to scan his magic before,” Stern Wing muses aloud.

Once the Doctor finishes scanning Feather Wind's ball of magic, he nods to the young stallion in appreciation then proceeds to aim his device outward at the rest of the environment then scans it again, only this time he's armed with a sample to compare it to.

While the Doctor does that, Feather Wind muses aloud, “A simulated environment. How interesting. That means they can produce whatever they want at any moment, or at least whatever these com-pue-ters are able to replicate. If these thinking machines rely on data to produce anything, then they will need a real sample of some type before being able to simulate anything else.”

“A simulated environment on a moon?” Stern Wing asks. “I wonder how far this technology goes, and I don't strictly mean in terms of raw power. I wonder how widespread this tech is on this moon. Imagine if this technology was prevalent across the entire moon, including within it.”

“If the other dimension is any indication, that's very close to the truth,” the Doctor mentions while still busy scanning. “Here, they don't build houses or buildings or cave systems or swim in real lakes. They rely on their simulations to produce absolutely everything, and the projection nodes are implanted across this entire world, including within it. There are only a few spots where the projection nodes aren't, and those are places the residents can't go anyway like into solid walls or in machines taking up space to produce other things. For example, their computers will take up space or their power generators.”

“Power generators?” Feather echoes questioningly.

“Magic on this world isn't produced in the same way as it is on your home planet, or even the Water World we recently left. Instead of flowing about the environment and being produced by every living thing that is there, it is produced by one or more giant machines that just spew it. From there, that energy is channeled into whatever device is useful to the residents here. From there, those devices take that energy and shape it into some specific form, including the air you're breathing. Apparently, it is real enough to sustain us, but let's get one thing straight here. It isn't actual air any of us is breathing, but pure magical energy that is simulating air . . . and everything else, for that matter.

“While I'm on the subject, I should mention that if that power source were to totally stop and they had no backup to replace it, then everything in this environment that is simulated will suddenly disappear along with anything else that relies on this energy to function. At that point, we'd see this moon's true form which, if memory serves, is a metal spherical moon with a large gridwork of pyramid-shaped projection nodes.

“Oh, and if the simulation totally stopped with no backup, we'd be suffocating too . . . apparently.”

“Huh. How interesting,” Feather Wind says with an ironically bored expression, then he looks at Stern Wing the same way as he adds, “The residents here can produce anything they want at any time. They can have instant gratification to any wish, basically, as long as they attempt to fulfill that wish on or within this moon. If they can perfectly control what they experience, then there'd be no need to fear anything they produce provided the machine that is producing the simulation does it properly and safely. In other words, this place is a Hollow Paradise.

“However, you may think this is strange of me to say, but I'd much prefer to live in the Water World we just left rather than here. The Water World may have been a much more challenging environment to live in, but at least it was real. Real ocean. Real sky. Real sea life. Real ocean rigs. Real magic. It had depth and substance to it. It actually mattered.”

Feather sighs then shakes his head before going on to say, “It may be that my magic may replenish much faster here, but I'm kind of afraid to have my magic replenished by the synthetic magic that is produced here. If I rely upon that too much, what if I start to become fake, too?”

“I know what you mean,” Stern Wing agrees. “I didn't notice this at first as keenly as you did, but now that I know this place is fake . . . I'm not comfortable here anymore. Initially, I was fascinated because I thought this was real, but now . . . I don't know. I don't feel like I really have a true purpose here. If the residents are indeed perfectly secure in their synthetic environment, then good for them, but that also means they don't need a heroine like me and I can get out of here.” Stern Wing twists her hips to aim her cutie mark, which is a giant shield with wings off to the side and a heart in the center of the shield, at Feather Wind. She also points to it.

“I got this cutie mark due to my passion for protecting others. As a side effect, I think it is also trying to lead me to places where I am needed,” Stern says while looking at Feather at first, but then aims her flank away from him again as she visually scans her environment.

“However, here, where everything can be perfectly predictable and by the numbers, I don't think I am needed here.” Stern looks back at Feather. “Not to mention this probably isn't the best place I can grow. I need to keep up my strength to prepare for future challenges in other worlds and periods.” She shakes her head. “And I don't think I can do that here. It's too safe and I don't wish to become complacent.”

“If you two wanted to stay here, I wouldn't stop you,” the Doctor mentions as he keeps scanning in different directions approximately every five seconds. “But know this; I wouldn't stay here myself. As a matter of fact, I generally can't stand stagnating in any place for too long. I spent too long constantly being on the move. That's the 'normal' for me and it has been for a very long time now.”

“Really?” Stern Wing asks the Doctor with interest tinged with a bit of sadness. “Then that means you feel you can't settle anywhere and raise a family and whatnot.

“But . . . you mentioned earlier that you had a granddaughter so does that mean you used to be settled at one time?”

Right after Stern Wing asked him that question, the Doctor finally stopped scanning and put his device away in the hidden pocket just above his hourglass cutie mark. He then grins at Stern Wing as he says, “You don't expect me to answer all of your questions, do you? I think I prefer to keep some things a mystery, but I won't stop you from hypothesizing all you want. If you're very observant, they can even be educated guesses.”

“I don't understand. We're on the same team, so why keep secrets from your fellow team members?” Stern Wing wonders.

“Is that what happened to you when you were on a sports team?” the Doctor reflects questioningly. “Did every single member of your team spill their whole life story, including their deepest and darkest secrets, just because you were all on the same team?”

“Ah . . . no, but we didn't feel compelled to withhold that information either,” Stern Wing answers. “We kept our environment feeling open and friendly because we each needed to trust each other. Telling our life's story, while not required, was an available option to us. We didn't have to, we get to if we wanted.”

“Well, that is fine for you and your former team. I respect and commend you all for it,” the Doctor expresses to Stern Wing. “But as for me, there are secrets about my past that would be dangerous to know. Some of them are dangerous to me already but at least I can handle them.” He shakes his head. “I see no reason to spread that danger unnecessarily. It's not because I don't trust my companions, it is because I refuse to endanger them when it isn't necessary.

“If, for some reason, it does become necessary to share some or all of my secrets then I shall do so, but not until then. As a pony who appreciates the need for security, I expect and request for you to respect that.”

Stern Wing smiles at the Doctor softly as she says, “Very well, Doctor. As you request. I shall-”

She is interrupted when they all notice a bright golden streak zoom across the sky, momentarily brightening their immediate area before it fades into the distance.

“What was that?!” Stern Wing exclaims in shock.

“We already established that this environment is synthetically produced, right?” the Doctor reminds. “Well, that also means someone is here to request this in the first place. My guess is we just saw a sign of the player of this game.” The Doctor grows a daring grin as he goes on to say excitedly, “So let's go check it out!”

Part 3: Tetrahexcimal

“Welp, this is as far as we can go without flying through the sky,” the Doctor reasons as he gazes up at the tiny floating planet where he detects the other life form in this area. “Let's see.” He gazes forward at nothing as he rubs the bottom of his chin. “What are our options here? Well, two of you can fly, and one of you can also . . . Ooo.” The Doctor looks at Feather Wind with interest. “Feather Wind, back during our last adventure on Water World, you once told me you can deliver whispered messages using the wind across great distances. Just what is the range of that ability, and how well do you have to know your target?”

“Um, I ah . . . I'm not sure if there is a limit in terms of range so long as the message has the ability to travel in the wind. I think I can deliver messages all the way across a planet if I wanted to. However, the further the target is, the longer it will take for the target to receive the message because the message is delivered at the speed of the wind. If I accelerate the speed of the wind then it will get to them faster.”

Feather Wind pauses as he ponders for a moment, then says, “As for my knowledge of the target, I think I at least need to know their name or some basic description of them. It could be their cutie mark or maybe even some knowledge of their personality. I need to give the wind something to identify which target I'm trying to deliver the message to.”

Feather Wind looks around and then says, “That said, I don't think my wind and weather abilities will work here because this isn't the real sky, wind, and air.”

“Oh sweet Celestia!” Stern Wing exclaims with a shake of her head then bursts into a chuckle for a moment.

“What?” Feather Wind asks Stern Wing with a mix of confusion and slight annoyance.

Stern Wing lifts a wing towards Feather to encourage him to pause a moment while she takes a moment to recover herself. When she does, she shakes her head and then says, “Forgive me, but this is the second foreign world in a row that we've explored where you can't fly which just happens to be your most famous ability. In the first world, you couldn't affect the weather much because it was already too loud. In fact, it tried to download its entire history in your head in a few seconds.”

“Oh yeah. I remember,” Feather Wind recalls with a grin.

“Now here, in this world, you can't affect the weather because it is too quiet. How ironic is that?!” Stern Wing asks before she bursts out laughing.

Feather Wind shakes his head and chuckles for a brief moment but then corrects, “Actually, the problem isn't the fact that the weather is too quiet. The problem is it's not really there. It's like me trying to talk into an empty room.”

Stern Wing nods in understanding then says after she recovers again, “Point taken, but you gotta admit, that is pretty uncanny to run into a similar yet opposite problem twice in a row.” After she says that, she bursts out into another gut-busting laughter and also stamps her left forehoof on the ground.

“Can you just use your sonic device to deliver a message to the other pony?” Feather Wind checks with the Doctor while Stern Wing continues to laugh.

The Doctor shakes his head as he says, “Not at this range, I think. If I can amplify my sonic device somehow then maybe, but as it stands, I don't think it is likely.”

“Perhaps we can just go back and warp the TARDIS to the other pony?” Feather suggests instead.

The Doctor shakes his head as he says, “I don't think that would work either. I mean, technically, we could, but then we'd have to double back all the way to the TARDIS. By the time we do, I think the target will have moved on.”

Feather Wind grunts in frustration as he gives this problem serious thought. “Well . . . if I could still affect the weather and the wind, I probably could just loan you my Mist Cloak and use that to blow you to the other floating island/tiny planet.”

“Why don't I just carry you both to the other island?” Stern Wing proposes when she finally fully recovers and rejoins the conversation with a much more serious expression. She also wipes away a single tear from her left eye using a single feather of her right wing. “Especially you, Feather. You can lighten your body weight so that lifting you would hardly be any effort at all.”

The Doctor squints as he says with a doubtful expression, “Okay, but I can't do that, and I remember Derpy struggling to do something like this before. Usually, the best she can achieve is to give me more lift to my jumps or slow me down so that a fall isn't lethal, and even then it is a strain on her. Now still,” he lifts a hoof, “that remains a very handy ability. None of my other companions in the TARDIS could do that so I'm still grateful to have access to this.”

“Yeah, because most of your other companions were human, or at least humanoid,” Feather points out. “We're ponies so our physiology makes other options more and less possible.”

Stern Wing wipes her right hoof across the air and lifts both of her wings in a dignified stance as she says, “Yes, but that is Derpy. I am a much larger and stronger mare who is accustomed to much higher standards. Believe me, Doctor, I shall not let you fall.”

“Um,” the Doctor turns his head towards his left as he continues to eye Stern Wing nervously then says, “I get the logic of your claim, but if you're wrong, there could be very lethal consequences in this case. Are you sure you can do this?”

“Doctor,” Stern Wing says before stepping right next to him and looming over him. She gives a deadly serious expression down at the Doctor as she assures with iron determination, “we don't have time to argue about this since the other pony might depart soon. For all the love of Princess Celestia, I promise you . . . you will not fall!”

Stern Wing's steely gaze continues to bore down upon the Doctor. Eventually he sighs, shakes his head, then says, “Oh bollocks, my large pony. You can casually poke holes through a brick wall using that iron will of yours.”

Completely unfazed by his words, Stern Wing continues to give the Doctor an intense, focused, and passionate stare.

“You are the very definition of strength in every sense of the word,” the Doctor continues. “So shoot. Let's try it!” the Doctor decides excitedly.

Stern Wing lifts her head higher as she says, “Very well, then. Feather,” she whips her gaze towards him, “climb on my back and lighten your body weight, but not all the way. You know the drill.”

To assist him, she lowers a wing so he can use it as a bridge to scale to her back. He proceeds to do so then bites on her mane in addition to grabbing hold of her neck using his forehooves.

“As for you, Doctor, just hold still and enjoy the ride,” Stern Wing commands him.

Following that statement, Stern Wing practically pounces on the Doctor which makes him go “oof”. Stern Wing collects his entire body within all four of her legs like a clenching four-fingered hand and then she powerfully flaps her wings to take off into the sky using the momentum of her wing thrusts alone. Several strong whooshes of wind are projected from her wings as she takes off into the sky.

“Whah! Ha-ha-ha! This is fantastic!” the Doctor exclaims ecstatically like an excited child once they are up in the air. He tries to squirm about enough so he can view the forested land they just took off from. “We're flying! We're actually really flying and I'm being carried off by a pegasus of all things! Whah-ha! I just never know what I'll encounter on my adventures!”

“Stop squirming, Doctor!” Stern Wing orders him firmly as she looks down and glares harshly at the Doctor within her four legs.

“Yes Ma'am!” the Doctor replies, instantly cowed by the sheer intensity of her command. His eyes shrink to the size of pinpricks during that time.

Together, they make their way to another floating island/planet that is half sandy beach and half ocean water. Along the way, Feather Wind notices that there is light in their surroundings, but there is no sun to explain this anywhere in this apparently infinite open sky in every direction. Not only that, but there are no shadows anywhere either. It's as if the “air” itself is the light source.

When Stern Wing lands upon the shore of the sandy beach of the other island/planet, she safely and gently deposits the Doctor. As for Feather Wind, he just hops off of her back himself. Since he temporarily lightened his body weight significantly using the magic of his cutie mark talent, he floats gently on the sandy beach.

Ahead of them, they see the curious sight of a yellow unicorn stallion in an embroidered black robe that have some gems built into it and glowing magical lines tracing between them. His mane is a bit shaggy but only off to the sides of his head because he is totally bald at the top. He seems to be curiously and intently examining some glowing, holographic window in front of him that displays a lot of 2-D moving screens, words splayed around it, and some graph charts.

“I thought I would rank higher,” the yellow stallion mumbles to himself. “But my opponents are scoring higher than I thought they would. Hmm.” He rubs his bottom chin with a thoughtful expression. “I'm going to have to get really serious with the next few shots.”

In an attempt to gain the yellow stallion's attention, the Doctor clears his throat. It seems to have no effect. The yellow unicorn outright ignores all of them. Because of that, the Doctor clears his throat louder. When he does, the yellow stallion grunts in annoyance and then says aloud, “Computer, mute the ponies adjacent to me.”

“What?!” Stern Wing bristles as her fur and feathers stand up straight. “Did he really just try to shunt us?”

“This situation seems to require more direct measures,” the Doctor realizes then approaches the yellow stallion who continues to be busy analyzing the data on his floating holographic window until the Doctor becomes too intrusive by waving a leg in front of the other stallion.

In response, the yellow stallion finally looks directly at the Doctor with a growl of annoyance before ordering aloud, “Computer, delete these annoying and intrusive ponies.”

For a moment the TARDIS adventurers flinch in alarm when they hear that command, but a moment later a disembodied feminine voice says nearby them, “This system cannot comply with your previous command.”

Annoyance shifts to surprise as the yellow stallion demands to know, “Why not?”

“The ponies in your vicinity are not produced by this system,” the disembodied voice explains.

“What?!” the yellow stallion exclaims in astonishment. “You mean to tell me that they are real?”

“Affirmative,” the disembodied female voice confirms.

The TARDIS trio mutually glance at each other, each wondering how to take this recent string of news.

“Oh!” The yellow stallion widens his eyes in amazement. “In that case, I withdraw my recent orders to mute them.”

This time there is only a tweeting, digital reply from somewhere in this area. To the TARDIS trio, it might be an indication that the yellow stallion's recent request to mute them is successfully withdrawn.

“Okay, so if you three are not computer programs, just why are you here and interrupting my game?” the yellow stallion asks the trio. “And how did you get here anyway? This is supposed to be a closed program.”

Feather Wind and Stern Wing, especially the latter, are barely following this conversation. They just look at the Doctor and hope he can provide an intelligent response to this confusing conversation.

“I take it you had something to do with that giant golden comet?” the Doctor inquires of the yellow unicorn.

“Oh, that? Well if that's what you want to know, just watch. It's just about my turn anyway.” The yellow stallion peeks at the holographic window. In doing so, he apparently confirms something which causes him to nod in acceptance. He then trots away from the transparent window and draws closer to the shoreline of the beach. He then calls aloud, “Computer, reticle target, please.”

As a result of his command, a glowing and golden ornate sigil appears before him. It looks like two squares. One is right side up and the other is turned at a forty-five-degree angle. Both squares overlap each other. Within the squares, there are three circles, each with a few lines extending off of them. Because of those lines, every pony here can tell those circles are spinning in various directions as if adjusting for something. The center circle shows a zoomed image in the direction the entire sigil is being aimed at. There are a bunch of symbols that change all around and within the circles and squares as if to indicate changes in that which is being viewed.

“Mallet,” the yellow stallion calls aloud. Due to that, an image of a solid mallet appears and floats in thin air. A magic aura soon surrounds both the new tool and the yellow stallion's horn. In this case, both are enveloped by a mint-green aura. Notably, however, one of the gems on his robe is also glowing the same color, and that gem is mint green as well. “Okay. I just need to aim and adjust my target, and then . . .” The yellow stallion licks his lips as he gives the sigil sharp focus. After a while, he swings the mallet back using his magic and then slams it into the sigil. As a result, a giant and brightly golden comet launches away from the sigil and shoots off into the vast open sky.

The yellow stallion looks back across the newcomers and asks them, “Do you really mean to tell me that none of you are familiar with the game Tetrahexcimal?”

In response, the TARDIS trio shake their heads but then the Doctor proclaims, “But I think I'm beginning to get the gists of it. Basically, you create this reticle sigil and then use it to aim at where you want. I suspect you're not only trying to hit the other floating planets here but actually intend to ricochet off of them into several more of those planets before the comet loses all of its momentum.”

“Correct!” the yellow stallion cheers. “I need the comet to bounce off certain planets in a certain order. I have to hit A before I can hit B then C. The final goal is to shoot the comet through a rainbow ring. The thing is, I have to do all of this with the minimum number of shots possible.”

“So Tetrahexcimal is basically just a grander version of Cricket,” the Doctor realizes.

“Ah . . . maybe?” the yellow stallion says without recognition.

“And I take it that window is displaying the stats of the other players of this game?” the Doctor asks as he looks at the holographic window.

“Ah . . . yes. That and it allows me to see the progress of my own game. For instance,” he concentrates for a moment. His horn glows again, but curiously with a red color this time. As a result of his spell, one of the screens on the holographic window displays the comet he just shot away from this position. The image follows the comet as it shoots through this air space. A lot of information is being displayed around the moving image, but Feather and Stern can't make heads or tails of that information.

“See?” The yellow stallion waves at the holographic window. “This displays my progress in this game along with the stats of the other players off to the side.”

“And each of these 'other players' is off in their own little world of this game, correct? None of them are physically here?” the Doctor checks as he looks back at the yellow stallion.

In response, the yellow stallion nods as he says, “Correct, which is why I'm so confused about why the three of you are here bothering me. I'm supposed to be the only player in this version of the program. It's a private instance.”

“Forgive us for this intrusion. We didn't stumble upon your game intentionally,” the Doctor says to the yellow stallion. “Rather than that, we just arrived here.”

The yellow stallion winces as he asks, “May I ask how?”

“You certainly may,” the Doctor invites. “And I am happy to tell you. We warped here, from off this world, in my vessel which is known as the TARDIS. That stands for, 'Time and Relative Dimension in Space.'”

“Off this world? You came from off this moon? Seriously?” the yellow stallion asks skeptically.

“That surprises you?” the Doctor checks.

“Yes because of the shield around this world,” the yellow stallion responds. “How in the world, or rather off this world, did you manage to penetrate that?”

Instead of answering that question, the Doctor responds with another question of his own. “Would you like to see my ship?”

“Ah . . .” The yellow stallion looks numb for a moment, but he focuses again when he blinks and shakes his head. He then says to the Doctor, “I think you'd better. This is starting to sound much more serious than my game. Here.” He looks at the holographic window again. His horn glows red again. This time Feather and the Doctor notices a different gem light up on the stallion's robe. This one looks like a ruby gem.

In response to the spell the stallion cast, the holographic window goes away and is replaced with what seems to be a laser line simulation of their local environment. One area in particular flashes red. The stallion looks at the others as he says, “We are here where the red flash is. Now tell me, where is your ship?”

“Very close by, actually,” the Doctor answers as he approaches the holographic, 3-D grid map. “We were on an adjacent planet with a forest terrain. Specifically, the ship is located here.” The Doctor points at the correct spot on the grid map. Now that area flashes yellow in response.

“Alright then. I should see this for myself,” the yellow stallion decides before he calls aloud, “Computer, transport us to the yellow flashing area the other stallion indicated.”

“Affirmative,” the disembodied voice affirms before they are all engulfed by a brilliant white flash

Part 4: Lawful Authority

“This looks like a, ah . . .” The yellow stallion gives the Police Call Box a quizzical look. He maintains that expression as he rubs the bottom of his chin then gives up as he admits, “Well gosh darn it, I don't know what the heck this is.” He looks to the Doctor. “And you say that this is your spaceship?”

“Yeah? And?” the Doctor prompts while a mischievous grin steadily grows on his lips as if he's hoping for a specific response and he senses he's close to it.

“Isn't it, ah . . .” The yellow stallion gives the TARDIS another puzzled look. He's silent for a second as if considering how to phrase his next words. In the end he asks, “Isn't this a bit small to be a spaceship?”

“Oh really? Is that your opinion?” the Doctor inquires as his smile grows. “Don't get me wrong. I get where you're coming from, but what would you say if I told you it's surprisingly roomy on the inside?”

“I'd say you're full of shit,” the yellow stallion replies bluntly as he looks back at the Doctor. “Even if you had a holographic simulation in there to make it seem as big as you want, it would be, nevertheless, still that,” he nods to indicate the ship, “in its actual size.”

The Doctor just bursts into a chuckle.

“Still, let's say you're right and this is your spaceship,” the yellow stallion goes on, “how did you get through our protective shield? Were you invited to be here?”

“I'm sorry, what shield is he talking about?” Feather Wind inquires of the Doctor.

“This moon, and the planet it orbits, is protected by a barrier that prevents physical transport. It also serves as a sort of sensor. If anything tries to penetrate it, then those who are running security on this moon place will be alerted to the attempt,” the Doctor calmly informs Feather Wind. He instantly simmers down from his chuckle in order to do so. “This serves the dual purpose of protecting the natives here on this moon but also to prevent unauthorized access to the ocean planet below. The earth ponies planted down there are supposed to be monitored without extra-terrestrial interference. That includes the ponies here who originally planted those earth ponies down on the planet below.”

“For what purpose?” Stern Wing asks curiously.

“That, I'm not sure,” the Doctor replies. “That means the natives here from the other dimension either forgot that as well, or weren't forthcoming about it. I suspect the general populace is no longer aware of why they did that, but the answer is buried in their own data system. That's, ah,” he looks at Feather Wind, “their own version of record keeping.

“Based on the way things turned out, however, I can stab a few guesses. I suspect, given the evidence presented, that this civilization survived an alien invasion of some kind. They might have also assimilated the alien tech of their invaders into their own culture and that caused an unnatural bump in their technological evolutionary process. They couldn't help but to be curious, and at one time, they were probably also desperate.”

“That makes sense,” Feather agrees.

The Doctor shakes his head with a slightly sad expression as he goes on to lecture, “But I have often observed that any culture that receives a sudden shock evolutionary bump in some kind of tool, no matter what form it takes, it often also entails some growing pains to go along with it. Wisdom needs time to catch up to their new knowledge level. Before that happens, they'll make a lot of regretful mistakes. It's like giving a dangerous weapon to a child. Until they grow up, they may accidentally use it irresponsibly.”

“That also makes sense,” Stern Wing agrees as well.

“So that is what probably happened here. They toyed and experimented with their new tech, likely during and after they ousted their previous would-be conquerors, and it resulted in making a lot of mistakes. When they later realized it, maybe they started to wonder how their culture would have turned out if it had not been interfered with in the first place. To answer that question, they set up this experiment. Put pony life on an alien planet and see how they evolve on their own this time without external interference. Once the guardians here see the results of that experiment, then they can get a better idea of how they,” he points at the yellow stallion, “also would have turned out. It's kind of an experiment of self-reflection.

“To tell you the truth, my own people did something like this several times over. They, too, had a god complex and liked to interfere with all kinds of crazy experiments until they were wiped out by . . . um . . . Let's just say it was a long period of unpleasantness that I'd rather keep behind me.”

“Time Lord Victorious?” Feather Wind repeats what the Doctor had once declared as an alternate title on the recently departed ocean planet. “The Oncoming Storm?” Feather Wind squints at the Doctor as he asks, “You sure that god complex is just limited to your own people?”

The Doctor smiles a little shyly as he replies, “We all have our own various backgrounds and roots. If you think I am arrogant, then you haven't seen anything yet. You haven't seen my people during their heyday.”

“I'll take your word for it,” Feather Wind accepts as he passes his look from the Doctor to the yellow stallion. Meanwhile, the yellow stallion was looking back and forth between each pony who spoke and tried his best to follow the conversation. Based on the look on his face now, he wasn't completely successful.

“Um,” the yellow stallion scratches his head. “Did the little blue stallion just say 'Time Lord'?”

“You've heard of them before?” the Doctor asks with sudden sharp interest to the yellow stallion, of whom the TARDIS trio still does not know the name of.

“I suppose you can say as myths and legends,” the yellow stallion answers. “To be honest, I've never given it much thought before, but if you're bringing it up now and one of you is even claiming to be one of them, then I'm quickly growing to suspect that all of this is above my pay grade.”

“So there is a currency in this world?” Stern Wing wonders aloud. “What kind exactly?”

“Actually, no,” the Doctor corrects. “The natives here have free and unlimited energy which they use to power,” he waves a hoof above his head in a circle, “all of this. Since their most critical needs are met in an unlimited supply, it means all of their services here are totally free. There's no point in having a currency system when they have an infinite supply of everything they could ever want or need.”

“Ah . . . then . . .?” Stern Wing says with a tone of confusion.

“On this world, the expression 'above my pay grade' strictly means 'this affair should be handled by someone of higher authority.' Do you get what I'm saying now?” the Doctor checks.

“Uh . . . partially,” Stern Wing says as she rubs a hoof on the side of her head in continued confusion.

“Everything here may be free, but there are still various levels, or tiers, to their society,” the Doctor lectures. “Higher level tiers are in charge of larger and larger amounts of authority and power. Tasks like that are relegated to those who best qualify and want the job. Nobody here, in this world, has to work a day in their life. They can just play all day, every day, in computer-simulated environments just for fun.

“However, if they actually want extra responsibility and power and they are willing to work for it, then there are various positions available in their society that need filling and they don't always trust such tasks to some holographic avatar. For some critical roles, they want real people on the job.”

“And speaking of which, I think it's high time to call in some of those authorities,” the yellow stallion decides. His horn glows red. A holographic window pops up and floats nearby him. To it, he says, “Computer, contact the Law Enforcers. Have one materialize to my current position.”

An instant later, a pony in some kind of sleek-looking black body armor materializes beside them. This pony, who seems to be an earth pony by the looks of the individual, is wearing a helmet that completely conceals the wearer's face. Instead of that, that helmet has a digital screen that displays a virtual face that is glowing and very obviously fake, but still gives the viewer some general idea of the wearer's expression.

“Officer Hawkly, reporting for duty,” the male police officer seems to say, but the helmet also distorts his voice slightly to sound a bit echo-y and digital. He looks at the yellow stallion as he asks, “How may I be of assistance to you, Citizen Chumely?”

“These three here,” the yellow stallion named Chumely uses a hoof to indicate the three others standing here as he goes on to say, “claim they came from off-world. The longer I listen to them, the more I am convinced they have an unauthorized entry here. Also,” he nods at the blue box beside him, “they claim that this is their spaceship, and he,” he nods to the Doctor, “claims to be a Time Lord.” He shakes his head. “I don't really buy into that crap, but they made that claim anyway. Perhaps they even really believe it themselves for some weird reason.”

“I see,” Officer Hawkly says as he then looks upon the TARDIS crew. “Please state your names for the record.”

Feather Wind almost speaks up, but he pauses when he sees the Doctor lift a hoof. That, in turn, draws the blue unicorn's attention.

“Before we get into all that, there is something I'd like to explain to my companions, if you don't mind. It will take only a moment,” the Doctor requests of the officer. “During that time, we'll remain right in front of you so you can continue to monitor us and record anything we say.”

“As you wish,” the officer accepts with a neutral nod.

The Doctor looks between Feather Wind and Stern Wing as he explains, “Alright, one thing you need to know about our new friend here is he's synthetic too. He's a holographic program that is controlled by the computer which runs this whole system.”

“Com-pue-ter . . . the thinking machine thing,” Feather Wind recalls.

“Right. That thinking machine runs pretty much all of this. That now includes this new police officer,” the Doctor further explains.

“Really?” Stern Wing asks skeptically. “They trust themselves to be enforced by a fictional character that doesn't actually exist?”

“A fictional character who is programmed to be a perfect police officer, at least according to this society's standards,” the Doctor mentions. “All the laws of this society are uploaded into his database which he runs smoothly and efficiently. As a program, he can't be corrupted either unless one can hack the program that is running him. Barring that, he's immune to greed and bribes, nor can he be intimidated. His behavior will always be one-hundred percent governed by the scripts he is provided with.”

Feather Wind looks impressed as he says, “Well, I guess I can see some advantages to their strategy here. Since we're talking about an imaginary character anyway, those that have designed him can make up any rule they want about him.”

The Doctor nods as he says, “That's not all. If negotiations fail, which they can be very good at despite being technically emotionless, then they are also programmed to be as strong and as fast as they need to be to overcome their assailants provided it does not exceed the limitations of the computer system running him or the strength of the holographic emitters creating him. He can also call in backup by creating potentially unlimited number of clones of himself. Since every clone of him is run by the same program, they can coordinate themselves perfectly without having to say anything to each other. They are also all aware of anything that even one of them spots. It is like a hive-mind mentality.

“This character is also programmed to be physically unbeatable by most standard methods. That means such characters will either dodge your attacks, allow your attacks to pass right through them, instantly heal themselves of any damage inflicted on them if you somehow manage to damage them, or make themselves so solid that you can't physically damage them in the first place. If fact, if one were to try when they use the latter strategy, you're more likely to damage your own hoof or the tool you tried to use against them.”

“Powerful, invincible, unlimited backup, perfectly coordinated as a group as if they were all the same individual, and immune to any emotional weaknesses,” Stern Wing recounts. “I'm beginning to see the appeal too, but I still don't like it. I'm not comfortable with the idea of being shoved around by a character who doesn't actually exist.”

“A cop who can do his work tirelessly and effortlessly,” Feather Wind realizes. “If they don't have any true emotions, then they can never get bored and/or complain about their job either, so it won't even occur to them to betray their masters.”

“They can simulate emotions very well, though, if they determine that it assists their odds of success,” the Doctor adds. “Such as with negotiations. They are programmed by some of the best negotiators and diplomats that have ever existed, and people who are that good at their job typically teach that it is important to establish a rapport with their subject. Well, these synthetic cops can do that well enough to succeed in any average setting at the very least.”

“And carrying a big stick doesn't hurt their chances either,” Stern Wing realizes.

“Which is why I wanted to point this out first before we answer any questions,” explains the Doctor. “I wanted you both to know what we're dealing with. Keep everything I said in mind as we deal with him.”

Feather Wind and Stern Wing nod at the Doctor simultaneously. Feather Wind further adds, “We'll follow your lead.”

The Doctor nods at his companions in return then turns to address the holographic police officer Hawkly.

“Forgive me for the delay. I was just clearing some things up with my companions to make sure they understand precisely why it is important to cooperate with you,” the Doctor says to Officer Hawkly. “To that end, I'll further add that my name is the Doctor, and these are two of my companions, Feather Wind and Stern Wing.” When he introduces his companions, he gestures to each in turn.

Officer Hawkly nods to the Doctor as he says, “I thank you for your cooperation so far. I also think it is insightful of you to explain your situation to your companions to further ensure their mutual cooperation.

“Now, if you don't mind, may I have your permission to ask you a few questions?”

The Doctor nods as he says, “You certainly may, and I shall endeavor to answer them to the best of my ability provided I determine it is safe to do so.”

“A wise and worthy precaution, no doubt,” Officer Hawkly commends. “Now then, Mister The Doctor-”

“Just Doctor, actually,” the Doctor interrupts with a correction.

“Very well,” Officer Hawkly agrees with a nod. “Doctor, then. Now Doctor, do the three of you indeed hail from off this world?”

“We do,” the Doctor confirms.

“How recently did you arrive in this world?” the officer probes further.

“Two hours, thirteen minutes, and sixteen seconds,” the Doctor answers. “I could mention the milliseconds but it would no longer be accurate by the time I finish the sentence. And by the way, that is according to your chronology system. If you wish, I can rephrase my answer by the standards of any other chronology system of your preference which I am aware of.”

“That will not be necessary at this time, and I once again thank you for your continued cooperation. It is most appreciated,” says Officer Hawkly with well measured politeness.

“The Doctor doesn't have an hourglass cutie mark for nothing,” Stern Wing quietly snickers to Feather Wind beside her. In reply, Feather Wind agrees with a very emphatic nod.

“So suffice it to say, the three of you arrived very recently. As in, you arrived this very day,” Officer Hawkly double checks.

“Correct, Sir,” the Doctor agrees with a nod.

The digital eyes of Officer Hawkly narrows slightly as he asks, “And is this your first time visiting our world?”

“It is indeed, Sir,” the Doctor confirms. “Although I have visited another very similar to this one.”

“Interesting,” Hawkly says as his digital eyes widen back to normal. “And are you, indeed, a Time Lord?”

Chumely regards the Doctor for the answer to that question too, apparently very interested as well despite his dismissive claims earlier.

“I am indeed, Sir,” the Doctor answers. “To my knowledge, potentially the last of my kind unless you have evidence to the contrary.”

“And this is your vessel, the TARDIS?” Officer Hawkly asks as he regards the blue box.

“Now that is interesting,” the Doctor notes aloud. “I indeed mentioned the name of my ship to Chumely here, but not to you.” The Doctor narrows his eyes slightly. “I take it I've been on this artificial moon before?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes. However, for you, it looks like that has not occurred yet in your space/time,” Officer Hawkly figures. “The last time you came here was not your first time, but since it was your first time with us, you had to apply for your visitor's visa. Since this was not your first time visiting our world, you were able to apply for the visa very easily since you already knew the answers to the test questions, and I can assure you that not much has changed on that front since your last visit. That visa is still valid and on file for you even on this day with one exception; if this truly is your first time visiting our world, then you'll need to re-apply for the visa all over again.”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa. Time out here,” Stern Wing says as she crosses her wings in front of her in an X pattern then refolds them on her back. “Visitor's visa? Test questions? Re-apply? All of these issues sound important, but I'm afraid I'm not following.”

Officer Hawkly seemingly looks at Stern Wing with the digital eyes of his helmet as he says, “All visitors to our world here must submit to a medical examination to determine if they are a medical threat to the rest of our citizens. If they pass, they may move on to the next step of the visitor's process. If they fail, they'll temporarily be put in quarantine while we address the issues that they are suffering. At that point, with the consent of the visiting patient, we will also do our utmost to cure the afflicted pony of whatever condition they are suffering if it is within our power to do so. Curing them prevents them from becoming a public safety hazard, after all.”

“Makes sense,” Stern Wing agrees with an impressed nod. So far she likes the sound of this. “And this service is free?”

“Not only is it free, but it is also downright required,” Officer Hawkly answers. “Unless the visitor decides to withdraw their request to visit our world. They may leave anytime they wish, but they may not advance upon our population until they are deemed safe to do so.”

“I actually deeply approve of this!” Stern Wing says brightly. “This is a wonderful policy to hear! I say that for the sake of your citizens as well. I wouldn't want to be a threat to your populace either. If there is any way I can further ensure that, then I'm all for it and I'm greatly comforted by the knowledge that is the standard policy around here, for it means it probably is safe to approach any other visitors to this world, at least on a medical front.”

“Indeed,” Officer Hawkly confirms. “I am greatly relieved that this meets with your approval, Madam Stern Wing.”

“Madam Stern Wing?” Stern Wing echoes with a bit of a smile. “Ooo! A girl can get used to this.”

“What is the next step?” Feather Wind asks Officer Hawkly. “You said that a medical examination was the first step. I take it some kind of test is the second? A step that applies for a visitor's visa?"

“Once you are deemed fit for the general public on a medical front, the next step is to provide you all with information that informs you of all the laws that apply to visitors to our world,” Officer Hawkly goes on to explain. “You may take as much time as you need with this, but you will have very limited access to our world until you pass your test when applying for a visitor's visa. To pass that test indicates a proficient level of knowledge about the laws of our world so that you are aware of what they are and hopefully you'll also follow them.”

“To ensure visitors can't claim ignorance as an excuse for breaking the law,” Feather Wind realizes. “This actually makes a lot of sense too. This is a very reasonable request as well.”

Stern Wing nods in agreement at Feather Wind then says, “Which also means that any other visitor we encounter with the visa is equally aware of the laws. They might still break it, but they'll do so knowingly and probably aware of the consequences too.”

“Indeed,” Officer Hawkly confirms then looks at the Doctor. “However, there is an extra provision for you since there are extra notes already attached to your pre-existing file. With your consent, Sir, a certain member of Parliament has expressed an interest to see you as soon as you successfully earn your next visitor's visa.”

The Doctor's ears perk up and his eyes widen with interest as he says, “Really?! Oh, this is getting quite interesting then, isn't it? So the very authorities that I want to see on this moon also want to see me in return? This is fantastic! This will make my job much easier here. I might even finish the primary objective of my mission on this moon faster than anticipated.”

“So he really is a Time Lord?” Chumely asks Officer Hawkly in shock.

“I'm not at liberty to discuss private information with you,” Officer Hawkly says back to Chumely. “You're free to draw your own conclusions, if you wish, so long it adheres to the law.”

“Holy Smokes!” Chumely says in astonishment as he eyes the Doctor in amazement.

Stern Wing ignores Chumely as she raises a wing and interjects to the officer, “I've got a question.”

“And I'll do my best to provide you with an answer so long as it is within my knowledge and within the bounds of the law for me to answer your question,” Officer Hawkly replies to Stern Wing then nods to her. “I shall certainly hear you out at the very least, for it is my solemn duty to serve and protect the best interests of the public. That includes our legal visitors.”

Stern Wing refolds her wing as she asks, “That's precisely what I wanted to ask about. What if one or more of us wanted to make it an extended stay here? What if we wanted to live here? Is that option at all possible according to your laws?”

“Thinking of living here?” Feather Wind checks with his friend.

“No, but I am curious what my options are anyway,” Stern Wing replies to her friend. “After all, whatever answer he gives me, I'll know that also applies to other visitors too unless there are special exceptions for some reason.”

“To answer your question, there are different kinds of licenses, visas, and certificates you can apply for depending on your intention and the duration of your stay," Officer Hawkly answers. “All of which will be provided on the pamphlet we are going to provide for you, but I'll answer your question right now as well since I am happy to serve. You can apply for an extended visitor's visa or a business license if your intention is more business-related rather than recreational and thus that is the reason for your frequent, repeated visits. Or, if it is indeed your intention to stay permanently, then you can apply for a citizenship certificate. To do that, you must apply to the Citizens Bureau to apply for that. Among the steps necessary for that are interviews, psyche evaluations, lineage testing, medical examinations, and above all, an entire school session dedicated to educating would-be citizens on all the ins and outs they need to know to be functioning members of our society.

“So, in other words, yes, Ma'am. It is possible to get such a thing, but it is a more lengthy process because it is a more permanent request of us.”

“That's all I wanted to know. Thank you,” Stern Wing says in satisfaction.

“Confirm, you are still the captain of this vessel?” Officer Hawkly asks the Doctor.

“Basically, yes,” the Doctor answers.

“Then I am legally obligated to inform you that your vessel will be temporarily impounded pending your re-acquisition of your visitor's visa because the vessel is currently here illegally. However, if, at any time, you express your intention to leave our world without completing the visa process, your vessel shall be returned to you so long as you do nothing else with it other than leave.”

“Ooo, um, there is one issue with that,” the Doctor warns.

“Which is, if I may ask?” the officer checks.

“Um, can I ask something real quick?” Chumely asks as he raises a hoof.

“Certainly, Citizen,” the officer happily replies to the yellow stallion. “How may I be of service to you at this time?”

“Can I go?” Chumely checks. “All of this is more than mildly fascinating, but I was having a game with some of my chums. They might have completed their turn by now and are eagerly waiting on me.”

For the first time, the digital eyes on the helmet squint a bit as if to indicate regret. The officer answers that question by saying, “I regret to inform you that you have come into contact with these presently unlawful visitors before they had a chance to have a medical examination. As a result, you are legally required to subject yourself to an examination as well. This is for your benefit too, of course. We want to make sure that your health remains in the clear. In this case, it is unfortunate, but you may have to postpone or forfeit your game with your friends because a more critical issue involving public safety has arisen.”

“Darn it,” replies Chumely glumly. “Well . . . I should inform my friends of that at the very least. Let them know that I'll have to forfeit the game and they should go on with their turns without me because I came into contact with unchecked, alien visitors, one of which is an actual Time Lord,” he says with another amazed look at the Doctor. “At least, now, I'll have an interesting story to share with them later on.”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Citizen,” the officer says to Chumely brightly. “It is most appreciated.” He looks back at the Doctor. “Now back to you. You said there are other issues that should be considered with regards to impounding your vessel?”

The Doctor lifts a hoof as he says, “I don't mind you impounding it as long as I can get it back either way, whether or not I pass this visiting visa test.” He puts his hoof back on the ground as he goes on to say, “The issue, here, is the fact the vessel isn't empty. I still have two more companions aboard it.”

“Then they will need to submit to a medical examination as well and apply for a visitor's visa if they wish to remain in our world for any length of time. Failing that, they shall not be permitted to exit this vessel under any but the most urgent of circumstances. For example, if their lives were threatened aboard that ship for some reason, then we shall do our best to secure their health and safety even without the visitor's visa.”

“A medical examination?” Stern Wing says aloud. “And you will cure whatever problems you'll find for free? Wait a minute! That's perfect!” Stern Wing snaps her gaze at the Doctor. “Vision is currently sick. Maybe these ponies can help her. After all, they seem to have access to some pretty advanced tech, and you just can't beat their asking price for this service. Not unless somepony else offered to pay us for the same benefit.”

“Best case scenario, maybe they'll even find a way to improve her crippled health permanently,” Feather Wind realizes in amazement. He then looks at the Doctor as well as he asks, “If you think they can be trusted, then I think this option is worth strong consideration.”

Realizing her friend has a point, Stern Wing regards the Doctor again but this time much more cautiously rather than excitedly as she asks, “How about it, Doctor? Do you think the risk to Vision's health is very minimal on this planet?”

“Excuse me for offering a correction, but our world isn't a 'planet', it is a moon,” Officer Hawkly corrects.

“Pardon me. You're right. My mistake,” Stern Wing accepts apologetically.

“I think we can risk it,” the Doctor says with an edge of caution in his voice. “If serious trouble would befall us on this world for any reason, Vision herself may be able to give us a sufficient warning. As it stands, we're far more likely to gain from cooperation with this authority rather than not, and, for me, that is a rare treat. I came to this world to get some answers and, so far, things couldn't possibly be better. I wish I had some wood to knock on right now just in case, but for the moment, we have very good momentum building here and I do wish to capitalize on it. Besides that, if they can indeed help Vision in any way, so much the better.”

Author's Note

in this chapter, I figured Officer Hawkly's stiff and civil demeanor feels authentic for a synesthetic AI program. I'm actually pretty proud of the presentation here for that character. Has a aura of authority about him which draws attention and eats up the scene even if he isn't being intense about it.

I'm curious, though, that while you read this chapter, if you felt a layer of tension in this chapter despite the holographic cops civil and reasonable demeanor. After all, if that program gets aggressive, he could suddenly do a lot of damage. Also are the ones who programmed him trustworthy? Maybe paradise isn't all that it seems. Look to the Alliance in the show Firefly for a good example of that.

Part 5: The Day the Doctor Cried

The TARDIS crew, which now includes Derpy and Vision, are transported to a medical facility that, like almost everything else in this world, is virtual. That includes some of the personnel that works there. Likewise, Officer Hawkly remains on standby to insure a smooth transition of the new visitors towards a lawful status in this world. Since he is a computer program, he doesn't have to be sent anywhere else nor does he have a family whatsoever, or any kind of recreational lifestyle. As a result, he can remain with them on standby potentially indefinitely. Even if he is needed elsewhere, the computer that is governing him can simply create another copy of him and run it elsewhere simultaneously to the creation of the first, and so on. Since the same computer is controlling the potentially multiple copies of that virtual character, they can talk to many individuals simultaneously and it is all being added to the same database.

Most of the TARDIS crew are sent to a holographic doctor for a medical scan to make sure their health is clean and to clean it if need be. Curiously enough, only the Doctor himself, as well as Vision, are the exception because they receive a visit from one of the few real doctors in this virtual hospital. As a matter of fact, those two see the same doctor at the same time because Vision isn't split from the company of the Doctor. That is true because he registered himself as her legal guardian. As such, he is allowed to be present with Vision during her medical examination.

The virtual waiting room of this “hospital” is a white room with very sparse furniture. It seems to have a window, but it's more akin to a computer monitor or a television screen because the image displayed can be changed to anything the patients want. Many options for other kinds of furniture, décor of the room, or even the architecture can be changed to suit the whims of those waiting within it. If multiple ponies are waiting there, any changes are typically set by the last pony who requests a change in the room. If they cannot agree, then one or more of them can transport themselves to their own copy of this room, for this world has plenty of room to make as many private instances of anything that anyone wants.

Aside from Officer Hawkly, the Doctor and Vision are alone for quite some time in this virtual room after each of their other friends were transported off with some other virtual doctor one by one. Each time another holographic doctor showed up to claim another member of the group, it seemed to be the same individual. That is why the Doctor thinks it is noteworthy when he and Vision finally get a visit from a different doctor, and she's female this time.

This doctor is an egg-white unicorn mare who is wearing a white lab coat. She has an auburn mane neatly tied into a bun and her tail is neatly brushed straight. Her eyes are rich blue which is visible behind the tiny pair of holographic screens floating a mere inch in front of each of her eyes. They sort of look like glasses except they have no stem whatsoever. When she appears, she is sucking on a lollipop. After she appears, she trots towards them but her vision is initially unfocused as she reads virtual words displayed on her holographic “glasses”.

“Let's see. What do we have here?” this doctor queries as she approaches them. “Ooo! This is interesting. Two off-worlders. We don't see too many of those every day. And their names are Vision and . . . the Doctor?”

The Doctor grows intrigued to notice that this doctor suddenly gains much more interest in her patients and likely him in particular. The way she said his name sounded like she is familiar with him.

Oddly enough, something about her is familiar to him too.

“You heard of me?” the Doctor checks.

“Ah . . .” this new doctor trails off as if she isn't certain what to say. She looks like she is beholding something potentially incredible, but for that same reason, she's reluctant to believe it.

Deciding to change the subject, she reviews the information she has on them then says aloud, “It says here you are registered as this little one's guardian?”

“Yes. That's right,” the Doctor confirms while he puzzles over, in his head, precisely why this newcomer is so familiar to him.

“It also says here that she isn't well,” this doctor continues with a sudden note of concern. “She's coughing and is having high fevers. Oh dear. This simply won't do. Let's get you all better.”

“In the meantime, I will remain on standby in case you need me,” Officer Hawkly informs the Doctor. “Unless you request for me to accompony you.”

“Ah . . . no. That's quite alright. I believe I can take it from here,” the Doctor tells the virtual officer.

“As you wish,” Officer Hawkly politely acknowledges.

“In that case, let's get you two to the examination room,” the new doctor decides.

“Ah,” the Doctor lifts a hoof. “Before that, can you tell us your name, please?”

The doctor's blue eyes widen, startled, when she suddenly realizes that her patient here has a point.

“Oh shoot. I didn't introduce myself here, did I? How clumsy and impolite of me. Please allow me to rectify that right away.” She nods to the Doctor as she says, “Hello. My name is Doctor Kelly Saddler. A pleasure to meet you mister . . . um . . . Is your name really just 'the Doctor'?”

“It's not my birth name, but it is the name I have chosen to go by,” the Doctor answers then blinks to himself. He wonders why he just admitted that fact to a total stranger he just met. That is very unlike him.

“Your chosen name? I see,” Doctor Kelly says in a tone of interest. “And I assume it's the same story with Vision here?”

“Ah . . . no. That is her actual birth name,” the Doctor answers but he, and the other doctor, both lose focus on each other when they both see Vision cough.

“Enough of this,” Doctor Kelly decides. “Let's get this little one all better right away.”

The Doctor is impressed, relieved, and a little disturbed by the ease with which this new doctor's tech and magic remove the affliction on Vision. This is done after Vision gets scanned by a floating spherical robot that looks to be the size of a grapefruit. This floating droid split itself apart which reveals what at first looks like a camera, and it probably is as well, but it is also a multi-phasic tool. A virtual, holographic tool materializes in front of the eye of the “camera” which it uses to scan Vision with green glowing laser lines.

“I have removed the disease from her system,” Doctor Kelly informs the Doctor in this white glowing room which has no other furniture in it other than an operating chair that Vision is currently on. Just two feet ahead of her is a transparent, virtual copy of her body with the hide stripped away. Several virtual copies of her innards are on display instead, and that spectrum shifts to various modes while a transparent, virtual window displays more information off to the side.

“But there are additional problems in this little one that will need further treatment,” Doctor Kelly goes on. “Her heart and respiratory system are pretty weak. Some of it is from the damage of the coughing and fever and I can clean that up right now, but fixing the other problems will require more long-term treatment.”

“Such as?” the Doctor checks. “Will it require surgery?”

“Nothing that invasive,” Doctor Kelly answers. “I suggest injecting her with medical nanites.”

The Doctor is guessing that, if Vision was awake at this time, she would have wondered what Doctor Kelly is talking about. As it stands, however, the Doctor himself is far less confused.

“That sounds pretty invasive,” the Doctor somewhat objects.

“It's the best solution I can come up with to avoid long-term damage and very little medical risk to her,” Doctor Kelly informs. “It would take a few days to flood her system with self-replication to be enough to be very helpful. After that, they'll gradually start to repair whatever damaged tissue they find as well as strengthen what's already there. Her immune system, for example, will be put through training not unlike a military boot camp. And, when there actually is something in her system that shouldn't be there, the nanites will intelligently inform her immune system where the problem is and how to defeat it.

“The nanites will basically transform her body into a smart body that works approximately ten times more efficiently. Mind you it will not replace her basic body needs like eating, breathing, drinking and the like, but they will make everything about her body run significantly more efficiently. She'll still need cardiovascular exercise to strengthen her heart and her diet will have to be carefully monitored, but provided that is the case, the nanites will considerably improve the results of the effort. Ten times zero is zero, Doctor, but ten times one, which represents the bare minimum effort needed to improve her health, is ten. For every amount of effort above that, the results are greatly multiplied.”

“Color me impressed,” the Doctor says with approval. “My crew and I have been worried and debating about what to do with this child considering her fragile health. What you are proposing sounds too good to be true, but if you can really pull it off, I'd be a fool to completely reject it out of hand.”

“'Hand', Doctor? You have strange terminology,” Doctor Kelly reflects.

The Doctor smiles at her as he responds, “Consider it part of my charm.”

“Which is not lacking in other ways,” Doctor Kelly notes with a sideways glance at the Doctor as she blushes slightly. “You seem pretty well informed for a visiting alien. Have you encountered tech like this before?”

The Doctor sighs as he brushes a hoof through his mane and says, “Actually, yes. Well, sort of.” He puts his hoof back on the ground and then goes on to say, “The magic component of this tech is new to me, but other than that, some of this has a passing familiarity with my own culture. I wonder if what you have is somehow a byproduct of that.”

Doctor Kelly is silent for a moment before she asks, “Do you mind if I scan you now? I'm supposed to do that anyway unless you intend to leave this world now.”

“Go ahead,” the Doctor invites as a somewhat shrewd look sinks into his eyes. He knows what she's about to find out and he wants to study her reaction carefully.

“Thank you,” Doctor Kelly says back in appreciation before looking at the floating droid. Moments later, it spirals around the Doctor and starts to scan him with green laser lines. The Doctor knows it is doing more than just that.

Moments later, a new holographic double of the Doctor materializes in the room. Using her magic, Doctor Kelly shifts the focus of the holographic double to one element in particular. The Doctor narrows his eyes in victory when he notices that she immediately tries to find out how many hearts he has. The results displayed do not surprise him, but it somewhat surprises her.

“I knew it,” Doctor Kelly says in a tone of awe. “You're really him. The Doctor! The Time Lord. The traveler of the TARDIS. It really is you.”

“So you have heard of me,” the Doctor figures.

“Yes, but I didn't think I'd actually meet you,” Doctor Kelly goes on to say before she retracts that statement a bit by saying, “Well, not completely.”

“What do you mean?” the Doctor asks in mild alarm. “You expected to encounter me in pieces?”

“No. I didn't really expect to encounter you at all despite gathering some evidence that I would,” Doctor Kelly replies.

The Doctor widens his eyes in sudden interest as he asks with a bit of intensity, “What do you mean by that?”

“You really don't know?” Doctor Kelly checks with him. In reply, the Doctor just shakes his head. For some reason, that answer seems to disappoint her. Shortly later she says, “Then I'm not sure how much I should say. I can't even be certain if the evidence I gathered is real, but if it is and you don't know what I'm talking about, then the things I know pertain to things you haven't done yet. Accordingly, maybe I should keep it to myself.”

The Doctor casts a long sigh and then looks about the room. When he looks back at her, he requests, “Can you make a new chair for me?”

“Certainly,” Doctor Kelly replies then her horn glows golden brown. When it does, a force field the size and shape of a beanbag chair materializes behind the Doctor except a wedge is cut out of it to make a seat, with a backrest, in this floating sphere.

The Doctor proceeds to sit on it and then says to Doctor Kelly with an upraised eyebrow, “I noticed you didn't request for a computer on this world to create this chair, so I take it this is one of your personal spells?”

“It is indeed,” Doctor Kelly answers before creating one of her own. She adds hemispherical shapes floating above her seat that is connected together which collectively sort of acts like armrests.

“About your response, I'll admit that I am uncomfortable with any information that might pertain to my future, but in this case, I sense something important going on here so I'll have to beg you for more details. Not too many details, mind you. Just enough for me to gather the gists of where and what you gathered your information from. I want to know how you reached this conclusion that the two of us were meant to meet.

“The reason I ask is because what if you're right? What if some future version of me gave you these clues because we really are meant to meet? If that is the case then it means this encounter is noteworthy to me too because, in the future, I'll know that you'll tell my past self about these clues which will be my hint that I'm meant to pay careful attention to you.”

“You really think that might be the case?” Doctor Kelly asks cautiously.

“We won't discover anything if we make no effort to explore,” the Doctor argues. “I say some risks are worth the plunge.”

Doctor Kelly sighs then says, “Alright, but I'll try to keep myself vague to avoid too many spoilers for you.

“Basically, I am a history buff because I have some interest in the subject. While reading through history, I discovered your name multiple times, including within our own society's history. I became somewhat of a fan of yours based on what I read. The journey you take and the things you do once you get there . . . I admire that. I really do.”

She pauses as she looks down to take a moment to collect herself, then looks back at the Doctor as she goes on to say, “But as my research of you continued, I gradually found clues that indicated something more than what casual research would normally convey. What I found were little clues here and there in the annals of history that have special meaning for me, and me specifically. Things like initials of those I know hidden within famous works of art or the first letter of each line in a book being a code word that not only I'm meant to solve, but only I would understand it.”

“I see,” the Doctor replies with a very intrigued expression.

“The first few times I discovered this, I thought it was amusing but I ultimately dismissed it. At the time, I figured it was nothing but a coincidence. As one with a scientific mindset, I didn't want to leap to any improbable conclusions so I waved it off.

“But the thing is . . . it kept on happening. Every time I made more research, I'd find more clues that no pony else would notice. Later on, it occurred to me that, since you have a time machine, it is possible that you could travel to each of these moments to implant these clues for me to find, but then I thought to myself, 'Why? Why would the Doctor, a legendary Time Lord and the last of his kind, be so interested in me? I'm nothing special and to entertain the notion of otherwise is just a pointless ego trip.'

“So, in the end, I still brushed it off and stopped doing any research about you.

“But funny enough, the clues continued relentlessly. Things like the songs I hear other ponies playing in my vicinity had special meaning for me that only I would understand and it made me think of you. Strange . . . um . . . 'synchronicity' is the only apt word I can think of for this relentless phenomenon. I believe in the concept of coincidences but when they keep on happening, any reasonable scientific mind would start to wonder when one notices very unusual reoccurring patterns happening. There is some remote plausibility that you could have caused it too but it's the motive I could never pin down. Why me? What is so special about me? Until I get a good explanation for that, I could never fully accept this.”

The Doctor just stares at her when she falls silent. During that time, she is attempting to analyze him in return for some hint on how he's feeling. Eventually she prompts, “What do you think, Doctor?”

“As I said, I get uncomfortable whenever I experience interference from my future self, but it has happened before. I even encountered future versions of myself before. Often it is when I will be in another regeneration cycle. As such, the future version of me may have a different face and there tend to be other differences too, including psychological, but it is me. It's annoying as heck to receive these spoilers on how I will turn out but sometimes we run into a situation that is so urgent that it requires multiple versions of me to solve.

“Likewise, whenever I encounter a past version of myself, it still feels annoying. Now I have to tip-toe around him and be very careful what I do or say around him or, potentially, even 'her' someday.”

“You can actually change your sex when you regenerate?” Doctor Kelly asks with fascination.

“It doesn't seem to happen to my race often. We're often settled upon one gender or apparent species at a time, but if our perception of ourselves changes drastically, then our transformation can be equally drastic. For instance, until recently, I wasn't a quadruped, and I'm still getting used to that fact as well as having hooves instead of hands.

“It's not just our sex that can change, but our apparent species as well. I say 'apparent' because we don't actually change what race we are, but we can simulate vastly different appearances.

“Our psychology works on a similar level. It can change some too, but the core of our being tends to remain the same such as our most important goals, vows and values.”

The Doctor looks down for a moment then looks back at Doctor Kelly as he continues, “My point is that this phenomenon isn't unheard of in my lifetimes. In fact, this is actually a gentler approach compared to direct encounters with myself. Those are really problematic, but as a time and space traveler, one can eventually run into clues of their future or past selves more and more often as the journey continues. The more our influence spreads through time and space, the more we may note familiar patterns, and sometimes those patterns might have intentional meaning. If it is the latter, then it's especially important to pay close attention. If I really did go through all the trouble of making sure this encounter happens, then it must be for a very important reason.

“The problem here is we're both equally in the dark about this. This is potentially orchestrated by a future version of me or even us, but neither of us knows why for the moment. In that case, I think our best strategy, for now, is to carefully pay attention to our surroundings and see if it leads us to any further clues.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “In the meantime, I have a patient with me in this room that I already improved the health of, but to go any further requires more treatments to make a more significant change for the better for her.”

“Couldn't the nanites do that themselves?” the Doctor checks.

“They can, but it is still recommended for the patient to be monitored by a trained physician,” Doctor Kelly informs. “I say that because sometimes there are multiple options for improving one's health or risks involved that the nanites have no way of knowing. For example, external factors outside the body such as walking into a cloud of smoke which happens to have something within it that the patient is allergic to. If the nanites were informed of that before it happened, they could've taken steps to counter that threat in advance.”

“I see,” the Doctor acknowledges with a nod. “And nobody else I know of on the TARDIS is trained for such things. I suppose I come the closest to understanding this, but even I'm not totally familiar with this tech.”

“Aside from my ability to care for Vision, I see nothing special about me in particular,” Doctor Kelly points out. “Especially since you could easily substitute for me.”

“Not in this case,” the Doctor argues. “Every patient is different, and so too are their needs. I'm not totally out of options when it comes to improving her health or restoring her sight, but in this case, my best option is to seek out other resources beyond myself and the TARDIS. Maybe I can be trained to use the tools of other advanced tech that could help, but I'd need to get to those tools first. Her needs here are forcing me to be somewhat innovative."

“I'm sure you can hoofle it,” Doctor Kelly says confidently.

“Perhaps,” the Doctor half agrees. “But I've learned it's not always wise to shoulder the burden on my own completely. Relying on the talents of others can be a great asset.”

“So far you said you haven't planted those clues yet about our meeting into history. Despite that, why would somepony as amazing as you be interested in little old me?” Doctor Kelly checks curiously and with a slight edge of hope in her voice. “Why would you even trust me? According to you, this is our first meeting for both of us. At least with you, I have some evidence of your heroic deeds in historical records, but for you . . . I'm just some pony you met.”

The Doctor looks down as he gives her words serious consideration. After all, he has already noticed how he's been a little unusually open with her. Why does he trust her so much?

To answer this question, he closes his eyes and plunges very deeply into his mind. By now, there are a lot of records in his head to keep track of. Some of them did fade away, especially between regeneration cycles, but as old and as dusty as some of it is, everything is still in there. A Time Lord never totally forgets anything. It's just that some information may be more important than others so they have more prominent access to that knowledge. Likewise, some are less important or less likely to be used, so that kind of knowledge rests in some dark corner instead.

For some reason, though, that's exactly where his instincts lead him in this case. Something old. Something practically ancient. Something within his life, but far, far back into it. Something very close to the beginning of his life.

Something back in Gallifrey!

The Doctor's eyes pop open with shock when he finally makes the connection.

“What?” Doctor Kelly asks in alarm when she notices his reaction. “What is it?”

“It can't be!” the Doctor cries out as he buries his face in his hooves.

“What?” Doctor Kelly requests again urgently.

“No! No! No! It can't be!” the Doctor insists frantically.

“Why her?” he wonders in his mind. “After all this time . . . why does it have to be her?”

The Doctor squeezes his eyes shut as he starts to cry. The pain of this loss from so long ago was mercifully buried and mostly forgotten, but suddenly, when he made this connection, the wounds return, fresh as new.

At this moment, reason and logic are rebelling against his hearts. Reason tells him one thing but his hearts tell him another. In fact, this time his emotions insist what he suspects is indeed the case, though his emotions offer no plausible explanation for it.

Here he is . . . almost a thousand years away from this memory of this person, long after he lost his home and his people, and now he's not even in the same universe anymore. Everything here has been ponified or some similar quadruped equivalent. It feels silly and absurd, but not in a boring way. Nevertheless, all of this serves to confirm he is very far from home.

And yet here is this doctor with her face (pony features notwithstanding) combined with her personality and capabilities. All of this points to one individual.

The one he loved dearly with all of his hearts.

The one he lost so long ago which evoked a pain that honestly, and very likely, led him to every other phase of his life later on.

The Doctor burst into a sob. He just can't help it. It came out too suddenly to stop, not to mention its intensity is too strong to stop.

The Doctor has endured the pain of this loss for almost a thousand years. During that time, other losses had occurred as well which were buried on top of this pain. In all that time, he tried to endure with a brave face.

“Not now,” he'd insist to his desperately crying hearts. “Others still need me. I have to be there for them and focus on their problems instead.”

But that pattern kept on going. Eventually it became his personal norm. He lived with his pain for so long that he simply accepted it as part of himself deep in his subconscious. He forgot what it is like to ever lack this pain. Somewhere along the way, he just accepted that he was the secretly tortured traveler who wore a brave smile on his face to hide his pain.

Very often the smile isn't entirely fake. There is plenty of reasons to truly enjoy his life, but beneath it all, it has a very tragic foundation. That has been true for so long that it became the only way he could define himself.

But now here she was again. In the flesh right in front of him. She isn't exactly the same, but neither is he. Both of them have gone through many changes in the interim, but his hearts passionately insisted she can be no one else.

With that realization, centuries of pain and loss suddenly pour out of him like a tidal wave or a dam that breaks. He would never do this in front of anybody else other than her.

But with her . . . he can hold nothing back. All of his secrets. Everything he truly is.

Even his true name if necessary.

His sob briefly pauses when he feels her lay a gentle hoof upon him. He looks up through tear-streaked eyes and sees her gaze upon him in confusion but also deep sympathy. Like him, she's a true healer at heart. When she sees someone else in pain, all she'd ever want to do is help.

So he collapses into her chest and does something he would never do in front of anyone else.

He pours out everything!

Part 6: New Opportunities

When the Doctor arises, he soon realizes that he must have passed out from sobbing too hard. It had been such a long time since he last did something like that.

The Doctor awakens in a new holographic room designed just for him. Doctor Kelly isn't there, but she did leave a holographic duplicate of herself which gives the Doctor a message to explain her absence and the fact she created this room for him to see to his needs. She also left him with plenty of information to help get him started on whatever he wants to do within his present legal limits.

To that end, the Doctor decides to finish getting his visitor's visa. When he does apply, he finds the laws do have a lot of common sense for the most part. Of the few laws that are a little more unique to this culture either involve their advanced technology in some way (and not every culture would indeed have that), or it involves the sacred duty of the race, such as taking care of and not interfering with the earth ponies down below.

That last one is noteworthy to the Doctor because that teaches him that the duty of this race towards the world they orbit is such common knowledge that even visitors to this moon are required to know this.

In any case, the Doctor passes his test with ease. Now armed with a digital certification as a legal visitor to this world, the next order of affairs quickly makes itself known. Close to the same place that shows the Doctor's new legal status and visa certificate, the Doctor receives an e-mail that reminds him of the interest of one of the members of Parliament to see him. If the Doctor accepts, he only has to push one virtual button on a holographic screen to not only accept the invitation, but to also transport him to a waiting room where he'll wait until the member of Parliament is ready to see him. This the Doctor accepts with no hesitation.

While the Doctor waits in a new, undoubtedly holographic room which is surrounded by windows in this circular room and has a circular couch on the lower center floor, he sifts through a transparent holographic window to review any data about this society that interests him. Among that information is various types of music. He plays them while doing his research.

The view out the windows made him seem to be in a tall tower that affords a view of a highly technological, seemingly planet-wide city that includes many lines of flying vehicles. When the Doctor first got here, this view fascinated him for a brief moment, but not for long because he knew it isn't real. Besides, he had been to other worlds where views like this are actually real.

While the Doctor waited, he also kept track of precisely how long he is waiting because he knows that can be a negotiation tactic sometimes. By keeping track of that, the Doctor can gauge the mindset of his new would-be host.

When the dual sliding glass doors open, the first ones to trot through are a pair of pegasi in regal-looking red armor. That armor covers every inch of them, including their face. Held in their right-wing appears to be some kind of plasma rifle. Noticing that detail causes the Doctor to wince in disdain a bit.

Once these guards trot in, they spread apart and flank both sides of the still-open door where they take their guarding stances.

The next individual to trot through is a bright red stallion with a very short black mane and tail, both of which are neatly trimmed. He has a small goatee on his chin. His eyes are golden brown and artificially glow slightly. His left eye is covered with an apparatus that has lots of lenses on it. When he regards the Doctor, that apparatus clicks through a few types of lenses as if he is trying to size up the Doctor in various ways.

The newcomer wears a golden chest plate and a long red shiny cape with a golden fan-like collar vest behind his head. The outfit is complete with a tiny golden cap at the center of his head which stretches back over his neck. He has golden plates on each of the front of his hooves which extend up to the first bending joint. They give each of his steps a bit of a metallic clicking sound.

To top it all off, the impressive and imposing motif is complete with a regal-looking staff that floats near his presence all by itself. It has a glowing red sphere at the top which whirls with a cloud within. The sphere is clutched by an image of a golden griffon talon.

That outfit, in particular, captures the Doctor's interest because that is actually a very close design to something the leaders of the Time Lords once wore, pony physiology notwithstanding.

After the Doctor takes in his own moment to size up this approaching individual, he stands up from the circular couches below and bows as he says, “Prime Minister Kratus Garivalidi, it is quite an honor for you to be graced by my presence.” The Doctor rises from his bow and gives the Prime Minister a coy look which, in turn, freezes the Prime Minister in surprise for several reasons.

The Doctor continues.

“You have kept me waiting for seven hours, forty-seven minutes, and sixteen seconds according to your time. You're obviously wanting to put me on edge as well as indicate that you're an important and busy man. Then, when you finally do show up, you do so in the royal regalia of my own people which even further serves to present your image of self-importance while simultaneously trying to advertise to me that you have had contact with my people before. I thank you for that information, Mister Prime Minister. I've been wondering if my people still existed in this universe.”

Prime Minister Kratus pauses for several seconds since he is so caught off-guard by what the Doctor had already said. Then he looks at the holographic window the Doctor had been studying. When he regards it, the apparatus over his left eye clicks through several lenses to take a closer look at that window and do it in several ways. Doing so makes him realize that the Doctor had been spending some time researching the various members of the current Parliament which includes the Prime Minister.

“I see you've done your research,” Prime Minister Kratus notes in an attempt to regain control of this conversation. “I suppose that comes as no surprise from you, Doctor.”

“And I see you're a pompous prick who likes to inflate his value as a first impression, but you and I both know you could have delegated your tasks more smartly and shown up to this meeting much sooner.

“Do us both a favor, Mister Prime Minister, and dispense with the bull crap. It does us both a disservice,” the Doctor warns.

“That's a pretty obstinate tongue you have there, Doctor,” the Prime Minister accuses with a wince of disgust. “I must say, I did not expect that from the legendary and only surviving Time Lord.”

“Surviving?” the Doctor echoes with alarm. “The other Time Lords are gone?”

Prime Minister Kratus's expression softens as he says, “That which we can tell. You might be the last of the Time Lords.”

“Because of the Time War?” the Doctor checks. This time the Prime Minister just nods. The Doctor's eyes then widen in shock as he exclaims, “That was the would-be conquerors of this society! It was my people that tried, and failed, to take you over! That would also explain how you got a hold of some of our tech.”

The Doctor looks away as his intense shock doubles again when he realizes something else extremely alarming.

“And it was I who will rescue you all from my own people. Ergo, I will participate in this universe's version of the Time War!!!”

The Doctor collapses on the couch behind him in a sitting position. His head rests over the top edge of the couch, staring up at the ceiling in horrified shock.

“By all the stars, NO! No, no, NOOOOOOO!” He covers his face with his forehooves. “I thought I was done with all that mess! The Time War! Bloody hells! Someone kill me now.”

At this point, Prime Minister Kratus is completely spooked and mostly lost. This meeting isn't going how he planned at all so far. Several things the Doctor said just went over his head, especially the term, “this universe's version of the Time War.” He is well aware of the existence of the Time War because his own people partially got caught up in it, but what other version is out there? Does it mean it will return again?

“Pony universe, you failed me! You're supposed to remain innocent!” the Doctor wails.

“Ah . . . should I come back another time?” Prime Minister Kratus asks nervously. The cool and regal mystique he was hoping to go for in this meeting seems to be shattered now. That leaves him uncertain about how to proceed which means a large part of his mind is calling for a tactical retreat and then later reassessing the situation. “You seem to have some issues to work out.”

“Wait a second!” the Doctor pops his eyes open as something else dawns on him, but this time it is a good thing. “What if it still is more innocent? Can I still arrange the war so that both sides are chucking apple pies at each other instead of laser blasts?”

Prime Minister Kratus says nothing because he has no idea what to say. He's barely following this conversation anyway, so that leaves him just observing in uncomfortable silence.

“No! I'll do it one better! I will make sure the war is settled that way!” the Doctor firmly decides. “The last time the War just dropped on my lap, but this time I have forewarning. Given enough prep time, I can arrange any circumstances in my favor! I have a time machine, after all, and plenty of time to use it. Whatever it takes, I'll make damn sure this war won't go down like last time.” The Doctor narrows his eyes as his grin grows. “This time I am Time Lord Victorious! I am, once again, the last one standing when the dust settles. If I'm to face the war again, then this time I'll do it on my own terms. This time I will remain The Doctor!”

“I can see that this is a bad time for you,” Prime Minister Kratus decides with an uncomfortable voice. “I'll arrange for a different meeting sometime later.”

The Doctor widens his eyes and then snaps his gaze back to his host as he exclaims, “What?! Oh no. No, no. I prefer we settle our issues between us now. It's obvious that you have an agenda with me and, quite frankly, the prospect is mutual. I wanted to see a member of this government body too. You are perfect in this regard.”

“Are you sure you're ready for this?” the Prime Minister double checks. “Because I can come back later.”

“No, no," the Doctor insists as he continuously shakes his head for two seconds then waves at part of the circular couch ahead of him. “Please. Why don't you sit down and make yourself comfortable,” the Doctor invites as a statement even though his sentence was technically phrased like a question. “Whatever issues we both have with each other, I'd rather settle them now so I can move on with my journey with a clear conscience. The realization I had a moment before is, I'll admit, deeply personal to me but I'll settle all of that later.”

“Very well. If you're sure,” the Prime Minister says cautiously then moves to sit across from the Doctor. “And I'll admit, I have been looking forward to this meeting greatly. The last time you rescued our society, you said you would one day return when we need you again, but you didn't specify exactly when that would be. Regardless, my people have been looking forward to our reunion for quite some time and, to some extent, we have been preparing for it.”

“In what way, if I may ask?” the Doctor asks.

The apparatus on the Prime Minister's left eye clicks through a few lenses before he asks, “Before I answer that question, would you care for a spot of tea? It may help you relax.”

The Doctor grins as he says, “If I visited your society before, you might have what my favorite tea is on file.” He sighs pleasantly then shakes his head and wipes a hoof in front of him back and forth several times. “That's okay. If I am to have tea, I prefer the real thing. Not all of this holographic nonsense.”

Finally, the Prime Minister has a chance to grin smugly as he says, “I thought you'd say that, so please . . . have a treat on me.”

The glass doors open and a pony maid enters who is levitating a covered silver platter. This she delivers to a white-lit coffee table in the center of the room as if the table is the center of the bullseye of this circular room. Once the platter is there, the lid is levitated off which reveals a glass pitcher and two saucer cups. She pours some brown-looking hot tea into each of their cups then levitates the cups towards the both of them.

“It is real tea,” the Prime Minister assures. “Not everything in our world is synthetic, and we had plenty of time to prepare for your arrival.”

After he says that, the Prime Minister levitates the cup to his lips and takes a sip. As he does so, the apparatus on his left eye changes lenses at the Doctor again for some reason.

“Real tea, huh?” the Doctor says with interest. “Well, in that case, don't mind if I do.”

The Doctor bites into a silver spoon and uses it to stir his tea first. Doing so causes more steam to rise from his cup. Once that is done, he spits the spoon aside and then grips the cup between his hooves carefully. The Prime Minister observes how the Doctor handles the cup not that proficiently even for an earth pony. It's as if the Doctor isn't used to being a pony at all.

Still, he manages to deliver the cup very carefully to his lips and takes a few sips. After he does, he settles back into the couch and seems to greatly relax.

“A taste of home!” the Doctor says with a smile. “Ah! This brings me back. If only we had crumpets, we'd be all set.”

The Prime Minister looks surprised at that request before saying, “If you wish, I can make those arrangements.”

“Perhaps later,” the Doctor says as he very carefully tries to return the teacup back to the saucer on the coffee table. Once again, this takes quadruple the time it normally would for any other average earth pony.

“Tell you what,” the Doctor says as he settles back on the couch after finally returning the tea to the table. “I'll take you up on your offer in a different way. If I make a list, could you deliver some special food items to the TARDIS? I'm afraid we used up a bunch of supplies on the old girl in one of our other recent adventures. As it so happens, it is the planet your moon is orbiting around.”

“You were there recently?” the Prime Minister asks in a bit of alarm.

“Indeed, and that is what I've come to talk to you all about,” the Doctor brings up. “I'm sorry I didn't have a visitor's visa at the time, but even if I did, I would need to be granted special dispensation to be there legally. That's actually one of the issues I came to address with you. The other is to inform you that some of the natives on the planet have been taken.”

In utter shock, the Prime Minister spits out the tea he has in his mouth and floats the cup back to the table in a hurry as he asks, “Excuse me? Did you just say some of the natives of the planet below have been taken?”

The Doctor nods as he says, “More specifically, they have been taken by a race known as the Klaxians. They are space pirates and dirty merchants who traffic both legal and illegal goods, or even legal goods acquired illegally. I know their ships are also armed with cloaking devices which may serve to explain how they were able to penetrate your defenses undetected. I can't explain how they penetrated the planet's force barrier but they seem to have their ways. Perhaps if I offer more knowledge about their tech, maybe you can use it to devise a counter strategy and prevent more thefts.”

“We'll do more than just that!” the Prime Minister says in anger. “I want a complete inventory of everything and everyone they took. Armed with that knowledge, we'll seek them out and make sure they return that which they have stolen.” The right eye of the Prime Minister widens back to a more grateful expression as the apparatus on his left eye clicks through a few more lenses again. “That said, we would also appreciate any knowledge you have on their technology. If we can understand their tech and adapt ours to detect theirs, we can at least prevent future thefts.”

“It would be my pleasure because that is one of the biggest reasons for this particular visit,” the Doctor informs. “Nothing would make me happier than to ensure that you are armed with the knowledge you need to prevent more thefts. That, in turn, will further secure the natives down below.” The Doctor tilts his head as he says, “However, when it comes to tracking down the rest of the Klaxians, are you sure you don't want my help? I can do it for you, or perhaps we can work on this together.”

The Prime Minister cuts a hoof across the air as he says, “That's quite alright. We've inconvenienced you enough.”

“Inconvenience? On the contrary, it would be my pleasure,” the Doctor corrects.

“Please don't. These people are our responsibility,” the Prime Minister counters. “And frankly, I find this whole affair embarrassing. We are the ones who should have prevented this mess in the first place, and we are the ones who should clean it up. Besides, I've got many resources at my disposal so that should be enough to take care of this issue once you've given us a full report of everything you know of these despicable Klaxians. We also want to make sure that we deliver the justice that they deserve for this theft. By doing so, it sends a message to all other would-be thieves. Even if they temporarily get away with a crime, we'll know eventually and meet out justice swiftly and assuredly. We want every other society to know we can hoofle this issue on our own without relying upon the Doctor all the time. You saved us once. Please allow us the honor of showing you how much we've learned.”

“Well, if you're sure,” the Doctor relents in a tone of reluctance. “I should give you contact information anyway just in case you change your mind or if I encounter any more relevant info.”

“Now that would be appreciated as well,” the Prime Minister says with a nod of acceptance and appreciation.

The Doctor settles into the couch a little further as he lays both of his forelegs on top of the couch and then he asks, “Well, that settles the main issue I wanted to present you with. What did you want from me?”

Prime Minister Kratus casts a long sigh before he says, “After you told us about the theft of some of those we're meant to guard on the planet below, I feel almost too embarrassed to make any other request of you.” He looks at the Doctor and then says, “A big part of the reason our people decided to undertake this responsibility was actually to prove to you that we could do it. We knew you would return one day and that was one of our ways to prepare for your arrival. The goal was to prove that we are ready to take the next grand step for our society, and the method to accomplish that is something only you can lead us to do.”

The Doctor looks intrigued as he asks, “Pray tell, what do you mean by that? What can I show you that you haven't already accomplished?”

The Prime Minister settles back onto his side of the couch now as he says, “It's taken us a long time to learn how to use the tech of the Time Lords. We never could understand all of it so far, and those that we did succeed to reverse engineer, well . . . you see the results all around you.” He gives a grand, sweeping wave of both hooves all around them. “When we adapted what tech we did understand, we did it our way. That was a long process and longer still to fully utilize and master. As we gradually stepped into a larger role in this universe, we decided we wanted to become what the Time Lords used to be during their most noble days. They once heralded themselves as guardians of the universe and over time in particular. They were sort of like time and space police, if you prefer.”

“I'm well aware of the role the Time Lords attempted to take,” the Doctor assures with a bit of an offended tone.

“Forgive me. I did not mean to sound like you wouldn't know,” the Prime Minister says apologetically.

“What is your point?” the Doctor presses.

“Well,” the Prime Minister gazes forward and pauses in silence for six seconds before looking back at the Doctor and says, “among some of the tech we couldn't crack yet, but we still have in our possession nonetheless, is other TARDISes.”

The Doctor instantly widens his eyes in intense shock as he exclaims questioningly, “Are you serious?!”

Prime Minister Kratus nods as he says, “We have quite a number of them. For the moment, I'll keep the exact number we have classified, but if you agree to help teach us how to pilot them, or even how to open the darn things in the first place, then I'll appoint you the Fleet Commander of the whole fleet.”

The Doctor slowly looks down as he digests this latest bit of shocking news.

“I hope it is not lost to you the sheer magnitude of what I am requesting,” Prime Minister Kratus presses. “I think now you know what I mean when I said I want you to guide us into the next evolutionary step of our society. We'll take over the prior duties of the previous Time Lords, only we will do it better under your tutelage.”

Still feeling numb, the Doctor lifts his shocked gaze back to the Prime Minister.

“What I need to know is if you accept this unspeakably important task I am offering you,” the Prime Minister goes on.

“Wow!” The Doctor rubs both sides of his head. “That's a lot to take in.”

“You're the last of the Time Lords,” the Prime Minister reminds. “At least, that which we're aware of. Who knows? There might be more of your people hiding somewhere in time and space, but for the moment, you're the only one we can turn to. Furthermore, you might be the best one we can turn to anyway. The other members of your species tried to conquer us ruthlessly. While they were trying to use us against an even more vile race, the fact remains they didn't give us a choice. You did, and we have never forgotten that.

“Quite frankly, we've looked up to your heroic example ever since. We tried to demonstrate that by guarding this planet, and it humiliates and infuriates me to no end that we managed to botch up the one job we had that we were hoping to use to prove to you that we are worthy of the task I am offering.

“But, then again, perhaps I can turn this around in my favor and say that this failure on our part proves all the more that we need your guidance. Please, good Sir, guide us with all of your mighty and wonderful experience.”

“I'll need time to think about it,” the Doctor responds.

The Prime Minister nods in acceptance as he says, “Understood. Take all the time you-”

The Doctor interrupts by suddenly declaring, “Actually, no. I take that back. I don't need time to think about it because I have already reached a decision.”

“Oh?” the Prime Minister asks with interest and a small shade of worry. “I pray, do tell.”

The Doctor focuses his gaze back on Prime Minister Kratus as he says, “I'll do it . . . but I have several conditions.”

“Oh?” the Prime Minister repeats as he lifts the one eyebrow that is not covered.

“I'll give you a full list of details of my conditions at a later time, but the most important one I need you to agree with right now is I get to train the future captains and pilots of the crafts,” the Doctor proposes.

“I see.” The Prime Minister strokes his small goatee. “Very interesting.”

“You wanted the benefit of my wisdom and experience anyway,” the Doctor reminds. “So this is my way of granting that request. To start with, for any candidate that I think might one day be worthy to pilot such legendary crafts, I'll first need to test and train them by inviting them to be companions of mine on my TARDIS. Using that, I'll introduce them to many things that are out there in time and space. While doing so, I'll teach them what they need to know to handle situations like that.”

“So it is on-the-job sort of training,” the Prime Minister realizes.

“In my humble opinion, Sir, that is the best kind of training,” the Doctor insists. “I'm sure you'd put them through theoretical lessons and plenty of holographic simulations, but none of that can prepare them for the real thing better than the real thing. I'll still be there to hold their hand . . . or hoof, as it were . . . in order to keep them from being overwhelmed too much.

“However, you need to know, Sir, that even if I take them to the safest planets I can think of, the unexpected can happen at any time. To properly prepare them for this journey, they need to experience that firsthand.

“I'll be there with them through the first few legs of the journey. If they continue to be worthy after surviving many trials and tribulations, then those who 'graduate' from my class will be offered their own keys to their TARDIS. From there, the new captains will recruit and train others as their companions. Those who prove worthy of their crew might graduate and get their own keys. And so on.”

“Interesting proposal,” the Prime Minister muses. “Okay. I am on board with this. How many of my ponies do you need to get started?”

“It is true that I have one in mind already who is from this world,” the Doctor says back, “but I have to warn you that I could find worthy talent anywhere and anywhen.”

“Whoa! Wait a minute!” Prime Minister Kratus gives a pushing motion toward the Doctor. “I didn't say we'd open our doors and give these keys to other aliens. That defeats the point of this project. I'm trying to show that we are worthy candidates to replace the role of the Time Lords themselves. To do that, we, the Magi, have to be the ones to accomplish this role ourselves.

“Besides, if we hoof this role to some other race, they may not prove as trustworthy with such a dangerous and important power.”

The Doctor shakes his head as he says, “It is true that that is the way the Time Lords handled issues like this, and that is also why they ultimately fell.”

“Huh?” Prime Minister Kratus asks with a confused blink of his right eye and a few clicks through more lenses on his left eye.

“Their arrogance was their downfall,” the Doctor elaborates. “Do you want to follow that example too? Or do you want to copy the tactics of the One Time Lord who actually survived the whole Time War?”

Prime Minister Kratus's expression shifts from confusion to thoughtful, then he nods at the Doctor invitingly as he says, “Please continue.”

The Doctor shakes his head as he says, “In the whole of their society, they thought along the same lines as you right now. They thought of themselves above everyone else. The only ones who are truly worthy of being the ultimate guardians of time and space. They dismissed all others as primitive and stupid savages. Because of that, they kept others at a distance as if that would help to reinforce their own ego and superiority complex.

“But I, meanwhile, took a much closer look at those we were supposed to guard. I got down on my hands and knees and crawled through all the muck that others were going through. Because I did that, I understood them better, including their values that most of the other Time Lords overlooked.

“I repeat, most of them overlooked this, but not all. Fortunately for me, my own teacher was much wiser and more humble. He taught me what it takes to be a true guardian and hero to the universe. For that to happen, you simply can't hold yourself as high, mighty, above and separate from everyone else. Instead, you got to be there as one of them. You have to lift them up and teach them to be better while simultaneously opening yourself to learning new lessons from other 'mortals'.

“Because I did that, because I was personally there to suffer through all the trials and tribulations of my many varied journeys, I was far more capable and adaptable in the Time War. The other Time Lords still looked down upon me for the way I lived my life as well, yet they couldn't deny my usefulness when all the chips were down either.

“When they got desperate and were finally scared for their own lives, many of them threw away their own morals and principles by saying things like, 'We must survive by any means necessary. No evil is too great. No tactic is too extreme. As long as we come out on top in the end, then the end will always justify any means necessary.'

“Well, I'm telling you now, a true hero doesn't think like that. A true hero is always ready and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice themselves if that is what it takes to protect others, and for the life of me, I WILL NOT assist anyone who upholds the values of my own people without really understanding the value of that which they guard.

“Even now, you hold yourselves as liken unto gods orbiting the planet down below. Some of them worship you, and you've taken no steps to correct this. On the contrary, you've only encouraged this perspective by sending 'angels' in the form of the other pegasi to declare your divine decree. As such, you follow the example of my people all too well, and that will lead you to your doom in the end.

“But if you follow me and my example, the One Time Lord who survived when all is said and done, then I would lead you down to the planet itself. I would introduce you as a fellow mortal being who cares for their welfare and are willing to suffer with them if that is what it takes to help them.

“You don't get stronger by putting stamps on paperwork from an executive desk from a distance, you get stronger by actually being there with the people who go through these trials. I dare you to face other enemies of mine, like the Daleks, and threaten them with stamped paperwork and say, 'I have legal authority over this land. Be gone, you cretins, for you are trespassing on our lands.'

“If that tactic actually works, then this universe is far more different than I thought earlier. In this case, I would approve, but one usually stands a better chance of survival by actually going through many dangerous situations and learning how to survive in them in the first place.”

The Doctor waves a hoof outwardly as he goes on to lecture, “Out there, in all the vast periods and space, there are many races that have gifts and talents you can easily overlook if you're never there to personally observe them, but I have. There are so many diamonds in the rough out there, and every single race is usually good at something. Some special talents and some unique ways to survive any danger they encounter. It may be different from us, but that is a good thing. It means that, collectively, we are varied and adaptable, especially when we learn to work well together. By learning from them and figuring out how to utilize their talents to the utmost, you maximize your odds of success during any encounter you could make.

“So the bottom line is, don't be the crushed and defeated fools that most of my people were. Instead, follow me . . . and I'll show you a much better way.”

During most of the Doctor's speech, the Prime Minister has a thoughtful look on his face. Sometimes he was nodding too. Now that the Doctor seems to have reached his conclusion, he says, “I tell you what. Go out there in time and space and train any recruit you think is worthy. If they pass all of your tests and thus graduate as next-level candidates, bring them back to us for a final evaluation. If they pass our tests as well, then we'll give them one of our keys to the many TARDISes we hold. Does that sound fair?"

“Any recruit? Even other races?" the Doctor double-checks.

“Yes indeed, good Sir,” the Prime Minister confirms. “You are the last of the Time Lords. There must be a good reason for that. Likewise, there must be a good reason your people failed and perished in the end. We certainly don't want to follow that example too closely. As I said before, I want you to lead us to the next evolutionary step in our society. If that is what it takes, then I'd be a fool to just dismiss you out of hoof. I'm at least willing to give these other races a chance and you have significantly more experience finding worthy talent out there compared to us. That's precisely one of the qualities we wish to even out. Teach us how to find talent like that too by bringing such worthy candidates back to us. The more you do so, the more we'll realize the pattern that keeps on resulting in a winning combination. We're here to learn from the past mistakes of our predecessors. Together, I believe we can forge a much brighter and more stable future.

“So what do you say?”

The Doctor stands up and offers a hoof as he says, “I say yes. As a very experienced adventurer, I'm willing to give any promising future a chance.”

The Prime Minister stands up and meets the Doctor's hoof with a bump of his own as he says, “Then we have an accord.”

Part 7: The Tortured Survivor

“She's here, Doctor,” Stern Wing announces as soon as Doctor Kelly Saddler teleports within the vicinity. From Doctor Kelly's perspective, this is the first time she is meeting Derpy, Stern Wing, Feather Wind, and sees the TARDIS.

“Welcome,” Feather Wind greets pleasantly. “My name is Feather Wind and this is my long foalhood friend, Stern Wing. Vision, I've been told, you already know as well as the Doctor here.”

From a sitting position in front of the blue rectangular box, the Doctor slowly lifts his head and starts to smile at Doctor Kelly as he asks, “Are you sure and prepared for this?”

Faced with that choice again, Doctor Kelly closes her eyes as she reminisces on recent events.

Not more than ten minutes ago, Doctor Kelly was in an office at her private home. She sat on a floating force sphere with a wedge cut out. All around her were dozens of holographic windows which she sifted through with a glance, moved the window, or spun about on her floating seat. As she did that, she was sucking on a lollipop as she often did while doing a lot of critical thinking.

Then, all of a sudden, the Doctor appeared.

“Pardon the intrusion, but I have come to make an urgent request,” the Doctor told her after appearing.

“Wha . . . ? Doctor? What are you doing in my home? Also, how did you get here?” she asked him.

“There's not much time to explain,” the Doctor replied. “But suffice it to say, I'm not really standing here. You are talking to a computer program that I have devised. One whose exclusive purpose, for the moment, is to extend to you an important invitation.”

Doctor Kelly widened her eyes at the holographic version of the Doctor. He just laid on her so many bits of information to process, she didn't know where to start.

Since he said that his time was limited though (which is an ironic statement for a famous time traveler in her estimation), Doctor Kelly decided to tackle what seemed to be the most important issue during that moment.

“What invitation?” she asked but already had an idea what he might say.

In reply, the Doctor approached her and then extended a hoof that passed through some of her holographic windows. With that gesture, he said, “Take my han- . . . Um.” Then he winced as he withdrew his hoof and stared at it for a second then offered it to her again as he corrected himself by saying, “Take my hoof.”

“And if I do?” Doctor Kelly checked.

“If you do then I will show you endless wonders,” the holographic version of the Doctor promised. “I will also reveal to you precisely why you're so important.”

“So you figured all of that already?” Doctor Kelly asked in an impressed tone.

“Not entirely, but I'm getting there,” the holo Doctor replied. “And we can figure out the rest together. I've got some promising leads, though, and I'd be happy to share them with you as soon as we get someplace more private.”

“More private than my own home?” Doctor Kelly reflected.

The holo Doctor lowered his offered hoof a bit as he said, “Don't do that. You're brighter than this. Surely you must know that any true privacy in a fully synthetic environment is just a facade. Everything you do and interact with here is done within and to another computer program, and that computer can record and track everything you do. The only reason we have any temporary privacy right now is because I replaced us with another program that shows you just sitting here, minding your business, and the Doctor never showed up. Not even a holographic version of him.”

“You're eventually going to need to explain to me how you did that,” Doctor Kelly stated.

“Gladly as soon as we have enough true privacy to make that explanation safe,” the holo Doctor explained. “Oh, and by the way, that's precisely why I have limited time here. I can only fool the computer system for so long before it starts running additional self diagnostics. Also, the real version of me is about to take off from this world soon.”

Doctor Kelly leaned back in her seat. The spherical ball she sat on tilted back while still hovering off the ground. From that position, she said, “You ask a lot of me, Doctor. This is my home. I'm well established here.”

“I can deliver you back near the same time you left,” the holo Doctor offered. “To the rest of this world, only a few seconds will have passed.”

“And during those 'few seconds', I could be gone for years on very dangerous adventures,” Doctor Kelly pointed out. “Let's face it, Doctor. You can offer no guarantees that I'll ever return home alive.”

The holo Doctor lowered his hoof back to the ground as he admitted, “That's true. I can offer no safe guarantees out there, but the same can be said here. This place may seem safe, but it is slowly killing all of you.”

“What do you mean?” Doctor Kelly asked in alarm.

“Not physically, but in mind and soul,” the holo Doctor elaborated. “Static environments offer no real growth potential. You all need to thrive more on something more real. I can show you that.

“Come on, Doctor. You saw the signs in history that you are meant for something greater than all of this. The reason history calls to you is that you are meant to be there, and surely there must have been at least one time when you looked up upon the real stars and felt you are meant to be up there as well. That there is so much out there for you to explore, and there is. By all the stars, I swear to you that there is. Let me show you.” He lifted his hoof again. “Come with me. I ask this of you.

“No. I beg this of you,” the holo Doctor requested much more urgently as he actually bent on his knees while still offering up a hoof with a hopeful and pleading look in his synthetic brown eyes.

Doctor Kelly was stunned. The Doctor, one of the most legendary individuals in history, was (sort of) right before her very eyes and begged her to join him. He seemed convinced her presence on his journey is very important for some reason. The only question was what.

And she had to admit, his offer was very enticing. Issues of potential worthiness aside, it did sound exciting. As a pony with a heavily scientific mind, she was always fascinated by the idea of going out there and scanning and collecting samples of all kinds of things spread throughout time and space. All of a sudden, that offer was being extended to her and it felt too good to be true. She couldn't believe it.

But as she observed the holo Doctor as he kept staring at her earnestly, she gradually realized how enchanted she felt by him and his offer. Almost in a daze, she finally reached back and touched his hoof. With it, he used that touch to pull her onto her, at first, three hooves then eventually all four.

“Alright, Doctor. If it's that important to you, I will go,” Doctor Kelly accepted. “I wanted to further monitor and guide Vision's health anyway. I might has well do that for all the rest of you since I'll be with you all too. Just give me a few minutes to gather some important things and make a few preparations.”

The bright smile that grew on the holo Doctor's face lit up her soul, and then he said to her enthusiastically, “Brilliant!”

Doctor Kelly Saddler opens her eyes as her mind focuses and returns to the present. From there, she says, “As ready as I'll ever be, so let's get this show on the road. Or space or what have you.”

“Brilliant!” the Doctor cheers then stands up. “That sounds like a capital idea, so now, then, I think I should give you a more proper introduction to our last companion, and a very old friend of mine.”

The Doctor turns to the TARDIS itself, pulls out his key, unlocks the door, then opens it. From there, he steps inside, sidesteps off to the side a bit, turns back to the entrance then bows as he gives a sweeping gesture back to the rest of his vessel.

“I think, this time, you should be next to step inside,” Feather Wind proposes to Doctor Kelly.

“Prepare to have your mind blown!” Derpy declares cheerfully.

With a final glance at the rest of those still standing out here, Doctor Kelly returns her attention to the entrance of the TARDIS and then does approach it to step inside. When she does, what she sees, smells, hears and overall experiences takes her breath away.

The idea of something being bigger on the inside is not too novel to her. Her kind, the Magi, had access to some Time Lord technology a long time ago. Besides, by being raised in a computer simulation pretty much all of her life that can take any form she wants, a concept like this loses its novelty.

But, despite all of that, what really blows her mind is knowing that all of this is actually real. That this is the real TARDIS and she is standing beside the real Doctor. Holographic emitters aren't equipped in this ship to her knowledge, so whatever she sees after she steps through that door has to be real unless this entire ship, and everyone here, is just another simulation.

“Is this all real?” Doctor Kelly asks in amazement. “Am I really standing inside here?”

As if in answer, the Doctor just smiles at her then turns his focus as he observes the rest of his companions step inside and join them inside the TARDIS. When Doctor Kelly notices that as well, she steps inside further to get out of their way and make enough room through the entrance.

Derpy is last to enter so she closes the door with her tail.

“We're taking off soon, I presume?” Feather Wind asks the Doctor after his gaze transfers from the now-closed entrance to the Doctor.

“Very soon,” the Doctor confirms as he already makes his way to the TARDIS controls. “Like, right now soon.”

“That's pretty soon!” Derpy agrees with a delightful blink of her yellow walleyes.

“Very well,” Feather Wind says in a tone of acceptance. “Be that as it may, I'd like to inform you all that I did manage to pass the test for the visitor's visa on this world and I did it on the first try.”

Feather Wind grows suddenly alarmed when he notices that statement instantly made Derpy seem depressed.

Since Stern Wing does not notice that yet, she follows up that statement by declaring, “As for me, I didn't pass on my first try but I got it on my second.” She shrugs. “After all, it was mostly common sense stuff. Also, after I reviewed the test results of my first failed test, I had a pretty good idea of the pattern they were looking for. Not everything registered in my head, especially when it came to their alien tech, but I got it enough the second time to pass.” She then looks at Vision as she goes on to say, “And, as I understand it, Vision was downright exempt from the test because she's a minor.”

Stern Wing then looks at Derpy and asks the gray mare, “And how did you do?”

Right after Stern Wing asked, she finally notices Derpy starting to break down into tears.

“I . . . I didn't pass!” Derpy declares in huge shame as she closes her eyes, bows her head, and her face scrunches up in shame. “And I tried! I tried so hard! I swear I did! Really I did!”

“Shh-shh-shh,” Stern Wing hushes Derpy as the tall mare approaches the smaller pegasus and drapes a large brown wing over the gray mare. “It's okay. None of that matters now. We're leaving that world anyway.”

“You don't understand!” Derpy wails as the TARDIS engine starts up for ignition. “I really, really tried and I failed five times in a row! I studied and I tested and I studied and I tested. I could never get it right!”

Tears drip from Derpy's tightly closed eyes and onto the floor.

“I really am just a big, stupid feather brain,” Derpy says in a tone of sad acceptance. With eyes still closed, she shakes her head as she says, “And it doesn't matter what planet we go to next. That inherent fact will still be true about me.”

When Stern Wing uses her wing to pull Derpy even closer for a tighter hug, the bubble cutie mark pegasus turns her face into Stern's chest and wails.

“I'm so sorry you're stuck with a useless companion like me,” Derpy apologizes in a muffled tone due to her face being half buried into Stern's fur.

After the TARDIS engine cools off and is followed by the fading laser blast sounds, the Doctor steps down from the TARDIS's controls to approach Stern and Derpy. When he arrives, he taps Stern on her shoulder to get her attention. Once he has it, he says, “Please step aside. It's my turn.”

Stern nods in very serious acceptance then releases Derpy before stepping aside. Once that happens, the Doctor takes Stern's place by stepping in front of Derpy, but she does not meet his gaze because she is too ashamed of herself.

A brief moment of silence passes in that tense fashion before the Doctor requests with a bit of a hard tone in his voice, “Derpy, look at me.”

It is a struggle for her to cooperate, but she eventually does. When their gaze meets, she grows surprised because he is smiling warmly down at her. She expected him to be angry at her, especially since his voice earlier had a slightly firm edge to it.

“Do I look like someone who is ashamed of you?” the Doctor asks her with a beaming proud smile down at her.

“Ah . . . no,” Derpy mopes with a slight edge of confusion in her voice as if she's convinced he should be.

“I have invited very few others onto my ship,” the Doctor informs her. “Of countless individuals I have met, only a very select few I consider special enough to offer this privilege, and Derpy . . . you are one of those individuals.” He strokes her right cheek softly with a hoof and brushes aside a bit of her mane. He also tucks it behind her right ear as he says, “And I don't care what some other societies' standards are. You may have failed to get a visitor's visa from them, but as far as I am concerned, you earned a permanent residence in my hearts.

“You are not the stupid one, Derpy. They are for not realizing and acknowledging your brilliance. The measure of one's worth is not only in pure academics. Very few others can match the quality of your Bright Eyes!” he says with a smile at the reminder of her nickname.

When he said that, she starts to cheer back up again.

“And Derpy,” he strokes a hoof gently under her chin, “I don't ever want to hear you put yourself down again because you don't deserve it, and none of us do either. I'm sure every one of us can agree with that,” the Doctor says as he sweeps his gaze across the others, which is met with confirming nods, including the blind filly.

“I . . . I'll try, Doctor,” Derpy promises with very little confidence.

“Now come on. Let's see that bright smile instead,” the Doctor encourages as he smiles back at Derpy. “Come on.” He reaches a hoof around her to deliberately tickle her. “Where is that smile that you're so famous for?”

Having successfully reached and stimulated some of her ticklish spots, Derpy giggles brightly and playfully before she sighs and gazes at the Doctor with very deep affection.

“I love you, Doctor,” Derpy declares in a tone of a happy, drunk-like daze but then soon strongly blushes when she realized what she said and the fact she said that in front of the others here. For a moment, she looks away shyly again, but when her gaze sneaks back to his face with one eye, she beholds him continuing to look at her very warmly before he pulls her in for an affectionate hug. Within that hug, she takes a deep intake of his scent which dips her into an even deeper happy/drunk daze.

There is a long period of silence between all those standing there until the Doctor and Derpy finally pull apart. A little reluctantly on her part.

“I hope you all enjoyed yourselves on that last world as much as you could because, from now on, we have some serious work to do,” the Doctor announces seriously as he slowly trots to the TARDIS exit.

“Yeah. I noticed you were in a bit of a rush towards the end there,” Stern Wing agrees. “Also you have invited a new companion. Not that I'm complaining, but I would care for an explanation.”

“And you shall have it,” the Doctor agrees before throwing open the TARDIS doors. Beyond that point, he gazes at the vast emptiness of space aside from the stars within it. He's silent for a while as he sweeps his gaze across the various constellations out there. He can identify every one of them, but for him, this moment symbolically represents much more.

“As I told Derpy just a few minutes ago, I don't just invite anyone onto my ship,” the Doctor begins when he finally speaks again. “Every one of them has some special quality about them. Some special, tantalizing potential that I feel drawn to nurture. I dare say I even have a fondness and attraction for the underestimated, underappreciated, and the downtrodden, because, to me, that is a mistake the rest of society around them makes. Sometimes even the individual makes the same mistake. They say things like, 'You are worthless,' 'You are a feather brain,' 'You are a burden,' and other such crap like that. So many people out there try to bury the brilliant light that shines within us. Whenever I see it, I feel compelled to do the opposite of such short-sighted individuals. I seek to uncover the diamond in the rough.

“I always have.

“I always will.”

The Doctor turns about and sweeps his gaze across his current companions for a moment before he steps aside and gestures out the open door which leads into outer space.

“How many of you have gazed up at the stars and wondered about your place in the universe? How many of you wondered what might be out there for you to explore?

“Exploring the inner and outer universe is ultimately the same journey. It's self-discovery. It is a reach to uncover deeper hidden potential. I've seen it time and time again, so I know what I'm talking about.”

He looks out at the stars himself and then nods toward them.

“This is the bridge,” he tells them. “This is the link between us all. All that is out there is what we share together. All of time and space . . . everywhere! That whole thing that seems to divide us is, in fact, what unites us.”

He looks at them again as he says, “It is existence. It is life. That is so important. That is so meaningful.”

“Wow, Doctor,” Stern Wing says with a proud smile and mist in her eyes. “Are you actually trying to get us all into tears? Because, if so, keep going.”

The Doctor's serious expression lights up a bit with a soft smile at her as he says, “I'm trying to make a point. I've encountered many out there who did not realize their own worth in one way or another, but the most remarkable thing I have discovered in my journey is that I have never encountered even one person who is worthless. Everyone has their place in this universe. This grand design of life. This journey. This story. We are all living it together. Every one of us is writing another page in this book. Even those who read it are part of the journey.”

The Doctor pauses a moment as he gazes upward while collecting more of his thoughts, then looks back at his companions as he continues.

“The word 'paradise' can come in many forms, and it has many meanings to each individual. That meaning can even change across their lifetime. Another word that can often be associated with it is 'complacency', and sometimes also the word 'lies'.”

“I assume you're going to elaborate on that point,” Doctor Kelly guesses with enough confidence to make her assumption almost sound like a statement.

“Indeed I will,” the Doctor confirms. “I originally came to that world to investigate why some individuals from the planet below, the Alphalmians, were allowed to be stolen.” He pauses a moment as he sighs briefly, then goes on to say, “While it is true that those who did the actual kidnapping have cloaked ships, the fact remains the so-called 'guardians' of that world should have noticed and done something about it. For the longest time, that is exactly what they did, but recently something changed.

“To my fortune, the Prime Minister of the Magi wanted to meet with me not even a day after we arrived on that world. I wanted information and so did he. That was a mutual, beneficial arrangement, so I complied. He had me wait for over seven hours for that meeting and he didn't have to.” The Doctor grows a smug smile. “But that's fine. That gave me more time to prepare for that meeting as well as other things.”

“Is that when you made the holographic version of yourself?” Doctor Kelly asks. “And how did you do that? You know you were being observed that whole time, right?”

“Allow me to introduce you to another longtime companion of mine,” the Doctor says as he pulls out his sonic screwdriver. “This is my sonic screwdriver. It might seem primitive compared to most of the tools in your world, but I assure you it is capable of a surprising amount if put into clever hands.

“Now I have been to another world like that before but the magic component prevalent in this dimension threw me for a loop for a bit. However, give me seven extra hours of prep time, then it is only the foolish who underestimate me.”

“You found the right frequency,” Feather Wind realizes with a cunning grin. “And you did it while being openly observed.

“Wow, Doctor. You are such a devious genius."

For that compliment, the Doctor bows to Feather Wind.

“Yes,” the Doctor confirms. “I've been searching for that frequency ever since we arrived in that world. I had my sonic screwdriver scanning the energy signature all around us the whole time. When I found it, I got to work putting that knowledge to good use.” He nods to Feather Wind as he adds, “As you stated earlier, Feather, when it comes to imaginary characters, it is the creators that make up all the rules.” He gestures out of the TARDIS as he goes on to say, “From now on, I have a new digital spy working for me in that society. A copy of me who also has his own sonic screwdriver, albeit a holographic version of it. With it, that copy of me can keep on hacking for whatever other kinds of information that might be useful and send it to me.”

“Brilliant, Doctor!” Derpy cheers but then grows confused. “But why all the subterfuge?”

“Because someone in that world is responsible for allowing the thefts of the Alphalmians, and I believe I met one individual with enough power and authority to make it possible,” the Doctor answers.

“The Prime Minister,” Feather Wind realizes. “And the residents of that world were expecting you to return for a long time now. Since that is somewhat public knowledge, it could naturally fall into the hooves of neigh-do-wells as well."

The Doctor pauses for a brief moment in amusement on how Feather Wind phrased that before he nods and says, “He sought to put me on the defensive immediately by having me wait and then enter the room in a grandiose way. I have seen his type plenty of times before, including from my own people. I'm far too experienced and educated to fall for that trick anymore. His plan backfired, though, since all that extra time gave me more time to prepare for that meeting.

“Once the meeting actually took place, I countered his efforts by pretending to realize that the Time Lords do exist in this dimension, and so does the Time War. When I wailed over that fact, that put him on the defensive and off balance. Ever since then, I had firm control over our conversation.”

The Doctor lifts a hoof as he declares, “But the most important blunder he made during the conversation was pretending he was ignorant to the theft of the Alphalmians. That was a huge mistake on his part because I know for a fact that the Alphalmians used to have regular contact with the Magi. They are highly telepathic, after all, so they use that ability to keep the ocean planet's guardians in the loop. That was until the Alphalmians started to notice the theft of their people. They tried once to alert the Magi to that fact and they were awarded with a bunch of red tape for their efforts. Ever since then, the Alphalmian's society realized that their former guardians have now become corrupted somehow. As a result, they decided to keep their silence about any further complaints to the Magi, lest they tip off the true culprit to their suspicion as well.”

“So somepony was allowing the theft, and it is the Prime Minister himself?” Stern Wing asks with righteous fury then smacks her left wing into her right in a manner that reminded the Doctor of when humans used to smack a fist into an open palm as a sign of anger and/or determination. “In that case, we have to go back there and kick his flank now.”

“Not yet,” the Doctor denies with a shake of his head. “He's got too much of a home-field advantage there for the moment. Furthermore, we don't know how far his reach extends. He probably has many accomplices under his rule.”

“He's the elected leader of our world. That makes a lot of sense,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “Somepony with that much power and authority can find plenty of places to hide their crimes.”

“In that case, what is our game plan?” Stern Wing checks with the Doctor. “I'm sure you have one.”

“Instead of going after him now, I'd rather go and collect evidence of his crimes,” the Doctor proposes.

“That's exactly what I expected you to say,” Doctor Kelly figures. “We can do that by seeking out the stolen Alphalmians ourselves. Also, does the race that stole them directly normally carry manifests of such things?”

“Typically, yes,” the Doctor confirms. “After all, they like to keep track of what they stole themselves. Keep in mind, however, they normally are a criminal organization. They've been in the ringer a few times so they won't just leave evidence like that lying around in public. It probably exists, but it'll take some effort to uncover.”

“But now they have a Time Lord on their flank!” Stern Wing cheers aggressively.

“And the rest of us,” Feather Wind adds. “Whatever it takes, we'll make sure they pay for their crimes and the innocent Alphalmians are returned safely to their home world.”

“We also need to find out what members of my species, or at least Prime Minister Kratus, had to gain in this affair,” Doctor Kelly suggests. “I don't want to sound callous, but there is a chance that might end up more important. We'll free the captives of course if we can, but finding out what certain dirty members of my race are up to could be crucial as well.”

“Agreed,” the Doctor says with a nod to Doctor Kelly. “The motive just might be very important here. I've sized him up in the meeting I had with him and I can already tell that is an individual with grand ambitions. Whatever he's playing at, there is a chance he might cause greater harm in the long run if his plan totally succeeds. If that is the case, then I'll need to stop it.”

“Just what did he want from you anyway?” Feather Wind checks with the Doctor. “He's the one who called for that meeting. I doubt it was just to say hello.”

The Doctor sits on the floor and crosses his forelegs across his chest as he says, “Now that is the very interesting part. He claimed that he has access to a number of other TARDISes like this one, but he didn't specify how many.”

Vision is the only one of the Doctor's companions who didn't widen her eyes in shock like the rest of them did. Feather Wind also exclaims, “Are you serious?!” He calms down as he asks in a more measured tone, “Do you think he is telling you the truth?”

“I'm pretty sure he only told me that to distract me, but it might also be true,” the Doctor replies. “This society survived and overcame an invasion from the Time Lords, most likely with my help.” He shakes his head as he goes on to say, “It's not unreasonable to believe that the very race who tried, and failed, to conquer the Magi would also have access to TARDISes at their disposal. That is the preferred method of travel for my people.”

Everyone is quiet for a moment until Doctor Kelly asks, “So what are you going to do?”

“I agreed to help him figure out how to unlock and use them, but in exchange, I am the one who gets to train the would-be pilots and captains of those vessels.”

“Are you sure that's wise?” Stern Wing asks cautiously.

The Doctor grows a devious grin as he says, “That would actually give me more an advantage than it would him. Not only because I secretly realize he has nefarious intentions and can thus plan circles around him, but it would also give me access to more vessels like this as well as trusted former companions to pilot them.”

When he said that, he gives an emphatic look to Doctor Kelly in particular and she noted it which causes her to quietly gasp a bit, but nobody on the ship heard that except for Vision.

Even if the blind filly didn't hear that, she felt the Magi Doctor's feelings along with everyone else on the ship. Thus, the quiet psychic filly, who is patiently holding her place in the background, just might be the one who is learning the most in this encounter.

The Doctor then narrows his eyes as he goes on to say, “Ultimately I plan to raise a whole coordinated fleet of TARDIS users in order to circumvent and minimize one of the most bloody wars I have ever suffered which exists in this dimension as well, but so far I don't know the details too much and that gives me leeway to write my own version of that story. To do that, I'll need to prepare for it, and for that, I need a whole lot of resourceful allies by my side. We'll spread our influence all over time and space so we can arrange critical circumstances to be in our favor.” He shuts his eyes in pain as he says to himself quietly, “Maybe this time I can save them all, or at least more than I did before. This time, too, I'll do it as myself: The Doctor. ”

The Doctor pauses a moment as he looks out the door to open space again. After thirty seconds of quiet contemplation, he looks back at his companions as he says, “Remember when I said that I realized the Time Lords themselves were the would-be conquerors of this society?”

“No,” answers Derpy.

“Actually, he did,” Feather Wind corrects. “It was during this conversation.”

“Oh,” Derpy says with an embarrassed blush.

“So the Time Lords really do exist in this universe,” Feather Wind points out as he looks back at the Doctor. “At least, now, you know.” He grins a bit. “But they probably have been ponified too.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor says sadly. “And, unfortunately, the Time War also exists in this dimension.”

“What is the Time War?” Derpy asks.

“Pray you never find out,” the Doctor replies as he narrows his eyes at Derpy. “The brief version of it is the Time War is a war mostly between my people and another enemy of mine known as the Daleks. This is an oversimplified version of an explanation but that just about covers the basics. This is the strongest, bloodiest, largest and most vicious war I've ever been a part of.

“Let me give you just a small example of what I'm talking about just so you can get a glimpse at the sheer magnitude and horror of that war. Be warned, this is not for the faint of heart.”

“You do not have to worry about me, Doctor,” Vision assures who physically has the weakest heart of them all. “I can take it.”

The Doctor pauses a moment as he looks down and collects his thoughts, then lifts his gaze forward again as he informs his companions grimly, “There was this one world that got conquered by the Daleks which they were using as a staging operation to mass produce a certain weapon then deliver it from that strategic location. It was a massive thorn on the side of the Time Lords, so the solution they decided upon, despite my most vehement objection, was to aim a massive temporal canon at the entire planet in order to wipe it out of existence.”

The Doctor's crew is spooked into silence.

“And I don't just mean they destroyed it,” the Doctor says with a brief shake of his head. “No. If only they were at least that merciful.

“No. Instead of that, the planet was hit with a super weapon of the Time Lords that unraveled the fabric of its target's existence. Entire timelines were severely altered to accommodate this change so that that planet never existed for anyone, anywhere, in the first place.

“The Time Lords themselves, including me, stood immune to the temporal change because we resided in a pocket dimension outside normal time/space, but everyone within the normal universe when that planet was hit was affected.”

Just telling this story is causing the Doctor's blood to boil. Both of his hearts are beating fast in his chest now. Sweat is pouring down his face and he's growing dizzy as he starts to hyperventilate, which is very rare for the Doctor.

“Can you imagine it? Countless innocent civilizations and victims were caught in that crossfire, including some who were not even on that planet because they had someone in their ancestry that came from that planet or was affected by them in some meaningful way. All of that just GONE!" the Doctor suddenly shouts at the end. “Even the ancestors before all this started suffered from that blow as they, too, were wiped from existence along with everything on that entire planet and others affected by them in any way whatsoever.”

The Doctor rolls forward on his knees because he's now too dizzy to stand anymore. He continues to breathe very rapidly which finally snaps some of his companions out of their horrified stupor in order to approach and attempt to comfort him. Doctor Kelly is the first to arrive followed by Derpy then Stern Wing. Feather Wind remains too stunned and numb to barely comprehend anything anymore, and Vision holds her ground surprisingly well physically and emotionally.

“There weren't even corpses to bury,” the Doctor struggles to say. “No ashes. Nothing. Not even their memory lingered enough for anyone to mourn. They were erased from existence. The ultimate insult and denial of one's personal freedom and fate.

“And for what? One little strategic outpost of a conquered world? A world that was filled with victims to begin with? A world that needed our help. They cried for our help, and what did my people do? Callously denied them and stomped them out of existence for simply being in the way.

“Oh, how the mighty had fallen. The guardians of time and space sank to become the very tyrants they once opposed.”

Suddenly, the Doctor struggles to rein in his emotions until Vision spoke.

“Doctor,” she says. He looks at her. She has her face in his general direction as she says, “Let it all out.”

The Doctor looks down, closes his eyes in a tight wince, and shivers in pain. Still, though, he struggles to contain himself.

“Doctor, let it go,” Vision advises again. “Everypony aboard this ship can hoofle it.” She nods at him. “It's finally time.”

The Doctor's emotions are in such raging flux right now that he can barely contain it. With him pushed that far to the edge, he looks about himself at the others for advice. He gets a nod from each of them even if they don't fully understand his pain.

For him, the most meaningful nod of confirmation is from Doctor Kelly. For some reason, her confirming nod hits much closer to his hearts than the others, but part of him knows why. If she is who he thinks she is, he cannot lie or deny her.

So the Doctor faces his pain as his courage holds on by a thread. So much pain and torment circulate this memory alone, but there were many others like it spread across the Time War. Enough trauma to easily ensure PTSD of any survivor.

That's the way the Doctor always saw himself ever since the Time War passed. Notably, a war that the Daleks technically won when all was said and done because some of the Daleks survived and rebuilt their empire. The Time Lords weren't so lucky.

Meanwhile the Doctor, the one survivor of the Time War of his people, lost his home as well as everyone he cared about within it. There are so many names etched on his hearts because of that. Good people he refuses to forget no matter how much that knowledge tortures him.

That's what he's been ever since the Time War. Not the glorious victor that he sometimes pretends to be, but rather the tortured survivor.

The last of the Time Lords.

With that thought, an explosion of pain erupts from his chest. This time he cannot contain it. He has crossed the event horizon.

The Doctor roars at the top of his lungs with that explosion of pain and anger. Moments later, he roars beyond the top of his lungs. His voice became multi-tonal and more voices join his roar as he continues. In addition, a blast of energy erupts from his body. The energy that normally would only show up to save his life from complete termination, but this time his body can't tell the difference between the pained roar and him being in actual death throes.

Instinctively and wisely, the rest of his nearby companions back off the moment they saw the golden explosion of energy radiating off of his body.

The sheer horror of his scream sank deeply into their souls which is precisely why he tried so hard to fight this before. He didn't want to hurt his friends badly enough to potentially drive them insane with grief, but this time he could not help it. It just came out too strong to fight back anymore.

Yet just outside, in the vast emptiness of space, everything remains completely quiet despite the sheer intensity of his roar or the fact that the TARDIS doors are still wide open.

More and more voices join the Doctor's scream. They each echo, making it sound like more than there actually are. First, it sounded like ten voices, then a hundred, then thousands. After that, everypony in the TARDIS had no way to tell how many there are. The voices join in a single cacophony that is more like a constant, screeching note of a song. It is like ringing in the ears times a thousand.

During this time, within that golden explosion of energy, the Doctor's face continually and constantly morphs into the shadow of other victims who suffered in that war, including others who were erased from existence. Only the Doctor remembers them now. Only he suffers the pain of their loss, yet at this moment they seem to join him somehow like the last shout of pain from their ghosts.

Nobody in the TARDIS can tell how long this goes on. By the time the Doctor is done, everyone is fairly numb, yet Vision curiously remains the only pony left standing. In fact, she's the only one who seems unaffected by the outburst even though she should be the most affected considering her empathic abilities.

But she acts like she expected this. As if this moment is necessary and a fixed moment of time.

The Doctor collapses on the ground, very wiped out, but he struggles to hold on to consciousness just a little longer because he's not finished with his points. Outwardly he appears to be unchanged, but internally, he would no longer be the same after that moment.

“None of you know . . . the sheer magnitude . . . and the horror . . . of that war,” the Doctor declares between desperate gasps of breath. “And I pray you never do. And I swear . . . by all the power that lies within me . . . NOBODY will ever know horror to that degree again.”

The Doctor collapses.

The TARDIS crew, with the curious and ironic exception of Vision, need a week to recover after that. During that time, they are stranded in space because the one pilot they have is out cold.

Author's Note

So this is the conclusion to the Hollow Paradise arc. It's shorter than the last one, I know. This one had a focused and simplified objective and the TARDIS crew got lucky because the other side of this issue wanted answers as well. The two just met in the center and thus the conclusion was quickly reached. The Doctor's brilliant mind, as usual, gathering more than is intended to reveal, so onward their journey continues.

With that, the TARDIS crew gain a new companion, for the time being, which has strong sentimental value for the Doctor for some reason, and the crew gain a more focused objective for the rest of their quest as well. Obviously the Doctor, and those who follow him on his journey, will continue as it usually does and for all the normal reasons as well, but now there is an extra layer to it. He has a new goal; to minimize the bloodshed of the Time War and "ponyfiy it" as close to the level of innocence as he feels this dimension should have.

But, of course, if he ever succeeds with that goal then it has also already happened long ago. If he is able to get some of his retired companions to be pilots and captains of their very own TARDIS, then the shadows of their journey shall be felt throughout the story. That also includes some of their enemies too, because some of them are time travelers as well.

So I invite you to picture that because it is likely your own mind can carry that conclusion beyond what I will write. That story alone can cultivate into his own universe of stories like Marvel Cinematic Universe of separate heroes that occasionally gather and collect into a single epic story, that of the Time War. While it is unlikely that I'll ever finish that story, this is it's start and I wanted you all to know the general direction it is heading. The Time War likely should be it's very own novel or novels, but that is also the culmination of multiple stories before it. From now on, all those who follow the Doctor with that objective in mind is spread all throughout time and space trying to do things that will ultimately soften the blow of the Time War, and meanwhile there are others on the other side of the conflict trying to agitate it.

I invite you to use your own imagination or even write your own story that uses this plot-thread as a launching point. Is any of your OC's future companions of the Doctor? Perhaps also some future incarnation of him? Think about it. Feel about it, and if possible, I'd love to hear back from you about your ideas for this as well as your opinions about this story so far.

As the Doctor likes to say in this version of the story, Onwards and Upwards, my friends. May the legend of the Doctor and the crew of the TARDIS never die in one form or another.

TARDIS Intermission: Stranded in Space Part 1: Confidential Secrets

“Just set him gently down right here,” Doctor Kelly advises as she gestures to the Doctor's bed. Cooperatively, Stern Wing does so by rolling the Doctor off of her back and gently down her right wing which she has extended and touching the Doctor's bed. When the Doctor settles on the bed, he groans a bit which also stirs him slightly awake. Feather Wind draws on his magic to pull the covers over the Doctor then tucks the blankets into the bed.

“Nice going, Stern Wing,” Doctor Kelly commends the large brown pegasus. “You really are very big and strong.”

“Thank you!” Stern Wing says pleasantly seconds before confusion takes a hold of her face and then she asks, “I think?”

“So this is the Doctor's room,” muses Vision as she also steps into the room.

“It can't be much of a sight to a blind filly,” Feather Wind notes aloud as he regards the small white earth pony with hints of blue. “So what is it, exactly, that fascinates you about this place?”

“You mean besides some of the sounds and the smell? Or the fact that this is the first time I stood here while awake?” Vision checks with a light shrug. “For me, what fascinates me about this room the most is the feeling of psychic energy from some of these objects.”

“What? Really?” Stern asks as she widens her eyes at Vision. “You mean you can get empathic impressions from even objects?”

“Sure if it has a lot of emotional investment,” Vision explains. “Clearly there is a bunch of objects in this room that is thick with sentimental value for the Doctor.” Her head and ears move about as if scanning the room before she says, “Although I think the emotional energy I am detecting from some of these objects isn't just from the Doctor.”

“Huh.” Feather Wind regards the Doctor. “It is true that this pony, or I should say 'pony', has had a very long and adventurous lifestyle.”

“I've traveled with the Doctor longer than any of the rest of you,” Derpy brings up. “And, in all that time, I have never seen him do something so utterly fantastical and alien as he did in the TARDIS control room just a few moments ago.” She shakes her head. “Any illusions I had that he is just an average stallion is gone now. Clearly he is more than he seems on the outside.” She regards Doctor Kelly with her left eye but her right lazily drifts off. “What's wrong with him, Doc? Can you help him? Will he be okay?”

“I'm not very familiar with Time Lord physiology yet but I assure you that's going to change soon,” Doctor Kelly assures. “I've already done a medical scan of him back at the hospital on my world. I'll take a look at that data again and see what I can scrounge up with it. In the meantime, he seems relatively stable. I recommend plenty of bed rest and water because it is rare for a physician to go wrong with that one.”

The Doctor groans again as his eyes slowly open.

“He's coming to!” Feather Wind alerts his friends.

Due to that alert notice, Derpy shoots next to the Doctor and scoops up one of his hooves then rubs it against her left cheek. During that time, she eye (not eyes) him in heavy concern as she asks him, “Oh Doctor, are you alright? Please say something to me! You're scaring me!”

For saying that, the Doctor both smiles a bit but also slightly winces as he says groggily, “Take heart, my faithful companion, for I am the Doctor. You haven't seen the last of me.”

“It's good to hear from you again, Doctor,” Feather Wind says in relief. “Do you know what happened to you? Has this ever happened to you before?”

The Doctor is quiet for a moment as he just breathes and attempts to regather his strength before he finally answers, “No. Not exactly, but I have gone through something like this about a dozen times before.”

“I take it that it has something to do with your Time Lord physiology,” Doctor Kelly assumes. “If you can, I'd appreciate any feedback you can offer me about that. The more I know, the more I can competently treat you.”

“Derpy, I'll be fine,” the Doctor reassures as he gives her hooves, which is clasping one of his, a gentle pat by reaching his other hoof to hers. “Please have faith in me, just like I have faith in you.”

“I'll try, Doctor,” Derpy promises as tears roll down from her golden, sunny eyes. “I promise I will.”

“Doctor Kelly's assessment is most likely prudent in this case,” the Doctor says to all of his companions. “After what I just went through, rest is, most likely, what I need right now.”

“Doctor, is this that 'regeneration' thing you told me about earlier?” Derpy asks with a questioning tilt of her head. “But I thought you told me your voice and appearance changes and whatnot when that happens, but you seem to be just the same other than being really tired.”

“Yeah,” the Doctor agrees with a questioning inflection on his face. “This is something new, but very similar to my earlier regeneration cycles.

“I, um, I think that I . . . ah . . .”

The Doctor trails off when he launches into a hacking fit, but it settles seconds later almost as suddenly as it came. On the final cough, golden sparkling energy shoots out of his mouth. When the Doctor's eyes crack open to see that, he regards it with a curious mix of fascination yet also recognition.

“Well. Isn't that interesting?” the Doctor asks with a curious tilt of his head.

“What was that golden energy?” Derpy asks with lingering concern. “Are you sure you're going to be fine, Doctor?”

“Um . . . huh?” He looks at Derpy then nods. “Yes-yes. I'll be quite alright. I just need some bed rest. I've been through something like this before. It always means I'll need more time to fully recover.”

“In that case, all of you please get out,” Doctor Kelly politely commands. “If rest is what he needs then it is best he doesn't get disturbed from it.”

“But you'll stay here and monitor him?” Feather Wind guesses at Doctor Kelly.

“For the moment, yes,” Doctor Kelly answers. “At least long enough to be certain that he's stable and I also like to set up some spells and equipment.”

“Very well, then,” Stern Wing accepts as she stands very erectly. “If that is what he needs then that is what he shall receive. The rest of you, out. Out.” Stern Wing spreads her brown wings with darker brown tips as she uses them to wave the rest of them out of the room. In doing so with such large wings, she stirs the air in the room somewhat even with very gentle flaps.

“Rest well, Doctor,” Derpy bids as she's ushered out of the room. “Recover soon! If you do, I'll make you muffins as a reward!” she bribes brightly.

“Make it English muffins and you have yourself a deal,” the Doctor bargains.

Derpy winces in disgust as she says, “Ew! Those impostor muffins? Well, um . . . if you say so. Sure. I'll make you some.”

“Then I'll look forward to my expedient recovery,” the Doctor says with as bright of a smile as he can muster within his exhausted condition.

Five seconds later everyone else, besides Doctor Kelly, leaves the room. When the rest are gone, Doctor Kelly uses her magic to close the door. In the process, something glows within her white lab coat with the same color as the magic radiating off her horn.

“It's good that they left now, for there are a few things I wanted to talk to you about privately. I guess now is my chance,” says the Doctor to Kelly.

“As long as you don't push yourself too hard,” Doctor Kelly says as she turns about and returns to the Doctor's side.

“These things are important. I have to tell you them before I pass out because I might remain down for a while.” The Doctor sighs as he recalls, “Before I opened the doors to the TARDIS when we first arrived on your world, I recall Feather Wind mentioning that he wished that at least one other pony could pilot the TARDIS.” He shakes his head. “He had no idea how difficult a request that is to accomplish, but I can see his point, especially now.” He frowns. “For while I am down, the rest of you shall be stranded in space. Now I assure you, that was not part of my plan . . . but these things happen just the same.

“Fortunately, before we took off from your world, we got resupplied with some medicine and food, both of which we used up on the ocean world that your world orbits. Because of these supplies, the lot of you should be good for whatever length of time I remain down. It'll be boring but otherwise safe as long as you all stay inside the TARDIS during that time. Ships like this are very hard to penetrate without the key. That was something Prime Minister Kratus learned a long time ago.”

“Hence the reason he needed an actual Time Lord to show him how to open those things, and your kind is a very rare commodity in the universe these days,” Doctor Kelly figures.

“There might be more of my kind out there, but for the moment . . . I'm the only one we are aware of. That'll have to do for now.”

The Doctor's expression brightens as he changes the subject by saying, “By the way, I noticed how your people have glowing gems on your person whenever any of you cast a spell. Have you noticed, yet, that isn't the case with Feather Wind?”

“I have noticed,” Doctor Kelly answers. “That observation basically verifies something we have in our historical records. It was said that ponies back in our original world had different methods of spellcasting. Methods that were much more complex to master compared to our Magi gems. To us, we just attune ourselves to each gem and it is the gem that shapes the spell we are trying to cast. All we really do is supply the energy for the spell. In my home world, our technology often does even that for us. We are capable of mass-producing these gems and they can be simple to attune to, but it depends on how powerful the spell is. To master the stronger ones takes lots of our energy to cast each time and plenty of practice unless we have a device that does that for us.”

“Feather Wind's method of spellcasting doesn't rely on an external object, like a gem, to cast, so his magic is harder to steal,” the Doctor informs. “The trade-off is his method requires years of study to perfect. Whatever spell he's mastered is very hard to take away from him, but learning any additional spells will take about as much effort so there are pros and cons to both methods.

“The reason I bring this up is because Feather Wind is in a unique situation that is similar to yours in one regard. You see, he actually has one magical gem that is not unlike a magi gem. However, the energy within it is probably not as refined and 'fixed' as the magic gems in your world are. Moreover, some of the energy in the gem he has is downright sentient. Specifically, it houses a portion of the soul of the one who created that gem. His name used to be Sombra, but he since calls himself Crystal Sage now to distinguish himself from his dark counterpart that still plagues Feather's home world. In fact, that's basically why he, Stern Wing, and Vision had to leave their native world and timeline.”

“I sense a story behind that,” Doctor Kelly figures.

“Get the rest of the details from the others. I'm sure they can fill you in on that,” the Doctor advises. “In the meantime, while I remain down for the count, I have a request.”

Doctor Kelly lifts a hoof as she says, “Let me guess. You want me to train Feather how to attune himself to this crystal?”

The Doctor nods as he confirms, “Correct . . . if you can. He needs to not only learn how to attune himself to that gem, but also charge it with plenty of positive energy to not only prepare himself for the challenges that yet lingers in his home world, but to also eventually use that energy to save an entire civilization that is stuck in a dimension Crystal Sage refered to as 'limbo'.”

“Really?” Doctor Kelly asks with fascination.

“Again, you can get the rest of the details from the others. In this case, I'd recommend asking Feather himself. He'd know most of the details in this particular regard.

“Another thing I want to bring up with you is keeping the information about the injection of nanites in Vision's system to yourself and Vision herself.”

“I normally do keep information like that confidential between me, the patient, and you in this case because you are assigned as her legal guardian.

“In this case, however, you piqued my curiosity. Any particular reason you want this to remain a secret from the others?”

“They wouldn't fully understand what it could mean for Vision so it may raise some concerns,” the Doctor explains. “Also, while it is harder to put my finger on this, I get the impression details like that are not known to the future version of them. I don't know that for sure, but I got some hints about that fact. I want to protect this secret just in case it is important for this fact to remain unknown to them.”

“Well, I can certainly do that barring an emergency,” Doctor Kelly compromises.

Doctor Kelly leans forward towards him as she says, “Now let's talk about you and what you're going through. Tell me everything that you can about this.”

The Doctor turns his head on top of his pillow to look straight up as he says, “In this case, I'm partially in the dark about this too. What I have gone through resembles a regeneration cycle that I've been through about a dozen times before, but for once it isn't triggered as a death prevention method. Also what I went through in the TARDIS control room was significantly stronger than most of my past regenerations.” He shakes his head. “All of those faces and voices that went through me . . . I can't explain that. It felt like countless other individuals were screaming with me and through me. That's new.” He looks back at Doctor Kelly as he goes on to say, “Another thing that is different is my face and voice didn't change in the end. I can hear that fact for myself, but I have yet to see myself in the mirror.”

“Do you want one?” Doctor Kelly offers.

The Doctor closes his eyes briefly as he shakes his head then opens his eyes again as he says, “Not yet. It's a struggle enough to remain awake right now so I want to get a few things off my chest first before I go down.

“In this case, I'm not completely aware of what has happened to me, but it greatly resembles my regeneration cycle and that is important because my people only have a limited number of times we can do that.”

Doctor Kelly suddenly looks alarmed as she asks, “In that case, how many can your people go through and which number are you on?”

“My people can go through twelve regeneration cycles, and if what I went through recently counts, then this cycle is my last one,” the Doctor informs grimly.

Doctor Kelly settles back in her force chair with a blank look on her face as she digests that latest bit of news.

“If I'm right, then I might not be able to regenerate again,” the Doctor goes on. “If that is the case, that is more information I don't want you to share with the rest of my crew. It will make them more concerned.”

Doctor Kelly's eyes focus back on the Doctor through her floating, holographic lens.

“Promise me you won't tell them,” the Doctor pleads.

“I am sworn to uphold doctor/patient confidentiality anyway,” Doctor Kelly informs. “If you don't wish for me to share this information with the others, then I shall not.”

The Doctor looks up again as he says wistfully, “It's really quite a shame as well. I have some big plans recently and I'd probably need a lot of time to accomplish them. So much to do . . . and maybe not enough time to do it. I may have a time machine myself, but my own clock keeps on ticking. I need to at least get the ball rolling on certain important goals before I pass on. So many are depending on me for that.”

“Like the Time War?” Doctor Kelly recalls. “You claimed that is important.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” the Doctor assures as he looks back at her. “But you will . . . or at least I think you will get a small idea in the years to come. My most important goal in this affair is to blunt the impact of the Time War. I already went through a version of it before. I am determined to make it more innocent this time, at least as much as I can. If I can do that, then many lives throughout the whole universe might be spared a very grim fate.”

“I'm with you on that one completely,” Doctor Kelly tells him seriously. “On this endeavor, you have my total support.”

The Doctor smiles brightly as he says, “Thank you.” His smile fades a bit as he says, “Now on to the next issue. While I am down, I want you to take care of my crew.”

Doctor Kelly smiles at the Doctor, touched by the knowledge that is among the Doctor's final thoughts before he goes down. Any good captain would feel that way.

“I can certainly do that on a medical front. That's my job,” Doctor Kelly tells him.

He shakes his head as he says, “That too, but I mean more than that. While I am down, I want you to guide them. They'll need to look up to someone for leadership.”

Doctor Kelly winces slightly as she asks him, “Why do you trust me so much with a task like that? We recently met.”

In response, the Doctor simply gives a knowing smile.

“Why do I get the feeling you are withholding some important information from me?” Doctor Kelly wonders aloud. “Does this have something to do with all those clues implanted into history? Things that only I was meant to notice?”

The Doctor continues to hold that knowing smile as his consciousness fades away.

“Oh fine! Be that way!” Doctor Kelly pouts. “Protect your secrets if you must.”

Doctor Kelly's frown softens gradually into a gentle smile of her own when she watches the Doctor sleep peacefully. He looks like such an angel when he sleeps like that.

On a whim, Doctor Kelly bends down and kisses the Doctor's forehead.

Part 2: Personal Values

“How is he, Doctor?” Stern Wing asks in concern as she, Feather Wind, Derpy, and Vision all regard Doctor Kelly as she enters the TARDIS control room. In Vision's case, she merely turns her ears on top of her head in Doctor Kelly's direction. Two seconds after Stern Wing asks this, Stern's eyes lower halfway as she grows an amused grin while saying, “Doctor. I'm so used to calling the Doctor that because that is his only name, but now we have two doctors on this ship so that name might get a little more confusing.”

“Resting,” Doctor Kelly answers when she approaches, then stops, only a few feet from the rest of the group. From there, she uses her magic to reach into her right lab coat pocket and pulls out a lollipop then sticks it in her mouth. “Stable and recovering from what I can tell,” Doctor Kelly goes on. “He is only partially aware of what happened to him, but he doesn't sound too concerned about it. In fact, he's more concerned about the rest of you. Accordingly, he asked me to help take care of you all.”

“Around here, we all take care of each other,” informs Feather Wind with conviction.

“That's right,” Stern Wing agrees with a firm nod.

“What's that you got in your mouth?” Derpy asks with a curious tilt of her head as she regards Doctor Kelly with her walleyes.

“Oh, this?” Doctor Kelly asks as she floats out the lollipop from her mouth for a moment, twists it in midair, then shoves it back into her mouth as she answers, “It's a lollipop. My lab coat pocket can create another whenever I want. Do you want one?”

That question immediately brightens Derpy. This causes her to say excitedly, “Yes. I want a lollipop!”

“Then a lollipop you shall have,” Doctor Kelly decides as she floats another out of her lab coat pocket then levitates it over to Derpy who gladly accepts it by leaning her head forward and snapping it into her mouth. From there, she sucks on it and then shuts her eyes as she gives a happy squee. “Any of the rest of you want one?” Doctor Kelly offers to the rest of the group.

“Sure! I'll take one,” Stern Wing happily accepts.

“Me too,” Vision chimes in.

“You really can just keep magically conjuring another one?” Feather Wind asks curiously. “And is this another hologram or not?”

“Yes to your first question and no to your second,” Doctor Kelly answers as she floats another lollipop to Stern and Vision.

“Mmm-mmm-mmm mmmm! Yummy! I got me a lemon flavor!” Derpy cheers as she spreads her still backwards bent wings a bit, happily flaps them, then folds her wings again as she looks at the rest of her companions. “How about the rest of you?”

After sticking hers in her mouth and gaining a discerning look, Stern Wing answers, “Mine tastes like cherry flavor.”

“I can't identify mine,” Vision informs after she sucks on her lollipop for a few seconds. “I suspect it's some kind of fruit flavor that is not native to my homeland.”

“Want me to give it a lick and see if I can identify it for you?” Derpy offers the small white filly.

“No,” Vision answers with a disgusted frown.

“How about you, Feather? You want one?” Doctor Kelly offers the blue unicorn.

Feather Wind does not answer, but he does regard Doctor Kelly thoughtfully. He clearly seems tempted to accept.

“Oh come on, Feather! We're not on the Scroll family estate anymore. You don't have to keep upholding noble pretenses,” Stern advises her friend. “Just accept one already. No pony here is going to judge you.”

Since Stern put it that way, Feather Wind blushes in shy embarrassment. He then passes that look to Doctor Kelly along with a childish yearning twinkling in his eyes, yet he still can't bring himself to actually request one. Seeing this expression causes Doctor Kelly to grin as she floats another conjured lollipop over to Feather Wind as she says, “You're a pony after all, Feather. Just like the rest of us. Here. Take it and enjoy it.”

“Um . . . thank you,” Feather Wind says shyly under his breath.

“Oh Feather!” Stern says cheerfully as she slaps his back with a wing. “Don't ever change.”

“That's such useful magic! I'm so jealous!” Derpy says with a bright smile that belies her own words.

“Well, for as long as I am around, it's a resource the rest of you can continually avail yourselves too,” Doctor Kelly offers. “I find they help me think so I suck on these often.

“And speaking of magic,” Doctor Kelly then looks at Feather Wind as the stem of the lollipop in her mouth switches from the right to the left side of her mouth. “The Doctor told me that you were trying to attune yourself to some kind of magical crystal? Is that true?”

“Indeed,” Feather Wind confirms as the expression on his face returns to normal. “And I take it he brought that point up to you because your kind uses some kind of gems a lot for your magic? I noticed that several times during our visit to your world.”

“Yeah! I noticed that too,” Stern Wing concurs. “What's up with that? That is a very unusual method of spellcasting. I'm especially surprised that the actual color of your horn magic changes depending on which gem you are channeling.”

“From my perspective, it is your method of spellcasting that is far from the mundane,” Doctor Kelly says to Feather Wind. “Except for the fact that I've studied history far more than the average mare in my world. Based on that, I learned that the method of spellcasting for our kind, particularly while we were still in our original home of Equestria, was exactly like yours. Back then, most of our kind could use certain kinds of magic commonly, especially telekinesis and light, but anything beyond that was increasingly more uncommon because it required years of arcane study. Compared to that, our method of spellcasting is much more streamlined, easier, and vastly more common.

“However, the more advanced the spell, the higher quality gem it must be infused in. Not only is that increasingly rare, but it is more and more difficult to attune to and cast.”

“Do you always need those gems to cast spells?” Derpy asked with a confused blink and an adorable tilt of her head.

“Yes,” Doctor Kelly answers. “Even for very basic spells like telekinesis or computer interface control. As for the energy for the spell, it can be supplied by some of our techs, or it can be supplied by us directly. If we use the latter, our magic tends to quickly regenerate unless we cast a very advanced and high-level spell that we're not accustomed to casting. In that case, it might knock us unconscious whether we succeed or fail at the spell.”

“Um . . . well, in any case, you can teach me how to attune myself to a magic gem?” Feather Wind asks hopefully. “I've had guidance on that subject from one other. This mentor happens to be the spirit who is actually within the gem itself. He advised patience and diligence after he gave me a few pointers, but I wouldn't mind guidance for me out here in the real world too. You might even teach me a method that never even occurred to him, in which case he might be curious about your methods as well. Knowing him and his interests, that is most likely the case.”

“I would actually like to see him sometime,” Doctor Kelly expresses with interest. “A chance to meet an ancient wizard who actually specializes in crystal magic sounds really enticing. Something tells me his expertise in science might be quite different from ours, for ours relies heavily on our technology as a crutch. With it, though, we've taken our civilization quite far.”

“Then I'll try to arrange a meeting if I can,” Feather offers. “But he claims only members of his family, my family, can attune themselves to this crystal.”

“If that's true, I'd like a chance to at least scan the crystal,” Doctor Kelly counter proposes. “Every magic gem has its own resonance frequency. I've got equipment to help me scan for that. Armed with that knowledge, it can help a pony properly attune to each crystal. I'll master this yet, and I'll do it with science!”

“That sounds very interesting. Thank you. I can use all the help I can get,” Feather Wind says to Doctor Kelly gratefully.

“That crystal isn't the only thing aboard this ship I want to take a look at,” Doctor Kelly brings up. “I could use a tour of this ship and I need to be assigned a room of some kind. Preferably one that might also double up as a medical office.” Doctor Kelly floats her partially dissolved lollipop out of her mouth and then uses it to sweep a point across all the ponies gathered here. “The Doctor asked me to take care of all the rest of you. For me, the best method of doing that is, again, with science. I already have some medical records of you all from when you were scanned back in my world. I'd like to keep that updated. Specifically, what that means is, from now on, I'd like to give each and every one of you another quick medical scan before we depart on each new place we visit. I also want to scan you after we're done visiting each place to make sure you don't bring anything unwelcome aboard this ship.”

Stern Wing smiles as she says, “I'm glad you said that! The Doctor has medical knowledge as well but he's been far more reckless with his health and ours lately. In contrast to that, I'm glad to see somepony aboard this ship who finally takes our health seriously. In that regard, you're kind of like me, except instead of being a stickler for security, your passion is medical science.”

Stern Wing turns her body to the side to display her cutie mark on her left flank. When she does, she says, “As you can see, I got a cutie mark of a winged shield with a heart in the center. This represents my passion and talent for caring about matters of security. I like to keep others safe and I will go to any lengths necessary to defend others who are helpless.”

Feather Wind brightens as he says, “Ooo! Speaking of cutie marks, what is yours, if you don't mind sharing? I'm quite curious what my kind from another world might have, but so far you kept yours concealed beneath a white lab coat, or do you have one at all?”

Doctor Kelly floats her lollipop back into her mouth, sucks on it for a few seconds in silence, then says, “I've read about cutie marks on our original home planet, but my kind does not get cutie marks, nor do the pegasi, nor do the earth ponies on the ocean planet that ours orbits.”

“Really? That's a bit surprising,” replies Feather Wind. “Now don't get me wrong. On the ocean planet that your world orbits, that kind of makes sense because magic there was thinner, yet oddly enough the rate of my magic recovery wasn't affected.

“However, in your case,” he says as he floats his own lollipop out of his mouth and briefly uses it to point at Doctor Kelly, “you come from a world that is very thick of magic. In fact, it is considerably more so than even our own native world.” He snaps the lollipop back into his mouth then looks corner-wise up with a slight squint to his face as he says, “Although, in the case of your world, the magic there was generated artificially.” He looks back at Doctor Kelly. “Perhaps those conditions aren't conducive to cutie mark awakenings even if the magic in your home world is thicker.”

“Or it could be cultural awareness, or lack thereof,” Vision proposes which draws the interested attention of the rest of her companions back to her. She doesn't see that, but she senses that. Because of the curious sensations she feels aimed at her, she elaborates, “Think about it. What if all of you were born in a world that never told you that you could have a cutie mark awakening? What if no pony in your world ever had such a thing as far as they know? In that case, it might make it much harder to have such an inner personal discovery even if you're otherwise physically capable of it. The perception of the society we're raised in can easily shape our own individual strengths and limitations.”

“She might be right,” Derpy agrees with a blink. “I think she has a good point.” Derpy looks back at Vision with both eyes but the left lazily drifts away. “Gosh, Vision, you're such a wise little filly! I'm so proud!”

“Well, I know enough about cutie marks to understand their cultural significance in our distant past,” Doctor Kelly brings up. “Which also means understanding that can help me understand the pony who is wearing it. Since I also have a degree in psychology and can assist you all as a therapist as well, then that is yet another service I'll not only make available to you all, but highly recommend you visit me at least once a week. I'd at least like to establish a baseline for you all so that I can later tell when you start to stray from it. That will also help me to optimize your mental health, for that can be every bit as critical as your physical health.

“Furthermore, in addition to regular checkups once a week, I'll try to make myself available to you all if you return from a particularly traumatic mission. If that happens, steps should be taken to help restore then later re-optimize your mental health.”

“I'm so glad we added you to our team!” Stern Wing beams. “For I'd very much like to keep all of us hale and healthy as much as possible both physically and mentally, for a tip in either or both categories is a security risk. I'd like to keep us on in tip-top shape as much as ponyly possible.”

“Then I'm glad we're on the same page,” Doctor Kelly says with a grateful grin.

“In that regard, me and Stern were given a medical checkup by a holographic doctor in your home world,” Feather Wind reminds. “Are you sure you have that data?”

“Even if I don't, I can just scan you again with my magic,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “That won't be as simple as relying upon my droids, but I suppose I can rough it while out on this adventure. I plan on doing that regularly anyway.

“Oh! And like I said with another therapy session if you have a particularly traumatic experience, I'd like to express the same condition for another medical examination. In addition to a medical scan before and after a mission, time permitting, I might also like to make another during the mission if we go through something that causes our health to be particularly questionable.”

“Like swimming through the sewers and whatnot?” Stern Wing proposes.

“Exactly,” Doctor Kelly confirms with a nod of agreement. “Or we are roaming through an area where there are others who are sick. You know.” She shrugs. “Just use our common sense when making those judgment calls.”

“I noticed how you were the only real doctor who checked up on us when we first met,” Feather Wind brings up. “As I said, me and Stern were examined by a holographic doctor. I take it that means real doctors are more rare in your world?”

“There are several reasons why,” Doctor Kelly says. “First of all, education in my world is largely optional beyond certain basics like knowing the laws of our society, how to speak and read, and use our basic tools and resources. Beyond that, we are taught of the available options that we can learn, but it is up to us to pursue them individually if we want. No pony in my world has to work a day in their life. If they do, there is no reward for it other than the satisfaction of the work they do and sometimes other perks depending on what the job is. Given those facts, it greatly diminishes the available pool of real ponies who choose this profession or any other for that matter. As a result, we often have holographic substitutes, especially for critical and/or dangerous professions.

“Not only that, but I often found patients actually preferring my holographic peers because they are programmed to be perfect for their job which includes never tiring or complaining about it. As holograms, they are also immune to any infections that can afflict biological creatures.” She points off to her side while continuing to regard them as she says, “Those holographic peers don't need the experience to be nearly perfect for their job either. They are always instantly available on demand and they never needed the education that real doctors go through. Instead, they are just uploaded with all the information medical science has ever uncovered. They just instantly 'know' all of that so they tend to be far better at their job. Even if they encounter a totally new disease or virus, they can diagnose then treat it better than almost any mortal pony.

“And, although they already come equipped with so much knowledge that they don't need experience, they get more experience anyway because every single one of them is adding to the same database. Whatever any one of them knows, they all know, including new knowledge that they encounter.

“On top of all that, they are customizable to the individual patients. If the patient does not like the clothes the doctor is wearing or the hide color, or species, or gender, or voice, or inflection, and basically almost anything else, then the patient can change those settings and they can save them so that the customized doctor of their preference is the one that keeps visiting them each time. With that much empowerment on the side of the patients, it's not a wonder why they tend to prefer my holographic colleagues.

“The only ponies who tend to choose me, or others like me, is because they want somepony more real. Somepony they can make a greater emotional connection with and can be more certain to care for them in return. For some, that is enough to make them accept a version of a doctor with less training, experience, education, and lack of customization.

“I've noticed that it is my psychology training that tends to be the highest in demand. When it comes to their physical health, most ponies tend to prefer as close to true perfection as our society can muster, and only the holo doctors can provide that. Add to that, the holo doctors tend to be efficient and quick. The patient just goes in and out of the hospital all better in no time.

“However, when it comes to therapy, some prefer a true emotional rapport with their healers because it is an especially emotionally vulnerable time for them, and something just doesn't feel right about a holo doctor who simply hasn't ever experienced such hardships themselves. They can understand their patients from a scientific perspective and that can be good enough to treat some of the patients, but they cannot truly identify with their patients and vice versa. How can any of us identify with true perfection? The holo doctors don't have true emotion either. That matters to some ponies.”

“Well, speaking for myself, I can confidently say I fall into the latter category,” Feather Wind brings up. “If I'm going to be treated during my most vulnerable moments, then I want it to be by a pony who truly does have my best interests at heart, including from an emotional perspective. To the holo doctors, I'm just a 'thing' to be treated swiftly, but to a true healer . . . I am a friend that they genuinely care about. As such, they are more likely to go above and beyond the call of duty if that's what it takes to help me. As such, I trust the latter category far more.”

“Agreed,” concurs Stern Wing.

“You said it,” Derpy also agrees.

“Well I'm glad we're in agreement that I can be useful to you all,” Doctor Kelly says. “Now then, how about somepony prove their usefulness to me by showing me around the ship?”

Part 3: Getting Settled

“What?” Derpy asks, perplexed, during the middle of giving a tour of the ship to Doctor Kelly. Early on in that journey, within the first hallway of it, the TARDIS crew already encounters an anomaly, and that is a new room that wasn't there before.

“It's a door,” Doctor Kelly answers while giving those around her a confused blink. “You all still use those, right?” She straightens herself. “Although I'll admit, in my world, 'doors' are merely unnecessary aesthetics. A symbol of an outdated design when we live in a synthetic world that can be customized at any moment. Furthermore we typically-”

Stern Wing interrupts by raising a hoof as a signal for Doctor Kelly to silence herself. When she does as she listens to Stern Wing instead, the large brown mare explains, “Yes, but this door wasn't here before. It's new.”

“Oh!” Doctor Kelly replies with a surprised blink. “Really? Are you sure that this environment isn't synthetic too?”

With a glance at the others here, Feather Wind is the first to answer by saying, “I think we're beginning to wonder that too.”

“I told you all a while ago that the TARDIS is its own internal dimension,” Vision reminds, although this is the first time Doctor Kelly is hearing of it. “And it is governed by a sentient entity that exists beyond the bounds of space/time. As such, she was aware that you would arrive among us before you even decided to join us.” Vision attempted to point to Doctor Kelly when Vision said the word “you”, but ends up pointing between Doctor Kelly and Derpy instead. Nevertheless, the ponies around Vision are aware of what she meant from context clues alone. When Vision lowers her hoof, she adds, “I think this is the Heart of the TARDIS's way to tell you, 'Welcome home'.”

“Then what you mean to say is, this is my room,” Doctor Kelly realizes.

“And it also means we should be alert for future changes,” Stern Wing says cautiously as she lifts an eyebrow. “I was actually considering patrolling this place and draw a map for the benefit of newcomers as a precaution, but that is beginning to seem pointless if this place can change itself.”

Derpy giggles sweetly before saying, “I guess it's never a dull day in the TARDIS. Even in here we can have an adventure.”

“I still think we're generally safer in here than whatever exists outside the TARDIS itself,” says Feather.

“Being lost can be a form of danger,” Stern Wing argues. “One I had hoped to minimize, but now I'm beginning to wonder.”

“This change was evoked because of the new crew member who joined us,” Vision reminds. “We can probably expect further changes based on similar circumstances. I make no promises, but that might generally be a safe rule of hoof.”

“Well,” Feather Wind says with a blink, “we can continue standing here and blink at this new door like a bunch of idiots, or we can venture inside and get some of our answers.” He looks at Doctor Kelly as he goes on to say, “Since it seems likely that this new room is for you, perhaps it is best that you give us a tour of it.” After he says that, he uses his wind magic to deliver a whispered message to Stern Wing which asks her, “How much do you want to bet that this new room is going to be a blank white room with holographic projection nodes?”

That question causes Stern Wing to crack up for a few seconds before she turns her head about to nod and wink at Feather Wind in agreement.

“Don't mind if I do,” Doctor Kelly agrees as she channels her magic through one of the gems she is wearing which causes her horn to glow orange. This she uses to turn the doorknob to the new mysterious room. Once it is open, she trots inside. The others shortly follow, but Derpy lingers behind to carefully guide Vision through the threshold just to make sure the little filly doesn't accidentally bump into the wall instead. After all, this room is new, so Derpy is being extra careful that the beloved little filly doesn't hurt herself in the attempt to follow them.

Sure enough, as predicted, what exists in the new room is blank white walls, floor, and ceiling with a bunch of pyramid-shaped projection nodes all over the place, but they appear to be under an invisible floor they trot upon. Together, all of the projection nodes make a very fixed, grid-like pattern in this room.

What does surprise Feather, and everyone else for that matter, is the sheer enormity of the room, for they really can't see the opposite side of the wall ahead of them. It seems like the other side of this room stretches on to infinity.

“Oh wow!” Derpy gasps as her flank plops down to the ground, now officially too stunned to stand up straight. “I guess somepony around here is getting preferential treatment. This room is even bigger than the Doctor's!”

“Okay, this is the last time I'm going to be surprised how much the TARDIS can make itself bigger on the inside,” Feather Wind decides. “Maybe this room really does stretch on into infinity. At this point, I'm not wiping anything off the table anymore.”

“Well . . . this room could certainly use a mare's touch when it comes to decorations and furniture,” Stern Wing criticizes. “But then again, I know what those projection nodes can do. That said,” she looks at Doctor Kelly, “I assume that means anything created in here can't actually leave this room?”

“Unless projection nodes exist out there as well, then you are right,” Doctor Kelly answers. “That or one of us carries a portable projection node outside of this room, and it has to be a real one.”

Doctor Kelly smiles when she beholds all of this. In satisfaction, she turns to the others as she says, “This is perfect because this means that this room can serve other purposes besides being my own personal living space. It can also serve as a hospital, clinic, therapist room, gym, and training room for all sorts of scenarios that we can imagine. Plus, since it is so big, we can compartmentalize each section for various purposes without disturbing our neighbors.”

“You really think it is safe for us to wander about a potentially infinite size room?” Stern Wing asks cautiously.

“That's just its potential,” Doctor Kelly says with a glance around the room. “How we choose to utilize it is the more important thing. What it does and how it looks depends upon the functionality we assign to it.” She looks back at Stern Wing. “So we'd only be lost in here if we actually want to be lost.”

“Hey, everypony . . . what's that?” Derpy asks as she curiously tilts her head while staring in a certain direction. When the others attempt to follow her gaze (with the obvious exception of Vision), they eventually spot one detail about this environment that is different from the rest. Due to the distance, it didn't stand out before, but after they spot it, they primarily notice it because every other direction is so uniform. The contrast helps it to stand out despite the distance.

“Let's find out,” Feather Wind suggests as he begins to approach it. The others shortly follow after him. Once again, Derpy lingers behind to guide Vision along by gently applying a gray wing across Vision's back.

“Wow! It kind of does feel like we're really going on an adventure!” Derpy cheers at first then mopes as she adds, “I just wish the Doctor could join us too.”

“Wait a second! Hold on. Everypony stop!” Doctor Kelly instructs. When they do, they look at her (if able). Once she has their attention, she says, “There might be a smarter way to hoofle this. Let me try something by interfacing with the computer here. Give me a moment.”

Doctor Kelly closes her eyes. Magic glows from her horn. This time it is a golden/brown color. Moments later, the mysterious objects ahead of them seems to come to them.

“What happened?” Derpy asks with a confused blink.

“It seems it worked,” Doctor Kelly says in satisfaction. “I can interface with a computer generating this environment. Using that, I simply collapsed the distance between us and . . . Well. Lookie what we have here?”

“Spherical mirror balls?” Feather observes questioningly.

“Not just that. These are droids,” Doctor Kelly explains. “In other words, artificial life forms. They are sentient tools that are designed for various purposes. I have things like that back at the hospital I work at, except they are actually holograms of droids. That's why I didn't bring them with me here. Besides, they belong to the hospital anyway.”

Doctor Kelly approaches and examines the pair of silvery spheres.

“But I get the feeling that these two are real, despite being presented to us in a holographic projection room,” Doctor Kelly declares. “Hold on. Let me examine the specs of these two.”

Doctor Kelly's horn glows golden/brown again. A gem of the same color glowed on her lab coat at the same time. A faint magical line can also be seen tracing up from the gem to as close as it can to her horn as her coat can permit. During this time, a holographic window opens up in front of her. Doctor Kelly reads it fast. Moments later, she conjures a floating spherical ball made of force but with a wedge cut out of it where she can sit. She sits down upon it. When she does, it floats her about fourteen feet above the others. More holographic windows spread three-hundred and sixty degrees all around her as well as above and below her. Altogether, she now looks like she's in an invisible column that is only visible because of the many holographic windows that now surround her. Her eyes are quickly darting around her to the various other windows. Sometimes she spins about in her spherical chair to accommodate her to look in those various directions.

“Now there is something you don't see every day,” Stern Wing says with a confused blink.

“What are you talking about? It 'looks' the same to me,” comes Vision's rather rare snarky reply.

“Oh ha-ha,” snips Stern Wing back to Vision.

“Interesting,” says Doctor Kelly as she leans back in her seat while collecting her forehooves just below the edge of her muzzle. The lollipop she is still sucking on switches sides in her mouth during this time. “It seems I was a bit mistaken. These two droids are not only real, but they are, in fact, more advanced models than I have ever worked with before.”

Doctor Kelly's right eye looks down at the pair of droids off the right rim of her eye. When she does that, the pair of silvery spheres float off the pedestals that they were originally on. When that happens, the pedestals fade away and therefore confirm that at least the pedestals themselves were holographic. The pair of droids float up to the level Doctor Kelly is on then spiral around her. Both of them split apart which reveals what sort of looks like a kind of camera in the center, except it is more like a projection node. They create various other tools on top of that camera-looking thing. Doctor Kelly examines this for a few seconds then goes back to reading the myriad holographic windows spread around her.

“Isn't that dizzying?” Feather Wind asks up to Doctor Kelly.

“Hmm?” Doctor Kelly looks down at Feather Wind. “What do you mean?”

“All of those holographic windows around you with that dizzying amount of information,” Feather replies. “Doesn't it overwhelm you?”

“Oh no,” Doctor Kelly assures as she goes back to her eyes darting among various windows. “This doesn't overwhelm me at all because this is what the inside of my own mind looks like all the time.”

“Well, I am getting dizzy just looking at all that,” declares Derpy as her eyes and head swirl. “Whoa! I'm soooooo dizzy!”

“Then you should sit down before you fall again,” Stern Wing advises cautiously.

“Don't mind if I do,” Derpy agrees as she proceeds to do so.

When she sits down, Feather Wind's look transfers from Derpy to up to Doctor Kelly. Feeling curious, his horn glows silver as he lightly envelops his body with a silvery aura while also lightening his own body weight simultaneously. As a result, he requires very little magical strength to float himself up to near Doctor Kelly. From there, he tries to read what he can on some of the various holographic windows surrounding Doctor Kelly, but from his perspective, the ones closest to him appear backwards. From there, he just floats there shyly. He does not want to float within her invisible column until she invites him first.

“Can you actually read any of this?” Doctor Kelly asks with curious skepticism as her eyes focus on the small, floating sky-blue mage.

“It's hard to tell from my perspective,” Feather Wind notes which is as close as he's come to asking permission to enter her column so far.

Lucky for him, it works in this case.

“Then come inside and take a look,” Doctor Kelly invites.

“As you wish,” Feather Wind complies as he floats within the spinning column of holographic windows.

“Want me to create you a seat?” Doctor Kelly offers.

“No thanks. I can create my own,” Feather Wind replies as he creates a small real cloud right next to Doctor Kelly by condensing the moisture in the air to one spot. Once that is done, he gently floats down to rest on top of it. On the cloud, he sits on his flank while his forehooves rest straight between his hind hooves. From there, Feather Wind attempts to read the information on some of the window screens.

“I thought only pegasi could sit and walk on clouds,” Doctor Kelly notes curiously. “That's how it is with my kind if the clouds are real. I read it was that way back in our original home world too.”

“That's usually true, but I'm a special exception,” Feather Wind says while he continues trying to read some of the information displayed off the various holographic windows. “I share a unusually intense connection with the wind and sky. As a result, not only can I sit and lay on top of them, but I can create and/or dissipate them as well as I just demonstrated.”

“I see.” Doctor Kelly looks forward while a new holographic window just opens up. Unlike the others, this one floats a bit closer. On it, it displays only one image, and that is a picture of a white feather being gently blown by a magical breeze, as evidenced by the magical sparkles that linger within the wind.

“So this is your cutie mark,” Doctor Kelly notes with interest. “This image not only represents your magical talent, but essentially also symbolically represents who you are as an individual pony.”

“This is so,” Feather Wind agrees with a soft voice. He nods to the window displaying the image of his cutie mark as he adds, “I even changed my name the day I discovered my mark. Before that, I used to be known as Quill Scroll of the esteemed Scroll family.”

“Wow.” Doctor Kelly props her head up on a hoof. The elbow of which now rests on a row of hemispheres, the flat end facing up to make a makeshift armrest. She does this as she continues to regard her elevated companion with interest. She even says, “You're going to make a very interesting companion.”

Feather Wind grins a little as he continues scanning among the various images. He says, “Funny. The Doctor said the same thing. Almost word for word.”

“Anyway,” Doctor Kelly's face continues to face toward Feather Wind but her eyes shift to her left to return her attention to the window displaying his cutie mark as she asks, “can you actually read any of these?”

“Somewhat,” Feather Wind answers. “But I sense there is more than meets the eye here. I'm feeling very distinct magical patterns from these windows. It's like there is a second layer to the messages here. A message that is buried within the magical pattern itself.” He regards Doctor Kelly curiously as he asks, “Is this so? Did the Magi create a language out of the energy patterns of magic itself?”

“Honestly, yes, but I'm very surprised that an outsider, like you, has even noticed that at all,” Doctor Kelly says with a very impressed tone. Her eyes shift back to him to stare at him beyond the upper rim of her own holographic glasses. “You are a very impressive specimen, Feather Wind. I look forward to diagnosing you further.”

“Uh . . . thank you?” Feather Wind asks while giving her a mildly disturbed look. He is pushed further from his comfort level by the look of an excited wicked gleam in her eyes.

“Very impressive indeed,” Doctor Kelly reiterates. “And don't worry. It won't hurt.”

“You wanted to study the rest of us too, didn't you?” Feather Wind reminds in an effort to deflect the subject off of him exclusively.

“But of course,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “I want a detailed physical and psychological profile of you all so that I can render better assistance later.”

“Hey, um, Doctor Kelly, I have a question for you,” Stern Wing calls up to the still floating doctor between the spiral of holographic windows.

“Yes?” Doctor Kelly responds down to Stern Wing.

Once Stern Wing notes that she has the floating doctor's attention, Stern Wing uses a wing to gesture at their surroundings as she says, “This is how this room looks like by default when we all came in here. It seems to me you already started influencing this, but so far the only changes you made were to shorten the distance between us and those floating droids then create that seat and all of those windows. My question for you is this.” Stern Wing focuses on the doctor. “Do you plan on creating something more elaborate here than all of this plain white?”

“Does this disturb you?” Doctor Kelly checks with Stern Wing.

“Only a little,” Stern Wing answers. “To me, this is a blank canvas. It's like unfulfilled potential.” She tilts her head. “And yet, the hospital we were delivered to was kind of like this as well. Just this white and very sparsely decorated waiting room. I find it strange that a society that can create any image they want tends to settle for simple patterns like this.”

Doctor Kelly's eyes dart about as she says, “The exact decor of each place in my world tends to be whatever purpose that place is designed for. If it is a park, you'll tend to see lots of green grass, plenty of flowers, and open skies. Individual homes tend to be highly distinctive. It might not even appear to be a traditional home at all. For some, it might be just a glowing sleeping bag hovering a foot off the ground, and up above is what looks like an open, starry night sky.” She looks back at Stern Wing. “By default, however, most places in my world tend to start like this. Just this white, blank, and empty room waiting to be customized however each individual pony wishes. Because that is the default, many of my kind got used to it, especially in public places.” Her eyes dart about again. “I actually prefer this aesthetic in my personal home beyond specific furniture and decorations I added. To me, a white room is calming. It's easier for me to concentrate in such environments.”

“I can understand that,” Feather Wind partially agrees. “For me, I tend to prefer a dark room when I concentrate on my studies which I keep lit with a soft candlelight. It helps me to avoid distractions. However, I have also practiced concentrating on my studies, or my spells, during busy and noisy environments on purpose for training reasons. That is so irritating to me, but because of it, it helped to strengthen my concentration. That's actually standard practice for students of a certain year who train in my father's prestigious magic academy.”

“Yeah,” Derpy says with a smile. “I remember when I trotted into your room during one of your studies. You did do it in a dark room even though you could have used a light switch in there.”

“To each, their own,” Feather says down to Derpy.

“I think we should all leave and let our new friend settle in,” Stern Wing decides.

“Wait! Weren't we just giving her a tour of the TARDIS?” Derpy reminds as she looks back up at Stern Wing with one eye.

“Something tells me her focus is on other priorities at the moment,” Stern Wing observes. “If she wishes, we can conclude the tour later.” She looks back at the exit. “For that matter, maybe I should patrol the TARDIS again. See what else might have changed.”

“Um . . . okay,” Derpy says with uncertainty as she stands back up. “That okay with you, Doc?”

Doctor Kelly does not answer. She is too distracted reading the various windows that spiral around her.

“Believe it or not, that's your answer,” Vision informs. “I think Stern Wing has the right of it. We should go.”

“Will you please stop sounding so mature all the time?” Derpy lightly, but also playfully and proudly, complains to Vision. “You're a foal. You should act your age once in a while by doing . . . well . . . I don't know. Something silly. Be a silly filly.”

“One of these days, I'll likely surprise you,” Vision predicts. “In the meantime.” She gestures back to where they came from.

“Let's go,” Stern Wing decides then calls up to her stallion friend, “You okay up there?”

“I'll probably join you shortly,” Feather tells Stern. “If you're out on patrol and get lost in the TARDIS because something else did indeed change, I'll send a wind message to you in order to help pinpoint your location.”

“Sounds good,” Stern Wing agrees. Then, with a gesture with both of her wings, she gestures towards the exit and then begins trotting in that direction. Vision and Derpy soon follow.

Part 4: Memories of a Crystal Kingdom

“And there we have it,” Doctor Kelly declares as she beholds a holographic screen displaying the information they just scanned for. “The resonance frequency of your so-called Red Crystal.”

“Which tells us what, exactly?” Feather Wind asks her. “I'm sorry, but I'm not so accustomed to this kind of information.”

Doctor Kelly uses her magic to float the Red Crystal itself closer to her hooves as she continues to sit on her floating, spherical chair and suck on her lollipop. More information scrolls on the inside of her holographic lenses while she stares down at the Red Crystal.

“Why, this information tells us no less than the magical frequency of this crystal itself,” Doctor Kelly explains. “Every magical object has one. That is what makes it magical. If it is magical, then it'll have energy radiating off of it that has a specific frequency. Understanding that is tantamount to understanding our D-N-A codes.”

“So the basic genetic codes that make up our bodies,” Feather Wind rephrases.

“You heard of that?” Doctor Kelly remarks in surprise with a lift of her left eyebrow as she eyes Feather Wind with interest. “That doesn't seem like the kind of knowledge that would be common in your time.”

“It isn't common,” Feather Wind confirms. “I just happen to be a member of the Scroll family who are scholars among the social elite of Canterlot, so we not only have access to some of the greatest repositories of knowledge in our world, but I also happen to like reading in general.” He shrugs. “Runs in the family, I guess. The Scroll family have the sacred duty to preserve knowledge for pony kind. In order to do that, we must preserve a healthy respect for it, too.” He nods. “Knowledge is power, and my family knows that well and takes that seriously.

“I write too, by the way. Mostly personal journals and poems.”

“Wonderful! I'd like to read some of your work someday,” Doctor Kelly cheers. “In doing so, I can get a basic psyche evaluation of ponies of your social class from your native world and time.”

Feather Wind briefly closes his eyes as he nods while saying, “With pleasure.” He opens his eyes and returns his gaze to Doctor Kelly. “In the meantime, how does knowing the energy signature of this crystal help us to attune to it?”

“It's sort of like finding the keyhole to a door,” Doctor Kelly says as she looks back at the tri-tip Red Crystal between her hooves. “That kind of information allows us to proceed far more efficiently. The next step is communicating to the crystal using the resonance frequency that we just identified. That would be like creating the key necessary for this keyhole and then inserting it. My kind, the Magi, are experts at this. Learning to detect and project resonant magical frequencies is so refined for our kind that we have learned to use it as another type of reading and speaking language. Some of our kind call it, 'Magic Tongue'.”

“Fascinating!” Feather Wind commends with delight. “Do you think you can teach me this Magic Tongue?”

“That depends on how well you can sense and project magical energies,” Doctor Kelly answers. “The ability to detect magical energies is equivalent to being able to hear this language. The ability to project very fine and detailed types of magical frequencies is equivalent to learning how to vocalize this language. It's second nature to us Magi, but it may also be an evolutionary skill. My guess is you technically can learn this language, but it would be much harder for you and you'll never be as good at it as an average Magi.” She lowers the crystal to her lap as she gives Feather Wind a frank look. “But even if you do master this language, it would do you no good other than to speak to others who know this language.” She blinks as she realizes something. “Oh! And learning this language would help to train you to identify other magical frequencies in detail. That, in turn, could teach you more about it. Knowledge like that could even tip you off if the magical energy you detect indicates the presence of danger or not, like sensing and properly identifying a magical trap. Normally a magical trap is meant to be hidden, but if you speak the right language, you'd realize that a certain magical signature is publicly telling you, 'I am a magical trap. If you pass within six feet of my magical glyph, I will drop a fireball down on top of you and anypony else nearby you.'”

“That could be very useful to know,” Feather Wind affirms. “I assume sensing and speaking this magical language is significantly more possible for a unicorn like myself, and especially one who is a trained wizard. In that case, if I can refine my skills to be even more useful for my friends, then I'm all for it. It'll be another way for me to contribute to the health and safety of the party.

“Add to that, gathering information would always be useful. Even if it's not a dangerous trap, like the glyph you previously mentioned would spring healing energy instead of a fireball, that's still useful to know, especially if there are other limitations we should be aware of like this 'trap' can only spring on this spot once a day. Knowing that, we might try to mark the location it is at and save it until it would be most useful to us, or sell this information to anypony else we might encounter who are friendly to us.

“Knowledge is power, like I said, and my family has always considered that sacred. Accordingly, I would be very much honored if you would teach me.”

“Spoken like a true wizardly scholar. You are, indeed, a very interesting companion, Feather Wind,” Doctor Kelly commends. “As such, you convinced me. Time permitting, I'll teach you what I know. I bow to your logic as well, for I am among those 'friends' that you spoke of. Learning how to protect me better can only serve to my benefit in the long gallop.”

“To the benefit of us all,” Feather Wind refines.

“Indeed.” Doctor Kelly looks at then lifts the Red Crystal again. “In the meantime, I'll put my focus on this new project. Give me a moment while I project the kind of frequency this crystal is emanating. In doing so, it'll be my way of saying 'hello'. Once I establish more of a rapport with it, I can consider myself officially attuned to this magic crystal.”

“Alright,” Feather Wind accepts then falls silent.

Doctor Kelly then gives the Crystal a focused stare as she projects the kind of energy that this Crystal is radiating. However, after a few seconds, a potential problem occurs to Feather Wind. In alarm, he widens his eyes and then opens his mouth to warn his companion of something, but it is too late. The Red Crystal flashes as it absorbs her mind.

“Oh my! This is . . . unexpected,” Doctor Kelly remarks as she beholds her new environment. She spins about as she takes in her surroundings. In doing so, she notices that she seems to be in an entire city that is apparently made of crystal, but seemingly different types of crystal as well. That accounts for each color she is observing.

The city also appears to be nighttime, yet there is a curious light that permeates the area at the same time. Not only is there a swirl of rainbow colors above her, but every crystalline structure all around her, which is pretty much everything (including the ground she's on), seems to absorb some of the light projected above and reflect it back, albeit more dimly.

Doctor Kelly's mind goes numb for a brief moment because she isn't certain how to process all this.

Fortunately for her, a guide soon appears.

“Doctor Kelly! Are you okay?!” Feather Wind cries out in alarm as he suddenly appears out of thin air.

“Where, um . . . where exactly are we now?” Doctor Kelly asks in stunned surprise.

“We're inside the crystal,” Feather Wind explains as he gently floats down to the ground as if he has the weight of a feather. “Or, at least, our minds are. Our bodies are still in your room in the TARDIS.”

“It absorbed our minds? Really?” Doctor Kelly asks Feather Wind in fascinated surprise. Magi gems where she comes from usually don't do this.

“I'm so sorry I didn't warn you before you attempted to attune to this crystal,” Feather apologizes. “By the time I recalled it can do this, it was already too late. To be fair, though, I wasn't certain it could do that to you as well. The first time I came here, the one resident spirit who dwells here said that only members of his family can enter this place. That happened to me the first time I touched this Crystal. At the time, I was in a frozen lake and drowning.”

“Oh.” Doctor Kelly blinks in surprise. “My-my. That wasn't ideal.”

“Fortunately for me, time is relative here,” Feather explains as he examines his surroundings as well. “Relative and customizable. Time can run as slowly or as fast as we want to in here relative to the time flow outside of this crystal.”

“I see,” Doctor Kelly says with a fascinated blink as she resumes her visual scan of their surroundings.

“Something else you should know is that, while in here, we are just a mental construct,” Feather explains. “That means we didn't enter with our corporeal bodies, nor are we limited to our physical constraints thereof. For example . . .”

For the next several seconds, Feather Wind keeps teleporting about her. Sometimes he appears in mid-air and hovers there for a second. He ends this demonstration by teleporting in front of her, except he was in her form for two seconds before shifting back into his own.

“See?” Feather Wind asks. “Since only our minds are in here and not our bodies then we can do whatever we can imagine while in here, but only within this place.” He gestures about. “Similarly, the rest of this environment is made of the same stuff. None of this is real and can be changed on a whim, but it is based on a memory of a place that once actually existed in our world.”

“Okay,” Doctor Kelly says with a nod of acceptance. “I can hoofle those facts. After all, that's not too dissimilar to the holograms we can project on my home world.” She focuses on Feather Wind. “But there are several things you said that have claimed my curiosity. For starters, you said that the appearance of this place is based on the memory of a place that once actually existed?”

“Correct,” Feather confirms.

“Then what is the name of this place? Is this from your home world? And why does it exist no longer?”

Feather Wind sighs as he looks about then gestures about them as he introduces, “Behold the memory of the Crystal Empire of the Frozen North on Equestria which is on my home planet, or at least this is how it used to look about nine centuries before I was born. Currently, or at least in my time, the city is no longer there, nor would any pony find a trace of it anymore. According to the one spirit who dwells in this place, the true Crystal Empire is trapped in limbo because of a spiteful curse and last resort of his dark counterpart who once ruled this beautiful city with a cruel iron hoof.”

Doctor Kelly lifts a hoof as she requests, “Whoa. Wait a minute. Slow down here. You should probably trot me through this from the beginning. After that, I request you to take me to the one spirit who dwells in this beautiful yet obviously forlorn place.”

Feather Wind nods in agreement and then proceeds to explain to her how a dark magic infused crystal, which was discovered in the fringes of the Crystal Empire, cursed a pony named Sombra which later divided him into two. The good half lost the battle between them and then encased the last of his essence in this crystal while his evil clone, now in possession of his original body, terrorized and laid claim to this city and thus ousting the original benevolent queen. He also explained how his family, the Scroll family, are among the decedents of Sombra's bloodline.

After that explanation, he teleports them both to the guardian and lone resident spirit within this crystal.

The next location they appear in is a crystalline cave. Both of them are immediately taken aback by how beautiful this cave is. Swirls of color dance, reflect, and refract within this cave.

Ahead of them, they see a lone stallion floating above the ground with forehooves outstretched to his side. A stallion who has a gray hide, black mane and tail, and has a cutie mark of a tri-tip red crystal. As he floats there, his horn glows crimson. The only article of clothing he is a wearing a long scarlet scarf.

Floating in the air along with him is nine other crystals that surround him in a circle. The colors of those crystals are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, purple, golden, and finally radiant white. Each of those crystals are emitting a harmonic note of a song at a certain frequency range. They are singing together at the moment Feather Wind and Doctor Kelly appear, but their song fluctuates as it continues. Sometimes certain crystals almost go silent while still others pick up in volume, but none of them ever hum solo that Feather or Kelly notices after they appear.

Both visitors do not know what is going on, but they deduce some kind of magic ritual is being performed before them. As such, they politely hold their silence until whatever this is is done.

It takes a while for this to conclude, during which time they are both subjected to hauntingly beautiful and very otherworldly music. When it finally concludes, each of the nine crystals gently floats down and spread out. They seem to merge with the walls around them. The gray stallion, too, also gently floats down in the center of all this.

“Thank you both for not interrupting,” the gray stallion says as he rises from his trance. “Now then,” he turns his head about to look back at them. In doing so, they can both see his crimson eyes and black sideburns on his head. “What can I do for you both?” He narrows his eyes. “And we have a new visitor, I see. This is most auspicious.”

“Indeed,” Feather Wind confirms. “Allow me to introduce a new companion who recently joined us in the TARDIS, Doctor Kelly Saddler, and Doctor Kelly, I formally introduce to you the lone resident of this crystal and the true, original soul of Sombra who now calls himself Crystal Sage.”

Doctor Kelly is startled for a brief second when Crystal Sage suddenly appears in front of her and now fully facing her direction. From there, Crystal Sage gently scoops up her right hoof and kisses it before saying, “Milady, I bid you welcome.”

“Oh! Such a gentlepony,” Doctor Kelly remarks.

“I beg your pardon if you find any of this unsettling,” Crystal Sage apologizes with very refined politeness. “I wasn't expecting extra compony. Least of all from a fair maiden.” He nods at her. “Indeed, you have the honor and distinction of being the very first mare to ever grace my compony in this crystal.”

“And you seem to be a pony from a very cultured background. Nobility, perhaps?” Doctor Kelly guesses. In answer, Crystal Sage closes his eyes as he nods and bows to her. “Interesting coincidence. Both of you hail from the same family bloodline, and both of you happen to be nobility as well in your native cultures.”

“I'm sure we have other branches of our family across the centuries who hail from all trots of life,” Feather Wind surmises.

“And speaking of lineage, that should be the only reason you're able to join us here,” Crystal Sage notes.

Doctor Kelly squints one eye as she says, “Now in that regard, I can't be sure yet. It is possible, but I'll need to do a detailed analysis and comparison of Feather Wind and my DNA. There may be many centuries and entire worlds dividing us, though, so I'm not sure if I'll reach any definitive conclusion. In the meantime, I can tell you that my method of entrance may have less to do with my genetic structure and more to do with science.”

“Oh?” Crystal Sage asks with a fascinated uplift of his left eyebrow while still regarding Doctor Kelly.

“I hail from a different world but our lineage can be traced back to Equestria,” Doctor Kelly informs. “In my world, we have developed very advanced technology which is based on magic, crystals, and reversed engineered tech of the Time Lords, our would-be conquerors were it not for the Doctor's future endeavors to save us from this threat.”

Crystal Sage chuckles in amusement before he says, “Prior to my meeting with Feather Wind here and his subsequent encounter with a legendary alien simply known to us as 'The Doctor', I have not spoken the words, 'timey-wimey' before. However, ever since this encounter, those pair of words have been spoken with a noticeable degree of frequency that I personally find as amusing as I also find them disturbing.”

Both Feather Wind and Doctor Kelly both erupt into a chuckle fit for about four seconds. After that, they calm down followed by Feather Wind stating, “That seems to come with the territory and the nature of these types of adventures. As we continue our trek among the stars in a time and space machine, I'm guessing terms like that may increase in frequency.” He shrugs helplessly. “That's just the way it goes.”

“Well, in any case, how may I be of service to you two?” Crystal Sage offers again.

“Her arrival in here was just an accident,” Feather Wind explains. “She was messing around and trying to attune herself to this crystal using methods and tools more known to her kind. While doing that, I recalled, too late, how this crystal has been known to absorb minds before. Such took place before I could warn her about it. When it happened, I touched the Crystal myself to follow her down here, explain things, and if necessary, show her how to leave this place.”

“But while here, I became fascinated by at least a dozen things,” Doctor Kelly chimes in. “For starters, in a way, this is my very first glimpse into my kind's original homeworld, albeit nine centuries out of date relative to Feather's native time. Nonetheless, I felt drawn to discover more. The fact that everything in this city is made of crystal piqued my curiosity too. After all, my kind, the Magi, are quite adept at crystal magic as well, but something about this place feels a little more . . . Oh. What's the word?”

“Authentic?” Feather Wind offers.

Doctor Kelly winces as she says, “More like archaic, but in a fascinatingly beautiful way.” She applies a hoof to her chest as she goes on to say, “Unlike most of my peers, I actually enjoy studying history and other foreign cultures. The other world in our own history especially fascinated me. Understanding that may help us to understand and connect with a deeper meaning within ourselves. All of this is very different from what I am used to.” She gazes around in wonder. “And I want to learn more about it.”

“Then you have come to the right place, Milady, or at least as close as we have access to,” Crystal Sage declares politely. He tilts his head and winces slightly as he goes on to say, “One thing you said that has piqued my curiosity, too, is the further development of crystal science. Well,” he turns to his left side to display his cutie mark then uses his tail to gesture to it as he says, “As you can see and surmise by my chosen name, I have some expertise with crystal science.”

“That beautiful display with the hovering and glowing singing crystals fortifies that opinion as well,” Doctor Kelly says with deep fascination as she gazes past Crystal Sage to where he used to be. She then focuses her attention back on him as she asks, “What was the purpose of this ceremony, if I may be so bold as to ask? Forgive me for saying this, but it seems significantly less scientific than I'm accustomed to.”

Crystal Sage turns his head to look back at where he was as he says, “That is pretty hard to explain.” He looks back at her as he fully turns to face her again. “But suffice it to say that my knowledge of the depth of crystal science requires a certain degree of refinement and attunement to remain this adept. As you can see,” he waves a hoof behind him, “all crystals have their own resonance frequency and that means they each have their own soul. A different color in a rainbow or a note to a song. Joining them as they sing together helps to increase the depth of that understanding. To master the crystal is to know its essence. You have to see yourself as One with it.” He nods back to where he was. “The ceremony you saw was a way for me to expand upon that knowledge, understanding, and communion.”

“That's so fascinating because it's so different from my own culture,” Doctor Kelly says with a smile.

“How does your culture attune themselves to the crystals, if I may be so bold as to ask?” Crystal Sage reflects questioningly.

“Crystals are great repositories for data and energy storage,” Doctor Kelly begins to explain. “We simply program them with a very digital and organized system which we use to commune with them. It is highly technical and, compared to your method, far more mundane.” She looks past him. “Judging from what I have seen, your method seems far less reliable, I guess . . . because our methods rely on a tried and true system.” She looks back at him. “It's very formulaic. Once we got the formula down to a system that works, then it always works as long as we follow every step that leads to success.

“On the other hoof, your method seems far more engaging and, well . . . for a lack of a better word . . . beautiful. I have never seen anything so enchanting, and I have lived for almost three hundred years.”

“Really?!” Feather Wind gasps. “Can all of your kind get that old and/or older?”

“Actually, our physical lifespan isn't much different from yours,” Doctor Kelly explains to Feather. “Except we have a method to artificially youthen us using a regeneration pod. It is like a bed that has a case that covers us. Then, while we lie there for the next nine hours on average, the pod bathes us in energy which youthens and rejuvenates our cellular structure but also leaves our minds intact,” she says as she points at her head three times. “In fact, that is exactly what governs our maximum lifespan. Not our physical growth because we can keep on fixing that, but rather our physical brain's total capacity to acquire more information. Eventually, when we start to hit our limit, which is around four-hundred years on average, then we start to develop a series of mental problems that, collectively, we call 'Centennial Psychosis'. When that happens, we no longer qualify for another regeneration cycle.”

Doctor Kelly gazes forward at nothing as she goes on to say, “The true limit of our lifespan has more to do with the degree of knowledge we've acquired rather than our regeneration cycles. Those who have ravenously devoured as much knowledge as possible, like me, tend to live shorter lives because we're filling up our brains' total capacity faster. I probably don't have much time left accordingly, but that said, our brains' true total capacity varies from pony to pony.”

Doctor Kelly looks back at Feather as she resumes.

“On the other hoof, those who lived very simple lives and generally avoided learning as much as possible could, on average, live much longer lives as long as they maintain a certain health balance, for there is such a thing as too little knowledge as well. The brain needs some workout to function properly.”

Doctor Kelly rubs the back of her neck for a moment before dropping that hoof back to the ground and goes on to say, “One of the longest recorded ponies in our history lived for a total of seven hundred and thirty-two years. During that time, he mostly spent it just meditating. He kept things simple, avoided overstimulation, and in his twilight years he made the claim that what he lacked in worldly knowledge he more than made up for in spiritual knowledge.”

Following that statement, Doctor Kelly gives an innocent shrug as she says, “As you said before, to each, their own.

“As for you,” she continues as she looks back at Crystal Sage. “I can tell there is an air about you that marks you as far more mature than any of the ponies I recently traveled with save for the Doctor. Compared to you, me, and the Doctor, the others are downright adorable to me. They feel like foals to me and they are compared to our maturity level. Seeing them partially awakens my maternal instincts, but I restrain that with a certain degree of caution and common sense that I have gathered over these centuries.

“You, however, I can look upon more as a true equal, for you know the depths of the weight that much time can put upon an individual mind.”

“The weight of time is not always a kind thing,” Crystal Sage says wearily. “Much of that time I have spent longing for true rest from my guilt and my burdens.”

“True, but it still has matured you to a level these young ones cannot understand yet. Maybe not even ever,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “Regardless of how you feel about the time you've spent, I still think there is a lot of honor and dignity in that. You've come this far. Be proud of that.”

Crystal Sage smiles at her tiredly but softly then bows to her as he says, “Milady, thy wisdom and compassion doth serve you well. Consider this old soul flattered to be graced by thy presence.”

Part 5: Open Space

“Feather Wind? Are you out here?” calls out Vision's voice. In doing so, she rouses Feather Wind from his meditative focus. He opens his eyes as he relaxes his trance connection with the Red Crystal. As a result, the crimson glow around the Red Crystal gradually dims again as it hangs out in front of him while it floats in this zero-gravity environment. Similarly, his mane is floating about in a manner he had only encountered on one pony before, and that was Princess Celestia. As his eyes focus, he drinks in the view of the endless sea of stars alight all around him except straight down where the sidewards view of the TARDIS obstructs further star gazing in that direction. Feather then leans forward and gazes down into the sideward view inside the TARDIS and its still open doors. There he sees Vision standing at the threshold of the vehicle from the inside.

“Yes. I am out here, Vision. Watch your steh . . . Um.” Feather Wind rethinks his words. “Scratch that. Vision, I'm warning you that if you take one more step forward, you will be outside of the TARDIS and in a zero gravity zone.”

“I know. I'm aware of that,” Vision assures. “So . . . a little help?”

“You wish to join me out here?” Feather Wind surmises.

“Yes,” Vision answers simply.

“Okay. Be warned that my magic is a little ticklish, and the sensation of being in zero-g may take some getting used to,” Feather Wind cautions before grabbing small portions of her body, particularly the tips of her hooves which has the least number of nerves, and uses it to guide her out of the TARDIS. Once there, zero gravity takes a hold of her. To her credit, she does not utter a peep. Now that she's weightless, he easily guides her forward, around, and to the side of the TARDIS so she can sit on it as if it is a bench in outer space.

“Okay. I'm guiding you to the side of the TARDIS beside me. Once there, use your hoof to latch onto the vessel,” Feather Wind instructs. “If you don't, you could float off into space, although I would rescue you and pull you back well before you cross the air shield here in that case.”

“Alright,” Vision says simply.

With that, Feather Wind gently sets her down directly beside him. Once he does that, she touches the TARDIS and thus latches onto it with a magical, magnetic-like grip.

“It feels funny having my innards float freely,” Vision remarks calmly.

“I know. It's a strange sensation at first,” Feather Wind agrees. “It almost feels as relaxing as floating in water. Both of our manes and tails are, indeed, floating about like such.”

“So . . . you really like open spaces, huh?” Vision guesses. “It wouldn't surprise me if a pony with a natural affinity for the open sky might feel claustrophobic in the TARDIS after a week of floating in space.”

“Well . . . yes and no. It depends.” Feather Wind chuckles softly in amusement before he says, “Funny. I said something similar with Doctor Kelly in my private therapy session with her two days . . . Well. More like two sleep cycles ago. Days and nights seem awfully ambiguous when we're just floating out there in the middle of outer space.

“Anyway, as I was saying, I told her then, as I am telling you now, my comfort level with narrow or open spaces largely depends on what I am doing. If I am studying, reading, or writing, I actually prefer enclosed, quiet, and dark places with a soft flicker of candlelight. Maybe some relaxing music too, especially instrumental.

“But whenever I'm not doing those things, I suppose I do tend to prefer open spaces in general. And wow . . . it doesn't get much more open than this.”

Feather Wind takes in a deep, savoring breath as he stares out into the endless sea of stars and glowing nebula clouds.

“I really wish you could see this,” Feather laments softly. “It is such a beautiful sight. On our home planet, stars like this are only visible at night, not accounting for Celestia's sun. However, in that world, and likely many others with an atmosphere, the stars twinkle which is basically an intermittent pulse and a very slight sparkle. Out here, however, the lights of the stars are totally steady.

“And it's quiet out here.” He closes his eyes and savors this experience. “Oh so very quiet.”

“You were working on your attunement to the Red Crystal out here,” Vision remarks. “I sense you made a lot of progress, for the Crystal was communicating back.”

“Yeah,” Feather agrees as he slowly exhales a breath. When he finishes that, he goes on to say, “Doctor Kelly taught me a new strategy on how to understand the attunement process. It's not unlike the sonic harmonics of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, except the energy is magical. There is a very steady hum to the energy of Crystals. It feels slower, yet it also kind of feels like a heartbeat. That is how I can best describe it.”

“I'm well aware of that,” Vision conveys. “I've communed with crystals before too, back in my homeland. Sacred crystals we use for all kinds of ceremonies.”

“Oh yeah!” He expresses as he looks at the white filly beside him. “I keep forgetting that you're a religious icon back where you came from. Both you and your mother. Out here, ever since I set hoof in the TARDIS, time has felt wonky. Some memories of my past feel distant and sometimes they feel close. The feeling with the same memories can change over time as well. It's so weird.”

“I wonder if the Doctor would have called it, 'Temporal Psychosis',” Vision muses.

“If not him, then it certainly sounds like something Doctor Kelly might say,” Feather muses with an amused chuckle. “Oh, that reminds me, how was your session with Doctor Kelly?”

“It was good. Productive,” Vision answers. “We learned a lot about each other. Doctor Kelly was especially interested in my psychic abilities. She wanted to record and document that phenomenon. She also asked me a lot of questions about my homeland. I told her whatever I could and isn't a secret for any reason, but I also warned her that I was a very sheltered pony at the time. Not exactly by choice, but I can understand why my culture was very careful with how they treated me and what they exposed me to. Many also feared that too much exposure might taint my abilities somehow. The system they had worked so they were nervous to tamper with it.”

“Many of them gave their lives up to defend you and your mother when Puppet Master attacked the temple. I keenly remember that,” Feather assures with a shudder. “I can't question their dedication. You were just that important to them.”

“You shared this information with Doctor Kelly as well, didn't you?” Vision guesses.

“We touched on it a little. I also know she's aware of the incident,” Feather informs her. “But she advised me to go slower because she knows this is a very traumatic experience for me. I still have nightmares about those ponies' shredded corpses which Puppet Master animated and made it seem like they were singing some chilling nursery rhyme. That and that echo-y, ghostly foal laughter. It haunts me still.”

“I was there too,” Vision reminds.

“Yeah, but you didn't see those corpses. Sometimes I envy your blindness.”

“I see in my own way,” Vision assures.

Feather looks back at her as he asks, “Is that how you made it to me? It didn't sound like anypony escorted you to me this time.”

“I followed my empathic impressions to you,” Vision tells him. “Besides that, I have a keen intuition inside the TARDIS for some reason. It feels like my psychic sensations are magnified in there, especially with anything specifically pertaining to the TARDIS itself. I can just 'feel' my way around the ship. I'm learning to know it as if coming to understand an aspect of myself.”

“You did say the perspective and existence of the TARDIS is timeless,” Feather reminds. “And your psychic senses can see through time as well. Maybe there is a correlation there. It's like you're a kindred spirit with the TARDIS.”

“That may be,” Vision casually agrees as she playfully kicks her hind hooves intermittently as she sits on the edge of the TARDIS. Sometimes her hind legs swing inside the TARDIS since the doors are still open. “Anyway, I feel I don't need to see the stars when I can feel your wonder of it. Besides that, I have seen the stars, sometimes, in my dreams.” Vision pauses for a moment before she adds, “I have even seen from within a star. To feel its warmth. Its radiance. Its light. Its love.” She smiles. “That is truly spectacular.” She tilts her head to the side. “I get the impression that the wonder of gazing upon them from the outside feels nowhere near as sensational as knowing what it is like to be a star.”

“You are such a marvel, Vision,” Feather says with a smile. “You're right. You do have a unique way of looking upon the universe. Both me and especially Stern Wing and Derpy feel cautious around you, but you make up for your hoofycaps in very unique ways. Ways that likely lead to the maturity that Derpy sometimes complains about. Likely that is hard to help, though, for you see much deeper layers to the universe than ponies do with their naked eyes.”

“You wrote a poem about that, didn't you?” Vision suddenly realizes. “Similar to me, you see pretty deeply into the world as well. I sensed that about you a long time ago. You don't just trust your eyes. You feel deeper than that. I wonder if that's a common trait among good artists.

“It's the same with your magic and your attempt to connect with the Red Crystal. You experience everything as something that is beyond mere visual form. You sense the deeper layers of truth and you trust it. I suspect you couldn't connect to the winds and the sky as deeply as you have if it weren't for those innate traits.”

“You may be right,” Feather Wind agrees with a soft grin of his own. “I tend to look beyond the mundane. That, I think, is more than just a unicorn trait. At my core, that is just me. It is who I am.”

“Trust your instincts, Feather,” Vision advises. “There is more wisdom buried within it than your intellectual mind, as formidable as that is too, can ever know. You don't need to seek the answers when you can simply be them instead. It's a matter of perspective, and many tend to underestimate those gifts.”

Vision breathes in deeply for a moment before she says in a wispy way, “It's consciousness. That's all existence really is, was, and ever shall be.”

“The monks at your temple taught you these things too?” Feather Wind guesses.

“I'd say they introduced me to these concepts, but knowing that knowledge and being that knowledge I did on my own. They showed me the door and I trotted through it. When I did, I never really returned from the other side of that door. I just kept on going. I explored the nature of existence by feeling it. Much like you tend to study more easily in the quiet dark, my life has ever been that from day one. Without seeing the distractions of the three-dee world, I learned to 'look' beyond it. I pierced the veils and experience deeper layers of truth. That is my purpose, Feather. That is what my cutie mark represents. So important is that knowledge and guidance for this journey that entire prophesies have foretold my coming in my home culture. Prophesies exist not only to prepare the world for my coming, but to help teach the world that there are layers to existence that transcend time. That already is an inherent lesson. My mere existence is meant to teach something important.”

“You are such a fascinating little filly, Vision,” Feather Wind marvels. “I feel honored by your wisdom and guidance.”

“And you don't just treat me like a little filly. Unlike the others, even the Doctor in his own way, you sense the truth and respect that. That part of you bows in humility. For that reason, Feather, you are wiser than you know.”

“That's the nature of wisdom, I think,” Feather Wind muses. “It's not about what we know but rather a calm awareness and acceptance of our ignorance. To empty our minds of worldly clutters and let more brilliant rays of truth shine through unobstructed.”

“That's why you meditate,” Vision informs. “That's the small part of you trying to channel your greater, higher self. Being as connected to nature as you are, you have the advantage of already sensing a natural rhythm. It is sometimes cluttered by worldly concerns, but that is why you keep coming back out here to open spaces and the quiet. In silence, you are centered. It is the roots of nature that keep anchoring you back to that center even if you occasionally stray from it.”

Just then, both of them sensed activity pick up in the Red Crystal. The crystal starts to hum, particularly in an empathic and magical sense.

Both of them sense that, but Vision understands it better.

“The wheels of fate are turning,” Vision announces mysteriously. “The next chapter shall soon begin. We are about to enter a central node to our existence.”

“I only partially understand,” Feather warns.

“Good,” Vision commends. “To understand that, you must abandon your worldly knowledge to embrace a larger truth.”

They are silent for a moment as the Red Crystal continues to hum.

“Come,” Vision says she lets go of the TARDIS. “The Doctor has awakened, as soon we shall all bear witness to the next crux of our journey.”

Feather just stares forward blankly as he absorbs this information numbly before shaking his head and reminding himself that Vision had just let go of the TARDIS and is now starting to float off into space without a shred of concern. To save her from straying too far, he grabs them both with his magic and then guides them safely back into the ship.

Part 6: My Little Detour

--7 Months Ago--

Derpy was the first to burst out of the TARDIS. This caused her to burst into bright daylight that her yellow walleyes weren't immediately accustomed to. As a result, she winced tightly and had to shield her eyes with one of her gray pegasus wings. As she stood there and waited for her eyes to adjust, the Doctor also steped outside the TARDIS, turned about to shut the door, then roamed out into the paved streets of this city to meet her.

The details sank in gradually for both of them, especially Derpy. Beyond sight, the first thing she noticed was how hot and arid this city was. As for sound, there was a considerable population in the local area which caused a large amount of hustle and bustle. This wasn't just a highly populated city, this is one of the premier merchant capitals of the world. As a result, much of the activity they are hearing involves merchants hawking their wares, customers and merchants busy haggling, some music being played by various street performers, and just general conversation of everyone roaming the streets.

As Derpy's eyes adjusted, the Doctor noticed her noticing the busy streets all around them which included a great deal of hoof traffic. Some of them were dragging merchant carts with them, a few were guards on patrol, and most of them were visitors to the city.

“Where are we, Doc?” Derpy asked the Doctor excitedly.

“Neighbriais, the merchant capital city of Saddle Arabia,” the Doctor answered. “This is fifteen years ahead of your native timeline.”

“Whoa!” Her eyes widen in wonder. “So this is the future! That's so cool!” Then she winces and looks at the Doctor. “Wait a second. I heard of Saddle Arabia, though I've never been there before. So this means we're still in my native world?”

“Yes Ma'am,” the Doctor confirms as he tips the fedora hat he is wearing (for style and to help shield his eyes from the blazing sun) further down the edge of his brow. “I figured I'd just wet your toes a little by keeping most of your adventures more local and gradually broaden your way out from it. Before I introduce you to fully alien worlds, introducing you to wider territories within your own world might help you to adjust somewhat.”

“Wet my what now? Tows? What would I be towing right now and why would I ever want it to be wet?” Derpy asks with a curious tilt of her head. “Doctor, have I ever told you how weird you are sometimes?”

“Quite frequently, actually,” the Doctor says as he passes her a charmed smile under the edge of his hat. “That's actually one of the things I adore about you, my new quadruped companion.”

“You trot on four legs now too, Doc,” Derpy reminds. “No more homo-sappy-ents for you, my little pony. You're just going to have to get used to it.”

“Indubitably,” the Doctor agrees. “And I must say . . . this is an interesting challenge for me.”

“And my goodness! Look at all this wonderful stuff here!” Derpy squees. “The sights! The sounds! The colors! The music in the air! All of those neat fabrics and nicknacks.”

“Well, as I said before, this is one of the merchant capital cities of your world if I am led to understand correctly,” the Doctor reminds.

Derpy burst out in a delighted laugh then raced off to explore with the energy, vim, and vigor of an excited youth. She looked so happy that the Doctor could easily imagine cartoonish and/or anime symbols around her to indicate her happiness such as bouncing musical notes above her head, especially when she's prone to sing anyway.

It was such a delight for the Doctor to witness. This was one of the primary reasons he includes at least one companion on his journey. It's not only for safety reasons since it would be wise for at least one ally and friend to look after him on his many dangerous journeys, but having a companion, especially a female companion, helped to fill the hole in his hearts that was there ever since his granddaughter, Susan, left him and his journey.

In no way did he blame Susan for her choice. She had her own life to live, after all, but the reason he brought her along on his journey in the first place was for the sheer delight of showing someone he cared about the universe and to educate her about the ins and outs of space and its history. He wanted to mentor someone, and when Susan left, that purpose he had in his hearts temporarily left him as well until he realized that he could fill that gap again with various companions he invited on his journey.

Whenever he witnessed their youthful exuberance, like Derpy was expressing right then, it helped to remind the Doctor of what that feeling of being young was like again. It was such a long time ago for the Doctor himself, and the only way he tends to reclaim that feeling these days was vicariously through his far more youthful companions. That energy of young joy sparks a reminder in his own soul that he finds quite necessary to try to keep alight, else he could emotionally fade into a gray and dull existence. An adventurous spirit was hard work to maintain after this long. He found that the best way to keep it alive was to share it with someone who was witnessing these things for the first time. Witnessing that sparkling wonder in their eyes helps to keep his own mind, hearts, and soul afloat from drowning in despair.

There was so much over these centuries that tried to weigh the Doctor down. That burden was so hard for him to carry. Moments of shining levity, like this, help to rejuvenate his soul much as his regeneration restores his body and crafts it anew.

But the Doctor reminded himself that, as a very emotional companion, Derpy's mood could swing the other way just as strongly. Fear, in particular, he noticed she was prone to. However, in the Doctor's opinion, that was not always a bad thing. Indeed, that emotion existed in a mortal world for a very good reason. In proper doses, it could promote survival. The Doctor relied on it himself on many occasions. It reminds one of the importance to slow down once in a while and carefully take in their surroundings because there were signs of danger within it. Fear also helped to give the Doctor, and many of his former companions, that little extra push whenever they needed to run from danger all too frequently in his journeys.

He also discovered that courage can moderate fear as well but it needs the proper motivation to be there. He found that motivation depends on one's personal values. For whom, or what, do they care about? Why stand their ground? Why be brave? If there was no answer to these questions, the best default was to run. However, if there was something important at stake that was a danger to someone, then other options may need to be considered.

Just then, something irritated his eyes as a light was shone directly on him. Wincing tightly, he then directed his attention to what was causing that. In doing so, he observed something startling and wholly unexpected. Across the busy street and to his right, he saw a mare wearing a sexy dance costume indicative of a gypsy-style belly dancer except for the pony design. In this case, it is a translucent black dress with silver trims and sparkles within it. Her outfit was complete with a veil over her face.

That in itself was not what caught him off guard about her. What did catch him off guard was the fact that she winked at him, and blew him a kiss, then when she turned to leave, there was a pattern spread on her open shawl that had a very distinct pattern on it made with tiny mirrors that, collectively, took the shape of a single letter/word he had seen nowhere else in existence except for one very distinctive place for him, and that was his home of Gallifrey.

A word that had his true name!

“What the hell?!” the Doctor exclaimed in shock.

Just then, he saw the other woman scamper away. Her silky outfit, especially her shawl, fluttered in the air as she took off.

“Wait!” the Doctor called as he raced after her. “Wait just a bloody minute!”

She did not. The Doctor privately acknowledged there was a good chance she did not hear him over all of this hustle and bustle. For a brief moment, he even considered using his sonic screwdriver to enhance his voice. After all, he considered getting her attention that important at that moment.

The problem with that strategy, however, arose when she rounded a corner and thus he lost a visual of her. He still could use his tool to bounce sound off of various objects and thus deliver the message around some corners, but by then, he knew he'd be firing it off blindly. As this continued, he knew there would be ever-escalating odds he'd aim that sound on the wrong spot until he managed to locate her again.

While he galloped, a troubling thought occurred to him. One of several, in fact. Among them was how that pony could have a symbol in his native Gallifreyin, and with his name, no less! Not only should that letter/word be unknown to the rest of the universe, but that word, in particular, should be unknown by the vast majority of his own people. He could only think of a small handful that would know such a thing, and if that person does have that knowledge, she may be in great danger.

But, on top of that, he did not fail to notice how chasing this new mare delivered him specifically away from Derpy. That was very troubling because his new companion was very new to his journeys. As a result, he wanted to keep a close eye on her, especially since she seemed so accident-prone. Things can turn south for her very quickly and the Doctor wanted to be there to be on top of issues like that, but right then he was being led away from Derpy as if that was the entire point.

As he ran, he debated the possibility that the mare's shawl could be made of something akin to his psychic paper. Maybe the image wasn't actually there and was simply telepathically projected as if it was there. She could know that she is wearing something akin to psychic paper without realizing exactly what the Doctor saw on it. However, if she knew that it was like psychic paper then she also knows that what the Doctor saw on it would entice him to follow her, and that was the bait to this trap.

“Forgive me, Derpy, but I can't afford to ignore this,” the Doctor mumbled under his breath.

As the chase continued, the Doctor kept barely spotting her just before she rounded another corner. This quickly made the Doctor realize that he was definitely being baited. She had enough of a lead ahead of him to ensure she could round another corner before he did, but she actually waited for him to catch up just to afford him another glimpse of her just in time.

Eventually trailing her led him mostly outside of the city. In the outskirts of Neighbriais was a section beyond the main walls of the city. There were so many tents gathered there that both natives and visitors alike called it “Tent City”, which was a bit of a misnomer because there was a bay of water in the area where thousands of small boats crowded. They, too, served residential, recreational, and/or business purposes.

Once there, the Doctor noticed how this mare waited for him to catch up somewhat before venturing into one of those many tents. This one was a white, Arabian-style tent with a bit of pink at the tip.

At first, the Doctor found it comforting that this area wasn't too isolated, but then again, he might later lament having too many witnesses about who could also be in potential danger.

The Doctor paused when he reached a hoof forward to brush aside the canvas tent flap. The moment he touched it, he sensed something all too familiar about the energy of this tent. He could not quite put his finger on why exactly yet, but he couldn't ignore it either. Some gut instinct inside him told him that this tent was far more than meets the eye.

Without further adieu, he entered the tent.

The first thing he noticed that was off about the inside of the tent was the fact it was bigger on the inside. Technology like this (or possibly magic) wasn't too uncommon among his own native people, but it was exceedingly rare beyond that.

The inside of this tent was spacey and filled with pillows around the outer rim. The scent of incense rushes to claim his nostrils which helped to induce a calming aroma. Some of the outside illuminations managed to penetrate the walls of the tent, yet there was also this crawling light along the inside of the tent walls which he could not find an inside source to explain. What would normally be a single pole to hold up the center of the tent instead looks like a giant column on the inside. The Doctor actually went down three steps from the entrance before he reaches the main floor of this . . .

. . . this . . .

One unusual, metallic, and echo-y sound he hears within the tent helps to confirm what his impressions already were, and that was the fact that this “tent” was actually a TARDIS as well. A TARDIS which the chameleon circuit apparently still worked.

Either that, or it was stuck in this form which was oddly appropriate for this environment.

Within this tent, he finally found the mare he was chasing but there were two more here as well.

When the Doctor got a closer look at her, he realized that she was just a little bit under middle age but approaching it. She had a very mature body but was not quite old yet. She had fairly thick eyebrows and thick lips. Her coat was very dark white, or more like ivory. If she were human, the Doctor would have thought her to have a Spanish descent. She was standing very near the entrance of this “tent” and was therefore the closest of the three when the Doctor initially entered.

Across from the Doctor at the other end of this “tent” was a lone mare who sat on a bunch of pillows. She was mostly white with a hint of blue. Even from a distance, one of her most distinctive traits was the fact she was obviously blind, for her eyes were covered by a milky-white filament.

The third mare stood closer to the center of the room and very near the giant pole. From the Doctor's perspective, this other mare stood towards the left side of the pole he was facing. This mare had a mostly black hide but with many dots of white strung throughout. Her mane and tail also have a rainbow hue which sort of reminded the Doctor of the various hues some skies take during sunrise and sunset.

All three mares appeared to have recognized the Doctor on sight. The white one was very calm about it. The black one with white dots appeared downright giddy to see him, and the third mare, of whom he was originally chasing, whips about to slap him hard on the face with her tail. This action forced his face hard about to briefly face the direction of the exit/entrance again.

“I'm not sure if I deserve that,” the Doctor complains under his breath. He whips his face back at the gypsy-outfitted mare to give her a piece of his mind, but she shocks him again by tackling into his body, which forces him against a tent wall, as she plunges her now open lips into his in order to seize him with a forced kiss. As she does this, the Doctor's eyes explode widely open.

“Missy, do we need to reach for the spray bottle again?” the black one with a rainbow mane asks irritably. “Bad girl!”

After being pinned for four straight seconds, the Doctor's mind finally thaws enough to muster his strength which he used to push the sexually assaulting mare off of him.

“Bloody hells, woman! What's gotten into you?” the Doctor complains at the mare who assaulted him.

Twice.

“Keep your skirt on, why don't ya? Where I come from, what you've done to me is usually considered impolite,” the Doctor informs her in continued annoyance.

“Oh, Doctor . . . Doctor . . . Doctor. We are way past polite greetings at this point, especially after all that we've been through in our mutual past,” the ivory mare said while she sexually licks her lips and then lightly touches them with a hoof as if savoring the sensation. During this time, her eyes gleam at the Doctor with strong wicked recognition.

“I'm sorry, but am I supposed to know you?” the Doctor asks with frustrated confusion.

“Yes and no,” the ivory mare answers as she lifts a hoof mirror with a hoof, sits down, then lightly fluffs her mane to get it back into shape. “There is much we've been through together.” She looks back at him and winks wickedly. “But this is the first time you've encountered me in this form.”

The Doctor widens his eyes as he asks, “You're a fellow Time Lord? Or, excuse me, a Time Lady?”

“Call me Missy,” Missy requests as she lowers her mirror again. “Although, I suppose, you would be much more familiar with me with my other name I have hounded you with for centuries as we continued our little tête-à-tête. Back then, you would have known me as the Master.”

The Doctor's jaw dropped. At that point he was openly gawking at Missy.

“Oh, my dear old frenemy . . . you are so adorable when you're flabbergasted! What a rare and delicious treat for me. I fricken love it!”

“You're . . . No! It can't be!” the Doctor insisted with a shake of denial.

Even more wicked amusement sunk into Missy's eyes as she said, “Search your feelings, old Time Walker, and you'll know it to be true!”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Missy as he asked her, “Is that quote a deliberate reference to Star Wars?”

In answer, Missy just playfully rolls her eyes to her left and then right.

“Wait!” The Doctor widens his eyes again. “So you are, or rather were, Thee Master from the other universe. The more humanoid-looking universe.”

Missy smiled at the Doctor wickedly again until she realized something startling which caused her to momentarily widen her eyes for a second before narrowing them in anger at the Doctor as she said in a warning tone, “Don't say it.”

The Doctor starts to shake with glee and he starts to squee.

“Don't say it!” Missy more strongly insists.

“Why Missy . . . you're so adorable as a pony now!” the Doctor gushes.

“GOD DAMN you, Doctor! You said it to me again!” Missy snaps then pouts. “I fricken hate you, and have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Spoken from the horse's mouth, I'd wager.”

The Doctor launched forward and seized Missy into a hug. This caused Missy to growl in annoyance before she mumbled under her breath, “Why didn't I see this coming too? You did this before as well shortly after I regenerated into this form.”

“Really?” the Doctor asked with interest as he backs off enough to look at her face again. “So some future version of me will witness that?”

Missy nods with a more neutral expression before she said, “It was during a moment we hatched a scheme together. A plan of yours that came together well enough in the end.

“Ooo. By the way, that reminds me. There is a certain small blue unicorn you'll meet in the future. You're going to have to play a trick on that pony which, when I later found out about it, I must admit I was surprised and annoyed, but I've since come to appreciate the devious nature of it. I didn't know you had it in you, Doctor. I approve!

“At least, I do now.

“Anyway, the trick is this; whenever you are around this pony and you go into deep thought about . . . well . . . any old something. At that time, knock on something four times.”

“Knock on something four times?” the Doctor asked as he releases her and gazes at her in confusion, but two seconds later he widened his eyes briefly as he asked, “Oh! Does this have anything to do with that four drum beats you once heard in your head? That endless and continual drum beats?”

Missy nods as she said, “Something like that, although that no longer plagues me ever since I crossed over to this pony universe.”

“I'm glad to hear that,” the Doctor said with relief. “As I understood it, that was a ploy from our people to drive you insane which eventually tried to result in a nefarious scheme of their own.”

“I'm not their puppet anymore!” Missy growls in anger. “From now on, I set my own destiny.”

“As it always should have been,” the Doctor said proudly.

Missy narrowed one eye at the Doctor as she cautioned, “Don't get me wrong. I'm not your puppet either. I'm following the lot of these two, which I know is somewhat similar to your own journey because it serves my purpose. I still look after only for number One in my book. These two are just lucky that their goals align with mine somewhat.”

“Goal?” the Doctor questioned with a blink.

“Future stuff,” the black pegasus mare explains a bit. “It's actually not that bad. Personally, I find it just a tiny bit disturbing, but ultimately not that harmful.”

“She still has many dark ambitions,” the blind white earth pony mare at the other end of the tent said. “But I possess psychic empathic abilities. Enough to sense and curtail some of her dark ambitions. After all, I have some leverage here.”

“Such as?” the Doctor questioned the white mare. “Oh, and by the way, who are you two?”

“I am a mare who will be a companion of yours in my youth,” explains the white mare. “My name is Vision and you will encounter me, and I to you, when I was just a filly. From there, I'll continue to provide wisdom and guidance for you until I later stray on my own path with a TARDIS of my own. Behold.” She lifts both of her forehooves in an arc to gesture about the whole place.

“Wait. I'm not sure if I want to know about this future stuff,” the Doctor mildly complains.

“Fear not, Doctor, for you will use a technique to suppress these memories after this encounter,” Vision goes on. “That is, until a certain time when you unlock a deeper aspect of your potential. It will be a moment when you explode with regenerative energy which is usually tied to and help you to recover from your death, but there is something different about that moment. Namely, you didn't die that time and the explosion of energy was much stronger than usual for you.”

“You witnessed it personally,” the Doctor realized then shrugged. “Well, relatively witnessed.”

Vision nods as she said, “In a manner of speaking, yes, but what I lack in sight, I make up for with my inner, psychic eye. When you flare with regenerative energy during that moment, in my perception, you blazed like the sun. Quite frankly, it was glorious to behold even though it was triggered for a largely negative reason.”

“If that is so, how did you not go mad?” the Doctor asked with worry. “There are good reasons why I try not to reveal too much.”

“My mind and spirit are quite fortified. Don't worry about me,” Vision assured. “In fact, back then, I was the only pony left standing in the TARDIS control room when you were done.”

The Doctor shook his head with a look of confusion as he said, “I don't understand. If I didn't die at that moment, then where did that energy come from? What is the source?”

“The full answer to that question will reveal itself in time,” Vision assured. “For now, I'd like to point a few things out.

“Doctor, when you first woke up in this pony universe that you recall, did you happen to notice that you did not cough out or expel regeneration energy?”

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak for a moment but then froze when he realized Vision had a point. Granted, the TARDIS was dark during that moment, but that should have made the regeneration energy stand out all the more. He just went from a British, and sometimes Scottish-sounding gentleman then shifted into a pony just after his last life died.

But it's true that he wasn't expelling regeneration energy at the time. That was odd.

“You'll seal your own memories after this encounter until the right time,” Vision informed. “But that was not the first time you did that since coming to this universe. You did that once before, and that was the true first moment when you recently regenerated. Back then you had all the signs, and back then you had your first true adventure in this universe. An adventure in which you had your first taste of this universe's version of the Time War.”

The Doctor's hearts skipped a beat as his blood grew cold with horror.

“But, this time, you resolved yourself by deciding you'd face the Time War on your own terms,” the black pegasus explained. “Oh, by the way, my name is Star Breeze. I'm the future daughter of two companions who will later join your journey. When they retire from that journey, I later get born then grow up hearing tales of your heroism, beginning on one of my birthdays.” She smiled brightly. “I've been enchanted with you and your journeys ever since.” Her smile dimmed a bit as she went on to say, “When I first saw the TARDIS, I thought it was you piloting it. I was disappointed to discover it wasn't, but I still got my wish to trek among the stars anyway. That, and I still met you in certain moments like this one.”

“Um . . . Wait. Give me a moment to process here,” the Doctor requested as he lifted a hoof. “There's a lot of bombshells you're dropping on me right now.”

“And there's more to come,” Missy put in. “This time, because of what you've done and will do, you and I aren't the only survivors of our people anymore.”

“Really?!” the Doctor asked with astonished delight.

“If you were to face the Time War again and do it on your own terms this time with a lot of preparation, isn't this a goal you'd attempt to achieve?” Missy pressed. “And by the way, in this specific regard, your goals and mine are in alignment. I want to rule over the Time Lords, but they have to be here in the first place for that to happen. That, and they had other resources that I found useful. I want to see them restored.” For once in a rare while, a soft and fond look sinks into her eyes as she said to the Doctor, “Not to mention certain zones are deeply sentimental to you and me, and I'm not afraid to admit that. Places like Gallifrey and other people who were lost along with it.” She straightened her head. “Part of me was proud of the fact that you and I were the last of the Time Lords before, but the cost of that egoic boost is still too high. I'd gain more by ensuring that which was lost gets restored.”

“Thank you . . . Missy,” the Doctor said with misty eyes.

“I'm not doing this for you,” Missy assured. “I have my own reasons.”

“The explosion of regenerative energy, which will unlock this memory, will stem from a different source,” Vision explained. “Namely, when you crossed over into this pony universe, you will somewhat and eventually succeed with some of your goals when it comes to saving your kind. To accomplish that, your people will recognize the fact that, quite frankly, you don't have enough time to accomplish what you need to save those that you will save. To rectify this, some of them donate extra energy to you in order to increase the number of your cycles.”

For a moment, the Doctor was too stunned to speak, but when he later recovered, he asked, “By how much?”

For the first time, all three mares glance at each other. The Doctor noticed a look of uncertainty in them all. That alone gave the Doctor his answer.

“We're not certain,” Missy eventually said to the Doctor. “Suffice it to say, it's enough to partially accomplish your goals with the war.”

“The three of you keep saying that word. Partially,” the Doctor notes a bit morosely.

“You remember what we were up against in the Time War before,” Missy reminded. “An enemy that powerful and widespread is still too strong to completely accomplish all of your goals. Even with all of your preparations, this is the best you could accomplish. Remember; the enemy develops time-warping technology as well. Anything you can do to prepare for the war, they can do as well.”

“It's so good to finally meet you in person, Doctor,” Star Breeze said gleefully. “This isn't the first time for me, but the first time I met you, I possessed my father's body from the . . . Well, we don't need to get into the details. Just know that I was still a little filly at the time.” She waved at him. “And you had your own personal policy when it comes to foals so that stimulated a certain action of your own as soon as you realized what was going on and likely also recalled this conversation warning you that it will happen.”

“Okay,” the Doctor accepted with a nod. “I'll keep that in mind when I recover these memories again.”

“It won't be long,” Vision assured. “In the meantime, just know that you have a long journey ahead of you. Longer than you can fit into a single lifetime which is why you'll be given extra time.

“But while you travel out there and do what you normally do, know that you'll have other allies out there who will watch your back. Help them as they will help you. We're all united for a certain cause. A purpose we are sworn to uphold and protect. Together, we will make a brighter future than the worst of your past has ever endured. Through that effort, we'll keep this universe cleaner and more innocent.”

The Doctor slowly looked across each of them. As he did so, he became more and more teary-eyed, especially when his eyes settled on Missy last. She, above all of them, he recognized the most at the time.

“Thank you all,” the Doctor expressed gratefully.

The Doctor slowly opens his eyes back in the present. When he does so, he notices he's back in his room on the TARDIS.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” greets Doctor Kelly's voice beside him. He looks to his right and sees the peculiar sight of a floating, mirror-like and spherical droid. “Wakey wakey eggs n bakey.”

“Ah . . .” the Doctor regards the droid in confusion.

“Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, this message I'm playing for you is a recording,” announces her voice from the droid. “This droid will also send a signal to alert the real me that you have awakened. Accordingly, expect me to show up relatively soon as soon as I finish whatever business delays me for the moment.”

“How considerate of you,” the Doctor said with a blink.

“In the meantime, I have scanned your vital signs with this droid,” her recording goes on to announce. “You seem stable and recovering from what I can tell, but I don't know much about the regeneration of your kind. This may prompt a further interview with you to enhance my knowledge of it before I can label you officially in the clear.”

“Noted,” the Doctor accepts.

“Until then, I advise you to take it easy here in your room,” her recording continues. “Allow me a chance to interview you and do a final checkup before you leave this room.

“While I am on the subject, I did my best to take care of the others for you on the ship. At this point you have been down for,” the voice suddenly sounds much more robotic as it goes on to say but still in her voice, “Seven days, nine hours, thirteen minutes, and eight seconds.”

The Doctor lifts an eyebrow. That kind of precision with time is worthy of a Time Lord.

“They are fine,” her recording continues back in her normal tone of voice. “We're all just waiting and anxious for you to get better. After all, we need you to pilot this craft.”

“Okay then. I'll thank you when you get here,” the Doctor decides as he crawls out of his bed.

For about three minutes, the Doctor pauses as he mentally goes over his recovered memories. There was a lot to unpack in there. A lot of important information which leads to later plans. Some of those plans get adjusted as a result of this new knowledge.

Extra regenerative energy donated by his people. Now he can't be certain just how many cycles he has left. It's very likely beyond twelve at this point, but every single one of them might be his last. He can be relatively certain it'll be enough to accomplish at least some minimum standards of his goals. There's no point in the donation if it's not enough, and his people will have the benefit of hindsight by then.

His recent emotional outburst about the War must have triggered some of this latent energy. If his body is indeed carrying extra at this point, then it's no wonder why it might occasionally erupt unexpectedly like this. Quite frankly, this means his body currently is holding on to more of this energy than his race is normally designed to contain. That's noteworthy, but he can't rest on his laurels about it. He'll have what he needs to fulfill his goals, but maybe no further.

Time will tell the rest.

Back in this recently unlocked memory, he realized that they never said that some of his future companions will be Feather Wind and Stern Wing at all. All they did say was those two are the parents of Star Breeze, and Missy warned him that the Doctor will need to play a special trick on Feather for some reason. He assumes the exact reason will be clear later on.

When he thinks back on it, though, he realizes he already started to fulfill some of the prophecies. Off and on, the Doctor already has been knocking on some object four times when he thought deeply about something. Apparently, Feather was meant to notice that and later lead him to some important conclusion. Missy also said that there will be another encounter sometime in the future to accomplish some other scheme. Whatever this knocking thing has to do, it likely has something to do with that.

The Doctor looks at one of his bookshelves in the room. He finally gets off of his bed to go to it. Along the way, he recalled the fact that the younger version of Vision recently said to the others that she sensed a lot of sentimental energy from various objects that the Doctor has in his personal room. Indeed, there are a lot of such objects in his room such as a time-preserved celery stalk he often wore in his fifth incarnation or a multi-colored long scarf worn by his fourth incarnation.

On the bookshelf was a book he purchased on the day he and Derpy went to Neighbriais for the first time. A book with a title that ceased his attention at the time and had since captured his imagination. A book that seemed to be a message for him.

A book that Feather Wind will write later on after he retires from his adventures in the TARDIS. It is a themed book of poetry, one of many, but this one, in particular, the Doctor found he couldn't ignore. The title of the book is, “Across the Sea of Stars.” Within it, it has a lot of poetry about space and travel. The Doctor could not help but notice how apropos it is to his own journey.

The poems are more than just a description of other worlds and spatial phenomena. More to the point, it is a poetic description of what it feels like to actually be standing and witnessing moments like that. The poems carry the reader on a fantastical journey. One which is filled with wondrous discoveries both within and without.

The thing was, though, the Doctor eventually noticed that Feather kept on describing, in great detail in some cases, worlds, cosmic events, and actual spatial phenomena that really do exist. Natives of Feather's world probably thought that the writer has a very good imagination, and he does, but the descriptions in that book were too accurate for the Doctor to ignore. As the pattern continued, he gradually realized that Feather Wind probably was meant to be a future companion of his. When the time came to pick up the small, sky-blue wizard, Stern Wing was an unexpected but very pleasant bonus.

At the back of the book was a small biography of Feather Wind that helped the Doctor to later zero in and learn more about one of his future companions. Along the way, the Doctor later learned that Feather Wind has to be returned in order to fulfill important fixed moments in time. Moments that will eventually build up and facilitate the return of the Crystal Empire.

But the dedication at the back of the book sealed the deal for the Doctor in another way. It said, “To my beloved wife, Stern Wing, and my daughter, Star Breeze, for making my life complete. Without them, I would not be the pony I am today. I also need to thank my many wonderful friends who helped me to fulfill the best of my potential and carry me through this life-changing journey. To me, their glowing, radiant hearts have always been bigger on the inside.”

HINT-HINT!!!

A poet warrior Feather certainly is and will be, but the author of that book sounded ten times more confident of himself than the version that is currently on the Doctor's ship. Obviously the “journey” that Feather spoke of in this book is a reference to his own vessel. The Doctor was clearly meant to find this book, and it is the reason that the Doctor later started eyeing Feather Wind seriously as a potential companion.

Fixed and important timelines may surround this particular pony, which is why the Doctor would back off from such individuals normally, but the hints in that book were just too clear. Plus the Doctor has a time machine on his hands. He could afford to give Feather a limited, whirlwind tour of space and time then return him to his native world and time so that both he, and his family, could fulfill the purpose they are meant to accomplish.

As it turned out, it became downright urgent to remove Feather, Vision, and Stern from their native world and time until they are ready to face the bad guys waiting for them there. The Doctor didn't find that out until he came there to snatch up Feather. In doing so, he saved the lives of these three ponies and they have returned that blessing a hundredfold ever since.

As for Vision, he now realizes he had badly underestimated that little filly. All the signs of greatness were there, but he ignored them because of her youth, her weak constitution, and the fact she was blind.

Nevertheless, Vision is one of the few on his journey that is in it for the long haul. She'll never “retire” from this lifestyle, apparently. If anything, it only escalates further. She actually manages to become a captain and pilot of her own TARDIS.

This means he'll have to change his strategy about the little filly from now on. Instead of trying to get rid of her, he'll need to prepare her for her destiny. More than likely she'll be cooperative one hundred percent after he changes his gears with her. She probably already realizes that this is her destiny. The Doctor was just too stubborn and thickheaded to realize it.

Well no more. That ends today.

Using one foreleg, the Doctor hugs Feather Wind's future triumph close to his chest. Feather did write other popular books during his time in Equestria, but very few captured the imagination more than this book did. It led to all of them being here. This is a great blessing for him so of course this book has become one of his most sentimental treasures.

They'll all band together in some shape and form to help the Doctor fulfill his grand personal quest. Even if they aren't there to suffer the War directly, they may ultimately play some small part in it and it's the culmination of all of that combined effort that will lead to whatever degree of success they will have, and already accomplished.

It's destiny. It is a matter of will and a matter of time.

Author's Note

This chapter came at me unexpectedly when I first wrote it, but it's ended up one of my favorite chapters of this particular arc. A chance to see the adventure from the Doctor's perspective and understand a little more why things have happened the way they happened as well as hint at more things to come.

There is also some snippets here from some of my other stories I've written for this site such as Sky Dancer, the First Flying Unicorn and My Little Detour, of which this chapter shares the same name. This is to show all of it is building towards one overarching arc since these stories share the same universe together.

Part 7: Knights of the Hourglass

“There he is!” Feather Wind exclaims when the Doctor and Doctor Kelly both enter the TARDIS control room together. “He's up.”

“I told you he would come, and I know you believed me,” Vision remarks. “So don't act all surprised now.”

“It's good to see you back on your hooves,” Stern Wing tells the Doctor warmly.

“How is he?” Derpy asks Doctor Kelly. “I assume you checked on him before the two of you came here.”

The Doctor regards Doctor Kelly as she sighs then says, “I did detect a lot of residual energy of what I would normally call magical energy, but apparently is regeneration energy natural to his race to help them recover from a death blow. That energy was stronger earlier but appears to have stabilized now.”

“But why did it trigger in the first place?” asks Stern Wing. “As best as I can tell, the Doctor didn't suffer a death blow unless shouting at the top of his lugs counts.”

“There are extra factors in play here that I wasn't aware of until recently,” the Doctor informs as his look transfers from Kelly to across all the rest of his companions. “This particular instance isn't a regeneration in the traditional sense. Instead, it's more like a burn off of excess energy that I had stored in my body. Apparently it got there sometime shortly after I arrived in this pony universe.

“That's not all. Fragments of my memories from an earlier time have returned to me that helps to explain some of this experience. Apparently it was a memory I sealed from myself until the proper time. That time is now to some extent.”

Everyone falls silent for a moment as they digest what is said. During that time, the Doctor looks at and then approaches the TARDIS controls. He takes that step up beyond the rail surrounding the console. From there, he affectionately pats it.

“The memory I have unlocked has also helped me to realize a deeper meaning of a proclamation, and recent goal, of mine,” the Doctor goes on after the long pause. “Ever since I learned that the Time War exists in this pony universe too, the wheels of my mind kept on turning. Some goals and plans came into especially stronger focus when I learned that the Magi has, in their possession, an unusual fleet of TARDISs.”

The Doctor gazes up at the contraption in front of him which continues all the way up to the ceiling.

“There is something important you all need to keep in mind when it comes to time travel, though,” the Doctor goes on. “and that is if something is ever going to happen in the future then it already has happened from the perspective of some other timeline. That's important to note because it means the results of our future actions can already be felt. That, in turn, helps us to achieve our goals in the first place. A causality loop is thus formed.”

The Doctor spins about and then approaches the rail leading beyond the center console. From there, he props his forehooves up on top of the rail as he continues to gaze down at the rest of his companions.

“That is why every one of you needs to make an informed decision here. I initially drew you in to help keep me company in my adventures and, in exchange, I show you what is out there in all of time and space.” The Doctor scans across Feather Wind, Stern Wing, and Vision as he adds, “For some of you inviting you here had a more specific purpose. I also did it to save your lives and to prepare you for what you left behind.” He looks across them all again. “Ultimately, all I really intended was for us to have fun learning and exploring together, but my purpose out here has since gained more focus and a large-scale goal. In pursuit of that goal I, and anyone who volunteers to join me, may assist me to whatever degree that they can. As such, we may feel the shadows of the Time War as we continue to prepare for it.” He lifts a hoof. “But beware. Those the Time Lords fought against also had access to time and space travel in order to keep up with their enemies. If we continue this journey with the purpose of helping to refine the outcome of that War then we can also expect the shadows of the Time Lords' enemies to also try to get in our way. That might come in the form of hired thugs, conquered slaves, deceived fools, cowed cowards, or even the Daleks themselves.

“So you need to know that, if you choose to continue this journey with me, it may also be with a commitment to a larger purpose with its own slew of enemies and allies who are each fighting on opposite sides of this goal. I run into incidental villains and obstacles all the time in many worlds that I visit, but if the enemies of the Time Lords get involved, or even the Time Lords themselves in a hostile way, for not every one of them wanted peace, then you need to know that we could also be the target of a focused assault at any moment. An organization that specifically targets and attacks us, and maybe those dear to you, just to keep us from reaching our goal.

“With all of that in mind, from now on, I'm going to have to ask you all, and every would-be companion that might join me ever on into the future, if you and they are willing to commit to a purpose this grand. I don't plan on avoiding the fun stuff and generally trying to enjoy the journey as much as possible, but the shadows of one of the greatest conflicts I have ever known may be felt here and there, so what do you think about all of this?

“Keep in mind that I would not blame any of you for wanting to back off now if you think this is a whole lot more than you have willingly signed up for. In that case, I'll accommodate you with the safest option I can think of. It's your life, your choice, and I shall always respect that. I also want you to be aware that I'll always value you personally no matter what you decide from here on. Furthermore, if you ever change your mind about this in the future, just let me know.”

The Doctor looks at and addresses Derpy directly as he says to her, “Derpy, since you are the first of my present companions to join me, I'll ask you this question first. After being informed of everything I have said here, do you wish to continue your journey with me while aware of the enhanced risks involved?”

The Doctor falls silent as he waits for his answer. Derpy gazes about and notices that everypony is now paying her focused attention. Probably also Vision in her own way. When she realizes this, she blushes shyly for a second, but then shakes it off as she puts more focus on the Doctor's question. She pauses for a moment as she considers her feelings and words carefully before looking back up at the Doctor initially with both eyes but the left eye lazily drifts off.

“When you first told me that you were a time traveler, I got excited. I don't know why I believed you so much at first other than seeing your cutie mark, but there was this shade of doubt in me as well. You exhibited plenty of other signs that made me think that you might be crazy too, and for a short while there, I stopped taking you seriously until I noticed how committed you were to saving lives.

“Then, as the journey continued, you opened my eyes to many wondrous possibilities and with the promise that there would be many more to come. All of that excited me and made me feel special. Continuing my journey with you gained intense allure for me even while knowing there would be danger involved.

“Danger, but also an important purpose. Whenever I faced that danger with you, it often resulted in something vastly more positive than it would have been had we not intervened. I grew proud of myself for that reason. Finally I, the most klutzy and ditsy pony in Ponyville, who used to feel so worthless for so many reasons, am privileged to be offered the chance to be part of this grand journey. I couldn't believe it. I often wondered what it is about me that you found so valuable and special.

“But whatever it is, I decided for myself that I would remain committed to helping you no matter what that entails because you, Doctor, are now among the most important ponies I have ever known. I . . . I . . .” she heavily blushes shyly. “. . . I love you and . . . and . . . I want to be a part of your life as much as I can be.” Her blush fades as she gets a more determined look. “You're important to me so I want to remain by your side and help you as much as possible no matter what you may face.” She shakes her head. “Knowing there is extra risk involved doesn't change anything because I know it will only enhance our purpose too. Both always go hoof and hoof with you. That's what I learned in this journey and I'm proud to remain a part of that.

“So, uh . . .” she shyly swings her right forehoof back and forth for a second. “There you go. That's my two bits on this issue.” Her shy smile seems to convey that they can move on to somepony else now.

“Thank you for sharing that and for making your feelings clear with honesty and integrity,” the Doctor expresses back to her. “And for the record, as I said to you before, you are all very dear to my hearts as well.” He then focuses on Feather Wind next. “Feather?” he asks in a way that clearly implies it is the small blue stallion's turn next.

Just like Derpy did before him, Feather also looks around at the others gathered here and notices how their attention is focused on him now. Like Derpy before him, he also feels shy about that fact, but at least he expected it and was somewhat mentally prepared for it. Also, like Derpy before him, he closes his eyes and examines his thoughts and feelings carefully before opening his eyes and addressing the Doctor.

“There is much about this journey I did not expect. For me, it feels random like it came out of nowhere. I was still in the middle of trying to figure myself out as well as my purpose in life. I'm sure everypony in here with a cutie mark can appreciate the implications of that struggle on some level or another. Figuring out one's self is never easy.

“But wherever I go and whatever I do, I feel determined to pursue my destiny with authenticity. It's very important to me to fully be who I am and whatever that may entail.”

Feather Wind pauses for a brief moment before he sweeps his gaze across them all as he tells them, “Years ago, I followed cries on the Wind and discovered that a family of farmers were under attack by a force that had a hidden mastermind among the bunch, but it turns out the true source of the threat was even higher than that and my family was even connected to that threat.” Feather returns his gaze to the Doctor, this time with a sidewards look, as he goes on to say, “Before I launched myself to follow that call, I was scared. Part of me couldn't believe what I was about to do, but I did it anyway. I didn't really even fully consciously think about it. I just followed my instincts which I later discovered is so like me. A pony so deeply connected to nature would also innately follow its natural equilibrium. It took me a while to realize I can follow my destiny without any clear conscious plan. Following my heart was what led me to discover my cutie mark in the first place. I trusted it even when it told me something that seemed unlikely to be true. Ever since, I learned it may be my destiny to defy the seemingly impossible on a regular basis, for it seems to happen to me over and over again.

“Before I met any of you, who would have thought I'd ever become swept in a journey like this? That, too, many would have thought to be impossible, but here I am. Standing here as if I'm meant to be a symbol to represent that nothing is impossible.

“But ever I have been a feather drifting in the wind. I'm a smart pony too and capable of advanced plans, but in the end . . . this is always what I end up being. Just a Feather in the Wind.

“Destiny is its own wind of sorts, and the wind has ever been something I've naturally been well connected to. More and more, I've learned to trust it and it has led me here so far. There must be an important reason for that.

“Plus, I have this.” He telekinetically floats up the Red Crystal for emphasis. “In there marks the stains of my family's history. A family that has become well known to be sacred keepers of that history. But here lies hope for a change as well. This is the last of Sombra's true essence. This is the last that he could preserve after all that he had suffered through. I always innately respected others who try to be authentic with themselves. To that end, I'm fully willing to commit to helping him to fulfill his last wish; the return of the Crystal Empire into a state of freedom, and freedom has always been an innate theme of my life. Ever shall the Winds blow free as they desire. That is it's nature, and that is who I am.”

Feather Wind stops floating the Red Crystal.

“Thanks to Doctor Kelly, along with the inward guidance I had from Crystal Sage all along, I believe I am now proficient enough with this Crystal that I can start to use it for the purpose we had intended it for. I'm sure there is plenty of room to improve my connection with this crystal. I have plenty of time with that later, but elements of the Earth, like where this Crystal is born from, doesn't mesh with me as innately but I'm learning and I'm bound to get better.

“As for this journey,” he looks around the TARDIS, “I trust it to lead me to wherever I am meant to be. It may be more than I ever expected before, but when one is adrift in the whimsical winds of fate, one has to eventually surrender to it.”

Feather Wind focuses back at the Doctor as he goes on to say, “In my time of need, you came to save me.” He winces slightly as he asks, “How could you possibly believe that I wouldn't return the favor during your time of need?” His eyes return to normal. “Besides, I fully endorse the purpose you're trying to aim for. Minimize the scope of a very violent war? I'd be proud to be a part of that even as I wrestle with my fears at the same time. To me, it's worth the struggle. It's worth it and I trust you, Doctor, because I know you are a good pony at hearts. Anypony who is like that I am both happy and proud to call my friend.”

Feather Wind then casts a final nod as a non-verbal signal that he is done with his speech and sharing his thoughts about this specific issue for the time being.

The Doctor acknowledges that nod with a nod of his own before focusing his attention on Stern Wing.

Stern Wing passes a grin back at Feather Wind for a moment before looking back at the Doctor as she says, “It's Feather Wind here that is the poet who can come up with pretty and heroic-sounding speeches on the fly. Anything to do with 'flying' has ever been his forte no matter how unlikely it may seem at first.

“But me? I'm a far more simple mare who has a much greater focus on her destiny. I don't overanalyze myself or my destiny. As such, I'll keep this simple and brief.

“I am a guardian. Period. No ifs, ands, or buts about that. This journey gives me a chance to fulfill that role to a greater extent and I'm perfectly willing to be a part of that. You, Doctor,” she nods to the Doctor, “wish to do whatever is in your power to minimize a very bloody war. Translation: You wish to save lives. I can get behind that fully committed. As such, I'll back you up with any degree of strength that I have in me to help you to accomplish that goal.

“I am also a pony who is very loyal to her friends. Whenever I learn that my friends might be in greater danger, I don't back off. Instead, I just grow even more determined and resolved.

“That's all you'll get from me, Doctor. I am who I am, and that's all that I am. Take it or leave it.”

Stern Wing gives a firm nod to show that she is done as well.

“Very well,” the Doctor accepts then turns to Vision. “Vision, since I know you can't see me and my non-verbal cues, I'll just straight up tell you it's your turn now.”

Vision blinks once then says, “Feather and I are a lot alike in some regards. Ponies who can sense the winds of change. Perhaps one difference between us is I'm more willing to guide fate. That has ever been my purpose as a prophet else there would be no real reason for that foresight.

“Like Feather Wind, though, I am content to settle into my fate even as I guide it. The future is just a series of choices. I reveal what the options are and it is we who decide what to pick from among the options. Any future I can reveal can be avoided. The astute may realize that has ever been the theme of this journey. Nothing is fixed. Not even the past. All of time is mutable. All of time is a choice. I'm here to remind all of you of that fact so that you can properly respect and lay claim to your sovereignty in its entirety. Absolutely all of what is thought to be impossible is a record meant to be broken. Ultimately it all comes down to will and intention.

“And Doctor . . . you have made your will and intention quite known. For as long as you hold to that resolve, the future you wish to claim shall be yours. Time bends around our wills, Doctor, not the other way around. If you continue to hold to this course then of course you're going to run into more and more signs of it. If you suddenly changed course, then you'll find more and more timelines that run parallel to that new decision. That's how all of this works.

“Your hearts, and will, is a powerful draw, Doctor. It's like a vortex that drew all of us here. You attracted like-minded individuals who would have chosen to support you of their own free will. Accordingly, it's almost moot to ask us what our intentions are from this point forward because you've only ever attracted those who would agree with you anyway, at least whenever it comes to your most important goals and trusted companions. I understand why you value free will, but I want you to also realize what you are really dealing with here.

“Keep asking the others here if you don't believe me. In the end, they are all going to tell you the same thing. The same applies to everypony you will recruit.

“As it is willed, so shall it be. That has ever been the way of things.”

Now Vision falls silent.

Derpy mopes as she says, “It's hopeless to ever expect you to act your age, isn't it?”

“I believe I will surprise you no matter what your expectations are of me,” Vision says with a grin. “I think it's because, deep down, that's what you really want.”

Derpy shrugs as she says, “You may be right.”

“My turn, I take it?” Doctor Kelly checks as she floats a new lollipop into her mouth. “You seem to be going in the order your companions joined you, after all.”

In answer, the Doctor just nods at her.

“Well then. Let's see.” Doctor Kelly pauses a moment as she thinks about it. Unlike the others, though, she is acting way more casually about this.

“Being here was quite a shock for me too even though I got some forewarning about this,” Doctor Kelly expresses when she finally begins. “Issues like worthiness have been juggled in my mind. No matter how gifted or useful I clearly seem to be, part of my mind kept thinking that there could be somepony else out there more worthy than even me, so why me? Why was I chosen?”

Doctor Kelly looks at the Doctor.

“Helping those on this ship from a medical and psychological front was a given considering my prior talents, education, interests, and intentions. If I had a cutie mark, it likely would be a Red Cross or Pole with Twin Coiled Snakes or something of the like. What I am is clearly established and it is not a useless role on this ship, especially considering the frail condition of one of the members here.” She tilts her head. “Yet I also seem redundant because there was already a Doctor aboard this ship. His name is the Doctor because he is a doctor. Is my presence here an indication that this particular specialty will come in especially high demand? If so, then I'm glad I'm here.”

Doctor Kelly straightens her head as she says, “Another reason I seem to be here is to bear witness to your accomplishments, particularly in one regard, and that is the return of the Alphalmians to Water World. As a Magi, it is our sacred duty to guard the natives of that world. The fact that some of them got kidnapped anyway shows cracks in our defenses. Cracks that might have been there on purpose for some reason. For as long as I am here, I may bear witness to what really happened and then later share that testimony with my fellow magi perhaps.

“As for this Time War thing . . . I suppose my kind has always been a part of it. Ever since the Time War, the Doctor saved us from his own kind. That's likely the first of many to follow that pattern. We're already living in a reality where some of the Doctor's intentions come to fruition.

“On top of that, we just happen to have a fleet of hidden TARDISs at our disposal?” Doctor Kelly adopts a doubtful look. “Coincidence? Maybe, but we're talking about time travel here. Any possible fate we can imagine could have been engineered, and the Doctor's mind is capable of especially brilliant designs. He's already proven that time and time again. On top of that is the many varied talents of every companion he recruits from now unto all of eternity for all we know. Time Lords began their existence already capable of toying with something that many societies in the universe are already convinced is impossible to toy with to begin with, but we have always existed in a reality where this race can do this and others like them.” She floats her lollipop out of her mouth and points it across them all as she says, “I think the important thing to grasp, here, is precisely how that power is used.” She floats the lollipop back in her mouth. “Power, in any form, can be used to abuse or save lives. Time travel must, then, be regarded as a double-edged sword. It can be used for good purposes or bad purposes. The intent of various lifeforms in the universe has always been varied, so we can expect this to be no different. If you want to assume the role of a hero then realize that you'll be up against others with opposing viewpoints. In reality, that has always been true regardless if you meet the challenge or not. If you don't do it, somepony else will.”

Doctor Kelly looks down for a moment as she regathers her thoughts before looking forward again and resuming. “With all of that said, I don't mind being a part of that. I always valued history anyway. It would be very interesting to see it come alive. Likewise, I may encounter those who wish to both abuse and protect history. I'd like to think I fall in the latter category. I don't know why, but that feels like a role I'd naturally settle in.

“And I know I just joined this journey but I already feel too committed to feel satisfied just trotting away from it now. I want to see how this story ends. For me, at the very least. I also feel like we're doing something important, and I don't believe I'm the only one that sees it that way.

“There certainly can be far less important ways to spend one's life. Many, even most, of my kind are content to settle for that. Just fritter their lives away in ultimately trivial pursuits. Speaking for myself, however, I'd like to die someday knowing I've done something meaningful with my life. I may not see how that ending will be at this point. I'm not a seer.” She says with a brief glance at Vision. “But I am content to follow this story to the very end, come what may.” She looks at then nods to the Doctor. “So, in other words, just for the sake of clarity, I'm with you, Doctor.”

“Very well, then,” the Doctor says with a tone of acceptance. “You have all made your intentions quite clear. I can't say I'm surprised either given what I know of each of you so far, but I hope you understand and respect why I gave you this educated choice upfront. Before now, it was all about aimless wandering and perhaps getting caught up in a few overarching quests, but this has grown to something so much larger than I had imagined until recently. If we are going to do this, then we have become an organization with a united purpose. As such, what should we call ourselves from now on?”

“You mean something to signify what our purpose is as an organization?” Feather Wind checks.

“Aye,” the Doctor confirms with a nod.

“Well, we seem committed to becoming guardians of time,” Stern Wing points out. “I'm down for that.”

“True, but it's more than that,” the Doctor refines. “This is more than just protecting history from being abused. We have an active as well as reactive role in this story of ours. We are trying to form a specific version of history through our own actions and intentions. What name can we give ourselves to signify that purpose?”

“Well, if we're going to be involved in a war, however remotely, then it seems to me we've taken on the role of a warrior somewhat,” Doctor Kelly muses.

The Doctor winces as he says, “I've never been comfortable with the idea of warriors and soldiers because both of those roles support a war. I'm trying to oppose it, or at least minimize it.”

“But you are okay with the role of a guardian, correct?” Stern Wing checks. “If not, then why did you recruit me?”

“Of course I am,” the Doctor confirms. “Champions. Heroes. All of that. That I fully endorse.”

“How about a Knight, then?” Feather Wind proposes. “That conjures up words like a guardian and gallivant heroes. They can be warriors too if need be but they tend to have a more refined purpose than that. A knight is a symbol of something greater than themselves.” Then he grows a wide smile on his face. “I got it. How about we call ourselves the Knights of the Hourglass?”

“Knights of the Hourglass, huh?” muses the Doctor. “Huh. It has a nice ring to it. Well played, my warrior poet.” He looks across them all. “But that is just my opinion. If we're all going to be called something then I want it to be something we all agree with, so what do the rest of you think?”

“I'm down for that,” Stern Wing agrees. “I've come to expect anything Feather to come up with to have a nice ring to it. In this case, it sounds distinguished too. If I'm going to represent something, I want it to be something that would clearly show others where I stand. This is good enough for me.”

“I think it's excellent,” Derpy cheers.

“Works for me,” Vision accepts with a neutral shrug.

“Good as any, I suppose,” Doctor Kelly also accepts. “If we stick with this, then we can expect other future travelers with the same purpose to announce themselves by that as well. That's just something we need to keep in mind, then.”

“Knights of the Hourglass then!” the Doctor decides as he spins about to face the TARDIS controls. “Very well. With our united purpose and name in mind, it is time to continue our journey together. Onwards and Upwards, my friends!”

Necessary Respite Part 1, Doctor's Orders

The Doctor stands alone in the TARDIS control room. From there, he has a blank stare at the TARDIS controls. It is a blank expression which hides the livid fury within him.

Failure! Utter and complete failure!

The Doctor wonders, to himself, how all of this went so wrong, so fast. This was Doctor Kelly's very first mission outside of her home world, too. He only hopes this doesn't give her the impression that devastation like this is commonplace for him.

The Doctor closes his eyes and bows his head as he mulls over what happened and what might have gone wrong.

Well, to begin with, the Doctor already knew he was entering into hostile territory for this mission since it began in one of the fleet ships of the Klaxians. The primary goal was to secure this ship's manifest. He was hoping it might provide a clue on what happened to the kidnapped Alphalmians. It honestly was a long shot. He was initially firing at this in the dark because this was his first attempt to secure that information, but at the very least he was hoping for clues that might narrow down his target to the correct ship that could help him find and deliver on his promise to the Alphalmian Princess.

The Doctor already knew, too, that he could find other victims of the Klaxians who got captured into slavery. He knew that, but he did not expect to find this universe's ponified version of the Ood race. Once again he encounters them victimized into a slave role. This is honestly becoming a disturbing pattern that the Doctor has noticed about this particular race, even in a universe off.

It's interesting to note that the Ood race is also highly telepathic, just like the Alphalmians. It seems like someone is highly in the market for telepathic slaves around these centuries. Whoever these individuals or organizations are have already fallen far out of favor with the Doctor, but what is important to note here is the possible reasons for targeting races like this. In the wrong hands, power like this might do a lot of damage, to say nothing about the psychological damage to the enslaved races themselves.

What are they after? The Doctor feels compelled to know even if part of him dreads the answer.

In any case, he can't afford to ignore this.

The Doctor realizes that the problem started before they even set foot outside of the TARDIS during their last mission. Doctor Kelly brought up the fact she brought six crystals she called Warp Stones. To use them properly, the stones would have to be set upon any level, flat surface then activated. In doing so, the stones would create a teleportation circle upon that flat surface. From there, they have the power to teleport anyone within the circle to another teleportation circle as long as the other circle is already set and known to the user. These Warp Stones, according to her, are known to be especially accurate as long as the user teleports themselves to another preset teleportation circle. To do this, the user must hold an image of the distinct pattern of another circle in the users mind. Then, while standing within the pattern of a teleportation circle, they simultaneously energizing the circle their standing upon with magical energy. The Warp Stone itself can even be included in the warp, but in that case, the user can't warp back if there is no longer a teleportation circle there.

Doctor Kelly wanted to leave one of the Warp Stones on this ship permanently and then carry at least one other Warp Stone on their later adventures. That way those on an away mission always had ready access back into the TARDIS for whatever reason so long as the other Warp Stone can be placed on a flat and level surface and the user provides enough magical energy to power the teleportation circle. The Warp Stones themselves can be pre-charged with one charge as well, but if used, the stones would have to be recharged to use that function again.

Doctor Kelly also planned to leave one of her two floating spherical droids, Bit or Byte, with Vision so that they could communicate and monitor the young filly's status from a distance. That much was accomplished just fine.

The problem here is the TARDIS itself. The Doctor knew that this ship, and others like it, came equipped with formidable physical as well as dimensional defenses. The ships are nearly impossible to just throw open the doors and invade because the ships exist within their own quantum dimension, and that dimension has additional defenses to deflect interdimensional intrusion unless the right method is used to penetrate that defense. That's the whole point of having a TARDIS key.

Right off the bat, the Doctor knew Doctor Kelly's experiment would fail and he warned her of that in advance. In the back of the Doctor's mind, though, he was also thinking that there might be a way to design a bypass for this system. A way to attune each of the Warp Stones so that they could be able to penetrate the TARDIS's defenses. With a drone left behind to monitor Vision and a Warp Stone brought with them as well as one left behind in this ship, Vision would always be a simple warp away no matter how far the crew goes outside of this ship. That would also mean that every other resource left inside the ship remains accessible despite any distance they travel from the ship.

The Doctor realizes that he should have devoted more time to focus on that project and invent a bypass method before this mission even started. He had this resource in his hands already. He just needed a little extra time on it and he could have secured a critical advantage for him and his crew ever onward.

But no. That's not what happened. The Doctor charged into a hostile Klaxian ship unprepared, and it cost him dearly this time.

Fortunately, his own crew is safe, but the Ood . . .

The Doctor initially figured he would have all the time in the world necessary to solve this problem. It wouldn't be easy for him. He knew the Klaxians wouldn't give up their “cargo” without a fight, and indeed, they didn't. As soon as he and the Doctor's crew were detected, plasma energy balls got fired at them from multiple directions. What made this worse was they occasionally had to pass through hot and steamy narrow corridors. For a high-tech society, the Klaxians sure love a steampunk motif for their ships. Not only did this make it difficult for his crew and him to dodge some of those plasma blasts, but the walls and pipes in the halls were hot to the touch. And, of course, that doesn't bother the Klaxians because they like it hot. That's one of the main points why they wear their environmental suits when they go off their home world and ships.

That was another thing. The ship was very hot. That already frayed the nerves of him and his crew. He's kicking himself hard right now for being so unprepared this time.

Maybe the final nail in this coffin, however, took place after the Klaxians suddenly removed themselves as a threat. The Doctor should have been wary of that fact, but at the time, he mainly celebrated the fact he had one less obstacle in his path. Not being shot at felt very good back then and it made it so much easier to get to the bridge of the ship. Once he got there, he figured he'd have the ship's manifest in his hands as well as access to the main controls of the ship. He could at least unlock the Ood from their cells there or maybe even steer the entire ship towards some lawful authority and they could take care of the Klaxians as well as their former slaves.

It seemed like such a good plan at the time. Get to the bridge and he could checkmate this entire adventure so it no longer mattered what the Klaxians were up to themselves.

Boy was he ever so wrong! It turns out the Klaxians had evacuated the ship through their various escape pods and then steered the ship into a collision course with a local planet. Probably a planet that they had just recently kidnapped the Ood from. That also means that anyone in the impact area of the downed ship was also taken down.

Talk about an epic failure for the Doctor and his team!

“Hell-oh, Doc-tor!” the Doctor recalled that the Klaxian commander of the ship taunted him via a holographic projection on the bridge of the ship. “Do not try to in-ter-fear with the steer-ing of this ship with your son-ic de-vice. You will find it quite im-pos-eh-bal to use a dam-aged de-vice at this junk-ture.”

“You'd crash this entire ship just to get back at me?! Are you INSANE?!” the Doctor shouted a the holographic projection of the commander in horror.

“I bring you a mes-age from high ca-mand,” the Klaxian commander went on. “Thanks for your war-ning, Doc-tor. We re-mem-bered it and made sure to make the ah-pro-pre-ate per-cah-tions for your next ah-ri-val.” He nods tauntingly. “Enjoy the ship while you can. I'm sure it is well earned.”

“STARS BLAST YOU!!!” the Doctor shouted at the top of his lungs as he smashed the holographic projection node with a hoof hard enough to shatter it into sparks. Curiously it released a lot of steam as well for some reason. “I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! I SWEAR IT!”

“Doctor, we need to go!” Derpy had cried out fearfully as they all watched this ship plunging through the atmosphere of an alien planet through the bridge's large front-view port. Heat started to noticeably arise on the nose of the ship as it dove. More and more violent rocking on the ship gradually also climbed.

For a moment, the Doctor just stood there as he seethed with fury but also tried to mentally calculate a vast array of possible options to salvage this operation. He had already tried to take control of this ship with his sonic device but, as promised, critical components of this ship were already deliberately damaged beforehand. He really didn't have sufficient time to repair it from there.

“DOCTOR, COME ON! LET'S GO!” Stern Wing cried as she made her way to the exit of the bridge but waited for her friends there. From there, she ushered them past her when they caught up to her.

Fortunately for the Doctor, Doctor Kelly insisted on healing the Doctor's leg injury caused when he smashed the holographic projection node. She did this with a healing beam from her drone, Bit, which greatly accelerated the natural healing rate of whatever target the beam happened to be aiming at. That was useful intel for the Doctor so he vowed to privately remember that asset.

As it turned out, it was wise for Doctor Kelly to insist upon healing the Doctor because he needed to make a full sprint back to the TARDIS. If only he had access to the Warp Stones at the time. Maybe he would have had enough time to save some of the Ood along the way back to the ship.

The Doctor remembered his treacherous journey back to his own ship. Not only because of the violent rocking of the ship increasing, but pipes of steam burst along the way back. Sometimes they had to dodge around or pass through the darn things. Meanwhile, explosions full of metal shrapnel burst all around them. On top of that, mechanical monstrosities of what looked like brass spheres with spider legs and a single nose armed with a plasma cannon kept firing at them as they made their way out of the ship. Feather not only blocked some of those attacks but also the jets of hot steam they encountered as well. Stern Wing once flew forward and violently tackled one of those machines then threw it at another while she screamed in determined rage.

It was difficult to notice this until they made it back to the TARDIS, but the Ood had started a vibrating song. From there, the Doctor paused for a moment then looked back because he finally noticed the lovely song of the Ood.

From what he could tell, it sounded like the Ood was celebrating their impending release of their spirits from their mortal coil. They accepted death gracefully, peacefully, and with joy in their hearts. They sang in unison and great harmony as a naturally telepathic race often can.

At that moment, the Doctor wanted to ask the Ood for their forgiveness, but their song did not hold even a hint of malice in it. It sounded like they had already forgiven the Doctor, and his companions for their failure to rescue them even before it occurred to the Doctor to ask for it. The Ood might have even forgiven the Klaxians for their transgressions in this affair.

Their peaceful acceptance of their deaths made the Doctor feel all the more guilty. The only consolation he could possibly think of was the Ood would gain their freedom back . . . in a way.

“COME ON, DOCTOR! LET'S GO!” Stern Wing cried out from within the TARDIS.

With heavy pain and fury in his hearts, the Doctor whipped his head back in the direction of the TARDIS and charged right on in.

Back in the present, the Doctor smashes both of his hooves onto the TARDIS control console and then leans heavily into it. His shoulder blades on his back flex as he leans into it and lowers his head.

While it may have been extreme, the message of the Klaxian commander is clear to the Doctor. The intent of this trap likely truly was meant to kill the Doctor and his crew, but on the off chance that any of them survives, the Klaxians wanted it known that they are often surrounded by those that the Klaxians would consider mere commodities, but the TARDIS crew would consider hostages and the Klaxian's are aware of that fact. This execution was staged to prove a point, and that is that the Klaxians are indeed willing to go that far again if the Doctor, and/or his crew, ever dare to make a move on another Klaxian ship, base, or territory. With that in mind, the Doctor needs to consider his next move carefully to avoid any further collateral damage.

It is rare for the Doctor to be this furious at anyone, but this time he is including himself. So many mistakes had piled up with that last mission. So many better plans he should have come up with. He is so angry for his failure and his arrogance. Once again, it is others that paid the price, except he would too in his own way. Burdens like this just collect on his hearts ever onward. He has centuries, maybe even millennia, to torture himself over this recent failure, and why not? He's already done things like this many times over with other events before this one.

“Doctor,” speaks up Doctor Kelly's voice in the room. To acknowledge her, the Doctor peeks back at her over the edge of his right shoulder blade. From there, she can only see the upper half of his right blue eye that is currently very tiny. He is just too livid with fury to speak, so instead, he just looks at her to signal that she has his attention as much as he can give it at this moment. With his attention, she tells him, “the crew needs a relaxing vacation after that last mission, including this ship's captain.”

The Doctor just continues to stare at Doctor Kelly silently.

“Doctor's orders,” Doctor Kelly insists as she floats a new lollipop into her mouth. “I mean it. This is a necessary respite after so much psychological damage was caused in the last mission. I suggest you keep that in mind when charting our next course.

“Actually, no. I take that back. I don't suggest it. I insist!”

The Doctor slowly looks away from her and back to the TARDIS controls. From there, he closes his eyes and bows his head. He tries to think of a suitable location and time. One pops into his head almost immediately.

The Doctor opens his eyes again and then starts working the controls. As he silently does so, he has to mentally exert quite a bit of effort to compel himself into this action. Right now he is so depressed that it is making him feel lethargic, but he forces his limbs to press on anyway. He reminds himself that doing this is for the sake of his crew, and he'd do anything for them.

“Thank you,” Doctor Kelly expresses quietly behind him.

The Doctor feels like it is he who should be thanking her instead. After all, she is just expressing a kind and professional opinion about the status of him and his crew. She's the only one brave and strong enough to step up to the Doctor and insist upon this action on behalf of all of their mental health. His love grows for her because of this, but right now he finds it so difficult to express considering the fury he is recovering from.

When the Doctor makes a final yank of a lever, the TARDIS groans into action. Because of the noise the machine makes, it alerts the rest of his crew that they are on their way again. As a result, the others gradually file back into the TARDIS's main control room.

“Where and when are we now?” Stern Wing asks in a tone of annoyance as if she was recently awakened from a beautiful dream. She is, therefore, very groggy and irritable for the interruption. On the other hand, she feels compelled to ask because wherever and whenever they are might pose another security risk. She wants to be prepared for that.

The Doctor forces moisture back into his throat and then answers, “Relax. We're someplace relatively safe this time. Because of that, all of you can go. Even Vision, but I still strongly recommend supervision in the latter case. There might not be too many threats out there in this time and place but I'm sure there is still plenty of things a blind filly can bump into without guidance.

“Also, if any of you do go, I highly recommend Derpy takes point on this one. As for myself, I'll remain in the TARDIS for a little while while I work on something. Anyone who doesn't wish to go out there may remain here if they wish.” The Doctor looks at Doctor Kelly as he requests of her, “I'd like to borrow your Warp Stones for a little while. See if I can tinker with them enough to ensure they can bypass the TARDIS's defenses. I want to be more ready next time.”

“You got it,” Doctor Kelly agrees with an accepting nod.

“You want Derpy to take point wherever and whenever we are?” Feather Wind reflects questioningly and then widens his golden eyes as he realizes something. He then looks at the Doctor as he asks, “We're in Ponyville, aren't we?”

Upon hearing that theory, the others, except Vision, widen their eyes in pleasant astonishment. Just like that, the mood of the crew just lit considerably already.

In response, the Doctor just cracks a smile at Feather Wind a bit then gestures to the exit of the TARDIS invitingly.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” Derpy gushes excitedly. “I can't wait to show you all my native hometown of Ponyville! You're all going to adore it! I promise!”

“We did want to check this out anyway,” Stern Wing says as she looks at and raises a left eyebrow at the exit of the TARDIS. Her expression remains otherwise very serious. “After all, this might be a suitable refuge to leave Vision for a while while she grows up.”

“I assume I get a say in this?” Vision asks.

“Of course you do,” Stern Wing instantly agrees as her eyes shift back to the filly. “That's why you need to check this out as well.” She shakes her head. “We won't commit to this plan unless you also approve.”

“Eh,” Vision thinks about it for a moment before shrugging and saying, “Fair enough.”

“You need to take it easy as well,” Doctor Kelly insists to the Doctor.

“Knowing the rest of you are safe is relaxing enough for me,” the Doctor expresses back. “Doing something to help ensure that safety in the future will also go a long way to ease my mind.

“Besides, I'll be able to join you all out there too in a way.”

Feather Wind squints as he asks, “What does that mean?”

“You'll see,” the Doctor replies with a coy smile. “Go on out there and see for yourself.”

“How close are we in the town?” Stern Wing checks with the Doctor.

“We're within it, so pretty close,” the Doctor answers.

“Someplace private, I hope?” Stern Wing probes further. “The residents of this town and time might be peaceful, but materializing in the middle of a busy street might disturb some of that peace so I hope you kept that in mind.”

“No place is perfect, but I'm reasonably confident our materialization spot won't raise too much of a ruckus,” the Doctor reassures. “If necessary I can later move it again.”

“I'll leave Byte here again so that we can communicate with you while we're gone,” Doctor Kelly proposes.

“I approve,” the Doctor agrees.

“Why name it 'Bit' and 'Bite'?” Derpy asks in confusion. “As far as I can tell, they have nothing to do with food . . . or do they?”

Doctor Kelly shakes her head at Derpy as she says, “No. Not 'Bite' as in b-i-t-e, but 'Byte' as in b-y-t-e,” Doctor Kelly explains. “The term has more to do with a specific quantity of digital information rather than a morsel to eat. In this case, a 'bit' is a smaller quantity of 'byte'.”

“Ahhhhhhhhhh . . . I still don't get it,” Derpy admits with a confused blink of her walleyes.

“Yes. I can see that,” Doctor Kelly replies in a tone of acceptance.

“Oh wow! I just realized something interesting,” Feather Wind remarks with a minor grin. “As a breed, all of us are evenly split now. Two earth ponies, two pegasi, and two unicorns. Mathematically, this wasn't even possible until Doctor Kelly joined us.”

“Oh yeah! You're right!” Derpy realizes in amusement.

“Eh, well . . . technically I am a Magi, not a unicorn,” Doctor Kelly corrects. “Physiologically there are some differences. For instance, us magi are evolved to require less sleep per day. We can also sense and project magic far more easily. We use Magi gems to cast magic, and we live significantly longer, although that is by artificial means.”

“Less sleep, huh?” Feather Wind reflects. “But your world has far more thick and artificial magic. Maybe that has something to do with it. Furthermore, now that you left your home world, perhaps you'll find an increased need for sleep?”

Doctor Kelly lifts an eyebrow, intrigued, as she says, “You know what? That's a very good point, Feather Wind. Thank you for offering it. I should conduct a science experiment to see if that is the case. This could make a wonderful contribution to science.”

“On the subject of breeds, I am a Time Lord,” the Doctor points out. “So do I still count?”

“Eh.” Derpy sits down so she can lift both of her bent forelegs in a large shrug as she says, “Semantics.”

“Well, whether you're staying or going, everyone out!” the Doctor orders. “I need a moment of privacy to think about some things and work on a few projects.” He looks at Doctor Kelly again. “With those Stones, of course.”

“Bring your Red Crystal too!” Derpy requests of Feather Wind. “Ponyville is a wonderful place to capture good vibrations.”

“And if you do, I want to study that crystal in action,” Doctor Kelly brings up. “That information could also be useful.”

“Ah . . . speaking of which, are you bringing one of those droids with you?” Feather Wind asks Doctor Kelly cautiously.

“But of course! I always wish to bring one of my beloved pets because, with them, I could gather so much information and data samples,” Doctor Kelly answers.

“That might raise alarms in Ponyville,” Feather Wind cautions.

“Not in stealth mode, it won't,” Doctor Kelly argues then nods to one of her droids. “Watch.” Before their very eyes, one of the droids split open, creates a tool on its nose, then fades from sight. She smiles smugly as she brags, “Both of them can create a holographic projection node. Using that, it can create a projection not only to add something, but also omit something that was already there. Anypony who looks at it will only see a holographic projection of the background while the droid hides itself behind that wall of illusion.”

Smoke starts rising from Derpy's confused ears which causes the same sound as a kettle rising steam. She also starts glowering in frustration at how this conversation brought up confusing subjects for her multiple times. She's starting to get upset about how often this is making her feel dumb.

“Suffice it to say it can't easily be detected now,” Doctor Kelly reiterates for Derpy's benefit.

“Again, out,” the Doctor reminds insistently.

Part 2 Tick Tock Time Turner

One thing that is immediately apparent to the TARDIS crew is, as soon as they open the front door of the ship, they hear the sounds of ticking and clicking. As a result, some of the crew, like Feather Wind, glances behind him at the Doctor to see if this result is expected. The Doctor, in turn, doesn't seem to pay his crew any attention but at least this means he doesn't look alarmed. Even from back there, he should be hearing this too.

Outside of the TARDIS, the environment is heavily shaded but not totally dark. For those who step outside, it takes the crew a moment for their eyes to adjust. As their eyes wander (for those who can) and take in their surroundings, one thing they notice that is alarming is the silhouette of some other unidentified pony almost immediately ahead of them. Upon noticing that, Derpy screams, startled. Doing so provokes this mysterious stranger to also shout in startled fear, but now the crew can tell, based on this pony's voice, that they are dealing with a rather familiar-sounding stallion.

Stern Wing instinctively leaps into action by charging ahead of the group and then spreading her wings to defend those behind her. As for Feather, he creates a light off the tip of his horn to help illuminate the situation. However, given his short stature and the fact he's now behind Stern Wing who stepped forward and spread her wings, the stranger is still concealed in shadow until Feather steps around Stern a bit in order to spread his horn light upon this new stranger.

Upon doing so, the crew is taken aback to see the Doctor before them who is shielding his eyes from the sudden brightness in the room.

“Doctor!” Derpy exclaims in surprise.

“Derpy?” the Doctor asks ahead of them. “Confound it, girl. You didn't have to scream! You almost gave me a heart attack.”

Derpy blinks her walleyes at the Doctor and tilts her head as she says, “But I thought you decided you wouldn't leave the TARDIS right now.”

“Actually,” speaks up Feather Wind as he glances over his shoulder and into the TARDIS, “the Doctor is still in the TARDIS.”

“Then you must be . . .” Derpy begins but then gasps in astonishment before declaring. “Oh my Celestia! We're in the future!”

“Ah . . . what?” the familiar-looking stallion ahead of them blinks in confusion.

“Is a future version of me out here too?” Derpy asks in a tone of awe as she moves forward and gingerly rubs both of her forehooves on this stallion's cheeks. “Speak, Oh Future One of the Doctor.”

This stallion narrows his eyes at Derpy as he asks her, “Have you gone mad?” He slaps her hooves away fairly gently. “Derpy, it's me! Time Turner. You know me. We've even grown up in this town together.” Then he applies a hoof to his bottom lip in a thoughtful pose. “Although it is true we didn't know each other that well back then.”

“Huh?” Derpy tilts her head in confusion as she sits down.

“Don't you remember? We agreed that the TARDIS can park itself here, in my place of work and residence, to avoid being conspicuous outside,” Time Turner reminds then narrows his eyes. He also puts his hoof from his bottom lip back to the ground. “Just how long has it been for you since we last made that agreement?”

“Oh! Um,” Derpy looks to her side and thinks back. The answer she is looking for quickly returns to her the moment she checks. This makes her blush in embarrassment, close her eyes, and rub the back of her neck with a hoof. “Oh. Now I remember. Oops. My bad.” She opens her eyes again and lowers her hoof from behind her head. “But in my defense, it has been a while for me and I've been through a lot since that time.”

“Could somepony please fill the rest of us in on this situation?” Doctor Kelly kindly, but also a bit insistently, requests.

“Oh! Sure,” Derpy agrees as she stands back up again. Time Turner offers a hoof to help her rise again which she accepts then gives him a grateful nod before turning back to face the rest of her friends. “I'm just being a silly goof again. Time Turner here is a true resident pony of Ponyville who happens to resemble, sound like, and even behave like the Doctor. They even have the same cutie mark. One important difference here, though, is he is not a Time Lord but a true earth pony.”

“Looks, sounds, and acts like the Doctor but he isn't?” Doctor Kelly reiterates questioningly then narrows her eyes in doubt. “I find this hard to believe.” She widens her eyes back to normal again. “But then again, I've already seen some pretty strange things in the short time I've joined this crew. Maybe weird just comes with the territory of the Doctor's journey in the TARDIS.”

“I'd drink to that if I had something to drink,” Stern Wing agrees.

“Wow! The Doctor sure has a lot of neat and new companions traveling with him,” Time Turner notes in surprise. “And who might you all be?” He then blinks in stronger surprise when he regards Vision. “And he even brought a foal with him?”

“I foresee I am going to get that response a lot,” Vision predicts.

“And a blind foal at that?!” Time Turner realizes with even greater surprise.

“I can explain,” Derpy promises as she turns to face Time Turner. “But it's going to take me some time. It's been quite a while for me since I last came here to Ponyville.”

“Speaking of time, where are we?” Stern Wing asks as she looks up and notices a dizzying array of whirling wooden gears above crisscross wooden beams that serve as the only true barrier against the deadly hazards even further above. The architecture above them seems to narrow from the four walls to a single tip somewhere beyond sight.

“You haven't guessed? We're inside the Ponyville Clock Tower where I live and work,” Time Turner answers. “It's also where I tinker with a few inventions.”

“So this is Ponyville,” Feather Wind says with a nod then grows thoughtful. “Huh. I think I now realize what the Doctor meant when he said he might join us outside, in a way, despite remaining in the TARDIS himself.”

“He is?” Time Turner asks with a blink of surprise and a small shade of concern in his eyes. “Is he alright?”

“Actually, no. He's not,” Doctor Kelly answers. “Physically we're mostly fine thanks to my fastidious treatment, but mentally? Well . . . let's just say that is precisely why the Doctor delivered us here next. He seemed to believe we might be safe and relaxed here.” Her ears flick above her head along with a flinch of annoyance on her face. “But apparently he doesn't intend for us to actually sleep here with all that racket above us.”

“Oh, one gets used to it,” Time Turner says with a glance above him before looking back and flashing Doctor Kelly a grin. “In time,” he adds mischievously.

After a few seconds of awkward silence from the group, Derpy is the only one to crack up with a giggle due to Time Turner's recent comment.

Stern Wing lifts a hoof in front of her lips, clears her throat to signal for attention, then returns her hoof to the ground as she introduces, “Well, anyway, to address the important question you posed for us a moment ago, I am Stern Wing and this is my dear foalhood friend, Feather Wind.”

“It's an unexpected pleasure to meet you both,” Time Turner greets happily.

“And this little one is named Vision,” Stern Wing continues as she uses her right wing to gesture back at the young white filly. “She, Feather, and I both hail from the same world and time period.” She focuses her eyes back on Turner from Vision. “Which is Equestria but about one hundred years ago.”

“Oh!” Time Turner blinks in surprise. “That would be very close to the founding of this town.”

Feather Wind nods as he says, “In fact, I first met the one you all call 'Granny Smith' when she was still just a yearling. I've had a few more encounters with both her and her family later on. I've even known the Orchards, later calling themselves The Apples, after they already moved into this area.” He nods emphatically. “They already had their early harvests of Zap Apple as well.”

“Well, if you're talking about one hundred years ago, the family, as a whole, have a whole host of family names across that time,” Time Turner informs them. “Some of them still call themselves the Orchards. There are also the Apples and the Oranges.

“Believe me, their family is pretty big and they are spread out all over the place across Equestria and maybe even beyond, yet they still gather from far and wide for various family reunions if they can manage it. That's not just an old family tradition, but quite likely a promise they made to themselves quite a while ago.” He lifts a hoof as he lectures, “Information like that can be found out on Founders Day which celebrates the founding of Ponyville.” He looks corner-wise up as he squints a bit. “I think there is even a museum to that effect?” He then looks down and rubs the bottom of his chin. “Or am I thinking of the Apple Family historian, Goldie Delicious?”

“Well, be that as it may, my name is Doctor Kelly Saddler,” Doctor Kelly introduces. “I'm the most recent recruit among this bunch. In fact, I've only participated in exactly one other mission since leaving my home world. Also, unlike the rest of you, I don't hail from Equestria or even this world entirely. Instead, I come from what I can safely assume is a far-distant future relative to this timeline. I live on and within an artificial moon that can simulate anything and anyone.”

“How fascinating! I'd love to hear more about you, your kind, and your home world,” Time Turner says with excited delight.

“Well, that would take time,” Doctor Kelly says with a grin. “In the meantime, may I have your permission to scan you with a device that could provide me with a whole bunch of medical data about you? I wish to have a comparison between you and the Doctor.”

“Scan me with a device?” Time Turner emphasizes with a deeply intrigued look. “Is it some kind of advanced tech you have in the future?”

“To put it bluntly and aptly, yes,” Doctor Kelly answers.

“Then please do!” Time Turner excitedly invites. “That way I'd get a chance to see it for myself. If you haven't guessed from some of the clutter around here,” he gestures across the floor to various components and devices that are indeed scattered across the floor. “I fancy myself an inventor by hobby. Devices which help to prove that science is the real magic!”

Doctor Kelly lifts an eyebrow as she gazes at Time Turner in approval then says, “If what you say is true, then by all means . . . continue your work. It is likely ponies like you are the cause of the more advanced future I grew up in.” She nods at him. “I also have a healthy respect for science as well.”

“Then I am most delighted to make your acquaintance!” Time Turner says to Doctor Kelly in delight.

“Likewise,” Doctor Kelly loosely acknowledges as she glances away from him at what, at first, appears to be empty air until a spherical device drops the hologram it is hiding behind and switches the device on its nose to a scanning contraption. From there, it hovers around Time Turner while projecting green laser lines up, down, right, and left of him. While it does that, Time Turner regards it with foal-like delight.

“Amazing! Incredible! I simply must take it apart and examine how it works!” Time Turner says in delight.

“You'll do no such thing,” Doctor Kelly objects. “But I can show you design schematics for it if that will suffice.”

“Absolutely!” Time Turner gladly invites.

“Though I must warn you, this might be too technical for a pony of your time,” Doctor Kelly warns.

“I shall not be swayed!” Time Turner insists. “You're likely right and I shall not well understand such advanced marvels, but to merely behold it in all of its technical glory might be akin to a euphoric, almost religious experience for me.”

“So be it,” Doctor Kelly says in a neutral tone of acceptance. “And . . . done.”

Finished with its scan, the droid reverts the device on its nose back to a holographic projection node and then vanishes from sight again.

“Later,” Doctor Kelly promises as Time Turner passes her a sad, puppy-dog-like expression. “For now, we actually came here to relax.”

“And I have wanted to show them around Ponyville for quite some time,” Derpy adds. “Care to join us? It would be nice to show them around town with another fellow resident.”

Time Turner thinks that over for a brief moment before he boldly declares while puffing out his chest, “Very well. I shall gladly escort you all to whatever else you wish to see that is legal for me to show you. While we do that, perhaps you can fill me in on some of the details of your adventures since you last departed.”

“It's a deal, Doctor!” Derpy expresses very brightly but then looks startled, then embarrassed, as she realizes something. “Oh! I mean . . . Time Turner.”

“You all can call me the Doctor if you wish,” Time Turner invites. “But it might be less confusing if you reserve that terminology for your Time Lord friend whenever I am around.” He then straightens. “Well then . . . shall we depart?” he offers as he gives a gesture to the stairs leading to the lower level of this Clock Tower and his personal home. “Time awaits no pony who lacks a time machine.”

“Sure!” Derpy accepts so brightly that she briefly closed her eyes. “Let's go.” She then trots on towards the stairs but then pauses as she looks back at Vision. “Oh! Um,” she trots back to Vision and drapes a gray wing over the filly. “Stick close to me. There are many odds and ends in here which you can stumble on, not to mention the stairs up ahead.”

“Oh goodie,” Vision says dryly. “I also look forward to getting a good listen of Ponyville.”

“I'll describe it to you too,” Derpy decides when she realizes Vision has a point about the young filly's inability to get a visual look at the town.

“I'd, ah . . . like a few moments with Stern first,” Feather Wind requests. “We'll catch up in a few moments. I promise.”

“Oh! Um . . . sure,” Derpy accepts with a bit of surprise in her eyes. “We'll just be downstairs.”

“It's safer and quieter down there anyway,” Time Turner mentions. “That's my actual living quarters.”

“Then let's proceed immediately,” Doctor Kelly says with minor eagerness. “So much the better to get away from all this noise up here.”

“As you wish, Milady,” Time Turner accepts. “Follow me.”

The others proceed down the stairs and out of sight of those remaining behind.

“What's sup?” Stern Wing checks with her friend after the others leave.

Before he answers, Feather Wind trots up to the face of a giant clock except he's viewing it from the inside. As such, it appears backwards. The majority of the light spilling in here is coming from the other side of the clock in addition to the light of Feather's own horn and that which is spilling out the still-open TARDIS.

When Feather is next to the base of the inside of the giant face of the clock, he sits down and appears to marvel at it for a moment.

“Something is on your mind. I can tell,” Stern Wing announces as she trots up then settles next to him. “Lay it on me.”

“We're in the future, Stern,” Feather finally announces.

“Yeah,” Stern accepts with a shrug. “That was true with several of the prior worlds we visited too.”

“But this time we're in Equestria,” Feather points out as he still gazes at the inside face of the clock. “And Ponyville in particular. It is a town that doesn't exist in our time yet, but it soon will.”

“Your point?” Stern Wing prompts.

Feather Wind looks down with a sigh. He closes his eyes and then says, “Vision said that her prophecies of the future are guaranteed to happen if no pony does anything to prevent it. She also said she doesn't only foresee disasters but she doesn't need to say anything about the good or neutral futures. There is no harm in saying nothing and just letting them happen on their own accord.” He opens his eyes. “It's only the bad futures she gives forewarning about.”

“True,” Stern agrees after a short moment of silence passes between them.

Feather looks to his right at Stern Wing sitting beside him as he says, “However, in our case, I don't think we should rest on our laurels here. If we encounter a possible miserable fate then of course we'll work to prevent it. If, on the other hoof, we encounter a good future, as we are likely to encounter out there, then I want us to make a pledge right now. I want us to promise that we won't blindly accept it or take it for granted. If we see a bright future out there then I want to make sure that we have the gumption to ensure that this future comes to pass, at least for our own part in its history.”

“Of course,” Stern Wing accepts with a neutral blink. “That had always been my plan. I'm perfectly aware that the top of a building can't be built without its critical foundation, and I've always lived by that motto anyway. No matter what I encounter out here in time and space, I'll always be me. If I see a future I actually do want to come to pass then I shall not be lazy about it and do the work necessary to bring its fruition.” She grins slightly. “I figured that goes without saying.”

“I just think it's important that we're very clear on this point,” Feather Wind explains. “We're not part of this timeline. We're just visiting it, and I dare not do or avoid anything that might jeopardize Derpy's existence or any of her friends. She means too much to me to dare to take that risk.”

“We're responsible only for our own lives regardless,” Stern Wing reminds. “Right now we're using our freedom to visit one possible future of Equestria, but that ultimately changes nothing, I think. When we get back to our time, I'm still going to live my life to be the best that I can be. Visiting here isn't going to change that for me. I advise you to stop overanalyzing our situation and just enjoy this experience.” She takes in a deep breath and then expels it before adding, “After our last adventure, I certainly do think we could use the vacation.”

“And I think it could be a much more fulfilling one compared to Doctor Kelly's world,” Feather says as he looks back at the inside of the giant clock's face. “I mean no offense to her when I say that, and I already cherish her as a friend.”

“Well . . . she left her home world too,” Stern Wing notes aloud. “Maybe that says something about her own opinion of her world.”

“She grew up in that world,” Feather points out. “She has every reason to feel like that kind of reality is normal for her. It's everywhere else that she has to get accustomed to.”

“Right, and now she's out here doing just that with us,” Stern counters. “Again, I think you shouldn't overthink it. Just enjoy this moment with your friends. Live this moment as if it is our present because, in this time, it is precisely that.”

“'When in Fillydelphia, do as the Fillydelphians do,'” Feather quotes.

“Precisely!” Stern accepts.

Feather Wind smiles at Stern Wing very fondly as he says, “Stern Wing . . . I need to tell you that I love you so much.”

“Alright. Get in here,” Stern Wing orders as she uses her giant left wing to pull Feather Wind in close for a shared hug. The size disproportion between them made it kind of feel, to her, like she's hugging a tiny toy.

Part 3 Tour of Ponyville

A mysterious quadruped cloaked figure observes those exiting the Clock Tower across the street with a triumphant grin. Not only are the newcomers across the street expected, but even expected to arrive at this precise time. The grin especially deepens when the cloaked figure observes Derpy and the Doctor exit the clock tower. These are just the ponies the cloaked figure needs to see.

The mysterious cloaked figure almost steps out of the shadows of the alleyway across from the Clock Tower, but then the cloaked figure observes something else that the figure did not expect, and that is even more newcomers exit the Clock Tower besides Derpy and the Doctor. Specifically, there are four unexpected extras; a small white blind filly, an egg white mare in a white lab coat and oddly glowing and floating glasses. Eventually two more join the scene. Two more ponies with strong height differences. A tall and large brown mare pegasus with darker tips at her wings and hooves, and a much smaller blue unicorn stallion who seems strangely familiar to the mysterious cloaked figure, but the figure can't place the blue stallion yet.

From across the street, the mysterious cloaked figure can't make out the cutie marks of all the newcomers yet, but the blue stallion is wearing a pair of saddlebags with a larger image off to the side. That picture shows a rolled-up scroll.

The mysterious cloaked figure ponders the image of the rolled-up scroll for a short while. That seems familiar to the cloaked figure too. Perhaps even too familiar. In the right social circles, the image of a rolled-up scroll can be as common to Equestria as an hourglass cutie mark.

There's something else noteworthy about the unknown newcomers across the street. All of them, except for the blind filly, Derpy, and the Doctor, are gazing around themselves in wonder. This makes it obvious that the newcomers have never seen Ponyville before. The interesting thing about that is that they have this reaction even though they didn't enter this town from the train station or the outer border of Ponyville. Instead, they are acting this way when they stepped out of the Clock Tower itself, implying that was their very first entry point into this town.

There's only one explanation for that that the mysterious cloaked figure can come up with.

Given this recent string of observations, it gives the mysterious cloaked figure pause. There might be a danger in approaching these new, unknown newcomers. The mysterious cloaked figure needs more information now. The figure decides it might be best to follow them for a little while and gather more information. That might change how the figure approaches them later on.

When the mysterious cloaked figure observes the others venturing on, the figure eventually, and stealthily, tails after them.

For the most part, to Feather Wind, exploring Ponyville felt just the same as exploring any other town for the first time in his native time. The only difference is this awareness that he does have some historical connection to this town. Also the terrain is a little familiar.

To Feather, there seems to be a haphazard design to the town which clearly shows there was no organized planner behind it. Instead, it seems more like some pony in history came into town, picked a random spot, then claimed it as their own. From there, that pony (or ponies) built a home or shop there over time and that was it. As a result, most roads that run through the town, which isn't much, are crooked. They just zig and zag all over the place. There also isn't much logic to the pattern of these homes or shops. There isn't much of a dedicated business or residential district. Instead, a shop might exist beside a home, followed by another home, followed by a shop that is also a home, then nothing at all after that. A pony would have to venture north, south, east, west, or somewhere in between to get to another built structure. If one does, the next building might be all alone with no other building directly adjacent to it.

As a result of all of this, a newcomer to this town can get very confused about where everything is, and could take quite a while to eventually learn all that. Paid tour guides should be much more common in this area except for the fact that this town isn't too large overall.

That said, there is one main street running through the center of the town. Every facility and shop that this town has that specifically caters to visitors is here and it has some organization in terms of theme to this section. Any visitor that came and went from this town is most likely thinking of this one street in particular. All the shop windows face this main street. Behind those shops is where buildings have this scattered design again.

There are a lot of rivers that fork through the town. Multiple bridges are built to compensate. The newcomers are told that most of these rivers fork from a single source. One of them feeds into a nearby lake which is Ponyville's largest local body of water.

This honestly doesn't shock Feather Wind. He had seen other towns with a similar design and for similar or exactly the same reasons. This especially tends to be a pattern with small pony towns and communities. However, larger cities are almost always far more organized with most of the districts dedicated to one purpose or another. It can change over time, but there still tends to be a rhyme and reason to it.

Architecturally, most of the buildings were fairly similar such as the thatched rooftops, but that similarity often includes some kind of unique flair to each building. Being unique in some way is exactly what they had in common. Some buildings took this concept quite a bit further by adding some obvious themes to it such as Rarity's shop, the Carousel Boutique, which is somewhat designed like a carousel. There is also Sugar Cube Corner which has an extra room built on top that looks like a giant cupcake. Feather suspects that the extra room was built later as if it was an afterthought or later addition.

Then there is the Golden Oak Library. That “building” is especially unique because it is the only one which is grown from the ground rather than constructively built. It, in fact, was a natural tree that later got carved out and converted into a home.

Since it is a library, it is also one of the destinations Feather is most personally interested to explore, but since it is also run by one of the legendary Elements of Harmony, Feather also felt wary of it because significant historical events may revolve around that particular mare. Even though it is a mare from his future, he still wanted to be careful how an individual that important is approached.

That is why Feather kept his silence about exploring that particular building further even though part of him wanted to. He even caught Stern glancing back at him once as if expecting him to object about moving on from that particular building. In doing so, she notices him ducking his head and being shy over this issue. When she sees that, she frowns slightly because she thinks her colt friend should be more assertive.

This seems like a very pleasant community with bright colors and happy citizens. As Derpy promised, most of the natives seem very friendly here.

Another area that fascinates Feather is the outskirts of Ponyville which has a farmers' market. This section of town doesn't have any permanent buildings for the most part. Most likely this was how the town originally looked before some decided to set roots here and construct more permanent buildings. The farmers' market instead has lots of tents and wooden stalls. Some have also set up shop in the back of their wagons or put items for sale on a blanket. In any case, it is something the sellers here can quickly and easily construct and then leave just as easily.

Something noteworthy about the farmers' market here is multiple things.

For one, they don't just sell produce here. There are non-edible goods that are also for sale and/or services.

For two, what is sold here isn't necessarily something that is sold in town in more permanent buildings. They can be, but there is a tendency to sell items here that aren't sold in town regularly. Random sellers come in and out of this section of town so one never knows what is being sold here unless a pony ventures here every single day, although Feather is also informed by Derpy that this market tends to have significantly higher business during weekends and holidays.

For both residents and visitors, this random factor can make exploring the market rather fun and potentially profitable because one never knows what will be sold here. It changes every day. Rare deals might be discovered here as well which either take the form of a product hardly ever sold here at a marked-up price, or common goods sold at unusually low prices.

As a result of all of these factors, the farmers' market tends to do very well for the sellers. It seems the demand is just a bit higher than the supply ever is on average. Part of the reason isn't just because of the residents and visitors, but also because the sellers are often buyers as well. In fact, it can be even more important for the sellers to explore this market for goods they aren't selling themselves (unless they are exploring or attempting to undermine the competition) because the sellers often come from distant and remote locations. Locations that don't have regular access to any shop. Most of these sellers are farmers themselves who specialize in certain types of crops. They keep what they need and then sell off the rest at markets like this. In return, they use the bits they earned to turn right back around and start becoming a buyer themselves for other goods that they need for their farm, including other produce that they don't grow or don't grow often.

All of this makes Ponyville the focal point of widely spread and more isolated communities such as single family farms. Markets like this are too distant for them to make every day so they tend to do this more like once a moon, or even once a season. Ponyville just happens to be the center of all of this where everyone consciously or unconsciously agreed to gather.

Once again, this is a common pattern for most of Equestria except in larger cities.

Ponyville occasionally gets merchants and goods from very distant locations. For those merchants, this is most likely just a pit stop along the way to either many locations across Equestria, which is usually more common, or a specific destination that is distant from where they started. Ponyville is where they offload some of their goods, get re-supplied for their journey, then off they go again. It is times like these why Ponyville gets access to exotic goods rarely sold in this area.

In Feather's estimation, it is Sweet Apple Acres that was the initial draw for this town, especially for one very rarely sold goods in Equestria, Zap Apple Jam. However, it was later that the train station really put Ponyville on the map. Ever since then, the town saw much more hoof traffic of all kinds. That's when the momentum of this town took a dramatic upswing.

Most likely it is a similar story with plenty of other very small communities that picked up into a town level of success or higher. The trains really brought Equestria networking together on a more regular basis and are, in fact, the greatest invention that Feather is seeing since his native time.

Observing this is making him feel like he's getting an unfair advantage. This is the kind of information that his father might kill for. Early investment in this type of business could make his family significantly richer, but there is a good chance that it took quite a while to pay off. The cost of the railroad tracks alone probably took decades to eventually become profitable, but when it finally did, early investors probably gained more money than they knew what to do with.

These days, however, Ponyville is enjoying a new wave of fame and fortune for an entirely different reason. Much more recently it has become known as the home of the greatest heroines of the current age. Heroines that could potentially access one of the greatest magics of all of Equestria. That kind of information turns heads and makes Ponyville a center focus because all six of these heroines just happen to live here and nowhere else, although most of them lived elsewhere in the past. Only Rarity and Applejack are true natives born and raised here.

“Ooo! This looks fun!” Derpy squees in excitement which shake Feather from his recent train of thoughts.

“Huh?” Feather asks Derpy questioningly then observes her looking at a certain dark tent with excitement. That tent has a sign in the front that says, “Madam Pinkie Pie.”

“Wait. Pinkie Pie?” Feather asks with a squint. “Isn't she one of the Elements of Harmony in this timeline?”

Derpy nods in confirmation as she says, “Yes indeedy! Specifically, she's the Element of Laughter and the town's most famous party planner.” She tilts her head as she goes on to say, “The thing is, one usually encounters her far more either in Sugar Cube Corner, shopping around for party supplies, or actually at a party she helped to organize. This,” Derpy gestures to the tent, “is a rather rare service from her.” Derpy then smiles brightly. “And one I wish to partake of right now.”

Feather squints one eye as he asks cautiously, “Are you sure it is wise for us to do so? Pinkie is one of the ones who is often wrapped around important events in this timeline.”

“I'm surprised you asked that,” Stern says aloud to Feather. “I thought we discussed this. That we should live in the current time as if it is our present. While we're here, we shouldn't be afraid to partake of . . .” Stern trails off when she realizes something, then snaps her gaze at Feather as she says, “Oh! That's why you didn't insist for us to visit the Golden Oak Library.”

“What?!” Derpy regards Feather in minor alarm. “If you wanted to visit the library then you should have told me.”

“I just . . . I didn't . . . I . . .” Feather stutters then trails off as his cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I . . . have no excuse,” he relents, thus giving up on trying to explain himself.

“Well, we can always go back there later,” Time Turner proposes. “In the meantime, we're here right now,” he says with a gesture to Pinkie's tent.

“Being such a well-known mare in this town, is there any particular reason Pinkie's predictions here are especially trustworthy?” Stern Wing asks cautiously.

“If you ask me, I think this whole thing is ridiculous and unscientific,” Time Turner scoffs in disdain. “The hocus-pocus nonsense is mainly for the entertainment of the uneducated.”

“Hey! If there is one thing that Pinkie is especially well known for, it is how to make any event fun,” Derpy says in Pinkie's defense at Time Turner then says to them all, “Also, Pinkie has a famous reputation for predicting certain things. No pony knows how she does it, but it's too accurate to afford to ignore it. If Pinkie's tail is twitching, for example, it is best to find shelter soon because something is going to fall.”

“That sounds really unscientific,” Doctor Kelly observes with minor disgust.

“I know. Right?” Time Turner enthusiastically agrees.

“But plenty of ponies swear by it,” Derpy promises. “Even Twilight, one of the town's most famous scientific skeptics, was convinced of this due to too much repeated evidence.” Derpy shrugs. “So Pinkie setting up shop to predict other things of the future doesn't seem that far off.”

“That's funny because, technically, me, Feather, and Vision are visiting from the past,” Stern cracks up. “Seeing all of this is seeing the future for us. With access to a time machine, we could go even further into the future, and already have, and experience other things that could enable us to make other reliable 'predictions' about the future.”

“Thus verifying if Pinkie's predictions are accurate or not,” Feather adds with a grin.

“Well I still think that is facetious logic,” Time Turner argues. “Look. I can predict the future too if I wanted to as well. For instance, I predict a certain pony with an hourglass cutie mark is going to kick a bit of dirt on the ground.” Time Turner proceeds to do so then sarcastically gasps as he places a hoof on his cheek and says, “Oh look! My prediction came true! Gasp!” He then lowers his hoof back to the ground and drops his eyelids halfway with a dry look. “Looks like I'm a Great and Powerful seer as well. Maybe I should set up my own shop about this.” He waves at Pinkie's tent. “Apparently anypony can do this.”

“Oh come on, Doc!” Derpy cheers with a gentle nudge to Time Turner with a bent knee. “It's all in good fun! You got to get into the spirit of things.” She shrugs. “Besides, what if she's right? The knowledge we gain could end up important.” She narrows her eyes and looks off to the side. “There are certain things that I would like to know about my future.”

“Look, if any of you want to waste your bits here, be my guest,” Time Turner invites. “I guess it could at least be a kind of emotional support for a while there. On the other hoof, if you ask me, even if these predictions did come true then where's the fun in that? Would you really feel satisfied knowing everything that is going to happen?”

“I get by,” Vision announces casually. “And I can't predict everything. Just some things.”

“Point taken,” Stern Wing agrees with a gesture to Vision while regarding Derpy. “We already have a genuine psychic right here among us.”

“Oh please,” exacerbates Time Turner with a roll of his eyes. “So I guess you're going to claim you're a psychic too?”

“Actually, there might be something to the gifts of this little one,” Doctor Kelly points out. “And besides, knowledge of the future can be quite ambiguous to those who trot through time.”

“I'm not claiming to be anything,” Vision argues. “I am what I am regardless of anypony else's opinion of me. I don't require external validation to do what I do.”

Time Turner's expression towards Vision shifts from skeptical to a small shade of respect due to her comment.

“What do you feel from this one now?” Stern Wing asks Vision curiously. “The one in the tent, that is. Pinkie Pie.”

Before Vision answers, she steers her right ear in Pinkie's direction which is a clue that Vision is now focusing on that particular pony. She doesn't say anything for a few seconds. She just concentrates. Eventually she says, “I feel bubbly, happy energy from the one in the tent known as Pinkie Pie,” Vision announces. “It's very similar to Derpy's energy, actually, except Pinkie's is more steady. Derpy's energy sparkles and pops in and out, much like her cutie mark. With Pinkie Pie, however, it is a similar level of uplifting energy except it shines more than sparkles. It is more constant.”

“Ooo! Neat,” Derpy cheers, then nods after a few seconds. “That sounds accurate too.”

“Are you seeing these images in your head?” Time Turner asks with mixed skepticism and intrigue. Even if he doesn't believe what Vision is saying, he still wants to know how she perceives it.

“No,” Vision says with a shake of her head. “It's more of a feeling I get in my chest.”

“How can you tell that isn't just your own feelings?” Time Turner probes.

“Lots of practice,” Vision answers. “I've been this way my whole life. Frankly, I don't know any other way I'm supposed to live.”

“Nothing you feel from the one in the tent feels dubious?” Stern checks with Vision.

Once again, Vision pauses as she inwardly explores the answer to that question before eventually shaking her head. “No. What I am getting from that one is a genuine and intense interest to get her customers to smile. Beyond that, I sense no plots from her of any kind. It's as if she's generally accustomed to avoiding plans aside from her parties which she's willing to plan out in extremely meticulous detail.” Vision shrugs. “It's just who she is and what is important to her.

“I can promise you all this. I can't vouch for the accuracy of her predictions per se, but if you leave her tent without a genuine smile at least once, she will take it as a mark of personal failure and may likely hound you for it until she can get you to smile. All other objectives will be temporarily forgotten until then. It's as if there is only room in her head for one thought at a time. That, or no thoughts at all. Just pure and totally random, but often also fun, whimsy.”

“Eh. Well, it sounds harmless, I suppose,” Stern Wing accepts with a shrug. “Aside from that, I'm kind of curious to see one of the future Elements of Harmony. I want to size her up and determine for myself how safe our future really is and why.”

“I advise caution on this regard,” Time Turner warns the group. “Certain traits about her are common enough to be predictable, but Pinkie likes to specialize in surprises on occasion. As a result, be careful about judging her at face value. There is much beneath her surface that most have given up trying to figure out. It has become a popular adage around here, 'It's Pinkie Pie. Don't question her.'”

Stern Wing lifts an eyebrow at Time Turner as she says, “Well, now I'm even more interested to meet this mare.”

“We came here to relax and gather information,” Doctor Kelly reminds the group. “This seems like a harmless diversion and might even be insightful.”

Time Turner sighs as he gives up then gives a lame gesture towards the tent. He also says invitingly in a halfhearted way, “Well then . . . go ahead. After you.”

The interior of Madam Pinkie Pie's tent is quite a bit darker than it is on the outside primarily because of the thick and dark curtains and/or blankets being hung on the inside of the tent. Illumination is caused by a bunch of lanterns with glow bugs in them. Despite the darkness of the materials lining the walls, they are also a bit shiny, thus increasing the illumination just a bit.

“OOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoo!” “Madam” Pinkie Pie chants as soon as they all enter her tent with a playful, mystical-sounding voice. Pinkie is wearing a coiled turban hat with a jewel in the center. She is waving her forelegs around a crystal ball at the center of her white cloth table directly in front of her and low to the ground. “Wel-come to the Tent of the Mysterious and Enchanting Madam Pinkie PiEEEeeeEEEeee!” Pinkie greets while holding that waving inflection to her voice. “All who enter . . . Behold as I . . .”

Pinkie blinks as she trails off while regarding her guests in surprise then says as she suddenly drops her wavy mystical sounding voice, “Wow! There sure is a whole lot of you entering here.” She tilts her head curiously. “I see a whole lot of new faces as well.”

As Feather Wind regards Pinkie's expression, he notices how a delightful smile is growing not only on Pinkie Pie's lips, but also sinking deep into her eyes. At that moment, he realizes that the wheels in Pinkie's mind are turning. She just gained a new excuse to plan a party soon.

Due to reputation, primarily from Derpy, Feather was well aware of this tendency from Pinkie Pie, but this is the first time he, and some of his friends, is observing this first hoof.

“Ooo!” Pinkie Pie's eyes widen with sudden delight when she notices something among the group that really captures her attention. A moment later, Pinkie Pie suddenly ducks under her clothed table which has her “mystical” crystal ball on. One second later, she pops up directly in front of Doctor Kelly and most definitely within the doctor's personal space. Pinkie is still wearing her turban hat with a gem in it. At that moment, Pinkie's eyes briefly extend out of her eye sockets in a cone-shaped fashion as if to point at Doctor Kelly's face as Pinkie says, “Neat! Your glasses are glow-ee-ee.”

Doctor Kelly flinches and looks taken aback as she says, “Yeah. Well ah . . . they are magical.”

Feather Wind lifts an eyebrow as he realizes that is actually not a lie.

“Let me see!” Pinkie cries excitedly as she somehow grabs Doctor Kelly's normally intangible holographic glasses and puts them on Pinkie's own muzzle. When she does, she gives “ooo” and “ahh” sounds as she looks around her own tent with the holo glasses on. During that time, Pinkie Pie's eyes look unusually large on the other side of the holo lens which is strange since that doesn't happen to Doctor Kelly's eyes. “Everything looks all funny and digital-ee!” Pinkie squees in excitement as she views around the tent.

Doctor Kelly winces as she asks, “Digital-ee? Do you even know what that means?”

“I have no idea!” Pinkie admits with her same upbeat attitude. “Here.” Pinkie Pie impossibly grabs the intangible glasses again and puts them back on Doctor Kelly's face. Then Pinkie ducks which somehow makes her disappear only to reappear behind her mystical table again.

“Welcome to Ponyville!” Pinkie Pie very brightly cheers behind her table again while spreading her pink forelegs outwardly in a high-angle V formation. “Friends of yours, Derpy and Doc?”

“More hers, actually,” Time Turner announces. “I'm just showing them around town. Same as Derpy here.”

“You all arrived here just today?” Pinkie asks as she lowers her forehooves to rest on her table, but her enthusiasm remains as high. Seeing it already makes Feather Wind smile because Pinkie's youthful enthusiasm is deeply infectious.

“Just today, in fact,” Time Turner informs casually. “During their stay, I'm having them stay with me in my Clock Tower.”

“Wait. Hold on,” Doctor Kelly objects as she raises a hoof. “We just came in here with the implied promise of getting entertainment from a psychic, so why are we feeding her all of this hoofy information? Shouldn't it be her who 'mystically' tells us this?”

Pinkie Pie slams her forehooves on her table, sits up straight but also leans back, and gives a very dramatic gasp that lasts three seconds. During that time, Pinkie's eyes explode hugely wide and her bottom jaw drops to a degree beyond what medical science can explain. She then points at Doctor Kelly with a forward jab of her left forehoof as Pinkie declares, “You know what? You're right! And when you're right . . . you're right!”

As if reminded of that fact, Pinkie suddenly snaps back into “Madam Pinkie Pie” mode again by lifting her forehooves, hovering them, and waving them around her crystal ball as she resumes speaking in her wavy voice. “Gaze into the Crystal Ball of Madam Pinkie Pieeeeee! Madam Pinkie Pie sees all! She knows all!”

“Then you don't require any education,” Stern Wing snickers under her breath. “You already know everything. Must be nice?”

“I . . . I'm getting something!” Madam Pinkie gasps as she straightens dramatically again. “I seeeeeee . . .” She leans forward and squints at her crystal ball at first, but her eyes widen in astonishment again as she dramatically declares, “. . . a party!” She gazes above her ball at the group again. “A party thrown in honor of all of you newcomers to Ponyville!”

Time Turner slaps a hoof onto his left cheek as he says sarcastically, “Oh wow! Really? I'm sure none of us saw that coming.”

“Yep!” Pinkie beams happily as she leans back and folds her forehooves across her chest. “That's what I see. A big party thrown in your honor.” She then slightly squints one eye and tilts her head at Time Turner as she asks, “Will your Clock Tower be an okay location for the party? You got plenty of room there.”

“Ahhhhh . . . I suppose it's fine as long as we keep it to the first floor,” Time Turner bargains. “There's a lot of whirling gears on the upper floors, you see, and it's quite noisy up there besides.”

“No kidding,” Doctor Kelly glumly agrees.

“Great!” Pinkie cheers then asks, “See you all there tonight?”

“Are you sure you can arrange it that fast?” Time Turner asks a little skeptically.

Pinkie closes her eyes and smiles brightly as she cheers, “Oh. I'm sure I can manage.”

“I'm surprised you're not throwing a surprise party,” comments Derpy.

Pinkie opens her eyes at Derpy then gestures to her crystal ball as she says, “Well DUUUUUH! I just told you about the party in your future with this crystal ball here. It's not meant to be a surprise party. Silly.”

“Have you ever been wrong before?” Stern Wing asks Pinkie with a cocky smirk.

Despite the playful way Stern phrased that, Pinkie looks like she honestly gives that serious thought. She looks cornerwise up and taps her bottom lip for a few seconds with a squinting expression before she declares, “No. Not usually.” She looks at Stern Wing with a more normal expression. “Especially when it comes to parties.” She sits up straight and holds her forehooves on her table at a diagonal angle. “Because parties are serious business!”

“If you say so,” Stern casually accepts. “You do you.”

“Don't worry!” Pinkie's cheerful expression pops back in. “I will!” She points at Stern. “That's a Pinkie Promise.”

Part 5 Nexus of Destiny

Seeing Equestria from high up, the landscape does not appear that much different to Feather Wind for the most part, but in the local area, seeing Ponyville is a clear sign that he isn't really in his own world.

Or, rather, he is, but it is not his native time.

Scanning over the horizon, Feather realizes he'll see more of the same across the rest of Equestria. That the land, water, and sky are mostly the same, but there are far more communities out there now. In fact, the population of Equestria has likely been enjoying a recent bump for about the last twenty to thirty years, and the most likely culprit of that is the railroad system. Many communities are trading and traveling more than they had in centuries. Because they are interacting more, more ponies are meeting each other and one thing leads to another. Next thing they know, a new yearling is born.

There isn't much about this new time Feather has to complain about, but it also makes him feel a little alienated and homesick. He does not even feel tempted to explore Canterlot itself and find out how much it has changed too. If that happens then he might feel like even more of an outsider in his own world.

Feather eventually excuses himself from Derpy and explains that he needs to spend some time alone. This request surprises her at first. She almost complains until she recalls something Stern once told her, and that is Feather occasionally needs some time alone to decompress himself. After being stressed in a crowd like the ones in Ponyville, even though it was clear no pony intended them harm there, Feather still needs some time to himself to help him cope.

So Derpy accepts and says she will rejoin the others before flying off. Feather thanks her before he departs.

Feather Wind closes his eyes and just lets the wind carry him without any conscious control over it. He enjoys the flight itself and allows that to soothe his spirit.

But eventually he notices the landscape getting more familiar again. In time he realizes that the wind has carried him back to the same cliff he once flew off from for the very first time in his life. At this location, the winds tend to be more energized and active. In a way, it feels like returning home.

Feather Wind lands at the edge of the cliff again. His Mist Cloak settles down, but his mane continues to be blown straight in various directions. Ahead of him are forested mountains. Then he turns around to gaze off the edge of the cliff. This cliff leads off to a very steep drop. In that direction, the significantly lower landscape is dotted with many lakes, but otherwise the terrain is mostly flat plains.

Until this moment, Feather Wind didn't really feel like he had truly returned to his home world. So much about Equestria had changed over these one hundred years. More knowledge is acquired. Some pivotal technologies have severely altered the way many societies interact with each other and it seems like this may be only the beginning. There is more communication and trade in this world. All in all, ponies kind of live closer together.

But nature itself seems largely unchanged. This cliff, as well as the landscape behind and ahead of him, is totally familiar. The feeling he gets from the winds here is also very familiar, yet he is also getting this “welcome back” sensation as he breathes in the wind and feels it brushing through his mane and hide.

There's a new story in the winds now. He can feel it. A story that he hasn't been fully a part of himself, but to the winds, the story has already been told. So, in a small way, even nature recognizes he isn't fully where he belongs. Despite that, he still feels the most comfortable here.

Feather Wind closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. As he does so, he channels some of the positive feelings he is feeling at this moment into the Red Crystal for the very first time. He's attuned to it enough, by now, that there is a decent flow of energy between him and the crystal. Using that connection, he has some of that energy flow into the crystal.

With that, a new legacy is born. The first drop of energy into this bucket. It will need significantly more for it to fulfill its destiny, but it feels iconic to him that all of that should start up here. Right back to where his true journey in self-discovery was born.

The place where he discovered his new name and cutie mark.

As he continues to dwell on that, some dark thoughts also sink into his head because it reminds him why collecting this energy is so important. Not only is it to be helpful in eventually returning the Crystal Empire, but he'll need it to defeat one of King Sombra's otherwise immortal and invincible servants.

There are a lot of things in this time that remind him of his dark past and most dangerous nemesis so far. In a way, the clicking and tick-tock sounds of Time Turner's Clock Tower is one of them, for it reminds Feather of a chilling nursery-sounding rhyme that Puppet Master created which sounded like a bunch of spooky and ghostly foals.

“Tick-tock

Goes the clock

Into the here on af-ter . . .

“Tick-tock

Goes the clock

Until we're smashed to bat-ter.”

The ghostly foals started laughing again as if they relished the idea of their own demise. The laughter rose to a fever pitch. It sounded like the crowd was thickening over time.

Feather Wind shudders as he shakes his head. That moment still eats away inside of him. It reminds him of the kinds of horrible monsters that exist out there.

But the Doctor and Derpy came on that same adventure. Since then, Feather has seen some other things that might not be as scary as what Puppet Master conjured in Vision's former temple, but the other threats had a similar level of danger. If not for himself, then for others.

Feather Wind slowly cracks open his eyes as he contemplates destiny itself. A destiny that brought him to this cliff on multiple occasions long ago, and now he is here again. He didn't influence the winds to carry him here. Instead, these seem like a nexus point where the winds and destiny converge.

The Winds of Destiny.

Those same winds had eventually carried him much further than this. Beyond this whole world and into the vast and unlimited confines of time and space. Up there, he senses he's starting to get embroiled in a much larger conflict; the Time War. Whatever role Feather, or his friends, have in that affair, however distantly, it still feels significantly important to him at this moment.

Feather wonders, to himself, if this was what destiny was preparing him for or if, somehow, events will grow even larger than this. That's hard to imagine, but not long ago, where and when he is now was hard to imagine as well. He could conceive of this possibility but didn't think anything like this was actually going to happen.

In many ways, he has been blessed with many great mentors, great power, and wonderful friends. Among them, one of them has the means to carry him through time and space. Another has the ability to see through time and space. Is that just a coincidence?

But then Feather recalls something the Doctor recently said and that is, when it comes to time travel, whatever will happen has already happened in a future timeline. If that future includes the ability to travel into the past, then they can sculpt the past in such a way that it causes itself.

But Time might be more than that, especially when it comes to the Time War. That war might be a conflict of ideologies from multiple timelines clashing against each other. Each version is more like a possibility that is trying to become more “real” than the other. The Doctor himself is one of those narrators who is trying to take control of this story and write his own version of it. A version better than the one he suffered from in the past.

All of this causes Feather to more deeply question the nature of reality. What he has seen ever since he stepped into the TARDIS made it seem like Feather Wind saw only a thin veneer of reality before. A reality that almost every pony he has ever known didn't question and wholeheartedly accepted as normal, but now that feeling of normalcy is beginning to feel like a facade. It's as if the normal, average day-to-day living is actually just innocence and naivety.

Was Feather “chosen” for some larger role in the universe? And, if so, by whom? For what purpose? What goal will ultimately be accomplished?

If any or all of this is true, this doesn't make Feather feel arrogant in the slightest. If anything, it actually makes him feel scared.

“Normal” is not a bad life. At least it usually isn't. It is routine. It is a sense of confidence in at least some basic concepts, but the realities he has started to see “out there” has turned his world upside down. Feather feels like he is struggling to find his new balance and equilibrium within this new reality. Every time he tries, though, he can feel the rules change again and he gets knocked back down. If this continues, he starts to wonder if it's even worth trying to establish any sense of normalcy anymore.

The general theme of his life seems to be to prove that nothing is impossible. There was a time, earlier in his youth after he discovered his cutie mark, that that role felt like an honor. It was somewhat embarrassing too because it made him the center of attention in some social circles, but it helps to broaden the minds and perspectives of other ponies, and it felt like a good thing at the time.

Now, however, he feels himself being plunged into the totally unknown. In it, he has very little assurance that things will eventually turn out well. There is some mention of future books Feather will publish someday so that means he has to live until then, but very little is promised beyond that. If every one of his other friends got killed or corrupted somehow then that still isn't a future he wants to see. There is plenty of incentive still here to struggle to make sure things turn out better in the long run.

Seeing this timeline helps. There are so many changes here that it somewhat unsettles him to experience, but overall, it is better here. He doesn't feel much of a connection to this time as if he isn't meant to be a part of it, but it's still nice to know well things will turn out. This is a future worth fighting for. Seeing it is like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel or the dawn of the next brighter day. He realizes that he may need to keep this knowledge and experience in the back of his mind when facing future struggles. If all of those struggles eventually cause this reality to happen, then it is nice to know it will all be worth it.

A rustle in the grass and dirt alerts him to the fact he is no longer alone up on that cliff. First, he directs his ears, then his head, back at the newcomer behind him. When he does, he notices a mysterious cloaked figure standing shortly behind him. Upon noticing that, he widens his eyes when he recalls that Stern Wing once warned him that they were being followed back in Ponyville. He really didn't expect this person to continue following him all the way out here, but if this pony did, then he or she is most likely a pegasus.

“Who are you?” Feather Wind asks the newcomer in a guarded way as he turns to fully face the cloaked figure. “What do you want?”

“I'll start by telling you what I don't want from you,” the mysterious cloaked figure says to Feather Wind in a voice that clearly sounds feminine. “What I don't want is your fear. To that end . . .”

The figure trails off as she finally pulls the hood of her cloak down. This reveals a beige face. She has reddish/purple eyes. Her mane is a mix of various shades of black, white, and gray, and yet she doesn't appear old or even middle-aged. That is just her natural mane color.

“Who are you?” Feather Wind repeats cautiously.

“A friend who has a message for the Doctor,” the mysterious mare answers. “More like something to deliver, actually. Also, I have a request for him. I need his help with something.”

“You know the Doctor?” Feather Wind asks with a lift of an eyebrow.

“I met him before,” the mare assures. “He seemed to have a healthy respect for history back then which is why I'm kind of surprised to see you here.”

“Why would that surprise you?” Feather asks as he narrows his eyes a bit.

“Because I know you don't belong in this time,” the mare answers. “You're probably not the only one, either. The Doctor struck me as normally more careful and selective about his traveling companions, but selecting one who has an important and, most likely, still unfulfilled destiny in history strikes me as unusually reckless of the Doctor.”

“Well . . . let's just say there were extenuating circumstances in my case,” Feather explains. “And not just in my case either.”

“I would appreciate more of an elaboration on that later, but for now, I came to deliver a message,” says the mysterious and adventurous-looking mare. “I need to see the Doctor both to deliver something to him and to make an important request.” She nods at him. “Can you help me arrange a meeting with him?”

Feather's stance relaxes slightly as he says, “I suppose I could. He's in Time Turner's Clock Tower.”

The mare nods as she assures, “I'm well aware of that. I am also aware of how impenetrable the TARDIS doors can be without an invitation.”

Hearing this mysterious mare mention the word “TARDIS” relaxes him slightly more. She at least has enough knowledge about that to reveal how familiar she is with this subject.

“Can I count on you to invite me into the TARDIS sometime tonight?” the mare asks hopefully. “The issues I have to present to him are urgent. He may have a time machine himself, but the clock is ticking in the present. If not acted upon soon enough, lives will perish.”

Feather Wind widens his eyes slightly, alarmed to hear her say that. He then nods at her as he assures her, “Sure. I will do what I can.”

“Excellent. Then I'll see you tonight.” The mare then crouches and spread her wings which then indeed confirms she is a pegasus.

“Wait!” Feather calls out as he holds up a hoof toward her. Fortunately, she does wait and lifts herself back to a normal standing position. “I need to warn you that there will be a lot of activity in the Clock Tower soon. We had an encounter of the Pinkie variety recently and she's made it her mission to form a party to celebrate the newcomers in Ponyville. She's also chosen to do it at that location tonight.” Feather turns his face a bit to the side and views the mare more from his left eye. “If you wanted your presence to be unnoticed in Ponyville for some reason, it might be more challenging to do that soon if you also want to see the Doctor during the party.”

Feather notices the mare looking down more thoughtfully.

“The party will mostly be held on the first floor, I suspect,” Feather Wind adds. “And the Doctor, plus the TARDIS, is on the upper floor where it is too noisy for a normal celebration.”

“Well . . . it's not as if I'm unaccustomed to taking some risks,” the mare mentions. “Honestly, this obstacle is pretty tame compared to what I normally go through.

“Well, anyway . . .” the mare marches up beside Feather and starts to get ready to fly off the cliff.

“Before you go, tell me this. By what name shall I introduce you to the Doctor?” Feather asks the mare with a shrewd expression on his face.

Seeing that makes the mare copy his expression as she replies, “Tell him that an ally of the Time Walkers wishes to see him.”

With that, she leaps off the cliff and zooms off into the distance. Feather's yellow eyes follow her as she flies away.

Part 6 Welcome Party

Feather Wind has only a little bit of trouble finding his way back to Ponyville because the town is still so new to him and because it got dark before he even started. He just lost track of the time up on what he personally calls the Wind Cliff.

Since he is seeing the terrain from high above, even under darker conditions, it affords him a wide enough perspective to find obvious landmarks. From there, he is gradually able to zero in on his primary destination. Once he does find Ponyville, which has some lights on by then since it got dark enough, Feather is able to find the Clock Tower itself fairly easily since it is one of the taller structures in the town. Aside from that, the task is made even easier when he hears it go off. That is how he can tell that he arrived by 7 PM.

Feather Wind does not land directly in front of the Clock Tower, though. Instead, he lands in a dark open space to avoid drawing too much attention which is something he tends to do even in his own time. At this time, he does not wish to be delayed by having to stop and answer curious and/or alarmed questions about how he is able to fly despite being a unicorn. There's also a chance that he still might be famous as Equestria's first flying unicorn. If that is still known, then he might have yet another question asked of him; how in Celestia's name is he still alive and so young after all this time?

Once he lands, he floats his Mist Cloak back into his saddlebag and then ignites his horn to create a light. He uses it to carefully watch the ground for potholes and ditches along his way to the Clock Tower since there isn't even a road on the path he is taking.

Before Feather even arrives at the Clock Tower, he can already hear quite a large crowd chatting within the Tower and some outside of it. It's as if there are so many invited guests that they couldn't fit them all in the Tower so the party got extended outside the Tower as well. To that end, party streamers and tables full of food are generally in front of and near the Tower entrance. Another thing Feather hears is really generic-sounding party music. That last part surprises Feather a bit because it means Pinkie invited an entire band to the party too just for a group of strangers she met today.

Since there is more lighting near and within the Tower, Feather has his own horn light fade away. He frowns a bit as he reduces his speed to a slow trot. He did not entirely know what to expect before he saw this party, but the very big crowd here makes him uncomfortable. He rarely liked to be the center of attention and, unfortunately, because of his rare and once famous skills, he had become such an individual more often than he cared for. He remembered the days when paparazzi and journalists hounded him down for an inside scoop, especially when he was also a member of a prestigious noble family in Canterlot to boot.

Here, Feather isn't as likely to be the focus of attention for the same reasons as before, but he is one of the newcomers into town and basically one of the guests of honor. This makes him feel very squeamish right now.

In previous parties he's attended before, most of them were among the Canterlot elite. In addition to being nervous about being the center of attention, sometimes that attention was especially snooty and even a bit hostile sometimes, likely because of jealousy but they never admitted that. Not all elite were like that, though. Some of the students at Silver Horn Academy, as well as the school faculty, were pretty easygoing and easy to talk to. Parties among lower-class citizens were rarer for him which is a double-edged sword for him. On the one hoof, they often seemed like nicer citizens, and on the other, the culture shock made him more uncertain about how to approach these new social cues. As a result, he does what he usually does; withdraw and keep his head down.

In thinking of that, this reminds him of one of the students at Silver Horn who once talked about inventing an invisibility spell and also heard that such a spell already existing somewhere in the annals of history. They half-joked about putting in the effort to either research this possibly pre-existing spell and/or put in the effort to invent it from scratch. Their motives for such research weren't noble, but they weren't sinister either and made no effort to hide it which, again, made it sound like a half-hearted joke. Feather brushed it off at the time, but there were many times since that moment he found himself wishing he went through with that research after all. Moments like this are such a case. If he had that spell memorized, he could use it to sneak into the TARDIS and not have to deal with being the focus of so many strangers.

Feather makes his way into the Clock Tower while trying his best not to draw attention or be conspicuous, such as making an obvious attempt to sneak about. Instead of that, he trots into the Tower as if he doesn't have a care in the world, but in truth, he feels uptight and really nervous somepony is about to stop and talk to him.

For all of Feather's efforts, he does make it inside the Tower itself but he gets almost immediately ambushed by Pinkie Pie herself who slaps a party cone on top of his head probably more roughly than she really intended.

“There you are! There's the last guest of honor! Welcome to the party!” Pinkie Pie greets. “I hope you enjoy yourself. I've invited practically all of Ponyville who had the time to join. There's punch and cakes and sweets and . . . Ooo-ooo! Later on we can play a game of Pin The Tail On the Pony! How does that sound?”

“Kind of . . . overwhelming,” Feather admits with a squint of discomfort.

“That's the spirit!” Pinkie cheers as she nudges Feather with a bent knee to Feather's right shoulder. “But you'll get used to it after a while once you mingle a bit. I guarantee that everypony here is super-duper fun!” She closes her eyes as she beams very happily. “I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself.”

“I'll take your word for it,” Feather expresses without any true enthusiasm.

“Of course!” Pinkie cheers, apparently completely oblivious to his discomfort. “Now get out there and introduce yourself. I'm sure you'll have lots and lots of fun.” Then she starts bouncing on her hooves to hop away from him while she sings casually, “La-la-laaaaaaa!”

Feather Wind looks up and notices the shiny green party hat that was literally slammed on his head is currently concealing his horn. That makes him wonder something. Some hats are too short to do that if it doesn't have a hole to stick the horn through and thus hangs off the tip somewhat which often gets uncomfortable for a unicorn eventually. Other times the hat is much longer and there is plenty of empty space between the tip of the horn and the top of the head accessory. To test this, he curiously taps the tip of the party hat with his hoof. In doing so, he notices that there seems to be a half-inch gap between the tip of his horn and the top of the cone-shaped party hat.

“There you are,” greets Stern Wing as she approaches Feather Wind with a serious expression on her face. “Come with me,” Stern requests then drapes a wing protectively over Feather because she knows he gets uncomfortable in large crowds.

“Ah . . . no thanks, Stern Wing,” Feather says as he brushes off her wing.

Stern regards him in surprise as she asks, “You're not uncomfortable in here?”

“Well, I am, but please don't make it that obvious,” Feather replies. “That makes me even more uncomfortable.”

“Oh. Gotcha,” Stern acknowledges. “That's probably your father's conditioning in you. He taught you to always hold your head up high no matter what social situation you find yourself in, but at least you aren't snobby about it while you're at it.”

“My father never pushed me that far,” Feather informs her. “Truth be told, he never tried. He does have some arrogant pride but it is well-tempered with a dignified poise. He always told me to have a firm presence but also be approachable, at least to the right ponies.”

Stern frowns slightly as she shakes her head then says, “That's one thing I never liked about the upper-crust society you grew up in. So many labels they put on ponies as well as rules about what is right and wrong to approach as well as how to do it 'properly.'”

“Hey! I'm with you on that one. You know that,” Feather assures. “But that's the kind of society I grew up in. I did my best to cope.” He frowns. “Above all, I hate any idea that restricts freedom.”

An uncomfortable moment of silence passes between them while they are surrounded by a lot of other noise. Pretty much at the same time, they both take a deep breath and then make a deliberate effort to change the subject.

“Feather, come here. There's something neat I want to show you,” Stern invites with giving a come hither gesture with her right wing at him.

“What is it?” Feather asks curiously as he moves to follow.

“More evidence that we're in the future,” Stern answers as she continues to lead to the opposite wall from the entrance.

“Oh?” Feather asks while feeling very intrigued.

“Take a look at this,” Stern invites as she gestures to some weird box on a table. It has a black spinning thing at the top and some kind of mechanical arm extended above the black spinning thing. Behind all of that is a twisted cone-like tube that appears to be the source of all the music in the room because that music is loudest at this point.

Feather gives the device a puzzled look as he figures, “Some kind of magical device, I guess.”

“That's what I thought at first, too, but then I noticed everypony else's reaction to it,” Stern points out. “If this was a magical object, then you'd think there would be more of a reaction to something that rare, but no. Everypony is reacting like this thing is perfectly normal. Almost mundane. Maybe I wouldn't go as far as to say it is common per se, but it seems ordinary enough for everypony not to bat an eye at it.”

“Oh. You're right,” Feather agrees as he observes the others more carefully. “Good eye, Stern.”

“I've trained myself to be vigilant,” Stern explains.

“It shows,” Feather commends.

“This device is called a phonograph,” Doctor Kelly explains as she trots up next to them while levitating a cup full of purple liquid. “Also later known more commonly as a record player.” She grins softly at the device. “Neat. This is the first one I've ever seen in action. At least one that is real.” She then floats her cup closer to her lips and takes a sip.

“You've actually seen these devices?” Stern asks curiously.

“I read about them and seen holographic simulations of them,” Doctor Kelly answers. “See, this is the kind of stuff I like to see when I travel with the Doctor. History coming to life.” Her eyes dart about. “That, and everything else around here.”

“I haven't even traveled in this world's past yet and I already agree with you,” Feather tells Doctor Kelly. “I've studied history as well, but of course that is relative to my own time. I look forward to seeing the things I read about come to life.”

“What do you two think of Ponyville so far?” Stern asks her two companions curiously.

“A quaint and cheerful little town,” Doctor Kelly answers. “I sincerely mean that. Everything from the sights, the sounds, the smell around here, the attitude of the villagers and even the feeling of magic or the taste of the food. It all feels so cozy here. It's like settling next to a warm and cozy fire while drinking a cup of hot cocoa. It's just pleasant in ways that is kind of hard to describe. I also appreciate the experience from a sociological and archaeological standpoint. I've even documented some things that our history text might have gotten wrong, but I'll have to double-check that.”

“Oh yeah! The magic would be very different for you,” Feather recalls as he regards Doctor Kelly. He slightly cocks his head curiously as he then asks, “Do you like it so far? Do you find it uncomfortable or . . . what?”

“I remember you told me that you felt uncomfortable with the magic of my home world,” Doctor Kelly recalls then shifts her eyes at Stern. “I can let that private information slip because he already told me that he told you that information. In fact, he said that to you all before he even met me.”

“I'd still like an answer to my question if you don't mind,” Feather presses with a reminder.

“Certainly different,” Doctor Kelly says as her eyes slowly scan across the room. “Not uncomfortable. Just different. It's sort of like tasting brand new food or smelling a brand new scent. It feels kind of exotic to me . . . sort of.” She snaps her focus back at Feather as she adds, “Weaker, too.” She shakes her head. “It's not really a bad thing yet. Again, just different. In fact, I'm kind of glad it is weaker so that the new sensation doesn't overwhelm me.”

“Do you think it is having any adverse effect on your health?” Feather checks with concern. “Because, if it is, that might be a big problem. I get the feeling that the type of magic in your world is the one that's exotic compared to most of the rest of the universe.”

“You're probably right there,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “And, so far, I am experiencing no hostile side effects. Believe me, I've been keeping a close eye on that.”

“I believe you,” Stern assures very seriously and sincerely.

“Me too,” Feather also agrees.

“I'm glad you two trust me. I shall endeavor to remain worthy of that trust,” Doctor Kelly promises.

“See that you do,” Stern warns a little firmly with a slight narrowing of her eyes.

Doctor Kelly did not comment on that reaction. Instead, her gaze lingers on Stern for a moment before turning her attention to the approaching gray pegasus mare, Derpy.

“Hey guys! Are you all having fun?” Derpy asks brightly. “Because I sure am!”

“Speaking for myself, that warms my heart to see,” Feather says to Derpy with a soft smile at her. “You deserve all the happiness you can muster.”

“Thank you!” Derpy squees cheerfully. “You too, Feather. You're such a nice stallion.”

“He is,” Stern agrees with a proud and loving smile down at her stallion friend.

“You seem to have settled in well,” Doctor Kelly observes as she regards Derpy. “Such is to be expected. You have grown up in this town and with all these ponies.”

“Not all of them,” Derpy corrects as her eyes scan about, but not entirely in the same direction. “A few of these faces are new to me.”

“Huh.” Doctor Kelly looks forward blankly as she floats her cup closer to her lips. Before she sips it, though, she comments, “I stand corrected.”

Stern widens her eyes a bit as she says, “You know, it just occurred to me that we haven't seen your home or family yet.”

“Oh shoot!” Derpy exclaims as she slaps her face with a hoof. “I knew I was forgetting something. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why am I always so dumb?” Then she looks about as she adds, “Well, my parents are here somewhere. They are currently watching over and fawning over Vision.”

“Please relax,” Feather coaxes in a soothing voice. “We can see them later if not tonight.” His smile brightens as he adds, “In the meantime, I'm glad to hear that Vision is being looked after and that your folks already care for her so much.”

“Come to think of it, I should check with work too,” Derpy recalls as an eye looks off to her side. “Now that we've returned to my actual time period, time is advancing here and that means my responsibilities have as well.”

“So you're taking a vacation from the Doctor's adventures by returning to your work in Ponyville?” Doctor Kelly asks Derpy with an upraised eyebrow and a gleam of amusement in her eyes behind her holo glasses.

“At this point, a sense of normalcy might be very relaxing for me,” Derpy figures as she looks back at Doctor Kelly. “With the Doctor, things are exciting but also hectic. It might be nice to return to something more routine. You know? Besides, I do enjoy my job.”

Doctor Kelly puts her left hoof on Derpy's right shoulder as she says, “I know exactly what you mean.”

“Speaking of the Doctor's hectic adventures, I got your message about the one who was tailing us earlier,” Stern says to Feather. “But I save those details until we have more privacy.”

“Pardon me?” Doctor Kelly asks Stern with minor alarm. “Somepony was tailing us?”

“We'll discuss that later,” Stern says quietly. Almost too quietly to be heard over the noise of the surrounding crowd. She then lifts an eyebrow as she adds, “That said, I'm sure you had your invisible little floating thing scanning all kinds of things. Among that might be the one who was following us.”

“If your droid didn't scan her earlier then now is your chance,” Feather says as he regards then nods at the front entrance. “There she is.”

Stern and Doctor Kelly look to where Feather indicates in mixed alarm, but Derpy regards that direction in outright confusion.

The cloaked figure Feather saw earlier is there with a beige hide and mix of black, white, and gray mane/tail. She is wearing glasses this time and appears much more unassuming.

“That's her?” Stern Wing checks as she continues to regard the newcomer. She also regards everypony else's reaction to the newcomer.

“That's her, but the glasses is new,” Feather informs.

“Derpy, is she anypony you recognize?” Stern checks with the mailmare.

“Ummmmmm . . . Well, she's no pony I met before, but I got to admit she does look a tad bit familiar,” Derpy answers while holding her confused look. “I'm not sure why.” She scratches her head. “Where have I seen her before?”

“Perhaps a celebrity?” Doctor Kelly suggests. “This town seems small enough in population that most ponies would know each other's name, and look how fast Pinkie organized this party to make newcomers feel welcome. If you had attended a party like this with and about her before, then you should be more familiar with her. Instead, you seem to have passing familiarity with her so perhaps a newspaper article? Are there magazines you like? Do you have a favorite author?”

Derpy looks a little sheepish as she admits, “I, ah . . . have some trouble reading.”

“And you work as a mail delivery pony?” Doctor Kelly then shakes her head. “That's ironic.”

“A lot of ponies sign letters with a picture or stamp of their cutie mark,” Derpy somewhat explains. “I don't have too much trouble with those.”

“More acute visual memory? Huh.” Doctor Kelly looks thoughtful. “I need to give you all a more thorough examination.”

When the mare in question spots them, she trots across the room to meet up with the group.

“Take me to the Doctor,” the mysterious mare requests upon arrival, but it almost sounded like a demand.

“So you claim to have met the Doctor before?” Stern probes.

“I have,” the mare assures. “Not sure if he's met me yet.”

“What is his cutie mark?” Stern asks quickly.

“An hourglass,” the mare answers just as quickly. “The top and bottom parts are golden and it is filled with brown sand.” She then gives a coy grin as she adds, “You can't miss it, though. It's honestly one of the most common cutie marks in the world. I've already seen nine of them in this room alone.” She looks about. “That, and a suspicious number of cream-colored mares with a mix of blue and pink mane.”

Intrigued, Feather Wind starts to scan the other ponies in the room and gradually comes to realize that this mysterious mare has a point with her last remarks.

“Name two of his odd quirks,” Stern continues to probe.

“If he's being honest, he claims to be an alien called a Time Lord,” the mare instantly responds. “He also seems greatly amused by some pony terminology. He keeps insisting that his hoofs are something called 'hands'. There is a hidden pocket just above his cutie mark. He claims he can regenerate if he is ever killed, but it will greatly alter him.” The mare flashes Stern a daring smirk. “Shall I continue, Oh Fastidious Interrogator?”

Instead of answering, Stern narrows her eyes. The mare copies her. Stern narrows her eyes tighter. The mare copies her. Stern leans her head forward and stares down at the smaller mare. The mare matches Stern's resolve except she stares up at Stern. The two of them continue this hard stare for ten seconds at each other before Stern finally relents by straightening her head, widening her eyes back to normal, and even smiles as she says, “Oh wow. I like you.”

“Shall we continue, then?” the mare invites. “Lives are on the line while we dawdle down here.”

“Are you serious?!” Stern asks in great alarm. “Sweet Celestia! You should have started with that dire warning.”

“In hindsight, I think I agree,” agrees the mysterious mare in glasses.

Part 7 Destiny Comes Knocking

Loss.

Now that is a word and sensation the Doctor has become all too familiar with. After nearly a thousand years of life, it has become more like a thousand years of experience with death.

He also finds the word “hero” to be overhyped and sensationalized too. Most people imagine a townwide celebration where the “hero” marches down the streets as a rain of confetti pours down on him and/or her. They imagine statues being erected to help immortalize the people's saviors. All of these things do exist, but often not entirely for the reasons anyone would imagine when they picture themselves as a hero. Parades and statues are more for the people who chose to join the celebration. If they saw themselves as victims of something that needed a hero to recover from, then they are still recovering from that grief. They are trying to recover that hope. The will to live on and to believe that the future has a chance for happiness as long as the symbol of their savior is still around.

But a true hero does these deeds because such an individual knows it is right. Just do the deed and back off. Let the people decide for themselves however they choose to respond to it.

Being the one who takes the risk and faces the danger does not guarantee victory. Instead, it can end up more like the Doctor's last mission.

The Doctor cannot blame himself for the attempt to do good, but it is harder to forgive himself for his failure because it is others who ultimately paid the price. That, and he can conceive of several options that would have improved things in hindsight.

But the Ood accepted their deaths in a manner that the Doctor finds gravely unsettling. It also reminds him of the time they warned his last life that “his song is dying out”.

Yeah. The Ood warned his last life that he was dying soon, and for some reason, he believed that race back then. Maybe it was because the Doctor sensed the end coming as well. He has seen the signs from other places too, and it felt like punishment incoming for trying to defy a fixed timeline. His race had always warned against that, but then he survived the Time War (in the human universe anyway) when the rest of his race did not. It made him think there was a chance to successfully defy any reality. That he can do whatever he wanted because he is Time Lord Victorious.

What a joke, and he was the punchline.

For the longest time after the Time War, the Doctor truly believed he was the last of the Time Lords. In a way, it was true because the other survivor was hidden even from himself.

But that's the thing. The Master survived too. Against all odds, both the “hero” and the coward found a way to survive and endure the impossible. When the Doctor first made that shocking discovery, he once thought to himself, “Okay. Now we're up to two, but that's it. It's just us now. We're the only ones left . . . right?”

There is something oddly epic about that. The one Time Lord who was the Doctor's primary nemesis turns out to be the only one to survive other than himself. It feels like fate. It feels like he's a fictional character written to have a set destiny by those who might find their lives entertaining, and yet again he finds himself potentially the last of the Time Lords with one other very notable exception. Not only is the Master (or Missy as this case may be) the other exception, but it is the exact same individual from the human universe. This isn't a dimensional copy of him/her, it is him/her. What are the odds of that? Not even C-3PO is likely to be able to calculate that.

The future version of Vision also warned the Doctor that there is still more going on with this story that he is currently aware of. The last words the Doctor remembered saying in his previous life was, “I don't want to go” and then his consciousness got washed away by an overwhelming stream of energy. The next thing he knew, he was recovering in the TARDIS and was about to discover a very intense surprise. Not only did he regenerate away from a humanoid form this time, but he came to discover that quadrupeds have basically replaced all humanoids in this universe as the primary default. Vision said that there is more that the Doctor is not remembering. Something else happened between these two moments. Something important that explains all that is currently happening.

If it is a deliberately self-sealed memory, usually the Doctor feels content to just let the memory slide and let it be because he's aware that he wouldn't seal his own memories without a good reason, and it is usually set to unlock itself at “the right moment”.

However, in this case, there is a lot that relies upon that one critical bit of information. Something that may help to understand his fundamental purpose in this universe and why everything had to go through these incredibly drastic changes. For once, he can't help but be curious and concerned about that. He feels compelled to scratch at the likely wooden walls brought up in his own mind which seals very important treasure on the other side. He keeps on telling himself, “If only I knew.”

The Pony Universe is a pleasant surprise for him, but it clearly still needs a hero at times. It seems like all of his greatest enemies followed him here in one form or another, and they are chipping away at the cracks between all this friendship and harmony. If they are ignored for too long, they'll find their way to the heart of all of this peace and love. Once there, they'll either destroy it or corrupt it. He already vowed not to allow that to happen and he fully meant it.

The cycles of his various lives feel a lot like many other mortal lives. He has the majority of his memories through each one and his most solemn promises firmly etched in his hearts, but there are enough changes between each life that strongly reminds him of a mortal life. A period of “newness” at the beginning of each one that almost feels like he's exploring the universe with fresh new eyes, and in a way, that's true. New eyes, new ears, new taste buds, new subconscious body language, new inflections to his speech. There tends to be a period of confusion for him as he tries to explore not only the external universe but himself as well and what he has become. It takes a while for each life to get settled. To find their own style and their own special “song”, as the Ood had so eloquently put it.

But where there is a beginning, there is an end. His last life mourned that loss especially strongly. He didn't want to go. There was so much more he could have experienced.

Which returns his mind to loss. Each time one of his lives died, it did feel like something precious is lost. It always seemed like a step closer to true permanent death as well. Each Time Lord can regenerate only a limited number of times, and his lives held desperately onto something precious because he seemed to be the last for the longest time. Once that fire dies out, the Doctor will be no more and the rest of the universe will have to endure that loss too. The next time it needs a hero as epic as he, will the universe suffer tragedy instead when he's no longer around to protect it?

But that's the point behind the idea of forming the Knights of the Hourglass. Not only is it recruitment to help him reforge the echoes of one of the most devastating wars he's ever endured, but he also wants to leave a legacy behind just in case there comes a point where the Doctor can no longer be around to defend the universe anymore. In hindsight, he's been way too lax about that most critical of duties. If he is to have any chance to truly take that final rest in peace someday, he needs to know he's leaving behind champions to take his place. The need for such things has been proven too often. That really should not have been ignored. The Doctor feels so stupid for not thinking of this centuries ago.

But whatever. He thought of it now and that plan has been set into motion. It possibly began before his earliest memories in this new universe.

The music of the Ood still haunts his soul. They faced their end with far more joy and dignity than the Doctor's last life. Compared to the Ood, the Doctor feels like he was a coward. At the same time, though, the way he felt in his last life also feels appropriate. Like it is the way everyone should regard their death as a tragic loss. A precious song and light that is about to go out. It is worth mourning. To see another race celebrate their death instead kind of feels like they never really valued their lives in the first place.

However, the Doctor knows that is not really true, their slavery in the end notwithstanding. He knows the Ood have a much more mature perspective when it comes to life and death. To them, it is an aria that rhythmically cycles. Birth leads to life which leads to death and then rebirth. On and on it goes. The Ood value the necessary changes that are evoked in each cycle, much like the Doctor's own regeneration. Not everything changes. With the birth of every child, some legacy of their birth parents endures. That genetic code is passed on to the next generation and a new story is born much akin to the birth of a new star.

Life is brilliant!

In the end, the Doctor knows that is all everyone is. Since they are just a story, the best outcome one can hope for is to make it a good one.

The Doctor tightly winces and flinches in sharp annoyance for a second when there is a knock on the front door to the TARDIS. He turns his head which is otherwise resting against the rail of the steps leading up to the TARDIS center consoles. Annoyance quickly gives way to curiosity. Whatever this is, it might be important. Right now it feels so hard for him to get up and interrupt his train of thought. Doctor Kelly Saddler believed they all needed this vacation to take their minds off the recent tragedy they endured, and right now it really feels like she's right.

But fate is knocking on his door once again. All he can really do is groan and then get up despite himself.

Instead of answering the door first, he goes to the TARDIS controls instead. From there, he spins a monitor about and activates it. Within that screen, he views those just outside this door. In doing so, he notices most of the ponies outside are familiar save one. Vision is missing from this group too. It's almost as if this stranger has replaced the young white filly.

The Doctor lifts an eyebrow at this sight in fascination then passes that same expression to the front door. After that, he regards the center console again, presses a button, then looks back at the front door as it opens because of the button he pressed a moment ago.

“I'm surprised to see you all back so soon,” the Doctor remarks as he trots his way to his companions and new guest. “I'm especially surprised to see you all back here without Vision and with a new mare in her place.”

“I have my parents looking after Vision,” Derpy explains as she trots into the TARDIS. She is also the first to do so among the bunch. “They adore her and I can tell they have lots of questions hiding in their eyes. Fortunately for me, they've been very patient with me.”

“Vision is downstairs along with the rest of the party,” Stern Wing adds as she enters the TARDIS.

“Party?” the Doctor echoes questioningly.

“Yeah. We had a run-in with Pinkie Pie,” Feather explains while he enters the TARDIS. “And you know her, at least to some degree. Parties are her thing. Seeing new strangers in town was all the excuse she needed to throw this.”

“And it is taking place downstairs in this Clock Tower as we speak?” the Doctor double checks then pauses for a moment to listen. After two seconds, he nods. “I see. It seems like that is the case.”

“A decent amount of Ponyville is down there,” Derpy informs. “I think it's great. It gives all of you a chance to mingle and get to know them. Ponyville is not just a place. It is where the town's most important treasure lies, its ponies. A good majority of them are downstairs as we speak. I think this is a valuable opportunity to prove to you all that I spoke the truth about them all along. So, not only do you have my word that they are friendly, but some of you have experience, now, to back up my claim.”

“It's not as if we didn't believe you before,” Feather argues.

“But first-hoof experience is more valuable, right?” Derpy figures too as she addresses Feather. “You got to admit, it makes my claims feel more real.”

“Agreed, but it's not just them,” replies Feather Wind. “The air I breathed in that town told a story of its own. It is enchanting air filled with peace and happiness.”

“And also the scent of apples while we ventured to the orchard!” Derpy giggles.

Feather Wind glances at the new mysterious mare who lingers outside for a moment before turning to regard the Doctor as he says, “Well, anyway, we have a new guest among us who claims to know you. I am curious if you know her in return. So far she's only introduced herself as an ally of the Time Walkers.”

“For him, I'll take my introductions a few steps further,” the newcomer says as she steps into the TARDIS. When she does, Doctor Kelly follows shortly after. “Greetings, Doctor,” the mare says with a polite nod to the Time Lord. “My name is A.K. Yearling. I am the authoress of a famous adventure novel series sold here mostly in middle and northern Equestria. However, what most ponies don't know is . . .” Miss Yearling trails off for a moment as she dramatically rips off her cloak. This finally reveals what has been hidden beneath. In this case she is wearing a green-colored vest shirt with a darker green trim as well as a pocket at the chest. She is also wearing a pair of saddlebags where she stuffs the cloak she took off as well as her glasses. In its place, she pulls out a very worn-looking egg-white safari hat with a green and brown stripe and a bunch of arrow holes off to one side. This she slaps on her head then slides a hoof on the edge of the hat with dramatic style. Her cutie mark is also visible for the first time which looks like a compass with a background of a green circle and a lighter shade of green between each of the golden foreground compass points.

“. . . I am secretly also the story's main character,” Yearling explains with a daring grin. “You can call me Daring Do if you like.”

Derpy gasps in shock which causes Feather Wind to ask her, “You recognize her?” As he asks Derpy that, he also floats Daring's glasses back out of her saddlebags and puts them on as a visual test.

“Yes. The glasses are fake,” Daring confirms Feather Wind's suspicion in addition to the evidence he gathers when he puts on her glasses. “They are made of real glass, though. May I please have them back?”

“Sure,” Feather replies as he floats her glasses back to one of her saddlebags. “I was just testing a theory. I'm sorry for borrowing them without permission.”

“I take it you read some or all of my stories?” Daring asks Derpy curiously since it seems the gray pegasus seems to recognize the daring adventurer. “Or heard of them at least?”

“The latter,” Derpy replies when she calms back down. “I can't read very well because of . . . Well . . . You know.” Derpy suddenly blushes in shame and embarrassment because of her moderately obvious visual handicaps.

“I see,” Daring replies simply and tactfully decides to leave that issue at that. Instead of that, Daring turns her reddish/purple eyes at the Doctor as she gives him a shrewd look. “Based on the way you are regarding me, I can tell that this is our first meeting for you. However, my prior experience with you has taught me a lot of things about you. For instance, I know that, for every second that I stand here, you are already gathering a tremendous amount of information about me.” Daring smiles and even blushes at the Doctor which not only demonstrates recognition and admiration but also reveals a bit of a crush for him.

The Doctor is quite accustomed to seeing an expression like that aimed at him. She's also right about the fact he is gathering information about her quickly despite this being their first meeting for him. For instance, from the fond look she passes him which also has a slight twinkle in her eyes, he can tell that she has met him before, but for her, it was a long time ago. Furthermore, while he can tell she is every inch the professional adventurer that she claims to be now, that wasn't always true. There was a time when she was much younger and far more vulnerable. A time when she needed a hero far more desperately than she does now. When she got rescued during that time of need, deep affection for him grew in her heart which is too strong to entirely hide now. More than likely she also looks up to him as a pony that she idolizes. All of her years of hardcore and heroic adventuring might have been inspired by him at one time.

Interestingly enough, she doesn't appear to recognize his other companions nearly as much.

The more he stands there and observes her, the more his next course of action becomes clear to him.

“Indeed,” the Doctor agrees with her. “It is a pleasure to meet you again for the first time. This time you have the advantage.”

“That is a gap that is quickly closing, I'm sure,” Daring figures as her shy little girl crush continues to be displayed.

“And you said you are an ally of the Time Walkers?” the Doctor asks seriously.

The way the Doctor asks helped her to recover her own wits. She quickly grows serious as well then nods at the Doctor as she says, “Yes. I have worked with them numerous times in the past in secret. It's not just you that I met before.” Daring takes a deep breath, holds it, then lets it out before adding, “In fact, on their behalf, I have a message for you.”

Daring Do turns her head and dives into the saddlebag on her left side. Using her face and mouth, she sifts through her stuff for a moment before fishing out a letter with her mouth. With her new prize, she turns to face the Doctor again then nods at him as a signal that this letter is for him.

“Huh. Usually it's my job to deliver letters around here,” Derpy announces with a silly and lopsided grin as she continues to regard Daring with shining walleyes. She ends up hanging the tip of her tongue out of her mouth after that sentence. Most likely that is not intentional.

“Is that so?” Daring replies with a small bit of interest at Derpy after the Doctor took the letter from her mouth. “Then I thank you for your service. I rely on it myself a lot here in Equestria.”

Still feeling uncertain how blasted ponies grab things with a hoof, the Doctor takes the letter from Daring's mouth using his own mouth and then places it on the floor. When he applies a hoof on top of the letter, he notices a slight bump within it. Keeping his hold on the letter with a very gently applied hoof, he tears off the top of the letter with his teeth. He then tries to fish out the small object out of the letter by attempting to squeeze it out. He succeeds slightly but relents when he realizes he might be damaging it. He then lifts his head and scratches it with a hoof to his mane as he gives the letter on the ground a puzzled and frustrated look.

Feather Wind rolls his eyes and then uses his magic to float the letter off the ground. He also floats the object inside of the letter out of it. Once he does, he gives the object a puzzled expression. The object in question is a tiny black thing with a silver thing sticking out one end of it. It is an inch and a half tall and only a few centimeters thick. Feather can't identify the material of the main body of this object, but the tip appears to be made of some kind of metal.

“What is this?” Feather asks the Doctor curiously.

“It appears to be a flash drive to me,” the Doctor answers. “For reference, it is an object that stores information on it digitally.” He looks at Doctor Kelly. “Perhaps it is more familiar to you? Something tells me it might be made of a different material than it is in the human universe.”

Doctor Kelly nods as she says, “I can give it a scan and see what I come up with.” She then looks at Feather Wind. He nods at her. She then grabs hold of the object telekinetically and then secretly has her quasi-invisible drone scan the levitating object.

“You said you also had a mission to propose to the Doctor?” Stern Wing reminds Daring. “Or at least you implied it. You said lives are on the line.”

“Right.” Daring nods at Stern then regards the Doctor again. “I can't give you all the details yet, but I need your help and the capabilities of this vessel. There is a plague spreading in this world during this time and the cure for it is now extinct. However, since you have a time machine on your hooves . . .” She trails off now that her message is strongly implied.

“Right, but do you know when to go?” the Doctor checks with Daring.

“I have a pretty good idea where we can start,” Daring replies then steps up and whispers something into the Doctor's ears. The Doctor responds by nodding.

“I also couldn't help but notice your lack of regard for the internal dimensional expansion of my vessel,” the Doctor remarks with a minor frown.

“Next time, Doctor,” Daring replies with a fond look at him. “For you, that is.”

“Understood,” the Doctor says with a nod as he trots his way to the TARDIS controls. “Right. In that case, if you're all ready, Onwards and Upwards, my friends. We set off into another adventure, and this time we're bringing another professional adventurer with us.”

“We're going to leave Vision here?” Derpy checks with minor concern.

“She'll be fine here,” the Doctor replies without looking back at Derpy. Instead, he continues his way to the TARDIS controls. “I trust the citizens of Ponyville and your parents to keep her safe. Besides, to them, I'll make sure we're not gone long.”

“Oh. Okay,” Derpy replies with a bit of a frown as she looks out the exit of the TARDIS doors. An exit that closes itself when the Doctor presses a button on the TARDIS controls.

Shortly later, the vessel groans to life.

Downstairs, amid the party all around her, Vision's ears perk up when her keen hearing detects some of the sounds of the TARDIS taking off. She then directs her face up in the direction she hears the noise. She has a brief frown for a second, but it is soon washed away with calm acceptance.

Vision turns her attention back to the other ponies doting around her.

Author's Note

For the moment, this is the last arc I managed to finish before my inspiration waned after I received a letter from Section 8 saying I've been cleared to proceed to advance the process towards finding a new home. I had mixed feelings about that back then which was the end of March of 2023. On the one hand I could get cheaper rent then the place I was living at and it wouldn't require anyone else to be alive for me to keep these benefits other than remaining alive myself, but it also meant moving away from a place I've grown accustomed to living at for 20 years. That is the longest time I've ever lived in one place by far. I'm now currently living at the new place, but once a story grows this cold for this long, it is hard to pick it back up again.

In any case, thank you all for following this story so far. I sincerely hope you gathered some value from this experience.

I've completed a total of 10 chapters of the next arc so far. I'm not certain if I'll ever finish it. If you're okay with resuming into an incomplete story, then I invite you to proceed. In doing so, you may at least get some idea where I was going with this.

I will say, though, that although it is a direct follow-up to this chapter, it doesn't feel like it and the format of the presentation of the story drastically changes as well. I've even debated whether it should be it's own separate story, but I ultimately decided I'll just let it continue with this one. That way I won't have to try to get someone else to draw for me new concept art for it.

Daring Do and the Lost Continent Part 1: One Last Look Around

The very pleasant sound of chirping slowly stirs my eyes awake. The fact that I've been asleep before this moment barely registers at the edge of my consciousness Instead of that, I merely marvel at the comfort of my bed and the pillow beneath my head.

The chirping continues. It eventually dawns on me how close by it is. I crack my eyes open slowly at it. Blurry images greet my eyes first before it starts to come into focus. As my eyes do so, I gradually start to notice the soft flutter of my white curtains as they gently blow on the breeze of my open window. Beyond the threshold of those curtains is a tiny red bird who apparently decided to perch on my windowsill and serenade me with it's glorious morning song.

An audience of one. It really does feel as if this bird came specifically for me.

I can't help but crack a small smile at it. What a pleasant and adorable little creature! I feel blessed.

I also still feel tired.

With a pleasant sigh, my eyes drift back to sleep.

Meanwhile, the bird keeps tweeting. The music the creature gives is so much more pleasant compared to the last noise that attempted to wake me up. I know. The sound of the alarm clock is so much more shocking on one's nervous system. It makes me wish that ponykind had invented an alarm clock that simulated such pleasant-sounding tweeting instead. A cuckoo clock perhaps comes the closest, but it isn't really the thing I have in mind.

My mind starts to drift, but for the first time, I furrow my eyebrows as I contemplate something that bugs me a little bit. Why was that alarm set earlier? What did I want to wake up for? Whatever it was, it might be moot now because the light shining on my face, aside from the small shade of the curtains, is brighter than usual. Truth be told, I don't usually sleep in this late.

That strikes me as odd. Why is today, of all days, a break from the pattern? Usually I'm fastidious because I like to play it safe. Always on time for my college classes. Always prepared for every exam. If there is one thing a pony can't accuse me of, it is being lazy, so why is this day so difficult to get out of bed?

Well, for one thing, I graduated college now. A certain level of tension used to be required to stay on top of everything in order to maintain my grades, but now that is over. I'm finally meeting the next phase of my life, which is . . .

. . . is . . .

. . .

When it hits me, my eyes explode open with red cracks in it. The very next second I bolt into a sitting position.

“Oh my Celestia!” I exclaim at nopony in particular other than maybe me or perhaps even Princess Celestia.

With sudden urgency, I yank my previously forlorn and neglected alarm clock then stare at it. What I see deepens the red cracks in my eyes as the face of the alarm clock, which depicts a sidewards mare extending each of her forelegs to be each arm of the alarm clock, confirms the harsh reality I now find myself living in.

“I'm late!” I cry out in panic. “I'm late for a very important date!”

The next few minutes is a blur to my mind. Most likely because I'm moving in a blur. In the back of my mind, I marvel at that too. Prior to this moment, I didn't know I was capable of moving this fast. That also makes me worried that all this haste is coming at the expense of accuracy. What if I'm doing something improperly? What if I'm not packing something important? After all, the next journey I shall embark upon, unless I'm too late, that is, shall see me across the seas to strange and unknown lands. In other words, this is my last chance to pack!

Oh dear! Oh sweet Celestia! How could this happen? An appointment has never been this important in my entire life!

As I continue in a rush of motion, which provokes a curious cock of a head from the bird who previously greeted me so kindly this near afternoon, a jumble of images form into my head. My mind is not awake enough to organize this information too efficiently, but one explanation it does provide is the importance of this meeting is precisely why I couldn't sleep last night. As Celestia as my witness, boy I sure tried, but no prior event ever caused me to be this excited and tense before. If the team I'm about to meet (unless I'm too LATE, that is) succeeds in the goal we're setting out for, then we're about to make a monumental contribution to history previously unmatched.

We'll boldly go where no pony has gone before!

And this will be my first adventure, too. That concept alone is hard to settle on let alone imagine how significant the thing we're trying to accomplish is.

No wonder I couldn't sleep last night!

But, as a result of all of this, I'm paying for it this morning and near afternoon. So severe is this blunder that it might cost me my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. An opportunity that could define my career for now and ever onward. A legacy so grand that it, alone, might stand the test of time. The only thing that could possibly match the greatest accomplishments of the past is being known as the first to rediscover it.

That's among the jumble of images that rush through my mind. I now recall that, among the many myriad of thoughts that kept me up last night, is the idea that my name could appear in history books too. Perhaps even a name that is downright required to be known in order to pass history lessons, just like other names I had to study in the past. I don't normally consider myself anywhere near this conceited before either, but the fact of the matter is, if we accomplish the goal we're setting out to do today, then this possibility could honestly become a solid fact. Learning to accept that concept alone had already overwhelmed me last night.

What a vicious irony! The excitement and anxiety I couldn't avoid as a result of what I'm about to embark upon may, in itself, specifically be the reason to prevent all of this!

For a very brief moment, I dwell on the fact that if I indeed miss this most critical of appointments then at least the source of my anxiety shall also go away. All that would be left is an empty life of mediocrity and . . .

. . . and . . .

Well . . . no. If I'm to be honest with myself, my previous goals really aren't that bad. A calm and quiet life of study is nothing to scoff at. Not much is out there preventing me from just continuing the path I previously trot.

However, in this case, it isn't just my life that is on the line. The service I am hired to offer may be of critical importance for others who will also be on the journey. I'm not the only one who can do this, but I also can't afford to ignore or undersell the role that is meant for me. While it may be a remote possibility, my absence alone could ensure the death of the other team at the most extreme but also plausible possibility. I don't know if I could live with myself if I just keep staring off into the horizon and wonder if those who got sent on without me will ever return and see their families again. The guilt of that scenario could eat me alive. That was yet another concept that kept me up last night.

Before I can fully process all of this overwhelming information, I find myself bolting out the door with my saddlebags stuffed full of gear that I think I'll need.

But I only make it a few feet beyond my door before I pause despite myself because another possibility occurs to me. There are also many possible consequences to successfully making this all important meeting. Because of it, I feel compelled to look over my shoulder at the door to my apartment. Next thing I know, I not only return to it, but do so unusually slowly. I'm practically dragging my hooves on this one.

When I make it back into my studio apartment with only one window showing the outside world, it dawns on me that there is a chance I may never return here again. Every single second I drink in this moment may be the last time I ever get to savor this.

As I slowly look across my room and the modest amount of stuff I collected, it occurs to me that there isn't too much here of intense sentimental value. By necessity, especially on the budget of a former fastidious college student, it didn't leave much left to get heavily attached to. Even the room itself I can take or leave. Affording even this studio apartment was quite a chore in a city this grand. My memory tells me I had to keep moving because of budget reasons in the past, mostly because of other roommates who occasionally flaked out on me at various times in the past. I almost got used to a life of uncertainty. As a result, I didn't have the time to get too deeply attached to each place.

But some of the things I have within this room are special to me yet I can't afford to keep carrying them during this venture. Among such things are my college doctorate degree as well as some photos strewn across my desk of the various memories I collected during my college years and my foalhood before that. Everything there is an important glimpse into the story of my life so far. It's hard for me to imagine how insignificant these deeply sentimental things could be to some other pony who comes and clears out this room because it is clear, by then, that I died on the journey I'm about to undertake. Who else could look at these photos and still feel the same level of weight and significance that I do?

To that end, I trot close to and attempt to scoop up one photo in particular on my desk using my right beige wing, but it is only then that I notice it is unexpectedly injured. It almost feels like a pulled muscle, but the truth is I most likely slept on it for too long last night.

So, instead, I reach for the same photo with my left wing and this time I succeed with no problem. Within the photo, I see myself as a young filly on the back of my now deceased grandfather. He also has a beige colored hide and wings. He even has the same reddish/purple eye color as me. He looks so much like me that I seem to be an identical twin were it not for a few factors. One; he's clearly way older than me. Two; he is the opposite gender. Three; his unfurled and uncharted map cutie mark which is a curious but not identical match to my compass cutie mark. Finally four; while his mane and tail used to also be a salt and pepper mix, this photo captured him during the years when his mane/tail is far more salt rather than pepper.

In the photo, I am on his back and tightly embracing his neck in happy glee that is so bright, one of my eyes is squinted almost totally closed. In return, my grandfather is returning that look with a much more calmly mature sort of love. He's not a little tyke anymore who beholds the world with the same level of foalish wonder like I do in this photo. Instead of that, he was a stallion that has already been out there and seen many wonders. This was him in the twilight of his life and looking back at one who is so young with deep affection and love. Maybe seeing my smiling face was a reminder to him what it felt like to be young again. A feeling that otherwise abandoned him so long ago.

My grandfather was a professional adventurer. One of very few of that caliber. It is very rare for a professional adventurer to be that old and retire at that age. A point where they have more room to look back at their prior adventures rather than look forward to them.

Because of my parents, however, I have mostly lived the straight and narrow path. My mother must have grown up with such anxiety in her life wondering if her father would ever return alive on his frequent adventures. It is likely she also didn't appreciate his frequent absence. In his later years, it seems he agreed with that assessment too and made up for it by spending as much time with his family as he could. That was perfectly fine with me because it meant spending more time with me, too.

But as a result of my mother's upbringing, I wasn't allowed, or rather to say I wasn't encouraged, to pursue the same path that my grandfather did. In fact, both of my parents are college professors which helped me to get some critical discounts and other less frequent opportunities. I took maximum advantage of that not only to make my parents proud of me, but also because I enjoyed this path itself. The next best thing to exploring the world myself is reading about it, and it certainly is far safer. When was the last time a non-magical book had outright taken a pony life? I'm not referring to the skills that the book attempted to offer (such as assassination and the like), but literally the book itself. One of the most humorous books I have ever read on a dare was about how to wield a book itself as a legitimate form of martial arts.

The closest thing my grandfather was ever allowed to do with me that resembled his former adventuring career was going out camping. That was the one thing my mother actually encouraged, likely because she had such fond memories of that herself. I, in turn, used to find it scary and annoying to go out there and rough it in nature. In time, however, I grew to appreciate it too. After that, I grew to love it. The stars in the night sky had never looked so bright as they do away from the lights of the city, nor the glow of the moon with the shadow of a mare's face on it. My grandfather once showed me waterfalls made of rainbows, high misty mountaintops, wild birds chirping in the forest, riding down a river on a canoe, sharing stories around a campfire, enjoying camping food that we've occasionally gathered ingredients for in the wild, and so much more!

Tears blur my eyes as the photo I am holding in my left wing starts to shake. In the process of staring at it, my focus shifts to my own reflection in the glass. My reddish/purple tear-filled eyes start to squint in pain. My lips curl into a bittersweet smile/frown. Seeing this photo deeply reminds me how much I miss my grandfather and all those happy memories I made with him while out camping. The happy smile I am seeing on my own filly face in the photo is just another reminder of what I lost.

I close my eyes, lower my head, and hug the photo to my chest using my left wing. I take a moment to sob even as the back of my mind is urging me that I need to get a move on soon.

“Please watch over me, Grandfather,” I pray to the photo. “I've never been on an adventure on the same level as the ones you had before. It feels so deeply ironic that the very first one I may embark upon already surpasses the greatest legacy you've ever had. An entire lost continent, Grandfather! Every single thing we may discover on it, or anypony else for that matter, shall be an extension of that initial discovery. Not only that, but rumors abound that a great civilization was lost upon it. One with knowledge and technology that far surpasses our own.

“I know my parents wanted me to trot the straight and narrow path, and I have for the most part so far. My first adventure might be my last even if I survive it. I'm just not sure if I, or anypony else, can ever top this one. About the only thing that could exceed a standard this high is discovering and going to an entirely new planet. As a result, I might be content to retire my adventuring career after this first and last glorious hurrah.

“But just imagine it. It was you who inspired me to do this and give me courage to explore the great unknown. Everything I'll discover is, in a way, just an extension of your journey because, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even contemplate this path. The path that, if I'm being wholly honest, is something part of me longs for even as I still wrestle with my fear of it sometimes. You taught me why bold adventures can be worth it. You taught me that the worst thing in life to neglect is not its quantity but its quality. Amazing to think you actually had both.

“And . . .”

I trail off as I start to sob and shake harder. What I am trying to say next is so hard to squeeze out at this highly emotional moment for me, but considering what I am about to embark upon, I have to say it.

“I . . . I really hope I'm making you proud of me, Grandfather!” I whimper. “Everything you taught me, everything you tried to inspire me to do, it all comes down to this. This discovery could change the world, Grandfather. Please watch me! Please soar with me. Please follow me every step of the way as closely as you can. I want you to witness this too, Grandfather, for I wouldn't be there if it weren't for you. You deserve the credit every bit as much as I ever will.

“And Grandfather, even as I strive to surpass your greatest legacy . . .” I pause for a long moment as a daring grin spreads across my face before I go on to say, “. . . try to keep up!”

Author's Note

Part 2: I'm Late!

When I scrambled out of my high rise apartment building, I had to squash down any flares of embarrassment about the all too frequent comments like, “Hey! What's your hurry, lady?” In the elevator, I was downright antsy as I impatiently watched the arrow gradually sink down to the first floor. Part of me wanted to curse everypony who stopped the elevator's progress by either getting on or off of it, but I squashed those flares of resentment too. It's not their fault that I'm late. Instead, I kept kicking myself for not considering the stairs an option. Normally I'd also consider leaping off a balcony and simply fly to my destination, but with my right wing injured . . .

Well, I'm fine now. Now that I made it to the trolley, I finally feel like I can relax this morning. In this city of Manehatten, the trolley is reasonably fast. After all, in this city, it gets priority with any cross traffic. The only stops it really makes is a bunch of mini stations and the grand station. The latter is where I am going because that is also where the train station is. I just need to get to one of those trains by 12:15 Pm then I'm good.

I grin as I regard the front of the trolley car and notice that it is being pulled by no less than eight strapping stallions. On the whole, a trolley isn't much different from all the other taxis in this city. The main differences are much more passengers are being pulled, this service is cheaper and even downright free for some residents such as seniors. The trolley also plunges through any cross traffic because alerts are given before the trolley even arrives. On the other hoof, the trolley also keeps stopping at specific points and that can't be negotiated where as taxi's would have delivered fewer ponies (typically one to four) to a specific spot of the city streets chosen by the passenger. So, on the whole, both methods have their pros and cons. It just so happens that one of the stops of this trolley is the main train station.

I think I have less than fifteen minutes to get to the train station. It can be done with this transportation system even if it keeps making various stops. I might as well relax as best I can.

When the trolley arrives at the next stop after the one where I got on, I notice a very faded blue senior mare step onto the trolley with a bit of assistance from the conductor. It is at that moment I glance around and notice that all the current seats of the trolley are taken. I frown when I notice this. I then look back at the old mare and see her search the rest of the trolley for an empty seat behind the thin white veil attached to the forward end of her hat which has lovely looking flowers on it. Because I'm paying attention, I notice a ghost of a frown on her face too when she also notices that no empty seats are currently available. The conductor also notices this. It's not his job to insist other passengers relinquish their seats to this old mare, but this situation clearly bothers him too. He even appears reluctant to resume the journey until this situation reaches a satisfactory conclusion.

I also notice, to my unpleasant surprise, that nopony else is paying attention to this situation. Instead they are looking about, impatiently looking at their fore ankle watches or pocket watches, reading the newspaper, or gossiping to an adjacent passenger. No pony else is aware of, let alone cares about, the plight of this old lady.

I give a lamenting sigh. This is actually pretty typical of the big city life, but I can't pretend that I don't care either. I, at the very least, noticed this situation and I'm going to do something about it if no pony else will.

“Excuse me, Ma'am,” I call out as I rise from my seat. In doing so, I draw the attention of not just the old lady, but the majority of the passengers of the trolley too, at least for a brief moment. I swallow down my embarrassment of that too then gesture to my now empty seat as I kindly invite, “You can take this seat, Ma'am.”

“Thank you, young lady!” the old mare expresses with a sudden bright smile. “How kind of you.”

To that end, the old lady makes her way to me and I even help her into my previous seat. With a brief glance at the conductor, I notice him smile at me in approval and even gives a subtle appreciative nod at me before he turns to whistle at the rest of the stallions to resume pulling the trolley cart. When they do so, there is a brief lurch of motion as the trolley resumes. To help me maintain my balance, I reach up and wrap my left forehoof on a metal ring attached to a rail on the roof that is specifically designed for this purpose.

I take a moment to observe the reaction of the rest of the passengers. Most of them immediately return their attention to whatever else interested them the most, but there is a few who also give me non-verbal signs of approval for my noble sacrifice before they, too, return their attention back to something else.

In a way, I basically do the same thing. My mind sinks back into my excitement mixed with heavy anxiety about the journey I'm about to undertake. What will we encounter when we reach the uncharted continent? Will we even get there safely across the ocean?

The entire reason this continent was undiscovered before is because a brand new navigation method has recently been developed which is dubbed a “marine chronometer”. Such a device is said to be the most accurate clocks ever developed by ponykind so far and thus a brand new technological marvel. With it, navigators can finally determine not just our latitude, but also our longitude for the first time in pony history by comparing time from one point in space. Now that it is possible to determine exactly where we are on a map as we cross the ocean, we can find our way to a rumored lost continent as well. We're making history on this journey in far more than one way.

Once we actually get to the new continent, it will be my turn to shine for the purpose I am hired for on this team. Specifically, my role in this affair will be to chart that new land, for I am a professional cartographer. It was the one profession I majored in college which also met with some approval of my parents. It seemed like a compromise between a scholastic lifestyle and hardcore adventuring. I guess, in a way, the path to adventuring never truly left my heart ever since my camping trips with my late grandfather.

This is an exciting prospect for me. Everywhere we'll go on this lost continent, we'll be the first ponies there in known history. The maps I'll make along the way will also be the first in history as well. It will pave the way for future waves of explorers. When I finish with this initial exploration, my maps will be worth a fortune for posterity value alone. Even if better maps are made later, my maps will still be known as the first to chart this brand new continent. No pony else in history will have the chance to ever break that record because there can only be one “first” in anything. First edition maps penned by me will likely become museum pieces in their own right. Now that is a very charming thought. One day a piece of work by me will become an object to inspire somepony else, just as other museum pieces have done for me. It's a full circle and the perfect ending to my first, and probably last, adventuring career. If this is also to be my last foray into the great unknown, then it is best to leave it with an everlasting and important legacy.

“Oh COME ON!” exclaims a suddenly frustrated business pony as he regards a certain direction. The way he said it draws my attention. “They have to to this now of all days? I'm already late to my business meeting.”

Feeling alarmed by his frustration, I regard the direction he is looking at then my eyes explode widely when I notice the one type of event that could possibly stall a trolley car to a grinding halt, and that is the fact that the street we have arrived at is closed for the moment because of some kind of parade. Not only is the parade itself in the way, but a large crowd of excited ponies who are here to cheer on and enjoy this rare event.

“Oh yeah! I remember!” a nearby purple mare expresses as she turns to regard her adjacent green mare passenger. “I did read in the newspaper something about this parade that was going to be held somewhere. I just forgot the location and the date for it.”

“Alright folks!” calls the conductor as he turns to face us. “End of the line for the moment unless you want to wait between twenty and forty minutes.”

“Forty minutes?!” cries the snazzy and downright arrogant-looking business pony as he suddenly stands up in a huff. “Do you know who I am, Sir, or how important it is for me to arrive at my business meeting on time? I have to be in Biston in two days time which also means I have to get to the train station in less than twenty minutes. How DARE you insinuate that any further delays are necessary.”

“Calm down, Sir,” requests the nearby purple mare to the arrogant and furious business pony. “The parade is not his fault, and there was a newspaper article about this at least two moons ago. Maybe longer.”

Red cracked eyes suddenly snap at the purple mare as the now belligerent business pony shouts, “YOU DARE ASK ME TO CALM DOWN?! YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO IDEA WHOM YOU ARE DEALING WITH. I am Cream Toony, and I will NOT be talked down to by some insipid and stupid little girl who-”

A large red stallion suddenly stands up and slugs the belligerent business pony dizzy who recovers a second later but, by then, he's on the floor. The red stallion looms over the suddenly whimpering business pony as the red stallion says, “Ay! 'ow 'bout ya show a lit'ol respect for yon lit'ol lady why don'cha, ya fiery little wise crack'ah? Ain't no room on this trolley for such blatant lit'ol outbursts. That's for bloody true.”

Despite being intimidated, Cream Toony seemed like he was going to make another belligerent outburst until he noticed most of the other ponies on the trolley applaud the large red stallion. Realizing he'd have no backup if he complained, Mister Toony instead ducked his head, kept quiet, probably seething with hatred and plotting revenge later.

The conductor clears his throat in such a way that is obviously meant to gather attention. When he has it, he says, “Be that as it may, this trolley will not be continuing until the path is clear. The rest of you can do whatever it is you wish to do with that information. If you wish for refunds, I can provide it; otherwise, just hang tight and wait for the roads to clear. That, or enjoy the parade itself while we wait. There are also some good shops nearby.” He points up. “I actually know the proprietor to the local Ice Cream Parlor. I'm sure I can convince her to give us a discount while we wait for the road to clear.”

“Ooo! That sounds de-licious!” agrees a green mare as she licks her lips in anticipation.

I bolt out of the trolley.

I'm not even consciously aware how and why this is happening. All I do know is I feel desperate and am suddenly on the move. I charge on through the crowd. I charge through the streets with the parade and dodge one of the float cars. As I plunge at and through the crowd on the other side of the street, I think I hear a police whistle somewhere behind me. In desperate denial, I dismiss the police whistle. It's probably for somepony else, I force myself to be convinced of.

In the back of my mind, I am shocked livid by my actions. I've never acted anywhere near this impulsive before, but my whole career is on the line. Maybe other ponies lives too. If I'm not there to do my job . . .

I can't afford to think about that. I don't have time for that. I'm late!

Okay. New plan. Climb to the top of the tallest building around me then leap off from the top. My right wing might not be in good enough shape to give me much thrust or lift in its injured state, but maybe I can at least hold it straight while I glide through the air from a great height? Maybe? Hopefully? Oh please, oh please, oh please let this desperate gamble work!

Shocked but committed, I leap up and grasp a ladder on the side of a tall building. Since I'm holding it, my body weight helps to pull it down. When that is accomplished, I race to climb it as fast as my limbs can. This helps me to reach a metal bar platform which leads to yet another ladder which leads up exactly one story of the building with each layer. With a quick glance up, it looks like I got twenty-four more stories to scale up to reach the top then I'm good.

On the whole, it does look like this is one of the taller buildings in the city for the moment. There are some that are higher and a few that are much higher, but this should be good enough to get me most of the way to the train station.

I have to make it!

Down below me, I hear the sound of a police whistle draw closer. This evokes a brief grunt in frustration but I continue to ignore it. I can't allow myself to realize that the whistle might be directed at me. I have to keep climbing. I have got to catch this train!

“HOLD IT, LADY!” the cop yells up frm way below me when it seems clear the whistle isn't gaining any attention. “I SAID HOLD IT!”

The cop isn't talking to me. It must be sompony else. Somepony else who just happens to also be in this area which means I need to remain alert for the criminal that this cop actually is after, but I can't allow myself to be delayed by this other criminal either.

By the time I scale up to the eighth story, however, two things become abundantly clear to me. One; this is taking too long. I need to be at the train station in just a few minutes and I'm only a third of my way to the top of this building! Two; I'm exhausted! It is taking way too much energy to maintain this pace and I simply can't do it all the way to the top. If I slow down now because I'm forced to, it will delay me even further.

There has got to be another way to do this!

Down below, I hear the cop scrambling desperately after me and . . . . Oops! I mean at some other criminal but the cop sounds winded too. With a bit of concern, I glance down at him as the heavyset cop scales up the ladder four stories below me but it is clear from his slow movements there is no way he's going to catch up.

But my glance down helps me to spot something else fortuitous. There is a clothesline hanging between this building and another. There isn't many clothes on it for the moment. That isn't important to me, though. What I see instead is a desperate chance!

I forcefully squash down the explosive panicking voice in my head that cries out, “THIS IS CRAZY!!!!” and instead leap off the rail from the eighth floor that I am on. I even use my good wing to shoot myself down faster at the clothesline. Down below, the cop sees me and freezes in stunned panic because it looks like I've just committed suicide. Instead of that, though, I get caught in the clothesline which stretches it down eighteen feet before springing back up and launching me at high speed back up. I compress myself into a tight formation in order to make myself as aerodynamic as possible.

To my pleasant surprise, my plan succeeds better than I hoped. Not only do I make it to the top floor, I exceed it by the equivalent of two more stories before I finally lose all my upward momentum and start to crest back downwards. Before that happens, I spread both of my wings as far as I can, but doing so causes me to wince in tight pain because of my pulled muscle in my right wing. I still succeed, but it is torture for me to hold it straight while all my weight collapses onto the air and I glide my way slowly downward.

But whatever. This may delay my wing from healing, but I am airborne nonetheless. I can't turn. I can't thrust myself faster. I can't achieve more lift unless I get lucky and catch an updraft, but the possibility of a downdraft exists as well. Not as likely in this city because of the way the wind tends to work as a result of the design of this city, but it can happen and I need to be careful. Odds are any altitude I lose will not be recovered later so I have to preserve it until I get to the train station. If need be, I can dive at it from there.

Something else I keep in mind is the cops have pegasi too. The one that chased . . . um . . . the other criminal clearly isn't one himself, but there are other pegasi who actually are on the force. I don't want to be conspicuous in the air and get “pulled over” during my glide. I can't afford the delay.

Besides, in my medical condition, I'm not sure if such a thing would be safe.

For a brief moment, I quell the screaming panic in my mind by absorbing the details of the sight around me as I glide through the city. I didn't often dwell on this before, but what I'm doing right now is something two-thirds of the entire pony race can't enjoy unless they ride in a pegasus chariot or hot air balloon or the like. Still, there is a simple pleasure in knowing that this flight is guided by my own wings and I could choose to fly in any direction that I want if it weren't for my wing injury. Of course I know it will heal someday and probably pretty soon. When it does, I'll regain full control over my flight in the skies.

Manehatten is a jungle of towers all around me. It's kind of pretty to see my reflection, and the rest of the city, gleam off various windows on the buildings around me. In one of them, I see a another pegasus wiping some windows clean of a building. When that pegasus notices me in the windows reflection, she turns about and gives me a pleasant wave hi with the hoof that isn't holding a dripping scraper. She's bobbing her head to music playing on her earphones too so I'm surprised she wasn't distracted enough to notice me pass by in the reflection of a window.

Anyway, I give a pleasant wave back to her as I glide past.

Brrr! It sure is cold up here. It seems likely most unicorns and earth ponies wouldn't realize how cold it tends to get as elevation increases. Logic might tell them that but that's different from actual experience.

I heard of other pegasi who develop thick hides as a result of frequent trips up into the cold sky. And, obviously, no other race tends to be as acclimated to higher climates than the pegasi, especially those who live in Cloudsdale. That city stopped nearby three years ago as this city performed its mandatory tornado duty in order to give Cloudsdale its needed reserve of rainwater. In the aftermath of that duty, I got to spend a few days in that legendary city and marvel at the sites. That was fun! I took lots of pictures at the time to help preserve the memory. I actually rode in one of the rainbow waterfalls once even though I wasn't supposed to. I keenly remember a group of pegasi crossing their forelegs across their chest, shook their heads no at me simultaneously, and gave me a harsh stare for that little stunt but I otherwise got off with a warning, probably because the foal within them secretly agreed with me.

Anyway, since my right wing is so injured, I use my left to guide me off the path of gliding into other buildings that would have been in the way, but that also guides me off the path I need. In the end, it looks like I'm not going to make it all the way to the train station. Instead of that, it seems like I'm going to land in . . . (sigh) . . . the circus. Normally I'd be all over that, but today is not a typical day for me.

Besides, technically, I land in this area illegally. I was supposed to pay at the front entrance, but this is where my glide happens to take me. Well, ultimately, that's okay. I'm about to leave anyway. I'm not here to enjoy the sights despite how much part of me kind of wants to.

Once again, I am forced to restrain the quiet and mousy librarian I normally am as I charge my way through the circus. In doing so, I dodge between the legs of a passing elephant with far more agility than I've come to expect from myself. If I had more time, I'd pat myself on the back for that little stunt followed by screaming into a pillow!

I parkour my way back and forth between two large stacks of crates in order to quickly gain some height again then launch off the top for another glide but shorter this time since the height is not nearly as high as that twenty-four story building.

As I glide along, I reflexively catch a ball to my left side that is pitched at me hard then spin around to toss the ball to my right. In doing so, I manage to hit some kind of bullseye and accidentally course-corrected the ball at its intended target. In doing so, a stunned earth pony, who was busy taunting the crowd ahead of him until a moment ago, gets dunked into a small rectangular cube of water with clear glass around it so that this splash is well visible. After I pass, there is a second of stunned silence followed by an erupting cheer.

I look back at this scene while raising a curious eyebrow and shrug as I look forward again. When I do so, I widen my eyes as I see I'm on a collision course with a young filly who is swinging a hammer down at a platform that could shoot a cork up a certain height. If it reaches the top, it could ring a bell and the filly might win a prize. Today, however, the filly is getting more than intended.

In panic, I reflexively protect my face with my forehooves. In doing so, I don't notice that I actually land directly on the hammer during its downswing. Because of that, I accidentally added more weight to the swing. As a result, this swing made by a tiny filly actually makes it all the way to the top and rings the bell. This is followed by yet another cheer but this time for a different reason. When I hear that, I peek over the edge of my forehooves to explore my local situation and finally notice what has transpired around me.

“Here you go. Here is your prize,” triumphantly declares a carny as he hooves over a large stuffed and pink fluffy unicorn doll to the filly who swung the hammer. The child's eyes widen in delight before she embraces her new prize tightly as she enthusiastically declares, “It's so fluffy!!!”

I can't believe everypony is just going along with this!

Um . . . well . . . alright then. Glad I could be of service. Now, it's time for this little pony to exit stage left.

I race on and make my way out of the circus.

Part 3: A Strange Stranger

I am gasping for breath by the time I arrive in the train station. A lot of other ponies are giving me dirty looks as I bump into some of them because of how unsteady I am due to my exhaustion. I don't think I blame them either. I'd at least give another pony a weird look if I saw somepony else doing the same thing as I am doing right now. As of this moment, I have to fight to not think about it or I'd just die of embarrassment!

There is a brief moment of relief for me when I see the smoke stacks rise from the various trains up ahead, but I grow alarmed again when I notice the one I need is just about to take off. I inwardly scream in frustration when I notice that! There is no way I've come this far only to fail now! Can't a mare finally catch a break?

I catch up to the train just as the last train attendant steps into the train himself in order to shut the door.

“Noah! Stah . . . Don't!” I cry out desperately as I scramble to leap into the train while it is already starting to move. The train attendant looks about and glowers down at me. I try to speak, but I'm so out of breath right now that I soon realize that this is impossible. As an alternative, I fish into my forward shirt pocket and hoof him my ticket for this ride. His expression softens to curiosity as he takes the ticket and examines it more closely. Not only does it have my name on it, but it also has the time and date for this very train.

After examining it, he looks down at me and raises a curious but otherwise condescending raised eyebrow expression at me that seems to non-verbally ask, “Yours, I presume?” The only answer I can give to that is a nod followed by a begging expression. The train attendant sighs and rolls his eyes in disgust. Then he gives me a narrow-eyed expression which seems to tell me, “I could get fired for letting you on the train this late, you know? I hope you appreciate this.” Almost reluctantly, he lowers a hoof to help me onto mine. When I finally stand on my three legs unsteadily, I give him a grateful nod. He gives me a “whatever” expression then steps aside and gestures into the train, inviting me to pass him up and continue my way inside. When I do pass him by with a final sheepish grin to him, he, in turn, finally shuts the door leading out of the accelerating train.

It's a miracle how I finally make it to the door of my mostly private room in the train. I'm so dizzy and exhausted by then that I really can't figure out how I made it, but I finally slide open the door which leads to a pair of wooden benches facing each other and a single window in between them. If we have carry on luggage, we can store them in a compartment above the seats.

This is actually first class in this train. The only thing that could get better than this is private sleeper cars or renting out the entire caboose.

When I step in, or rather collapse inside, I'm surprised to notice one other pony in here. I thought I'd get this room to myself. That's what I was told earlier.

“My goodness,” says the only other occupant in the room, which is a brown stallion in this case who is wearing a brown coat over a white dress shirt which has a red necktie. He is also wearing a black bowler hat. There is a silver chain leading somewhere inside of his brown overcoat to a pocket on the right side of him. He kneels down and reaches a single hoof down to me to help pull me up. Feeling like beggars can't be choosers, I accept his hospitality even though part of me is dying of embarrassment. I was really looking forward to a moment with myself alone so I can finally recover from all this mess this morning and afternoon.

“You look like you crawled through a minefield,” notes the stallion as he helps me to my seat. Along my way to my seat across from him, I happen to catch his pretty sapphire eyes. It is at this moment it clicked in my head that this stallion is actually pretty handsome.

“Just . . . late,” I wheeze out.

“Take your time,” the stallion invites me kindly while standing before me. “You're here now. That's what is important.” He tips his bowler hat and winks at me as he asks, “Right?”

In reply, I simply nod then wince tightly as pain shoots through my right wing. I hiss a bit which is all I can do to keep from screaming. I pull my right wing in front of me and attempt to massage it lamely and unskillfully.

Seeing what I am doing, the stallion before me asks, “May I?”

I look at him in surprise. I didn't expect him to ask let alone possibly be skilled at this. Since I am now curious and feeling a little desperate, I silently nod at him in acceptance.

Wordlessly, he slides himself next to me to my right, scoops up my right wing, and for the next unknown number of minutes later, my mind swims between agony and bliss. The longer this goes on, the more my experience leans on the latter. Whoever this is, he really is good. Lucky me!

Huh. Finally some good luck! Thank Celestia!

“There you go. How's that?” he asks when he's done. After he asks, I pull my wing close to me. In doing so, only a small amount of pain registers in my mind when I bend it or straighten it.

“Much better,” I reply which is also when I notice I finally caught my breath enough to speak fairly straight again. “Thank you. Still hurts a little as I bend and straighten it, but otherwise it feels fine.”

“Try going easy on it for a few days,” the stranger recommends as he moves to sit across from me and, from there, turns to face me again. “I did what I could to reduce strain on the muscle and wing ligaments. It should take the edge off for now, but you still need a few days to fully heal. After that, you'll be soaring the skies again soon. I promise.”

I nod at him in appreciation as I say, “Thank you again.” My gaze lingers on this handsome stallion. Part of me feels tempted to ask why he is here. I could have sworn I was supposed to be alone in this room. Did I come to the wrong room? Or did he?

I take a moment to check my train ticket again then look at the number above the entrance to this room. In doing so, I verify that I am in the correct room. That's good. I don't need yet another reason to feel so embarrassed today.

Then the days events hit me again. My eyes widen with horror at what I have done. That cop most likely was whistling for me. What have I done? Am I a fugitive now? This is nowhere even close to the lifestyle I normally live! What has gotten into me today?

“If you don't mind me saying, you look like you've had an interesting day,” the stranger across from me observes in what seems to be amusement.

“Tell me about it,” I agree with a roll of my eyes. “You have no idea!”

“Probably not,” the stranger partially agrees. “But I'm sure all of us has had, 'One of those days' kind of deal.”

I widen my eyes at him as I ask, “One of those days? One of those days?!” I nearly screech the last word. “Again, I insist that you have no idea because you don't know me and what I'm normally like. What's transpired today isn't even close to how I normally act or do.”

“You have done something more daring than you normally do?” the stranger asks with a shadow of a grin.

“In a word . . . yes,” I agree. “But that's because I'm driven to desperation today. Something is about to happen to me that made me too nervous and excited to sleep last night. Boy, did that ever cost me this morning.”

“Important events can often do that,” the stranger replies. “Believe me, I know that feeling. My life has carried me quite far as well, but the interesting thing about it is it never really gets boring.” He applies a hoof to his chest as he admits, “I confess, there is some attempts to keep spice in my life, but I am pleased to report I've had some success with that.”

I grin slightly as I say, “Well, whatever you've gone through, I doubt it compares to what happened to me today.”

“You're likely right,” the stranger agrees. “Every journey is different.”

I shrug a bit which causes me to wince as pain shoots through me because of my right wing again, but the pain fades in seconds. I then nod at him as I say, “I'm sure you're right, but the scale of what I'm about to face is very likely beyond what you could imagine.”

“Oh?” the stranger asks as he raises an eyebrow and grows a ghost of a coy grin.

“I'm about to venture into an entirely new and formerly lost continent!” I exclaim in astonishment.

“Really?” the stranger reflects while wearing the same expression. “If this is so, that'll be quite an accomplishment.”

“No kidding!” I agree. “You know, I've read a lot of adventure stories before. In college, I actually majored in literature.”

“Well good for you!” the stranger cheers at me in such a way that it feels really authentic. “Stories are important. We need them to light the fires of our imagination as well as keeping a record of our lives.”

“Oh! Totally!” I enthusiastically agree. “You know, I hope to be a published author one day. Until then, I try to read what others have written and use it to help inspire me.”

“You seem to be a very smart young lady,” the stranger observes cunningly. “Sheltered and very educated, but brimming with passion. I suspect you'd like to do more than you've done before. To boldly go where no mah . . . Um. Excuse me. Where no pony has gone before.”

I sink into my seat a bit as I release a deep sigh before I finally admit, “Maybe that's true, but I'm not sure how well I'd hoofle it if I had to. What's more, it wouldn't meet with my parents approval. Especially my mother.”

“Why is that?” the stranger asks across from me.

“My mom had an adventuring father before,” I answer. “Thus she grew up with a mostly absentee father. One she had to worry about and wonder if, every time he left, he'd ever come back home again.”

“Oh. I see,” the stranger says in realization. “Well . . . that makes sense then. I'm sure an experience like that would leave a deep impact on the psyche of a growing young woman.”

I nod as I say, “I can understand that too somewhat, but because of that, I think I grew up somewhat smothered. Part of me longs for more freedom, yet another part of me feels nervous to venture too far from the nest. You know what I mean?”

The stranger nods as he pulls out an object from his side coat pocket using the silver chain. It turns out to be a silver pocket watch. I lift an eyebrow at the sight of that. Such a tiny and highly technological device isn't common in these lands. Those who do have it are either very rich or an avid collector. I wonder which of these categories the stallion falls within. Judging from his attitude, it is hard to tell. He doesn't strike me as stuck up at all in a way the wealthy sometimes can be, but they are not all like that. I met a few who can be more like this guy. Someone who is charming and seems a bit of an intellectual himself. I could easily imagine this guy to be a wealthy college professor at some prestigious academy.

“Indeed I do,” he eventually agrees after examining the time on his pocket watch then returns it back to his brown coat pocket. “Leaving the old homestead can be quite a challenge, especially in the beginning. The young boy I used to be couldn't possibly imagine the wild adventures he'd go through when he grew up. If I had a chance to tell him and if he believed me, I suspect it would spook him. There's a time in each of our lives when we fear monsters hiding under our beds. A young and innocent time when we looked upon the world with wonder but also with a deep sense of vulnerability. That seems pretty normal to me.”

“I never thought this would happen to me,” I confess to him then privately wonder to myself why I'm being so unusually open and honest with this guy. In fact, telling him about soon exploring a previously unexplored continent was already crossing the line. That was supposed to be a secret. That's why I'm on this train and taking to a more hidden port away from Manehatten.

Still, since I have come this far, a strong part of me wants to continue for some reason. I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust this guy. Aside from that, telling him about my recent stresses is making me feel better.

“There might be a part of me that wanted this,” I go on. “I've read a lot of books about other adventurers. Most of them are fiction, but some of them were real. More like biographies or autobiographers of adventurers or retired adventurers. As I read them, whether they were fiction or not, excitement grew inside me. It's also been a pity to me that so many of the protagonists I read are all male. That made me long to finally find one that features a female protagonist, even if I have to write such a story myself.”

“We all write about what we know,” the stranger points out. “Field research can be very helpful in such a profession. Going out there and sampling the kinds of things your character would go through helps establish authenticity to your potential work. It is not strictly necessary, I think, but I find myself with a healthy respect for those authors who do go through with that extra mile.”

I smile at this stranger as I tell him, “I wholeheartedly agree! I love the kind of authors who can make their work feel real. Like I am actually there on the journey with the characters I read. I want to know what the temperature in the air feels like. I want to know what the itchiness of the sting of insects feels like as they explore wild jungles and hidden forbidden temples. Make me feel the adrenaline rush as they slide under a collapsing door. Make me hear the whistle of poisonous darts as they wiz by centimeters from my face. Put me in the action, authors.”

“Well you are about to go on a great journey, are you not?” the stranger reminds me. “It's one thing to read about other adventures. It's quite another to actually be there.”

“You sound like you speak from experience,” I observe.

“Aye,” the stranger agrees. “Lots and lots of experience and I mean that both ways. Being in adventures myself but also writing about them or reading about them. I, too, grew up enchanted about such stories. I, too, didn't think anything like it would ever happen to me. Instead, I grew up going after intellectual pursuits such as being a student and then a college professor.”

“I knew it!” I declare triumphantly. “I knew you had that vibe to you. A pony with a sophisticated and highly educated past.”

He nods again then goes on to say, “I found I quite enjoyed it. To expose young minds to new knowledge and watch as their horizons expand. To watch as their potential grows. I have fond memories of just slinking back into the background as I watched my former students move on into greatness that I've always known they had inside of them. By knowing that I had some part in helping to unlock that potential just fills me up with such endless satisfaction. That I made my mark upon the world through my students. That's such a wonderful way to make a contribution to the universe.”

“Universe?” I reflect questioningly. “Don't you mean university?”

“I know what I said,” the stranger replies as he narrows his eyes at me very slightly. “And I meant what I said.”

Who talks like that? Most ponies I know talk about their influence in, at most, all of Equestria.

Then it hits me. I'm about to venture beyond Equestria entirely. Whatever else I do or accomplish out there, I can't give direct credit to this land while I am there. We ponies are in such strong habit in talking about Equestria that I soon realize this will be quite a change for me. Terms like, “How in Equestria . . .?” such and such wouldn't really fit in this case.

Once again, I privately marvel how easy it is to talk to this guy. I doubt he realizes how valuable it is too. This helps put my mind at ease.

“Well,” I say as I look down, “you do have a point about this adventure possibly helping to establish some authenticity to any of my future novel characters. That is a part I am looking forward to.” I look back at him. “To help me do that, I plan to write a log often about what I encounter. My official job is to be a cartographer in these new lands, but I plan to go one step further and write about my personal experience as well. Someday that journal alone might be worth a fortune.”

The stranger smiles softly at me as he says, “I can see the advantages of being a pegasus when it comes to a profession like that. Just park a cloud high above whatever terrain you plan to draw.”

“Exactly!” I agree with an enthusiastic swing of a foreleg. “I doubt I'll be the only pegasus on the journey, but being a pegasus can certainly help me get a 'bird's-eye-view' of the situation wherever we go as long as it is not too stormy up there.”

“And even if it is, your kind is among the best to handle it,” the stranger agrees.

I give him a strange look.

“Hoofle it,” the stranger corrects himself with a dazed blink as if he can't believe he just said the other thing a moment ago.

I continue to wince one eye at him for a second then widen both eyes back to normal as I say, “Be that as it may, I'm glad actual professional adventurers are also being hired for this journey. Not only because I look up to them, not only because I can use them as potential models for my future stories, but to help keep me safe during this journey. In no way do I plan to become a professional adventurer myself after this, but while I am on this journey, I plan to learn everything I can to help keep me alive and to know what my fictional adventuring characters would know. The kinds of tips that they might give somepony else that they'd encounter. I'll also pay attention to the attitude they present while giving those lessons because some character I might write could be the same way.”

“You may do whatever you wish with your life,” the stranger expresses. “It's your story, but remember; just as you were surprised about taking this journey now, be aware that such things could happen again. You didn't expect this, so why should the rest of your life be predictable with this one and only exception?”

“I can't predict the future,” I express with a shrug. “I can only make plans for it while remaining aware that they can change. Even if I have to venture in new and uncharted territory, I'd at least like to make a new chart as I continue. I may not be able to see into the future, but I can see into the present and the past. With that in mind, I'd like to create something that helps make the path I trot more clear later on. That way I can at least backtrack with some clarity.”

“In that case, believe it or not, you're already thinking like a professional adventurer,” the stranger expresses. “Lots of ponies can be an adventurer, but a professional one knows there is a difference between being brave and being reckless. The good ones pave the way for all those who follow in their footsteps. If you are the first to venture into new territory, be mindful of where you step and how you choose to proceed. There is nothing wrong with fulfilling an inward need for a thrill, but a professional adventurer realizes there is something they can accomplish beyond just that. That they can venture out there with a driven purpose. Learn from your failures and the failures of others too. I guarantee you'll encounter some of that as you continue on this path. One important distinction about this profession versus another standard one on dry land is sometimes you get only one chance to make a mistake while out in an adventure.”

“I know,” I agree with a solemn nod to him. “If I start seeing pony skeletons, or that of other animals, in the area that I am exploring, stop and pay especially close attention to the environment. Something there killed these others, and if I'm not careful, I could become the next warning sign for others.”

The stranger gives a blank stare at me for a couple of seconds before looking down, leaning forward, then looking back up at me as he says, “This is why I'm telling you that you are a very bright pony.” He shakes his head. “Sometimes we don't know what we're capable of until we go through an experience like this. In a way I envy you. It's been a long time when an adventure felt totally new to me. There's nothing quite like that first experience.”

“I plan to survive this in order to write about it later,” I promise him. “Come what may.”

“Only fools are fearless,” he expresses at me with a very serious expression. “It could be ignorance or arrogance that keeps them brave. Whatever the case may be, the end result typically is their death. Personally, I say fear is your friend that is attempting to warn you of the danger around you. Don't let it blind or paralyze you, but pay attention to it nonetheless. Fear is your friend if you let it be. There is wisdom in handling that carefully.”

I wince one eye even as I grin at him then tell him, “You're one strange pony. You know that?”

The stranger leans back into his seat, looks out the window to his right side, and says, “Yeah. I get that a lot.”

Part 4: Introductions

I have to say, I really didn't expect a pony I just met on the train to be this courteous to me. He actually paid for a carriage ride and gave me an escort all the way from the train station to the dock. Some suspicion arose within me for a brief moment because of that, but he's been nothing but a fine gentlepony to me. I don't know why, but my instincts kept insisting that he is a pony that can be trusted. Maybe it is his easy-going nature. Maybe it is because he's easy to talk to. Maybe it is because he has fascinating things to say.

Or maybe it is because I'm attracted to him, but if that is the case, this is most likely a vivid example of sapiosexuality, or in other words, one who is attracted to intelligent beings.

When I feel the carriage we are riding in come to a stop, disappointment sinks into my heart because this means I'll now have to part with this fascinating stranger I met on the train.

“Um . . . well . . . we're here,” I tell him as I squirm shyly.

“It would appear so,” the stranger agrees across from me in the carriage.

“It was, ah . . . It was great talking to you,” I resume as I blush like a schoolgirl crush.

“Indubitably,” the stranger agrees again with a faint amused grin for some reason. “I hope to do this again sometime.”

“Me too!” I agree with a bright smile which fades shortly later. “But I really can't be certain when that will ever happen. I might not even return from this trip alive.”

“Don't say that,” the stranger says disapprovingly with a slight shake of his head. “Always make survival your goal. Believe in that. The longer you live, the more of this fabulous journey you will undertake. Take it from me, from one traveler to another, it's all worth it.”

“Thank you,” I say with a shy smile. “I will try.”

“Don't just try. Do,” the stranger insists. “Do daringly.”

With that, the stranger leans to his side and opens the carriage door. From there, he gestures out of the carriage.

I don't wish to prolong this goodbye. I simply nod at him then climb my way out of the carriage without looking back. That takes so much resolve in my heart, but this is the way it has to be. One chapter of my life has closed and another must take it's place.

That chapter looms out in front of me. I'm here! I'm finally here!

For a brief moment, excitement and anxiety well inside me again when I behold the dock that has the ship The Intrepid before me. It is a two story steam engine paddle boat craft I usually encounter on rivers. This thing is meant to cross Celestial Sea, but it isn't driven by giant sails. All I can think about in that moment is it better have enough coal for a round trip, but that said, at least the wind and ocean currents won't be as much of a threat.

This actually strikes me as a cruise ship. Almost like a hotel on water. I can see a bunch of doors leading to separate rooms strung all round the outside of the ship beneath both roofs of the duel layer ship.

As I stare upon this, I have to wonder why this vessel is chosen for this legendary journey.

“Careful, you fools!” complains a light brown stallion with a dark mane and tail which has a streak of white through both. He has a easily visible cutie mark of a yellow pony skull with gems in the eyes. He is wearing an egg-white shirt and has a white polka dot bandanna around his neck. I immediately recognize him on sight as Doctor Caballeron. Another shy blush rushes to claim me. I have been expecting him and this is a meeting I was looking forward to. “These sah-plies are very del-oh-kit,” Doctor Caballeron goes on to explain to the apparently clumsy dock worker with a very distinct Ponish accent.

“No they're not,” returns a very gruff looking dock worker. “They are not delicate. See?” He kicks one of the wooden crates hard to demonstrate its durability, and indeed, there isn't the slightest dent on the crate.

Nevertheless, the dock worker's demonstration clearly irritates Doctor Caballeron. He almost goes off on another roaring rant, but he restrains himself with intense effort then goes on to explain more calmly, “Fine. Ah-greed. They are not del-oh-kit, but they are impordant so STOP KICKING DEM, YOU FOOL!!!”

Before I know it, I race ahead to meet up behind Doctor Cabelleron and skid to a stop from there. Either the gallop of my hooves or the sound of me skidding to a stop alerts the doctor of my approach. At first he looks back at me in annoyance, but when he sees me, his mood immediately brightens into delight.

“Well, well, well,” says Doctor Cabelleron as he turns to face me. “A fine young lady graces my presence . . . no?” He flashes me a very rogue'ish, charming smile.

Fighting against my blush, I attempt to speak, but he steals my breath away again when he scoops up my left hoof and kisses it charmingly. Following that, I start to black out. The next thing I know, I am staring up into his blue eyes as he is staring down at me.

“There is no need to faint before me, mademoiselle,” announces the debonair doctor as he gives me bedroom eyes. “My exploits hov been most exceedingly exaggerated, I'm sure.”

“B-buh-buh-but you're Doctor Cabelleron!” I stammer excitedly. “The discoverer of Serenity Valley! The one who re-discovered the Temple of Ahak-Teetlet! The one who discovered the long lost Snarkenstone! You're a legend in the archaeologist circles!”

“Please, Madam, I am juz a humble excavationist,” Doctor Cabbelleron insists as he helps me stand up straight. “Please . . . juz call be Doc-tar Cabbelleron.”

“Then from one Doctor to another, I bid you welcome,” says a familiar stranger behind me. Upon hearing that, I whip my gaze about then widen my eyes as I witness that the same stranger I met on the train, who then gave me a carriage ride here, has also followed me to this point.

“Really?” Doctor Cabbelleron expresses in delight as he also beholds this new stranger. “It is good to encoun-tar annodar fellow educated gentlepony such as myself. So you too, Sir, have a doctorate in . . .” Cabbelleron leaves the rest of that sentence hanging as he waves a hoof to invite the stranger to finish the rest of that sentence.

“Yes,” the brown coat wearing stranger replies.

Doctor Cabbelleron lifts an eyebrow as he asks, “Excuse me?”

“I was just answering your question,” replies the stranger. “Whatever the rest of that sentence was going to be, the answer is yes.”

Doctor Cabbelleron holds his confused expression as he asks, “So . . . ahh . . . basically . . . you . . . ahh . . . have a doctorate in everything? Even evil?”

The stranger merely grins in amusement then removes his hat and places it on his chest as he says, “I think formal introductions are now in order.”

When he says that, it suddenly occurs to me he never introduced himself to me on the train. I widen my eyes as I further realized I never introduced myself to him either, or to Doctor Cabbelleron.

“My name is Smith,” introduces the brown coat and black bowler hat wearing stranger. “Doctor John Smith.”

“Pleased to meet you, Sir,” greets Doctor Cabbelleron as he extends a hoof that Doctor Smith promptly shakes. “And I am Doc-tar Cabbelleron.”

“I know,” Doctor Smith assures as he continues to shake Cabbelleron's hoof. “I heard you when you were introducing yourself to this nice young lady.”

“And I am Keystone!” I eagerly and hastily put in since I feel so embarrassed that I didn't say that earlier. “Agate Keystone.”

“Agate Keystone?!” exclaims some gruff sounding pony from nearby. Hearing him draws my attention to another fairly large nearby pony who was coiling a rope around a hoof. By the looks of it, he was nearly finished when he overheard me and decided to speak up. Initially his back is to us, but then he turns about and I get a good look at a very old but exceptionally well built stallion with a chiseled jaw and a five o'clock shadow spread on it. I still can't see his eyes yet because his safari hat is tilted too far down. He is wearing a khaki shirt with two pockets on each side of his chest and a dark brown leather coat worn over that. He has large and tough looking saddlebags on each of his hips which has some decent bulge to both of them.

“You know of this young miss?” Doctor Cabelleron asks this new individual curiously with apparently some recognition of this stranger as far as I can tell.

“That depends,” answers this tough old stranger before he asks me directly “Do you have any relation to Fourwind Keystone?”

I widen my eyes as I answer, “Yes. He was my grandfather. How did you know him?”

“Agate Keystone,” the new stranger repeats as if tasting the word, then goes on to say a phrase I haven't heard spoken since the days my grandfather was alive. “A magical keystone needed to unlock a gate.”

The moment I hear that, I gasp as I realize that this new stranger must have known my grandfather.

This new stranger lifts his head, and thus the edge of his safari hat as well, enough so that I can finally see this stallion's hazel eyes. He is giving me a very piercing stare with his old and wrinkled eyes that is still filled with so much strength that his gaze causes me to unconsciously shrivel a bit.

“Your parents wouldn't approve of your presence here, little miss,” the grizzled stranger warns gruffly.

There is a moment of awkward and uncomfortable silence that passes between us all before Doctor Smith asks, “And I take it you are the legendary dungeon explorer Tanon Burrows, right? I heard that Fourwind Keystone was an old partner of yours.”

“Tanon Burrows?!” I gasp in astonishment. “I heard you retired!”

“Yes. I did,” Tanon agrees as he tilts his head back down and thus concealing his eyes from sight again. “But the opportunity offered here was too good to pass up. The discovery we're about to make is a once in a lifetime, and I can't afford this opportunity to show up my old partner.”

A fond look sinks into my eyes. This is the first time I ever met Tanon directly, but I heard he continued adventuring for a few years after my grandfather retired. Eventually Tanon also settled down but not with a family. Instead, I heard he continued adventuring on a lesser scale as a park ranger.

Before all that, Fourwind and Tanon were good partners through many of their earlier adventures. One is a unicorn, which is Tanon, although his hat conceals that fact, and the other is my grandfather Fourwind. Together, they both made one legendary discovery after another.

“You shouldn't be here,” Tanon insists again as he tilts his head and lifts it up just enough so that only his left eye is piercing at me.

“I can't afford the loss of this opportunity as well,” I proclaim as resolute as I can muster. “I'm the right pony for the job that I was hired for.” My knees are shaking, but I go on to say, “I'm not my parents and they don't live my life for me. I'm a grown mare now and I make my own decisions.”

“You do realize precisely why they didn't want you to trot this path?” Tanon asks as he continues to give me a hard gaze with one eye which seems to gleam under the shadow of his hat. “There is no guarantees of anything, but the trials we'll face will very likely be life threatening. Are you prepared for that?”

“Oh please. I am Doc-tar Cabbelleron!” Cabbelleron brags. “I helped to uncover many sites and-”

“I wasn't talking to you, Sir,” Tanon says tightly and firmly as his burning gaze now pierces at Cabbelleron. Despite the intensity of that stare, I am surprised to see how effective it is to the archaeologist I look up to so highly. Tanon is, apparently, intense enough to cow pro explorers even at his very senior age.

I give a hard gulp as I gather my resolve then give Tanon a piercing stare of my own as I declare, “You have no right to judge me or my worth in this venture. I earned my right to be here by being a brave and highly educated pony. Fourwind showed me the ropes in many of our prior camping trips before he passed away, and yes . . . I know that's not the same thing as what we're about to embark upon, but he still inspired me. I feel his passion for exploration burning in my heart and I will not be bullied into submission over that fact. I am here now and I'm going on this trip, and that's final! Take it or leave it, Sir, but I'm going either way. The rewards and consequences of that act are mine and mine alone. Know that you are free from any responsibility for me during this trip. I can hoofle myself.”

Tanon returns his hard and silent stare back at me for a few seconds as if trying to test my resolve. I meet that gaze with equal measure. Eventually he sighs as he turns away then says, “So be it. Lay on the hay you make.”

I give a hard gulp. My gaze continues to remain firm, but inwardly I am still shaking.

“He does care for you,” Doctor Smith assures me as he turns to look at me softly. “He just has his own way of showing it.”

“I know,” I reply just as softly as I finally relax my guard and give a heavy sigh.

Part 5: What We Brought

I am having an unbelievable time on this ship. Doctor Caballeron, a pony I secretly (or perhaps not so secretly) look up to is showing me around this ship as if I'm somepony special. Why? I feel like I am a last minute addition for a job that admittedly is important where we are going and I do happen to have a knack for it, but it seems to me a thousand other ponies could have been chosen in my place. Why I was picked specifically for this mission is already beyond me, so it blows my mind even further that somepony I look up to is treating me as if I'm the celebrity here. I'm not complaining, but it is difficult to accept.

Getting a better tour of this ship is useful knowledge to me since it has come to my understanding that we'll be here for at least twelve whole days, but very likely quite a bit longer. When I see the shores of our beloved home of Equestria sink below the horizon, it steadily dawns on me that we are now standing on the closest thing to visible landmass in every direction across every horizon, and it just happens to be artificial and moving. As a result, it is useful to get a lay of the “land”, as it were. To know what resources it has and what it doesn't have. To know which rooms are important and which are frivolous. To know what personnel we carry with us because, out here, we essentially have become our very own country. The only one we can rely upon potentially for the rest of our lives out here, however long or short that will happen to be.

As we continue the tour, Doctor Cabbelleron regales me with many stories of his past adventurers in exploring old ruins. These are stories I would have paid good bits to hear and I have in the past. Some biographies have been written about him before and I proudly own most of them. He seemed rather flattered when I told him that which made him even more determined to almost arrogantly brag about his past exploits. I don't mind this in the slightest. When a stallion, or any pony for that matter, has made as many discoveries as he has, they deserve to be cocky about it. I'm actually very glad he's so willing to speak to his publishers, ghost writers, and me about his exploits because otherwise it would have remained hidden.

“What do you think will actually be out there?” I ask Cabbelleron beside me as we roam the starboard side of the lower deck of the ship. To our right is doors leading to various rooms, mostly bedrooms, and to the left is white wooden columns which support the deck and roof above us. Beyond that is the vast ocean which is now illuminated with a pinkish hue due to the Celestia sun sinking on the horizon to the west.

“You mean tha new conten-ent we are abow to discovor?” Cabbelleron asks me with his ever enchanting accent. Then he shrugs. “Well . . . part of the point of being a legendary archaeologist is the willingness to go out there and discovor what is ow there.” He chuckles for some reason. “It makes it tha much more fuhn fo me az well az po-tentially prafa-tahble.”

My smile at him fades a bit as I ask, “But there is the thrill of knowing that we'll share this discovery to the rest of Equestria too, right?” My excitement picks back up as I say, “Think of all of the contributions we'll make to museums!”

“What?” Cabbelleron blinks at me questioningly then waves me off as he says dismissively, “Oh. Yes, yes. Of coreworse. All of that as well.”

I gaze out to the ocean to my right as I savor the ocean breeze that passes us before declaring, “Someday some other colt and filly will behold those pieces we'll bring back and be inspired by it as well, just as some of the things you have discovered has done for my own life.”

“You're really into this,” Cabbelleron notes with surprise mixed with delight beside me. “Are you sure you havon't chosen the wrong profession before? Perhaps you might be destined to be an archaeologist yo'self.”

“No,” I say a bit despondently as I turn my head forward then lower it as I close my eyes. “I wouldn't know the first thing about being a professional adventurer myself, and my parents would probably have a heart attack at the mere thought. Even now, I didn't tell them that I would be going on this venture.”

“Baht tha way you stood up to old Tanon Burrows clearly deh-mon-straights at least some interest and talent in this field,” Cabbelleron tells me encouragingly. “Perhaps you're more into this than you thought.”

“Interest?” I reflect as I lift my face forward again and open my eyes. “Sure. Talent? I doubt it but we'll see. If it turns out I do have a knack for this as well then that should be useful at least for the duration of this voyage. The only thing I might care to see more than making this grand discovery is to one day return from this voyage and go back home safe and sound.”

“Bah!” Cabbelleron gives me another dismissive wave. “Safety is overrated. It tis tha adventor-is, tha bold, that even-tually return home with a tale or two worth telling.”

“It's easy for you to say that,” I remark as I look back at him. “You're good at this job, but think about all those other ponies out there who didn't return from a trip like this and they are never going to.”

Doctor Cabbelleron winces in apparent disgust as he says, “Halfwits, all of them. They nev'ah had tha true passion to be a real adventurer. Glory and riches await for dose who make dat leap o' faith and return boldly.” He half shrugs. “Perhaps with a trinket or two tah prove his adventures 'nd his worth. Wit'out that, there'd nev'ah be those museum pieces which so inspired you.”

“That's true,” I agree thoughtfully.

“If it 'as to be somepony, it might az well be us,” Doctor Cabbelleron concludes with another simple shrug.

“Boss,” speaks a tan colored stallion with brown tail and presumably same color mane but it is concealed under a hat with a white stripe across it. His face sports a five o'clock shadow similar to Tanon's. He also wears a red scarf. When he gains our attention, this stallion nods elsewhere as if to silently convey that they have business to discuss in private.

“Somepony you know?” I ask Cabbelleron beside me while nodding to indicate the stallion that just addressed us.

“Biff,” Cabbelleron introduces with a bit of a tired sigh. “This venture should be worth it but there sure are heavy expenses. One of tha investors, tha highest in fact, sent some of 'is ponies wit me to . . . well, officially to guard me but also to make sure everything runs smoothly. To that end,” Cabbelleron faces me and gives me a graceful bow. “I must, unfortunately, deprive you of my compony for tha moment. Pardon me while we have business to discuss.”

“Oh!” I blink. “Um . . . of course. Take your time and thank you for the tour,” I express to Cabbelleron gratefully.

“Baht of course, Mademoiselle,” Cabbelleron replies dashingly. “Until we meet again, adieu.”

Once again, he scoops up one of my hooves, my left in this case since he's standing to my left side, and kisses it charmingly before he departs. As he leaves, I detect the slightest trace of annoyance to his mood as if he resents this interruption to our tour. If that is true, then it might be noteworthy that he is departing from my side reluctantly for some reason. Either because he doesn't wish to leave me, doesn't wish to attend to whatever business this other pony has in mind, or both.

As I watch them leave, I privately note that while Doctor Cabbelleron is dripping with debonair charm, I'm getting less comfortable vibes from this Biff stallion. I don't know what it is. Maybe his poise. Maybe his mannerism. Just something which indicates to me that he might not be the safest or wisest pony to encounter in a dark alley.

Then I dwell on what Cabbelleron said earlier. He said Biff is here to be a representative of an investor for this trip. That raises some questions which, for some reason, makes me a bit uneasy.

“Be careful of the compony you keep,” warns another unfamiliar stallion from somewhere nearby. I end up looking over my left shoulder to locate this one. There I see an aging white unicorn stallion who has a bit of bulk to him but clearly not as much as he would have had in his youth. I get the impression he used to have a golden mane and tail, both of which is now heavily bleached into silver for the most part. Only hints of it's once glorious golden hue remain. After a moment of examination, I also note something else about him that was initially subtle, and that is the very firm stance and expression in his face. He stands with confidence and vigilance that both suggest formal training sometime in his past.

“What do you mean?” I ask this new stallion curiously with just the hint of alarm.

Then it suddenly occurs to me that I haven't encountered many other mares on this ship.

“That stallion who nodded to indicate for Cabbelleron to follow him,” this white stallion says as he nods to indicate where they took off. “Officially he's one of three henchponies to be Doctor Cabbelleron's bodyguards, but secretly they are actually hired to oversee to the will of the largest investor of this ship, one Colonel Panders.” This stallion narrows his eyes in the direction the other stallions went off to. “And the Colonel is noteworthy because of some shady history behind him.”

“What?!” I cry out in alarm mixed with horrified disbelief. I turn to face this new stallion fully. “That's impossible! Doctor Cabbelleron would never stoop to work with a pony like that.”

“Not everything is included in a pony's own biographies,” this stallion warns as his sharp gaze returns to me firmly. “Often what becomes public knowledge is an edited version of their own personal story. It's not always to their benefit to be completely honest with the public.”

I wince at this pony as I say, “That's a rather cynical view of reality. And just who are you to claim such expertise in these matters?”

“Forgive me, my lady, for not introducing myself earlier before I spoke on such matters,” the white stallion expresses as he gives me a formal bow. Once again, he seems to have a lot of practice in this as if he's had formal training. “My name is Straight Arrow and I am a former retired Royal Canterlot Guard. I used to serve under the glorious wings of Princes Celestia for a whopping twenty-eight years before I retired.”

“Oh wow!” I gasp as it clicks in me why his poise and mannerism seems so regal and disciplined. “I, ah . . . I didn't know.”

“Well now you do,” Straight Arrow announces as he rises from his bow. “I hope I have made my position a bit more clear to you.”

“Are you sure about Colonel Panders and the fact he's the main financial backer of this voyage?” I ask in a slightly spooked tone.

“We, of the former royal guards, are often in communion with local law enforcement officers in order to safeguard the Princess and to know who to watch out for,” Straight Arrow explains. “One of them was and is Colonel Panders. He's made quite the mark among crime syndicates for a very long time. Now he's risen to be influential enough to be his own crime boss. In fact,” he taps the deck we're standing on, “The Intrepid is secretly owned by him, or rather one of his subsidiary componies. They try to hide it, but there are enough clues to follow for the vigilant and determined.

“Now, mind you, crime syndicate families like the one the Colonel leads are not always into shady business. They have legitimate business too like a canning compony or two hotels and casino's in Los Pegasus. It's noteworthy, however, how mysterious some of their financial endeavors are. Some of the things the Colonel owns could not possibly be affordable entirely by legit means. Shady dealings must have been made in the shadows as such ventures are often done.

“Now, I heard that if you were to actually meet Colonel Panders in person, he'd be oozing with strong Southern charm which makes him seem like a jolly and civilized gentlepony, but he's also the kind of pony who maintains that delightful charm while ordering his henchponies to shatter kneecaps right before his very eyes. Do not be taken by his disarming smile for it hides a very dangerous and cunning wit.”

I get the chills as I stare at Straight Arrow wide eyed. Eventually I recover my own wits enough to ask, “Then why are you aboard this ship? If the one who provided the main financial backing for this venture has such a shady history, how and why are you involved?”

“Some of that information is classified,” Straight Arrow informs me very seriously. “But what I can tell you is what me and two other former royal guards aboard this ship are hired to provide is security during the voyage. Colonel Panders hired thugs, Biff, Withers, and Rouge, are essentially hired for the same thing, but what my former team and I provide is more formal training. We're also the only three unicorns aboard this ship with formalized training in combat magic such as hornbeams, barrier magic, and the like.”

“Ooo. That could come in hoofy,” I note with interest.

He nods as he says, “Indeed. I also patrolled this ship and took a census of those aboard this ship. To my surprise, I discovered that most of the ponies aboard this ship are earth ponies. Only twelve of us are unicorns, and of those, only three have formal training in combat magic. Tanon Burrows, for all of his skills with adventuring, is only capable of basic unicorn magic but he takes that quite far.

“I was far more surprised, and alarmed, to discover that you, Miss, are the only resident pegasus aboard this ship at this time.”

My eyes explode wide with shock and I exclaim, “What?!”

Straight Arrow narrows one eye at me as he says to me, “That seems like a massive oversight to me considering the journey we are undertaking, but it is what it is. Your role in this affair just might be far more important than you realized earlier.”

I gaze down with shock. If what Straight Arrow just told me is true, then I'm the only one that can provide an aerial reconnaissance of any area we explore. I'm the only one who has a chance to remove inconvenient weather. I'm the only one who can trot and rest on clouds. Perhaps most importantly, I'm the only one who has a chance to save somepony else's life if they fall down a cliff unless a unicorn is trained in the right spell or really strong with their telekenetic magic.

Personally, I consider myself an above average flier but nothing to brag about. Nothing really amazing. I just happen to push myself a little harder with wing training than most ponies. That's all.

Before now, I never considered myself as somepony special specifically because of my flying abilities. One-third of the rest of pony kind can do that as well. That's not even counting other races that can do it too.

Now, however, I may be shouldering the responsibility of the only pony aboard who is capable of doing this. That is, assuming, whenever my wings are not injured. I feel pressure growing on my heart when I realize that I'm now the only one capable of even having a chance to face aerial combatants on their level. Since I have no formal fighter training to speak of, it seems gravely unwise of me to face such a thing totally alone.

We're about to encounter an entire unexplored continent. It's hard to fully imagine what we might encounter there, but it seems safe to assume we could encounter aerial threats at least a few times. I'd feel so much more secure about that if there was at least one other pegasus for the team to rely upon, especially if that pony had some formal training to hoofle it. But nope! It's just me. That's so much pressure.

It's not like we have any other backup either. All we have aboard this ship is all we're ever going to have on this voyage aside from what we might encounter later, but there is no telling what that will be at this time. Right now, we can't count on anything beyond what we've brought with us, and apparently I am just learning that at least three other ponies aboard this ship was hired by a mob boss.

“Um, those three that are hired by Colonel Panders,” I say as I look back at Straight Arrow with a minor look of desperation in my eyes, “they can fight, right?”

“I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that,” Straight Arrow agrees with a nod.

“In that case, if we encounter something dangerous where we're going, we can at least trust them to defend their own lives and to do it reasonably well. At least, better than any average civilian, right?”

“Right,” Straight Arrow agrees with another nod. “That said, that doesn't mean they'll necessarily be driven to defend you. I suggest you bear that in mind.”

“Right, but if they are busy defending themselves, then whatever is attacking them is busy too and therefore too busy to attack anypony else. If we're lucky, they'll also defeat the threat. If that happens, then that former threat can't threaten anypony else.”

“That's one way to look at it,” Straight Arrow agrees somewhat wistfully.

“Regardless of their past, we may be thrust into a very unusual situation going forward,” I reason. “Under the right circumstances, they may actually be trustworthy.”

Straight Arrow shrugs as he says, “That's always possible, but it's important to remain prepared for any situation. That's why I'm warning you right now. I'll do my best to protect you and I'd do it with all sincerity, but there are limits to what I can do, especially at my more senior age and we can't count upon what else we might encounter in the future. As an innocent civilian, I felt it was my duty to inform you of that.

“One should also consider exactly what those henchponies secretly hired for? A financial backer from a crime syndicate has an interest in the discovery of a previously uncharted lost continent. I don't think it is wise to dismiss what his true motives are.”

“But you are here too and can report your discoveries as well,” I remind him.

“In a nutshell, that's basically why I am here,” he informs me. “But there is no guarantees that I, or anypony I previously worked with, will survive this trip.”

“On the off chance that you don't and I do, is there anypony you want me to inform of something?” I offer kindly.

Straight Arrow lifts a hoof and wipes it back and forth as he also gives me a shake of his head before saying, “No. I shan't involve an innocent civilian in military matters beyond warning you of the potential danger aboard this ship and my intention to do my best to protect you. Beyond that, I can offer no guarantees. As for my official mission that I can't talk about, I'll hoofle it myself if I can.”

“Shouldn't we warn Doctor Cabbelleron of this as well?” I ask in concern. “Because he's obviously not aware of whom he's dealing with.”

“One can never be too certain of what a pony's knowledge and intentions are,” Straight Arrow warns. “It's best to withhold that kind of information for now. If the doctor is innocent, warning him now might also tip the Colonel's henchponies. After all, Cabbelleron works with them more closely and they, in turn, watch him just as closely. If it turns out the doctor is guilty, then warning him tips him off about our knowledge and suspicions. There's no advantage to us for doing so at this time. I still plan to protect the doctor regardless, but I think it is otherwise best to keep our cards close to our chest for now.”

I frown. I don't like that answer but I also understand what he means by it. Part of me hates to agree with his reasoning. I don't want anything bad to happen to the good Doctor Cabbelleron.

“What if I encounter any useful intel? Should I offer it to you?” I offer since that option has a chance to enhance his mission. If that happens, maybe it will be easier to protect everypony else who is innocent somehow.

“Discreetly,” Straight Arrow replies cautiously. “And only if doing so does not put you in any further danger.”

I nod in understanding. I'm not completely comfortable with the news I just received, but at least this is a start towards a noble plan.

Part 6: A Dark and Stormy Night

“In here, Miss,” directs the exceptionally young sailor stallion in a white and blue striped shirt who seems as young as he possibly can be and still be called an adult. He says this after throwing open a double door then gestures into the significantly dryer interior of the mess hall in the middle of the lower deck. When I step through the threshold, I am soaked. Once inside, I spare a glance over my shoulder at the dark and stormy night. I hear the storm out there but rarely get to see it until the lightning flashes. When that happens, it reveals the choppy waters of the ocean all around us.

“Thank you, kind Sir,” I say appreciatively to the young sailor who guided me here. “But why are all the passengers being directed here? Couldn't we just stay in our rooms?”

“Cap'n's orders,” the sailor explains as he tips up his white cap a bit. “All passengers are being directed to the mess hall for their safety until the storm passes.”

“So it was more dangerous for us to remain in our rooms?” I double check.

“In a manner of speaking,” the sailor answers with a slight roll of his eyes. “Or better to say the passengers would be safer here. The guest quarters all around the deck, you see, is closer to the ocean storm because they are on the outer ring of the ship. We have no guarantees the passengers might not suffer some flooding in there. The odds of that still aren't that strong in that case. Honestly, this storm isn't even that bad, but this mess hall is more centralized away from the storm. Plus, the Cap'n believes it is best to keep all the passengers visible here so we can make sure you're all safe.”

I scan about the mess hall. I notice that the lighting isn't that strong in here. Glow bug lanterns appear to be the only light source, and even then it seems to be used sparingly. I understand that normally the mess hall would be closed at this late hour. Fewer glow bug lanterns also means not needing to feed as many of the tiny little critters, but they would be glowing in all dark conditions regardless of the hour.

The mess hall has four rows of double benches with a table in the center, each row consisting of twelve of these tables. There is also intermittent cushy seats along the walls of the mess hall.

In addition to a few of the glow bug lanterns is a window which displays the deck beyond but this mess hall is quite a bit lower so only the hooves of other ponies crisscrossing the deck beyond is visible. Of that, I notice some sailors out there rushing back and forth in a bit of a frenzy. The sight of this makes me very nervous.

“Are you sure this storm isn't that bad?” I ask with concern.

“Aw, it's alright, Miss. This storm hardly packs a wallop. Of that I can assure you,” the sailor nearby me promises as we slowly pace further within the mess hall. After hearing that, I shudder to imagine a storm he would consider severe if he thinks this one minor. His confidence does give me some reassurance, though. I'd certainly dread to imagine the ship sinking this far out into the ocean. Our fate would certainly be quite grim in that case.

“Shouldn't you be out there helping the other crew with it?” I check as I nervously look back to the young sailor.

“This is my post for the moment,” the sailor assures. “I'm to watch after and see to the needs of the passengers.”

“Mademoiselle,” calls out the familiar voice of Doctor Cabbelleron. I locate him at the very back of the mess hall where there is more cozy furniture which includes a coffee table between them. Upon locating him, I venture towards him.

“If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you,” I say to the sailor as I make my way to the back of the mess hall.

“Yes, Miss?” the sailor asks as he vigilantly scans among the other passengers to see if any of them might need his services.

“Earlier today, I did not see any pegasi flying in the sky to move these storm clouds into place, so what gives?” I ask. “This doesn't seem scheduled at all.”

The sailor flashes me a quizzical look as he returns my question with a question of his own. “If there were other pegasi out there ready to move this storm into place, then where would they land upon the completion of their duty? Remember, we're out in the middle of the ocean, and storm clouds themselves are dangerous to land upon.”

“I see your point,” I acknowledge. “But how can the storm be here if there are no pegasi to put them there in the first place?”

“The weath'ah has a mind of it's own out on these parts,” Doctor Cabbelleron answers since he happens to be close enough to overhear my question as I approach him. “That actually seems to be dah norm outside the bounds of Equestria. In fact, the more I read ancient tablets and scrolls from other civilizations that once came beyond the bounds of Equestria, the more I realize that it is actually Equestria itself that is the odd one out in this regard.”

When I sit in the love seat across from Doctor Cabbelleron, he stands up, pulls a wool blanket off another table, then approaches to drape the blanket over me. I think the reason he did that was because he saw me shivering as I approached. Little does he know that that reaction is mostly out of fright.

However, after he drapes the blanket on me and the warmth of that blanket seeps into my hide, I start to shiver less. It is at this point I start to wonder if maybe I really was cold before, or perhaps there is something psychologically comforting about this blanket that makes me feel somehow safer and therefore I start to shiver less even if the source is fear.

“Thank you,” I express with quiet affection to Doctor Cabbelleron.

“I fancy myself a gentlepony, Madam,” Doctor Cabbelleron explains as he returns to his seat across from me. “There is no way that I can get comfortable until I see to the comfort of a lady first. It's just my thing.”

“Sir has a point,” the sailor says behind my seat now. “The weather outside of Equestria does indeed appear to have a mind of it's own, and that often seems to be the case beyond the boundaries of Equestria.”

“Early records of the Mighty Helm, among others, also attest to this,” Doctor Cabbelleron adds as he looks over his seat, notices a maid passing by with a silver platter full of drinks which smell like cider. He swipes a cup as she passes. She notices that but doesn't mind. Apparently that is the point of her carrying this around. The cider, in this case, is poured into an elegant looking wine glass.

“Weather moving on it's own. How strange,” I muse aloud. “But still, I wonder, should I go out there and do something about this? I am the only pegasus aboard. Maybe I should push it out of the way.”

“You don't work with weather teams of pegasi do you, Miss Keystone?” Doctor Cabbelleron asks while aiming one eye at me. That same eye also lifts his eyebrow. He tips his wine glass at me slightly to indicate towards me but not enough to spill his drink. “There are three errors with that question you just made.

“For one, it's basically a moot point for weath'ah pegasi to attempt to move weather that moves on it's own. At best, they'd only temporarily delay it.

“For two, you'd need an army of fliers out there to make a significant difference. That storm is spread across the horizon and it is affecting these choppy waters accordingly. Poking a hole through the storm in one spot would be insignificant at this point, especially since that hole would close itself up a few seconds later anyway.

“And for three, any professional weath'ah pony would tell you it is downright dangerous to attempt to change a storm during a storm. The rain would weigh your wings down. The winds would buffet you away, and the lightning might downright kill you. If you were to have any chance to affect the storm during a storm, it is best to approach it from above. But,” he shrugs, “since there is no openings in the sky visible, especially during the night, then there is no safe way to get above the storm so it is best to ride it out.”

Doctor Cabbelleron looks at and swirls his drink while his other foreleg rests on top of the couch behind him. He then brings the wine glass to his muzzle and inhales the aroma with a savoring expression before opening his eyes narrowly at me as he says, “Trust me, Mademoiselle, it is best to leave these matters up to thah professionals.”

Upon saying that, Doctor Cabbelleron finally sips then savors his drink.

“I'm afraid I must agree,” agrees the sailor. “Remarkably, I think you're the only pegasus aboard the ship anyway and you're just a passenger. You're not even a professional weather pony, right?”

“I'm afraid I don't have any experience with that profession,” I confess, “but I read a little bit about that.” I shake my head. “So far, the only times I heard about weather phenomenon like this is over the Everfree Forest near Ponyville and the Frozen North. Are you two really trying to tell me that this might be the norm all over the world beyond Equestria?”

“I can't say for sure,” admits the sailor. “I just work here. I only know what it's like across the ocean during the few moons I worked aboard this ship.”

“And even then, this is the first time we had the means to measure longitude,” Doctor Cabbelleron informs after another sip of his drink and a satisfied sigh. His right eye snaps in my direction as he then says, “As our hired cartographer, I'm surprised you're not already more involved with that process. We may have an idea where we are relative to the point where we left, but when we find the new continent, we'll need to mark it on our new navigational maps.”

“I could help with that and I was planning on visiting the ships navigator tomorrow,” I inform. “Last I checked, I had permission for that.”

“You certainly do,” announces another stallion that none of us noticed sitting nearby until now. When we look, we see that it is Doctor Smith. “That's actually why I've been invited onto this trip. I didn't invent the marine chronometer itself, but I am very familiar with it's operation insofar as how to use it and repair it if need be.” He sips his own glass of cider, nods at it approvingly, then goes on to say, “It would be quite accurate to say I have some experience when it comes to measuring time. One could even say that I am something of chronological device myself.”

“Really?” Doctor Cabbelleron asks with fascination.

“My cutie mark is an hourglass,” Doctor Smith mentions as if that might explain his situation.

“Say no more, then,” Doctor Cabbelleron says as he lifts his wine glass to Doctor Smith as if to toast the other doctor. “I met plenty of other ponies with that particular talent. It's no exaggeration to say they have some talent when it comes to matters of time. A pony with a mark like that probably invented the chronometer in the first place.”

Doctor Smith grins as he says while raising his own wine glass to toast back, “Well, it was only a matter of time.”

“Indeed,” Doctor Cabbelleron agrees with a brief chuckle of amusement. “Knowledge and science shall not be halted. It is our quest . . . Neigh. I say it is our destiny to master new horizons of knowledge. No mountains are too high and no ocean is too vast to cross. Where there is a will, there is a way, and where there is a way, there is some pay.” He chuckles to himself with a dark glint in his eyes. “The intrepid shall ever be the first to reap such glories. How appropriate the name of this ship is therefore.”

“You enjoy being famous, don't you, Doctor?” I ask Cabbelleron.

“Well,” he gives a half shrug to me. “I must admit, it has it's charms. Can be a conversation starter with the ladies, for instance,” he says as he tips his glass at me again.

“Hey, are you okay?” I hear one of three of Doctor Cabbelleron's henchponies ask another nearby. The one who asked is the largest of the three. He is a very dark gray stallion nearly to the point of being black. He also has a bright orange mane, tail, and sideburns. The one he's speaking to is a very light gray stallion nearly to the point of being white. He is wearing a black and purple cloth collar around his neck and is wearing sunglasses despite it being nighttime. That pony appears to be very ill and occasionally throwing up into a wooden bucket.

“I suppose it had to happen to somepony,” remarks Cabbelleron's final henchpony who is a tan colored pony wearing a fedora hat whom I know is named Biff. That pony is sitting across from the large dark gray pony. Both of them are playing cards with each other while occasionally looking down at the floor where their other ill companion is. “Even a normal ocean voyage can test some ponies stomach, much less an ocean storm. Quite frankly, I'm surprised more of the passengers aren't ill by now as well.”

I grin at those three. Despite the nasty rumors I heard about them earlier and especially about their employer, something seems especially cozy about observing them here tonight as we attempt to take shelter from a nasty storm outside. Perhaps it is because of the mutual threat that we're all facing together. I'm not sure why, but it makes me fear them less. Right now I even feel compelled to save them if they were in danger as if convinced doing so might end up saving my own life later on since they'll still be around to protect me. Regardless of their past, we're in this particular danger together tonight and that sort of gives me a “enemy of my enemy is my friend” kind of vibe.

I hope this feeling lasts ever onward into the future.

“Tell me something, Doctor Cabbelleron, if you don't mind,” I say as I regard my idol again. “Of all the discoveries you haven't made yet, which one do you hope to uncover the most?”

Doctor Cabbelleron lifts an eyebrow at me as he asks me, “You mean besides the lost continent?”

“Actually, including the continent if it counts in your eyes,” I say with a small bright smile at him. I fully expect him to say that is precisely what he looks forward to the most. Since Doctor Cabbelleron has always been a shameless self promoter, it wouldn't surprise me to learn he'll later insist the entire continent should be named after him.

“My greatest undiscovery, huh?” Doctor Cabbelleron asks as he beholds his own reflection in his wine glass with a cocky grin. “The one that got away so far. The Legend that I continue to chase.”

“Yeah!” I confirm with a bright grin since I'm really looking forward to hearing more on this subject.

I witness as deep wicked cunning sinks into Doctor Cabbelleron's eyes as he continues to stare at his own reflection for a moment before lifting the drink to his lips, takes another sip, then gazes at me sharply above the edge of the cup as he says, “Believe it or not, the greatest discovery that I am chasing isn't the lost continent itself, but it might be contained within it.”

“Oh?” I ask with further rising fascination. “What could possibly be greater than the legendary lost continent?”

“The key to everything!” Doctor Cabbelleron answers as a wicked smile grows on his lips. “The Legendary Blue Box.”

“Blue Box?” I reflect questioningly.

“Do you really think it exists?” Doctor Smith asks Doctor Cabbelleron. Apparently Doctor Smith has some idea what Cabbelleron is talking about, unlike me.

“Oh believe me. It's real!” Doctor Cabbelleron confirms with emphatic enthusiasm. “The legendary Blue Box which is said to be the key to unlocking all of time and space. Imagine this tall blue box apparently made of wood. It seems to have very little depth to it but outside appearances can be quite deceiving in this case.”

I notice Doctor Smith taking a sip of his drink while narrowing his eyes at Doctor Cabbelleron slightly. I then look back at Cabbelleron myself as I ask him, “Are you saying it is bigger on the inside? How is that possible?”

Doctor Cabbelleron shakes his head as he says, “No pony knows, but it keeps cropping up in many important historical events. Many claim to see a mysterious blue wooden box that appeared as if out of nowhere, but wherever and whenever it appears, it is said the storm of trouble isn't far behind.”

“Like the storm we're having outside right now?” the nearby young sailor asks as he looks out a window with a bit of a grin.

“It can be but usually not that literal,” Doctor Cabbelleron answers. “Instead, I speak more of intense storms of destiny! The kind of legendary events that spiral around it. Wherever such events crop up, be on the lookout for the Blue Box! It might just be somewhere in the area.”

“Why would a Blue Box appear in such areas?” I ask Doctor Cabbelleron.

“Again, no pony knows for sure, but the legends say that the Blue Box can appear and disappear at will.” Doctor Cabbelleron gives a cunning smile. “It is even said that this Box can warp through the fabric of time and space.

“Why would multiple cultures across multiple epochs keep describing the same thing in the same way over and over again? There is a pattern to the surrounding events during the time the Blue Box appears, too. Perhaps it is because the Box causes it somehow, or perhaps it is in response to the events itself.”

“If any of this is true, which do you believe?” Doctor Smith asks Doctor Cabbelleron.

Doctor Cabbelleron pauses for a moment as he considers his response before saying, “Well, according to the history text that we have discovered, the occupants of the Blue Box appear largely heroic but this story isn't entirely consistent. History is written by the winners, you see, and their opinions can be all over the place depending on the stakes involved. One pony's hero is another's villain. It's all largely subjective.”

Doctor Cabbelleron leans forward again as he says, “But the important thing to note, here, is the capabilities of the Blue Box. Imagine, instead of uncovering old and forgotten ruins, we can see them during the cradle of their civilization! We could witness these ponies while their empire was still alive! Imagine all the history text we could uncover if we could interview the writers themselves. Many historical records could have been lost over time for a vast variety of reasons, but if we could see and hear the civilization ourselves, we could confirm or deny many things.”

“An interesting theory,” Doctor Smith responds surprisingly casually. “And if you could uncover this legendary Blue Box and use it, where and when would you go with it?”

“Oh,” Doctor Cabbelleron swirls his drink again. “All kinds of times and places, I'm sure. Indeed, it would take a lot of time to decide. Time which could be quite ambiguous to a pony who has access to a time machine.”

“That sounds incredible!” I marvel then go on a little nervously, “And also a little scary. If anypony had control of a device like this already, such a pony could use it to meddle with time to a great degree. Possibly causing irreparable damage.”

“Define irreparable,” Doctor Smith challenges me. “It seems to me that if anyone did actually have a power like that and accidentally destroyed all of time and space with it, then could we possibly exist right now to discuss this? To that, I say we're living proof that if this Blue Box does exist, it seems to already be in the hands of someone who knows how to use it responsibly.”

Several of us wince questioningly when Doctor Smith mentioned the word “hands” and “someone”, but none of us seem to have either the courage or the motive to bring it up.

“Be that as it may, that is a good point,” Doctor Cabbelleron agrees. “If such a devise was ever going to be used to unravel the fabric of the universe from the past, then it already would have happened by now and yet here we are.” He waves his wine glass around to indicate everything around us. “Discussing this casually during a dark and stormy night while we press onward to adventure and great discovery. Given the Blue Box's disposition to appearing and disappearing wherever and whenever it wants, I am not saying there is a guaranteed chance we'll ever encounter it but the odds are higher during important and climactic events. The journey we're on just might qualify. It wouldn't even surprise me if the one who runs that vessel is aboard this ship even as we speak.”

“Then lets pretend such a pony is aboard this ship,” Doctor Smith proposes. “In that case, hypothetically speaking, what would you say to such a pony?”

“That I'd like a ride?” Doctor Cabbelleron shrugs. “Also, if I discover that Blue Box without any pilot and the thing is unclaimed, then I call dibs.”

Doctor Smith raises an eyebrow at Doctor Cabbelleron for a moment then gazes forward with that same expression as he says, “Well, in that case, if I ever meet that pilot, I'll be sure to pass on the message.” Then he sips his drink again.

Part 7: Discovery

As soon as I open the door leading into and out of my room, it quickly dawns on me that there is a crucial difference between hope and expectation. I may hope that something exciting will happen to me, but that doesn't necessarily match my expectation when I have plenty of experience to draw upon that showed the evidence is strong this day will be much the same as most of the previous ones. On a true adventure, though, one can never be too sure and I'd never know exactly what the day will bring until I open my door.

Such as the immediately apparent fog that I notice after I gaze beyond my now open room. Fog that is so thick, it has somewhat penetrated the ship. Not within any enclosed area of course, but it has affected the deck of the ship that is exposed to the open ocean.

I feel my heart skip a beat and my breath freeze for a moment. In the back of my mind I'm also thinking, “Ooo! I need to remember my initial reaction so I can write that in tomorrow's journal entry.”

This is certainly unexpected, but the second thing I start to notice shifts my reaction from surprise to creeping fear because the ship sounds too quiet. I also don't see anypony trotting past my room. For a brief moment, I start to panic about the idea that I might be alone out here.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, though. I know that initial impressions may not always be what they seem. To confirm if I am really alone out here or not, I need to start venturing out there and exploring this ship some more. As I do so, I'm not really expecting to find that I am indeed totally alone. My rational side, in particular, insists that it is highly unlikely I am alone for no reason.

I decide to venture out into the main deck and use my tail to close my bedroom door behind me. My room faces the starboard side of the ship. From there, I decide to explore towards the bow of the ship. After all, I know there is the most open space in that direction. The entrance towards the bridge of the ship is also possible in that direction.

As I continue, my irrational panic starts to steadily creep up further as I explore on and hear nothing else around me other than my own hoof clomps on the wooden deck and a bit of the ocean splashing on the ship.

Eventually, however, I get flooded with relief when I finally do spot one pony out there. In this case, it just happens to be Doctor John Smith. He has his right hind hoof propped up a bit off the ground and onto a the lower end of the rail surrounding the ship. He is also leaning on the rail with his right fore hoof laid across the rail. He seems to be gazing out into the ocean fog around us with a discerning and contemplative look which I secretly find a bit attractive about him.

“I'm glad I found you,” I say to him as I trot up next to him. “I know this is going to sound crazy, and I hope you won't laugh, but until I saw you standing here, there was a part of me that felt panic for a moment over the possibility that I might be alone on this ship for some reason.”

“Your circumstances are certainly not that dire yet,” the Doctor says as he continues to scan out into the fog for some reason. “But there are other reasons to be concerned right now.”

I feel a bit of the fur on my hide stand up when he made that last statement. It also compels me to ask, “Like what?”

“Well,” he says as he stands more erectly, “there is good news and bad news. First the good news. Early this morning, we saw some seagulls. They don't tend to venture that far from dry land so that is a sign that one is nearby.”

“Good news?!” I ask incredulously. “Are you kidding me? That is blasted great news because it means that we've done it! We will arrive at the lost continent today!”

Doctor Smith glances at me as he flashes me a brief grin then looks back out at the fog as he says, “True as long as we live to continue the journey.”

I furrow my eyebrows as I ask, “Why the doubt?”

“Well, just look out there,” Doctor Smith invites as he nods out to indicate towards the fog. “This is the bad news. The fog rolled in not long after we spotted the seagulls. That's great because it means we might reach landfall today, but doing so while we're unable to see what is out there carries with it substantial risk. For example, we currently have no warning to help us avoid rock formations an the like. If we crash into things like that then down we'll go.”

“Oh!” I widen my eyes. Now I'm spooked.

“Back in Equestria,” resumes Doctor Smith as he uses a shoulder to indicate the direction we came from, “phenomenon like this isn't as much of a problem because, there, we'd have Light towers and fog horns along the coastal harbors. Out here, however, on a lost continent, there is unlikely to be such a thing. Even if there is, they can't see our approach under these conditions either and there is no foreseeable reason, at the moment, for any natives to expect our approach. That's assuming it has intelligent life to begin with and they just happen to be around here enough to observe all of this.”

“Is this why everypony else is being so quiet? They are too busy scanning and listening for potential obstacles out there?” I guess.

Doctor Smith nods as he confirms, “Pretty much. Yeah.”

A cold sinking feeling settles down into my chest as I digest this latest bit of frightening news. All of a sudden my earlier elation over the fact we might reach landfall today backfires into a frightening possibility. I want to reach landfall, sure, but I don't want this boat to sink while we're at it. If it does then, even if we survive by swimming onto that land, we may be stuck there unless we can use that land's materials to build us a new boat as well as gather enough supplies for the return trip. We used steam power to get us here. If we can't build a similar engine for the return trip, we'll have to rely on sail power and that is a whole different game. I hope our navigator kept track of things like wind currents as we sailed out here. We might need to know that for our return trip. That would be useful information anyway for possible future voyages later.

As our present situation rolls over in my mind, it occurs to me that there is one thing I can do to help somewhat.

“In that case, I have an idea,” I announce as I stand more erectly as well as gaze out into the fog with focused purpose. “And since I am the only pegasus aboard this ship, then only I can do this. I'll fly around and scout the local territory. See if I can spot any potential danger out there from higher elevation. Since I can also affect the weather, maybe I can even clear up some of the fog a bit.

“Excuse me.” I then crouch down then leap up and flap my wings. Before I can get beyond the rail of the ship, however, I am somewhat painfully pulled back down to the deck of the ship by my tail. I exclaim “Ouch!” then snap my gaze back to Doctor Smith. After that, he spat out the hair of my tail then continued spitting for a few more seconds as if trying to expel any residual amount of hair he bit into.

“What did you do that for?!” I ask him accusingly when it seems like he settled a bit.

He holds up a hoof to me has he tries to hack out the last few bits of my tail hair then gives me a bit of a piercing glare as he tells me, “Think this through. It is possible that you might be able to spot potential trouble out there if you view this area from a bird's eye perspective, but what about the next step? How are you going to return and report that back to us when this ship is still lost in the fog? If we can't see what is out there, then you may not be able to spot this ship as well even from the level of the sky. Plus there is the fact that any potential danger out there may also be hidden in fog so that could make your scout attempt potentially useless.”

“Oh!” I blink and feel spooked again. He does bring up a good point. I then gaze down at the floor as I give this a lot of thought, then look back at him as I suggest, “Well . . . how about this, then. After I spend a few minutes scouting out the area from above, I fly down lower and attempt to call back to the ship? When I hear a call back, I can use that to home in on this ship's exact position.”

“Eh . . . possible but very unfeasible,” Doctor Smith replies. “To be heard on this ship and heard back, you'd have to fly very low into or even within the fog. At that altitude, you might accidentally crash into the ship. It's far more likely you'd not find us at all. This fog might stretch beyond the horizon for all we know. When you have to search an area that big and come across it without the ability to keep track of your progress as you try to find us, the odds of finding us again are very remote. If you leave, chances are strong you'd not be able to return to us unless the fog breaks. If that happens, we'd be able to see around us anyway. Also, if you can't return to us, then any information you'd have gathered is moot. Considering all of that, it is best you stay with us even if it runs the increased risk of plunging this ship into something that might be able to sink us.”

I frown. I hate to admit it, but he does bring up some good points and I can't think of a way around it for the moment. Also, in truth, I don't really want to venture out there by myself.

“In that case, what do you suggest we do? Or I do?” I check with Doctor Smith since he seems to be chalk full of bright ideas.

“Be patient and vigilant,” Doctor Smith recommends. “Look out there for any noteworthy signs. Anything at all, but do it from this ship.”

I frown at him slightly. I was hoping to hear of a safer and more surefire option but I also realize that our current situation puts some constraints upon us. That might be the best option we have left considering everything here.

So that's what we do. We continue to wait and watch with a baited breath. During that time, the fog continues to hold.

Until it doesn't.

I think I hear the sound of seagulls about three seconds before the fog peels away almost suddenly along with a blast of headwind. As I gasp at the sight, I accidentally breathe in a bit of ocean water as a wave splashes hard against the bow of the ship and sprays ocean mist. I choke a bit then shake my head. My vision clears a moment later then I look off the bow of the ship again. My eyes need a few moments further to adjust to the sudden intensity of the daylight. After that, what I see causes my eyes to explode wide.

Ahead of us we do, indeed, see land. Boy, do we ever see that land! That cliff face by the ocean is so tall, the ocean waves that crash against it can only scale up one percent of it. Those are huge waves, too!

I don't know how long we all just stand there in silence. All I know is I could barely even think until I am shocked back into my senses when I hear a large roar of cheer explode all across the ship. It actually makes me wince for a second then look back. I can't see all of the ponies here from the bottom deck. Some of them are above me on the second deck. I didn't even know any of them were standing there during the thick fog. It almost feels like they were suddenly there. Now that the fog is clear, I can finally see them raising both forehooves in a great cheer, or hugging each other, or giving each other high hoof bumps. Their energy is infectious and I soon find myself smiling as well.

Looking back at the land ahead of us, all of a sudden it feels like we're on another planet. We were in a world full of fog moments ago and now the sun gleams off the ocean waves. Clouds loom over the extremely tall sea face cliff which makes it seem like the cliff extends ever further high into the sky. Up above, I see some seagulls following along with the ship. I even spot one of them looking down at us then cock its head at us in a very curious, bird-like manner as if thinking, “Hey! That thing wasn't there before. Where did they come from all of a sudden?”

When I see them, it suddenly dawns on me how incredible and important the ability to fly really is. Seeing them also reminds me that I can do that too, and it might be important for me to do that soon. As wondrous as this sight before us is, there is still the risk of sailing into shallow rocks between us and the land ahead of us. Now that the fog is clear, it'll be easier for me to see any of that as well as this boat.

“Excuse me for a moment,” I announce as I spread my wings. I glance at Doctor Smith for a second to see if he has any objections this time. After all, I don't want my tail pulled again so soon after my last experience. When I look upon him, I notice him nodding at me in approval this time. That makes me feel safer, so I nod back at him to acknowledge his approval then leap off the ship with a mighty flap. I curve sharply up then arc back around to glide my way back at the bridge on top of this ship. In this direction, the ship is coming toward me anyway so I meet up with the bridge fairly quickly. Once I am there, I flap and hold my place off to the starboard side window.

“Captain,” I call a bit loudly to make sure I am heard inside the bridge from the outside, “I'm going to go off ahead and see if I can spot any further danger between this ship and the land ahead of us. I'll come back and report my findings later.”

The captain is a distinguished looking gentlepony in a dark purple double button coat. He has trimmed white mane, short tail, and a beard. He looks out the starboard side window at me for a second then lifts an ear at another pony who approaches the captain from his left side. Based on this second officer's uniform, I assume this is the captains first officer who says something to the captain for a moment which causes the captain to consider something. After seven seconds he looks back and nods to the other officer before looking back at me, approaches the window, and calls aloud which is slightly muffled behind the glass, “You're not a part of my crew so I can't give you any direct orders, but I am responsible for your safety. It's also true that you're the only one who can do this service aboard this ship at the moment and right now I can't afford to ignore any opportunity which can increase the safety of this ship and anypony aboard.” He nods at me in approval. “Do as you feel you must, Miss Keystone, but please make it brief. No more than an hour tops.”

I salute the captain as I call to him, “Yes Sir,” then I take off towards the new land. In doing so, I'm charging headlong into the headwind. Because of it, I beat my wings hard in order to ascend in altitude. I'm hoping the winds at higher elevation won't be such a hindrance against me.

Along the way, I rise above a flock of seagulls. In doing so, one of them squawks at me. Based on the expression on the bird's face, it seems curious about something. I shrug then fly on ahead.

Still flying into some headwind, I have to wince my eyes tight. It's also a little difficult to breathe when the air is passing by me so fast, but I manage it enough so that this is not too dangerous. Being up here in these conditions reminds me why professional pegasi fliers tend to wear goggles.

I also spare a moment to look back at my beige wings as I flap in the air. Then I gaze at the vast terrain around me as the boat continues to shrink due to the escalating distance and height. Waves in the ocean grow smaller and seem to slow down in time a bit.

Once again, it hits me hard how important this ability is during this mission. Normally this is something I take for granted because one/third of the rest of my race can do this too. It's common enough so that most ponies think nothing of it, but out here I am the only one who can do this. Being an aerial scout is not an official job of mine, but when no pony else that we brought with us can do this, then this ability takes on a whole new dimension of meaning and importance.

I'm not a professional adventurer but there is a few on the ship who are. I'll likely need them most desperately during the course of this whole mission. If there is anything I can do that they can't, then it feels important to me that I perform that ability for them to the best of my ability. After all, for every one of them that dies, it diminishes my odds of survival as well.

I carefully scan below me for any potential obstacles, particularly any along the path line of the ship. Of that, the closest thing I spot that has a chance to be a threat is also wondrous to behold, and that is a pod of whales. From this height, I can actually see their massive forms under the water as long as they are at least close to the surface. Some of them break to the surface with their midsections to blow jets of water above them. The last thing of them I usually spot is their tails as they majestically dive back into the water. In one particularly awe-inspiring case, I see a whale shoot up above the water with so much momentum that about eighty percent of its body rises above the water. From there, it arcs to its side then ends up crashing back into the ocean with a huge side splash. In this case, the whales right fin is the last part of its body to be above the ocean before it fully submerges again.

It is very likely my imagination, but right now, it feels like the pod of whales is giving us a friendly greeting. Almost every single one of them has a good chance to sink our ship if they came at us really aggressively, but from up here, I am getting way friendlier vibes from them. This sight makes my eyes water while a smile spreads across my lips. Right now it feels so wonderful to be here and alive.

Then I look ahead of me again at the gigantic cliff that looms ahead. It occurs to me that I don't see a safe area for us to approach this landmass yet because there is no ocean shore. Maybe we can take rowboats up to this gigantic cliff but we'd probably end up smashed against the rocks and the waves. As it is, I see some huge waves plume as much as forty-five feet above the ocean. Again, from this height and distance, the waves seem slower as it crashes into the cliff, shoots up, then showers down as this huge cloud of mist. Despite all of that, it is equivalent of a creature rising no more than two inches off the ground when it is compared next to a pony. The cliff face can probably barely even feel the ocean waves.

The captain did say to return in about an hour. I'm flying into headwind for the moment but it is calmer at higher elevations just like I thought it would be. If the winds continue in this direction, I realize that I can make it back to the ship faster later on. It takes perhaps fifteen minutes to fly towards the land from the ship. I might be able to return in five minutes as long as I fly lower and rejoin the wind currents at its strongest point. I decide to keep that in mind for my future calculations as to when I should return.

Within the time I have left, I spot one potential entry point onto the landmass. At first it looked like it was within a sea cave except, when I flew within it, I noticed it is actually exposed to the sky from within. It looks like water must have eroded the sea cave roof over . . . shoot. I can't even guess how long from here, but perhaps a more important discovery is a small area that is the closest thing I found to a beach within the allotted time I am given for this scouting mission. Behind that beach, though, we'd still have to scale up a cliff that looks to be at least a mile high. It's wet in there too, at least towards the bottom quarter of the cliff. There is also three giant waterfalls I see pouring down into this area. That might have been part of why this sea cave roof eroded. From certain angles above, I actually see rainbow mist between the three waterfalls. Those waterfalls might make the cliff near it slippery, but it also means we probably have a source of fresh water as we make our climb. Of all the ponies here, I can probably accomplish that task of refilling our canteens with any of those waterfalls the safest.

Before I return, I ascend high enough to finally be above the cliff face. What I see beyond appears to be a massive jungle. A cloud of mist obscures about seventy percent of it. In the distance further inland, I see tall spiky mountains rise above a collection of clouds which hover around those spikes like a crown on a king. On one of those mountains I see another waterfall that is so huge that I can easily see it from this distance. It is like a white line drawn down an otherwise obsidian colored mountain.

There is a strong part of me that wants to park a cloud near this area and start drawing this terrain in order to begin my map making work. After all, that is my official job for this mission, but for now, I need to get back and report my findings.

Author's Note

For me, one of the theme songs that inspired me to write this scene, especially during Miss Keystone's flying journey to the new land and beholding the wonder along the way, I thought of this song, particularly after the 1:22 mark. Maybe you'll agree that it fits?

Part 8: First Camp

Having finished with today's journal entry, I skim over it before shutting it.

In summary, today's events mostly centered around scaling the massive cliff beside the open ceiling sea cave. It took the majority of the day just to cover that. During that time, I lingered around for about half of that time trying to vigilantly watch as the others climbed just in case any of them needed me to save them from a lethal fall, but the way they were tethered to each other as well as several security pitons along the way eased the threat of the journey. It became abundantly clear, as they climbed, that this party is decent to great professionals and I didn't need to worry.

So, instead of all of that, for the latter half of their journey, I just sat on a cloud and started to get to work drawing this terrain on a preliminary map. I also scouted a wider range of the territory around us just to get wider scope for my new maps I am drawing.

Towards the end of the day, the others finally scaled up the mountain then ventured further inland. I joined them on the ground level and it is there we made a few discoveries. First off, it is a jungle with frequent rain showers. Secondly, just about everything in this new world made us feel like tiny bugs. The trees are significantly bigger than back in Equestria. Local fauna appears to be so as well. Even the insects and terrain (such as that sea cliff we scaled) are substantially bigger.

As we continued, Doctor John Smith made the observation and hypothesis that the air is thicker in this new land. There is a lot more oxygen and carbon dioxide on this continent. Larger trees produce more oxygen which in turn produces larger animals and insects who breathe out more carbon dioxide. The soil is likely much thicker with nutrients too. This environment can sustain larger everything because there is more to feed, drink, and breathe here.

Speaking of Doctor Smith, I keep getting privately surprised how far he has followed me on this journey. Encountering him back in the train might have been a coincidence other than the fact he had to go to the same place at the same time. Beyond that, he seemed like he was primarily here to watch after the marine clock, so why did he follow onto the land?

I think I'm not the only one to wonder that but, unlike me, some of the others actually asked. I don't know what Doctor Smith said in return, but he showed the one who asked some kind of credentials on a folding piece of paper that has a backside of a leather case. Doctor Smith also seemed so skilled with his words that pretty soon he had the whole party, with the exception of me, convinced that he belonged here and nopony ever questioned him again.

Based on personal observation, Doctor Smith seems like he might be the most educated and experienced among us which is really unexpected to me. If Doctor Smith really was that good and he always was, how come I never read or heard of him before? And yet, despite his education and experience, he still explores this world with almost childlike wonder that's more indicative of a younger adventurer.

Speaking of younger adventurers, I learned there are three more hired for this party for that role other than Doctor Cabbelleron, Tanon Burrows, and maybe also Doctor Smith. Those three are Leg It, Toolshed, and to my great delight, the last professional adventurer is finally another mare named Doctor Grazey Venture.

Those three, Leg It, Toolshed, and Doctor Grazey Venture do appear to know each other and have worked with each other before. Their attitude about this adventure is also noticeably quite different from the other veteran adventurers like Tanon Burrows. That unicorn acts a lot more tough, rough around the edges, ultra serious, cautious, and seems to want social distance from the others as if afraid to cherish yet another individual that he may later lose. At his age, he has much more experience to look back upon which, in turn, taught him why such caution is generally necessary while out on an adventure like this.

The three younger adventurers are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Instead of having many triumphs under their belt, they keep excitingly talking about the discoveries they will make and what they will do precisely when they get famous. Leg It and Doctor Venture is especially chatty about this with each other and I even think they might have a romantic interest for one another as well. Their language style is just a little too familiar with each other and yet also too intimate to suggest a family bond.

Toolshed, on the other hoof, I'm beginning to wonder if he can talk at all. He has never said a word as far as I can tell. Instead of that, he likes to clean and calibrate his many tools that he is carrying for this adventure whenever he gets a chance to do so. He's really organized with those tools and seems to go over them, inspect them, and do upkeep with them in an almost ritualistic way.

There is a total of eighteen ponies who are venturing into this new continent. They include myself, Doctor Cabbelleron and his three henchponies who I since learned their names to be Biff, Withers (who was the sea sick pony), and the largest one Rouge. There is also Doctor John Smith, Tanon Burrows, the three former royal Canterlot Guards Straight Arrow, Terminus and Trump card, the three adult adventurers Leg It, Toolshed, and Doctor Grazey Venture.

The final five ponies don't seem as educated as the rest. They are moderately skilled laborers who seem to have a background in railroad construction and mining. Somepony like Doctor Cabbelleron prefers not to get his hooves too dirty and instead directs others where to dig and how to dig, plus he can more easily identify a found archaeological object once it is discovered thanks to his hefty education. It is these remaining five earth ponies who are more likely to be the ones doing the direct digging as soon as they are told where and how to do it. They are not the thinkers, they are the doers. They are the ones who make progress tangible as soon as somepony else comes up with the ideas. They are the ones carrying the most supplies of this party like a bunch of pack mules, and they are proud to do it. I can easily imagine any one of them lugging a taxi carriage in Manehatten by themselves with great speed and distance covered without breaking a sweat. If we actually find any ancient ruins which needs digging on this new continent, then we are going to need these five ponies. Until then, they serve us by carrying the majority of our stuff.

I grow alert due to nearby movement within the tent. I look about in the light of the lantern full of glowbugs and see what looks to be a giant caterpillar the length of my legs and twice as thick. As soon as I see it, I scream, startled, then crawl backwards away from the bug within this fairly big and shared space pavilion tent.

“What? What is 'appening?” Doctor Cabbelleron asks as he races up to me to check on me. I frantically point at the giant caterpillar with a shaky hoof. Doctor Cabbelleron follows the direction of my point and soon spots what I am pointing at. Upon seeing it, he grins at it gently then passes me the same expression as he asks, “What? It is just a harmless caterpillar.”

“How can you be so sure?” I ask with worry. “We've never been to this continent before. For all we know, it shoots acidic webs from its mouth or tail.”

Doctor Cabbelleron shrugs as he eyes the giant caterpillar casually as he says, “Eh, I suppose you have a point. One can't be too careful when we venture into new territory.” He reaches back into his belt then bites into a machete that he has been using all evening ever since we arrived on top of this land.

Upon seeing his new tool, I reach a hoof to touch his right foreleg. Once I have his attention, I look at him pleadingly as I quietly cry out, “No! Don't kill it.”

Doctor Cabbelleron sighs as he rolls his eyes then approaches the bug with the machete still in his mouth. I almost object again until I notice Cabbelleron approaching the little bug with a gentler tactic. Instead of whacking and cleaving the bug in two, he gently thrusts the tool forward until the bug crawls upon his machete on its own. Once it is on, Doctor Cabbelleron races to the exit of the tent then whirls his head to fling off the bug from his machete. The caterpillar presumably lands somewhere outside in the heavy rainstorm safely.

Doctor Cabbelleron then sheaths his machete back into a belt on his waist before turning back to me and asks with a shrug, “Better, Mademoiselle?”

I relax as I express gratefully, “Thank you for getting rid of it without killing it.”

A few others in the tent then applaud Doctor Cabbelleron as well, including two of his own henchponies. Some of those in the tent are applauding him sarcastically, others are doing it seriously, and still others just roll their eyes then resume whatever activity they were doing before. In any case, Doctor Cabbelleron bows to those applauding him and apparently enjoys the attention.

“It is true that we must be cautious,” Doctor Cabbelleron agrees as he approaches me again. “We are practically in a whole new world, you see.”

“Trust me, I am very much aware of that,” I assure him. “And I'm so grateful to be doing this with all of you professionals to accompony me. I'd feel so lost here without you guys.” I glance at Doctor Venture. “And gal.”

Doctor Cabbelleron nods as he lays down in a compartmentalized tent cove beside me. Once he fully settles on the pillows there, he tells me, “It is most impor'dant that we all stick together and listen to my direction. It is I that shall be the one to see you all through this. Of that, I can assure you.” He pulls out a carrot from his nearby saddlebag, brings it to his mouth, then takes a bite out of it with an audible crunch. As he chews on his bite, he waves the rest to indicate to me then says after he swallows, “You have chosen your role models very wisely, Mademoiselle.”

“You didn't give me much of a choice,” I argue back to him. “After all the fantastic discoveries you made, I'd be a fool not to look up to you.”

“Mademoiselle, please! Flattery will get you everywhere,” he assures me humorously before taking another bite of his carrot.

“Humble you are certainly not, good Sir, but you have the skills to back up your boasts so I guess I can't call it too annoying,” I claim. “Besides, in this situation, I rather find it comforting instead. Your confidence helps to give me confidence.”

“Well, experience can only carry one so far,” says Doctor Cabbelleron as he looks at the remaining fifty percent of his carrot. “After all, none of us has ever been to this continent directly.” He looks back at me. “Though I read some texts of ancient societies who made the claim they once came from a place like this, or knew others who did. That's something but not too much to rely upon. When it comes to venturing into new territory, there is a system that the wise exercise as they pursue a goal like this. It may not work all the time, but a tried and true system is better to rely upon rather than none.”

“And I don't have a system yet,” I mention. “That's why I prefer to stick close to others who do.”

“I must say, Miss Keystone, you hoofle yourself rather well in this situation,” Doctor Cabbelleron tells me with a proud grin.

I narrow my eyes at him as I ask him, “Are you kidding me? Did you see the way I reacted to that giant caterpillar?”

“Yes. I did,” Doctor Cabbelleron replies with an unexpected serious expression, then half shrugs. “We could have done with less screaming, but a foolish pony would have let curiosity override good judgment and said,” he swings both of his forelegs together to the side of his face as he says in a cutesy way, “'Oh look at the cute little buggie! Let's keep it!'” He looks back at me seriously as he drops his forehooves from his face again as he goes on to say, “Then they'd try to hug it and it ejects poisonous spikes into them and down they go.” He shakes his head. “Out here we have no antidote for a poison we have never encountered before. The wise try to err on the side of caution.” He nods to me proudly. “And you did that without any direct training. You have good instincts, Miss Keystone. I must say, you might have a knack for this if you did get some good training.”

I blush at him shyly but I also feel flattered. I then look above us as I hear loud thunder roll across the sky.

“New territory indeed,” Doctor Cabbelleron says as he also looks up. “With weather doing whatever the Celestia it wants, it could be quite a challenge to predict it.”

“But we can gather some logical assumptions based on our surrounding environment,” I say as I look back at Doctor Cabbelleron. “This is a huge jungle. There are some trees here that can match the height of a fifty story building. They would have been skyscrapers back in Manehatten. Trees and plants like that would require a lot of water, not to mention the big fauna around here as well.”

“At least this means we'll not likely die of thirst,” Doctor Cabbelleron figures. “The water seems pretty clear as well. I took a few samples and preliminary tests indicate that it is drinkable. I'd like to run it through a few more tests before we can be certain. After all, we can't be sure if there isn't some diseases within the water that we have no immunity to. That's another thing to watch out for in brand new territory.”

“Wow!” I marvel. “It makes a pony think how much we take for granted back in Equestria, right? Back there I would have been resting in a constructed home, but here we're resting in a durable tent instead. This portable shelter is certainly better than nothing and we can set it up anywhere where there is enough flat space. Still, sometimes I can't hear my own breathing through all this rainstorm and the flapping of the tents due to the wind makes me a little nervous.”

“Aye, but it should hold baring any major external interference,” Doctor Cabbelleron assures while he gives the tent an appraising eye. “And until we get back to the ship and/or Equestria, this is probably all we can count on for the time being.”

I shiver with fright as I hear another loud thunder roll across the sky. I then shake my head as I say, “I'm so glad all you guys are here to help me through this.”

Doctor Cabbelleron flashes me a sexy and cocky grin as he arrogantly assures, “Do not worry, Mademoiselle. We shall keep you safe from harm.”

“It might not be wise to make promises you can't keep, but I still appreciate the sentiment,” I express back to him.

“Well,” he half shrugs, “you can at least be certain of my good intentions.”

I cock my head at him as I ask him, “Why? Why are you so kind to me?”

“A proper gentlepony always treats a lady with the utmost respect,” Doctor Cabbelleron replies with a dignified pose. “Besides, you're one of my many adoring fans and I'd find it most distressful to let one of those down. It is most damaging on my self esteem, you see.”

I flash him a coy and cunning smile as I say, “Oh! I get it. This is simply one of your ways of protecting yourself and your own ego.”

“I shall not deny that,” Doctor Cabbelleron agrees as he shakes the remainder of his carrot at me. “But you can benefit from my selfish intentions nonetheless. It is wise to hide within my shadow which I will do my best to keep clear from too many obstacles. I'm not afraid of a challenge, mind you, else I wouldn't be here. That said, I don't need to invite more danger unnecessarily.”

“Famous last words of those who said the opposite of that,” I figure. “Especially those who meant that. It's one thing to be brave. Quite another to think one is invincible.”

“What if you could be, though?” Doctor Cabbelleron reflects. “What do you think it does to a pony's mindset if they actually could achieve immortality in some way?”

“Maybe there's less to reach for?” I theorize. “The hallmark of an adventurer is to seek risks in order to challenge one's self. There's something to lose. There's something to gain. There is reason to be excited about finding what's out there. If one became immortal and knows it, maybe that pony would plow through any challenge in their way with reckless abandon. So much so that that pony actually becomes a danger to his or her own allies unintentionally. I'd even wonder if such a pony would really care about others anymore. That pony might feel like they don't have anything to risk that really matters, so their actions carry through with that mentality. I think that situation is very dangerous even for that ponies would-be allies.”

“Do you ever wish it could be so?” Doctor Cabbelleron checks with me.

“I suppose I'd be lying if I don't think about it, but I think it has more cons than pros.” I tilt my head at him curiously. “What about you, Sir? What do you think?”

“Me?” he reflects then scarfs down the rest of his carrot before going on to say, “I completely agree with what you said.”

Part 9: Welcome to the Jungle

It is fascinating how, even in the broad daylight, it is still pretty dark on the floor of this jungle. That is because the trees around us are so tall and its branches/leaves are so spread out, it obstructs most of the daylight from reaching the ground. Nevertheless, the difference between night and day remains very clear. The daylight might be dimmer here, but the nights seem blacker than black.

And that is just our lighting situation. Our sound situation is another story. The sounds of the jungle around us rarely gives us even a second of pure silence. Instead of that, it is often filled with the sounds of fauna ranging from strange sounds of various insects, reptiles, unidentified mammals, and above all, exotic birds. Whether we spot any of these creatures or not, we are often surrounded by the sounds of them day and night. They are especially active during the day. The only time we get any silence from these creatures is during a heavy rainstorm, and only a heavy rainstorm. A light and moderate rainstorm happens with moderate frequency. During those times the noises of the creatures get reduced.

In other words, we are constantly surrounded by the sounds of either the jungle creatures or the weather, and all of that is just from our external environment alone. We're making a few sounds of our own to add to the local environment. This is particularly true of our three younger hired adventurers. Tanon scolds them for that several dozen times and made the claim that they should be more alert for danger instead, but such ridicule largely seemed to go over their heads. They are simply too excited to remain quiet during the journey. They are either talking about what they are discovering at this very moment, theorize what they might soon encounter which is largely held in a positive light, or how much they'll bask in glory upon returning to Equestria after this momentous achievement. I'm not even kidding when I say those three fully expect an entire parade to be held in their honor at least once even on the streets of a very busy city. Considering what we're doing, I can't reject that possibility either.

During our journey, I often feel as giddy as an excited schoolgirl because of the close proximity that Doctor Cabbelleron frequently remains. Not only does he stay close to me, but he often gives me much desired attention. In particular, he puts an especially strong emphasis to educate me further with details about some of the things we are encountering today. During this journey, I learn that most of what we encounter isn't something he's ever run into before, but that does not necessarily mean he's completely ignorant of it. This is particularly true of the flora around us. What is most personally interesting to me is his claim that some of this flora used to exist in Equestria and other lands our ancestors migrated from. That is already a vital clue that this new continent, at least in our local environment, is like a throwback to some ancient world.

Unlike our three other excited younger hired adventurers, though, Doctor Cabbelleron is far more quiet about his lectures to me and he also seems at least moderately alert as we continue our exploration. Between his reaction in conjunction with Tanon and Doctor Smith, I conclude that is probably the wisest policy during this situation. I hate to say it, or even privately think it, but all of that seems to reveal how much of an amateur those three other younger adventurers are.

We all halt when Tanon Burrows, who is in the lead, stops while lifting a foreleg to his side in an sidewards L shape. For once, even the three chatty adventurers suddenly grow quiet when our lead guide seems particularly alert for something. Feeling curious, I venture a little closer to Tanon. I notice Doctor Cabbelleron also follow me along with his three henchponies. Doctor Smith was already close to Tanon.

Tanon bends down and puts his head on the ground while twisting his head to his right side. He also stabs one of his pair of floating machetes into the earth then cups the hoofle with both hooves and applies his left ear at the stem of the machete. When I see that, I grin a bit since I feel proud of myself because I knew why he is doing this.

After fifteen seconds of this, Tanon sits up in a straighter position as the expression of his face grows even more serious and grim. Before now, I did not know if that was possible.

“You hear it too, don't you?” Doctor Smith asks Tanon quietly. I wouldn't have heard that had I not ventured so close to them. “Something large is stalking us.”

“I've seen several signs of it earlier,” Tanon admits as he floats his wide brim pith hat off of his head and uses it to fan himself. “I smelled large droppings in the distance, saw prints of large creatures in the earth, snapped twigs and branches indicative to the passage of a large creature. Judging from the evidence I've gathered so far, I estimate that we have a creature roaming about the local area which stands about eighteen to twenty-five feet high and weighs seven to nine tons. I think there is a total of three of them about this area and they are not always roaming together. Chances are strong we are being hunted right now.” He glowers back at our party and certain ponies in particular. “We're certainly leaving a wide enough trail, scent, and sound for them to follow.”

“Okay, fine,” the purple pony stallion, Leg It, accepts with a shrug. “But it's not as if we're unprepared for a fight either. If worse comes to worse, we've got crossbows and machetes to-”

“And your plan is to actually attack a creature standing eighteen to twenty five feet high and weighs nearly nine tons?” Tanon interrupts. “Do you realize how thick of a hide a creature like that would likely possess just to maintain its own body weight? And even if you can somehow pierce its thick hide, our weapons would be akin to toothpicks to these creatures.”

“Weapons and spells,” Leg It reminds. “Also we are equipped with a great deal of more intelligence than these creatures.”

“Prove it by actually not being an idiot for once,” Tanon growls.

“Hey-hey!” calls out Doctor Smith. “Fighting among ourselves isn't going to alleviate the situation. Instead, I say we keep all of our options on the table, including running.” The brown coat stallion wearing a darker brown coat scans about the area carefully. “Perhaps into something too small for this creature to follow us into.”

“That works for me too,” agrees Doctor Grazy Venture. “But that means we'll also have to identify some place we can flee to which the creature cannot follow us. Most ideally, it should also be someplace large enough for us all to fit inside.” She gazes up. “Failing that, maybe we can scale these trees instead. If these creatures are up to twenty five feet high, then we simply need to climb higher than that.”

“Get down!” Tanon suddenly orders then crawls along the ground until he rests his back against one of the trees. Instinctively, the rest of us follow, but some of us wonder why until we, too, hear and feel the vibrations in the earth. Shortly later, we see a large and mostly erect creature break through a nearby line of trees with some vines and foliage between those trees, but this creature broke through that with ease. This curiously two legged creature has almost humorously small fore claws, but it also has a large head and elongated snout. It has especially large carnivorous jaws. This creature looks like it can chew through a horse carriage with ease. Failing that, this creature can certainly crush a carriage with its own body weight. It is followed by a long tail that swishes low to the ground almost to the point of dragging it. The hide of this creature is dark gray and leaning on dark brown in some parts of its body.

“Well I'll be,” Doctor Smith mutters quietly as he peers at this creature from behind a thick bramble of vines. “Hello beautiful. Funny to see you around here too.”

“HOW CAN YOU BE SO CASUAL AROUND A CREATURE LIKE THAT?!” Leg It nearly shouts in panic. Because he did that, the long snout of the tall, two-legged creature snaps its gaze in our general direction.

“Be quiet, you fool!” quietly complains Doctor Cabbelleron to Leg It. “You'll lure the creature right to us!”

While we've been talking, quietly and otherwise, the large creature starts stalking closer to us to find out what it heard earlier in this vicinity.

“Oh boy,” Doctor Smith mumbles with a sigh. “Here it comes.” Then he shouts, “RUN!”

All at once, the majority of the herd flee away from this giant creature. Behind us, the creature snaps its gaze to follow us before opening its huge jaw and issuing a terrible roar that has the apparent volume of hundreds of lions roaring at once. Following that, it starts charging towards us and quickly picks up speed.

When I quickly glance over my left shoulder with wide eyes, I happen to catch a glimpse of the three very old retired unicorn guards nod grimly but dutifully at each other before deliberately turning about then charging right back at the tall creature. I widen my eyes even further at this when I see those three split apart from each other and shoot hornbeams at the creature from three different angles, the effect of which only slightly singes this giant creatures hide. It does, however, stall the giant creature to a halt as it whips its head back and forth in an attempt to identify this new and very unfamiliar threat to it. It seems to try to analyze this new situation with animal-like intelligence.

That is the last I see of this encounter before I round the corner of another giant tree then keep galloping on in a panic.

Part 11: Tactical Assessment

What am I doing here? I'm no adventurer! Dear Celestia, if my parents found out about this then they would kill me! I can't believe I am doing this.

On top of that, it is so disheartening that Doctor Caballeron did not accompony us. I subconsciously counted on that until he negatively surprised me by refusing to come. It is comforting to know that somepony that competent is looking after the others, but didn't he once swear that he would protect me? Am I just imagining that?

I'm sure learning a lot about adventurers today, though. Not only can they be incompetent, but there is also a major difference between an adventurer and a hero. They can be one in the same, or they can be direct opposites. Right now I'm not seeing much of the latter but I heard they exist. Selfish adventurers who venture out into the field for some nefarious reason. Perhaps they seek out some artifact in order to use it to oppress the rest of pony kind in some shape or form. They appear rather often in fictional stories. If only their existence were confined to such things. As for me, I may be an example of the former; a heroic fool who has no business being here because I don't have any real skills to support my presence here. Sure I can fly, but that is it. Is that really enough justification for me to be here?

All I was supposed to do during this journey is be the map maker. When venturing where no pony has explored before, that makes sense. As it turns out, however, there is a bunch of giant monsters around here and my role has evolved far beyond what I had anticipated. I suppose that's true for any of us. Perhaps pure necessity pushes the limits of us all.

Speaking of which, Doctor Smith seems unusually calm in this situation, especially for a pony who seems to be nothing but some college professor. Yet now, from the way he trots and scans his present environment, he actually acts like he's done things like this for ages. I really don't know how many times this unassuming pony is going to catch me off guard. Even if I start to expect that, I highly doubt that is going to relax my intense surprise about him anytime soon.

Tanon, of course, is a pony I expected to be here the most, but the one thing about him that does surprise me is I expected him to put up significantly more of an objection to my presence. After all, he's the one who objected for me to accompony all of these stallions as far back as where The Intrepid was once docked. That was back in Equestria where we started! If he objected to me that much back then, I fully expected him to double down and absolutely refuse my presence during this rescue mission, but nope! He actually accepted my compony without much of a fight. In fact, he objected to Leg It even more, and Leg It is an experienced adventurer! It boggles my mind that somepony like Tanon Burrows would rather accept an inexperienced civilian like me over a fellow adventurer.

“Miss Keystone, stick close to us for now,” Doctor Smith advises which draws me out of my stupor. “You may be able to fly, but there is a lot of branches and vines up there in those trees. When you do take off, you'll have to navigate it carefully.”

“I thought of that too,” Tanon agrees as we continue to backtrack our way to the ambush site. “When you do go, you'll have to pay attention very carefully. Aside from that, the creature we faced might not be the only threat against us out here. Other threats might also linger up in the treeline as well. Try to remember, out in these lands, we are the aliens.”

“And you need to keep a sharp eye out right now,” Doctor Smith advises further. “I know it's easy to get lost in your head right now, but now really isn't the time for that.”

I blink as I realize they are right. Accordingly, I shake my head then narrow my eyes as resolve sinks into them. I can't afford to question my presence right now. I'm here now and might as well make the best of it while I can. I may be inexperienced, but that is changing right now. I best not underestimate the value of that.

“As for you, my large old friend, I am curious about what you brought that makes you so confident that you can face down this large beast,” Doctor Smith remarks, this time to Tanon.

Tanon flashes Doctor Smith a grin as he floats out of one of his pouches a stick of dynamite which hovers in his tingling golden/brown magical aura.

“Oh jolly good show, that!” Doctor Smith commends. “You really are prepared for a serious adventure, my friend.” He then narrows his eyes slightly as he goes on to say, “I can also see why you hesitated to use them while we were fleeing from the creature. It would take time to arm those, not to mention aim them properly.”

“I suspect my crossbow bolts would just bounce off that creatures hide if we encountered it again,” Tanon mentions. “That said, it can make for a useful dynamite delivery system if the range is not too extreme. My plan is to shoot one of these things with a lit dynamite stick into the creatures mouth if it dares to roar or attempt to bite us even once.”

“Bit of a tricky shot, but you could probably manage it if we were within, say, about forty feet,” Doctor Smith figures. “How many of those do you have anyway?”

“I brought fourteen with us and the tools to make more if we encounter more suitable materials for it,” Tanon reports.

“Well,” says Doctor Smith who then pauses while he rolls his head. I can hear a few neck cracks while he does that. Eventually he goes on to say, “I'd rather not use them against the creature if we can help it. Like you said, we are the foreigners to these lands, and the creature has just as much right to life as we do. That is where the wings of Miss Keystone may come in handy. If she can lure the creature away from us safely, we may be able to rescue the other stallions without a hitch.”

“You're remarkably confident of her abilities,” Tanon mentions to the Doctor with suspicion. “Why is that?”

“Part of it is a tactical assessment,” the Doctor replies. “She can do something the rest of us cannot, and right now that could be a very important distinction. Aside from that, I sense she has a lot of potential in this field. Don't pretend to deny it. You sense it too.”

Tanon grunts as he scans about us before he declares, “Well I think, for the moment, we should adhere to our own advise. Let's stop gabbing and pay more attention to our surroundings ourselves.”

“That's the right of it,” Doctor Smith agrees. “I just wanted to be clear where we stand.”

“We're standing in unknown and obviously hostile territory,” Tanon reminds sharply. “So here's a silly idea: Let's pretend that actually matters and take this seriously.”

“Which is the way you take everything?” Doctor Smith inquires. “That certainly has its place, but in my experience, an adventurer who never makes light of his or her situation accumulates too much stress to have a more permanent place in such a profession.”

“I suppose you would know,” Tanon comments mysteriously. I don't think I'm the only one caught off gaurd by that comment, although when I regard Doctor Smith next, I notice he's more intrigued rather than confused by that recent statement.

“To each his own, Doctor,” Tanon adds with am emphatic glance at the Doctor. “I made it to a ripe old age doing this profession. Trust me when I say I met many others who didn't make it this far. Doing what I do in the way I do it has brought me to this point. You may have a different tactic and I'm sure that works for you. In the meanwhile, I remind you all that we need to keep quiet and pay attention.”

“I have been paying attention,” Doctor Smith assures. “I see we've been following our own tracks so far. It should lead us to our abandoned supplies very soon. After that . . .” He trails off.

“After that is our retired guard ponies,” Tanon finishes as he looks forward with a nod. “Or what's left of them, anyway. We may also encounter that large creature again, or another just like it, so pay attention.”

Doctor Smith frowns slightly at Tanon before regarding me and asking, “What about you, Miss Keystone? What is your tactical assessment of our situation?”

“You're asking me?” I ask with a very surprised blink.

“Why sure. Your opinion can be just as valuable as any of us,” Doctor Smith assures. “And I want to make sure that you are paying attention too. What have you learned so far?”

“Well,” I pause a moment as I carefully regard them both. Tanon spares only a brief glance over his shoulder at me while I do that. Despite his own advise, he seems equally curious what I have to say. The fact he actually values my opinion at all also shocks me.

“Well I . . . I do agree we need to pay careful attention,” I mention with shaky confidence in my voice. “The more we gab on, the more our voices may attract other dangerous predators. That's exactly what happened with Leg It, so I feel it is important we learn from those mistakes. Out here, we can't underestimate anything because it is all foreign to us. We shouldn't uphold the same standards we have in Equestria and apply it to these lands.”

I see them both nod in subtle agreement with what I just said.

“I think we should also be prepared for multiple scenarios we may encounter,” I venture on with slightly growing confidence, largely because of the positive feedback I received from them a moment ago. “For instance, the former guard stallions. If we encounter them all dead, it might be wise to pause and consider our next course of action. I guess it largely depends on how much of them is left for us to find. I know that this may sound cold, but I say if we encounter only sixty percent of them left or less and they are obviously dead, we abandon them immediately because the scent of their rotting bodies will be like a magnet for other predators in these lands.”

“A wise assessment,” Tanon remarks in approval which immediately causes a glow of pride to light up in my soul.

“And if we encounter any of them alive, well then . . . As much as I welcome that, I also have to admit that is when our mission gets complicated because it is very unlikely they are all in a perfectly sound state. Even if they are, we need to keep in mind that all three of them are very old stallions.”

“True,” Doctor Smith agrees. “We should also keep one other thing in mind. Those three very likely have used much of their magic to distract and delay that creature. Based on what I have observed of unicorns who push their limits with their magic, it makes them terribly exhausted, at least until they have a chance to rest some. At their age, it may take a while.”

“And in the meantime, we have at least one dangerous predator on the prowl who may have gained a taste for pony flesh,” Tanon adds. “Given our size compared to it, I doubt it would be satisfied with just one little nibble. If they are still alive, they very likely took shelter somewhere. I say that's the best case scenario. Let's be honest, it is absurd to expect them to have totally defeated the creature.”

“I agree, which means the creature likely remains on the prowl,” puts in Doctor Smith.

“Then at that point we have up to three very old and potentially injured stallions to deal with,” I add. “I say bandage them up immediately and do whatever you can to eliminate the smell of their blood in the air unless the creature is in their immediate vicinity. If it is, I'll try to distract it and lure it away while you two take care of the stallions. If you can find shelter that the large predator cannot chase you into then so much the better. Meanwhile I'll try to lose the creature somewhere in the forest. I'll make sure to lure it quite a distance away from the rest of you before resorting to an option like really soaring high into the air. After that, if I can't find my way back to the rest of you, I'll try to meet up with the others. Does that sound reasonable?”

“In that case, it might be best if we take a brief moment to mark our territory along the way,” Tanon realizes before he floats out his machete then slashes and X pattern on a nearby tree. “Look for these and other signs of our passage in the lands. Broken twigs, hoof prints. Anything you can find that sets you on our trail.” He looks above. “The sun is also above us at a forty-five degree angle. Note the pattern of the shadows around us. You can use signs like these to backtrack your way to the rest of our party, but keep in mind the shadows move as the day continues. Eventually the shadows will swing the other way. As long as you keep that in mind, you can still use them to guide your way back.”

“I also have a compass, and I'm not just referring to my cutie mark,” I note aloud. “I wouldn't be much of a cartographer without it.”

“Those can come in hoofy, but remember that such tools is not always infallible,” Tanon Burrows warns me. “A compass relies upon magnetics of the planet. As long as the magnetic energy of the local area is fairly neutral, those tools can be quite reliable if you know how to use them properly. However, if the energy in the vicinity isn't neutral, that changes things so it is important to learn to rely upon other context clues too.”

“And just in case you don't have a compass, there are ways to construct one on the fly if you have a few basic and common materials,” Doctor Smith mentions.

I nod at the Doctor as I tell him, “I'm aware of that. I read up on it.”

“Then it's important to put them into practice when applicable,” the Doctor replies.

“By the way, if I make it back to the others before the rest of you, what should I tell them?” I ask my two traveling companions.

That question causes my two companions to totally stop as they regard each other as if silently debating their answer. I privately note how even they are not prepared with an immediate answer to that question. Eventually it is Doctor Smith who ends up answering the question as he regards me.

“My best advise is it's your call,” says the Doctor. “When you do make that call, consider what you have observed up to that point. It might be best to send another rescue party to help all the rest of us or not. I can't give a more detailed advice than that until I find out more of our situation such as our large predator friend and the condition of our wayward stallions.”

“You can't plan for everything in a serious adventure,” Tanon adds to me as he gives me a serious look. “Sometimes the best thing we can do is stay on the tips of our hooves as well as keep our ears and eyes open.” He then glares at the Doctor. “As well as keeping our mouths shut when it is dangerous to do otherwise.”

“Alright! You win,” Doctor Smith accepts as he stands up on his hind legs and raises his forelegs in a gesture of surrender. Upon doing so, I note how quickly he starts to lose his balance as if he's surprised how unaccustomed he is to that. After that he lands back on three of his hooves while using the fourth to gesture on ahead of him as he says in a friendly and polite manner, “Lead on, my friend.”

As if to be an example, Tanon just nods ahead and proceeds forward without another word. He keeps a sharp eye out and swivels his ears above his head in a careful assessment of what is around him. Along the way, he floats his loaded crossbow at the ready as well as his machete, the latter of which he occasionally uses to mark his territory around him in some way, typically with a cut X pattern on some tree or to slash some vine out of the way.

Part 12: More at Play

Seems like for the umpteenth time I learn there is a major difference between reading about an adventure, regardless if it is fictional or not, and actually being in one. I'm just glad I'm not the only one here who has a reaction to the arrival at the site of where a massacre took place. I feel like retching when we see pony blood spread about the area and the sight of a single old pony leg just lying in the ground. While the reaction of my companions isn't as severe, they still prove that even professional adventurers aren't immune to normal pony emotions. They just hooffle it better. In this case the Doctor just lowers his head and sighs. Tanon Burrows also lowers his head, closes his eyes, grabs his pith hat off of his head and presses it to his chest with a hoof in a brief moment of memorial.

“This is the jungle alright,” Doctor Smith acknowledges sadly. “I suppose this isn't much of a surprise considering their age and what they were up against, but I still hate to see it.”

“Not much left by the looks of it,” Tanon notes as he replaces his hat to his head. “I can see where each of them have largely been consumed. The thickest pool of blood is in two spots. That is where the creature must've eaten them.”

I perk up as I ask, “Just two?” I look at Tanon with a sense of hope. “Does this mean there could be a survivor?”

“So far it does look like it,” Tanon replies with a shrewd and discerning look as he crouches down and examines the tracks around this area carefully. He's quiet for about nine seconds as he scans about the area before saying, “Looks like the majority of the conflict took place around this area,” he says as he gestures with a hoof to indicate approximately twenty feet radius around us. “They were spread out at first, but the old guards quickly gathered together in one spot for some reason.”

I perk up even further as I recall, “Straight Arrow did tell me that they had some formal training in combat magic. Specifically, he said they could do horn beams and barrier magic.” I squint with a look of uncertainty as I roughly guess, “Maybe they gathered together to join their horn beam attack? Perhaps they discovered they didn't have enough power separately to have any effect on the creature.”

“Or more likely they gathered together to reinforce their barrier magic,” Doctor Smith surmises with a discerning expression. “I'm not too familiar with unicorn magic, being an earth pony myself, but if I had to guess, I'd assume cooperative magic is easier to accomplish if unicorns are gathered in close proximity to each other?” When he finished his question, he gives a lifted eyebrow questioning inflection to Tanon.

In reply, Tanon shrugs a bit as he says, “One would assume so, but don't think the mere fact I'm a unicorn also means I'm educated in the ins and outs of cooperative combat magic.” He looks at the Doctor. “But it makes sense, though. If two unicorns combine their magic to levitate a single couch, for example, it should take approximately half as much effort for each of them. Horn beams and barrier magic might be the same way. Anyway,” he looks back at the local ground as he goes on to say, “this is the story the earth is telling us right now. They were spread out then they gathered somewhere in this area. Whatever they tried to do, it did not stall that creature for long.”

“But by the looks of this area, only two of them were consumed,” the Doctor adds with another visual scan about this area. He then shakes his head. “I can't be too sure how hungry that creature was when it arrived, but little ponies would make a paltry meal to a creature that large. I doubt that thing would stop with just the two of them if it had the chance to finish them all off.” He tilts his head and then gives me a questioning and hopeful expression as he asks me, “Was it possible any of them were trained in teleportation magic?”

I shrug as I reply, “Straight Arrow didn't mention that any of them were trained in that spell, but I suppose it's possible.”

“Very few unicorns are trained in that spell,” Tanon cautions. “As far as I know, only well trained wizards tend to cast that spell. These were just retired Royal Canterlot guards.”

“Seems to me the security of the most esteemed estate in Equestria could benefit abundantly with fully trained wizards in their Royal Guard staff,” Doctor Smith figures. “Plus, I know for a fact that some of the most prestigious magic unicorn academies is in Canterlot, so that city has ready access to the greatest supply of such talent. It wouldn't even surprise me if Princess Celestia herself personally sponsored some of them in exchange for some years of service guarding her castle from potential intruders. After all, it would make sense to have some preparation against potentially other wizard trained magical intruders.”

“Shh,” Tanon shushes as he examines the terrain more carefully. At this point he also expands his search radius. Two minutes later he announces, “One of them did escape, at least briefly, in this direction.” He then shakes his head. “Despite the fact that this pony's tracks does skip about fifteen feet, I don't think this one teleported. When this pony landed, he slid along the ground about another eight feet. That pony rose back to his hooves somewhat unsteadily. I can tell because the tracks here are somewhat uneven.” He pauses again as he examines the tracks in this new area more carefully before resuming to announce, “The giant creature did not pursue right away. Too busy munching on his companions for a moment but that didn't take too long. Meanwhile this other pony retreated off to . . .” Tanon trails off as he follows where these tracks take him. As he does so, the two of us follow.

“Take a wide berth around these tracks,” the Doctor advises me as we follow Tanon. “At least for now. Let's not disturb these clues until we're done with them.”

“Gotcha,” I acknowledge before hopping into the air and flapping my wings to hover about fifteen feet off the ground. From that new elevation, I follow the others here.

“Clever girl,” I overhear Doctor Smith quietly mumble under his breath.

“The giant creature did eventually follow the one that retreated,” Tanon reports from ahead of us as he pauses another moment in a new area, examines it carefully, then moves on. “At this point the survivor is alone. This pony kept on going to . . .” he trails off again as he gazes ahead and sees a base of a tree that is partially uplifted, just like the one the rest of us hid under not long ago. The opening under this tree is much smaller, but it could easily fit one pony. The gnarled roots of this tree is partially rubbed off. Even I can see some teeth marks in the upraised roots as if the giant creature attempted to gnaw at this area not long ago.

Upon seeing this, Tanon races ahead for a moment and shines his golden/brown horn brighter, which in this case casts much less illumination than normal simply because of the brownish color. Regardless, he reacts as if he spots something important under the tree. He then quickly looks at us and the Doctor in particular as he announces, “Doctor, come here quick. You have a patient in here.”

“Oh thank God!” Doctor Smith breathes with a sigh of relief then races ahead. I have the same reaction at first until it occurs to me with a wince of confusion, “Thank who?” I look at the Doctor strangely as I wonder who this God person is.

“It's Straight Arrow,” Tanon announces as the Doctor passes him up and crawls under the tree.

“Is he okay?” I ask in anxious concern as I land just by the entrance and exit to this little hiding spot.

“He's alive,” the Doctor announces from within, “though barely conscious. I'll need a few more moments before I can give a more thorough report.”

“It wouldn't take much to injure a pony that old,” Tanon announces grimly. “But at least he's alive. We should count our blessings.”

“How old are these tracks?” I ask Tanon with concern. “Can you tell?”

Before answering, Tanon pauses to examine the area again more carefully. About thirty seconds later he announces, “About twenty to thirty minutes. There is still some saliva on these gnawed roots. It didn't have time to fully dry yet.” He flashes me a narrow-eyed grim look. “Which means the creature might not be far from here. I recommend you patrol the area a bit from above.” He points upward with a hoof. “Use the tree branches as cover. That way, even if you are spotted, you'll have some barrier between you and the creature. If you hide above forty feet, it is unlikely the creature would be able to reach you anyway even if it did spot you.”

“I'm on it,” I reply while casting a final worried look at the little nook under the tree before spinning about and flying off. As requested, I fly off into the branches of the tree and crawl about them in order to explore this area stealthily. Because I am so concerned about spotting that giant creature returning to finish off its little snack, I am shocked to instead spot several other creatures closing in on this area instead. In general configuration, these new creatures vaguely resemble the one that attacked us insofar as they also walk upright on their two hind legs. They also have long tails trailing behind them and extended snouts on their faces. Just like the larger creature, they also have short fore claws, but they also appear a bit longer for some reason. Because of their strong resemblance to what attacked us I, at first, mistake them for baby versions of the creature that attacked us, but then I notice their hide color is more brownish instead of gray, and there are other things about them that set them apart. Curiously, some of them are upholding spears in their fore claws. The tips of those spears are pointing outwards while the back sometimes rests near the shoulder that is holding the spear. They are also closing in on our group in an almost perfect circular pattern between them, thus suggesting strong coordination between them. All of this suggests that, while the creature that attacked us earlier was a dire threat largely because of its gigantic size, these creatures are a threat because they seem to be higher life forms mentally.

For a brief moment I am caught by indecision. There is no way I can get to my companions and warn them to escape fast enough before this new group closes in on us from all sides. If I say nothing, this new group won't spot me, but it also means my companions will have no warning, and these new creatures seem to be approaching with hostile intent. They are trying to sneak in and some of them are doing so with spears at the ready.

Eventually I shake my head as I argue that I need to get over myself. My companions have to be warned, even if that means alerting these new creatures to my presence as well.

Those that approach us actually hesitate for a moment when I glide down to meet up with my companions. I even see them glance at each other in intense surprise. There's even a tiny bit of awe to their reaction as if they just spotted something of religious significance. While I think that reaction is interesting, it doesn't stall me from doing what I have to do.

“Look alive!” I warn my companions as I land nearby them. “The creature that attacked us doesn't seem to be here, but something else, or rather some things else, has taken its place.”

“I'm well aware,” Tanon replies even though it doesn't seem like he is. He's still staring into the cubbyhole under the tree. Now that I've landed close to him, however, I also notice one of his ears aiming back at those who are closing in around us. Upon seeing that detail, a glow of pride lights within me which reveals as a small proud smile outwardly. By Celestia, I love hanging out with true professional adventurers.

“How many of them are there?” Tanon asks me quietly.

“More than a dozen at least,” I report to him. “Fourteen to eighteen I think.”

“Did you catch that, Doctor?” Tanon quietly calls within the tree.

“I did,” Doctor Smith replies, “and I can assure you that this patient is in no medical condition to be moved in a hurry.”

After Doctor Smith says that, he starts to crawl out. While he does that, the other creatures that were closing in on us finally arrive, but not all of them are immediately visible. Apparently some of them held back and are hiding around the base of the tree. Spotting me seems to have changed their tactics somewhat. Maybe they are wondering if any more of us are hiding somewhere, so they decided to hold some of their own members back in preparation for an even further reveal.

Yeah. These creatures are obviously far more intelligent than the first creature we encountered. They are probably even intelligent enough to have their own language with each other.

Closer examination reveals more details that I missed earlier. Their hind legs that they are standing on appears just a bit wider than the large creature proportionate to their overall shape, and for some reason they each have one curved clawed toe that appears it could do a lot of damage to us if they leap upon us. I also notice that their irises are yellowish and their eye pupils are sidewards like a snake or a cat. Some of them also appear to be wearing constructed items like a necklace of teeth or a rounded headgear that has a plume of colorful feathers on it. Now that I'm examining them this closely, there appears to have a tribe-like motif to them in their appearance and mannerisms.

I am also greatly relieved to see that they are not attacking immediately, and for some reason, they are regarding me with a small shade of reverence. They are still holding up their spears cautiously, but they appear really reluctant to attack me in particular. Rather than that, they appear to regard me with both curiosity and even a small shade of hope for some reason.

Then they speak to us in a language we might not be able to mimic let alone understand. There is a lot of growls, gurgles, clicking and hissing sounds to their language. It is also clear to me that these sounds seem far too complex to be just random sounds.

Next, to my utter shock, Doctor Smith nods in understanding and speaks back to these creatures in the same manner they communicated with us.

“You can understand them and speak their language?!” Tanon asks Doctor Smith with intense surprise as well. In response, Doctor Smith simply lifts up a hoof to silence us while he awaits a response from the creatures we are currently engaging.

These creatures appear caught off guard by that fact as well. They glance among each other in a moment of shock before one of them looks back at the Doctor and says more in their curious language, although there appears to be a questioning inflection to this creature's mannerism this time and it is aimed directly at the Doctor. If I had to guess, it probably asked something along the lines of, “You can understand us? Really?”

Doctor Smith nods once in confirmation to whatever question the creature asked and then proceeds to speak again in their native language. Several sentences apparently go by in this manner. During that time, the Doctor gestures among the rest of us once during his apparent explanation of some kind? A little later on he also gestures into the cubbyhole under the tree in a similar way. When he does so, most of the creatures we are engaging spare a quick glance into the cubbyhole before looking back at the Doctor as they listen to the Doctor ramble on further about something or another. While he does that, Tanon and I spare a brief look at each other. When we do so, we both give an innocent and confused shrug at each other. This is a very unexpected development. Natural pony throats does not even seem capable of making some of the sounds the Doctor is making right now. This actually seems so unusual that I'm tempted to call this magical instead.

When Doctor Smith is finally finished explaining whatever it is he was saying, these tribes of creatures appear greatly intrigued by what was said. They spare a moment to turn among themselves and have a private conversation of their own, probably about what Doctor Smith just said.

“Care to fill us in, Doctor?” Tanon requests behind our increasingly mysterious brown earth pony stallion.

“They were wondering what we were doing here,” Doctor Smith explains as he turns to face us, “so I proceeded to give them that explanation with just a bit of modification to our story. They do appear to recognize our species a bit but not at a personal level. We're more like a legend they speak about over a campfire. Something they never expected to actually encounter.”

“But they have heard of us?” Tanon double checks with the Doctor. “If that's true, then we might not be the first ponies to have come here after all.”

“Or they have migrated from some area where we were more common,” Doctor Smith offers with a bit of a half shrug. “I'm not sure yet. I'll need to speak to them further to refine our information.” He nods to them briefly awhile still looking at us as he goes on to say, “While they do not seem to expect us, they at least partially consider this a good omen of some kind except I can sense an edge of caution and almost . . . Well, I guess you can say that, in a way, they are a bit offended by our presence while at the same time amazed. Maybe they consider this territory sacred, or perhaps it is the creature that attacked us that they revere. I'm not sure yet but I have detected a few hints that we did something wrong already.”

“How is it possible that you can speak their language?” I ask Doctor Smith in utter astonishment. “Pony throats don't seem capable of this, and even if we can, where could you possibly learn this? We just arrived at this continent a little over a day ago.”

“I can explain that later,” Doctor Smith replies. “For now we have more pertinent issues here.”

“As unexpected as this is, this situation is quite fortunate,” Tanon announces between us quietly. “They can talk, they're willing to talk to us, and one of us is capable of communicating right back at them. If we can secure their cooperation, not only can we avoid a fight with them, but we might be able to secure their help in other ways. They are intelligent locals, which means we could at least win some more information about this local land. I'm sure they are more than willing to educate us about this place if it also means informing us what we did wrong, if anything, and how to avoid offending them again in the future.”

“I agree,” Doctor Smith replies with a nod at Tanon Burrows. “Maybe we can also get their help with our injured friend here.”

“You think he'll make it?” I ask Doctor Smith with worry mixed with hope.

“If he's handled carefully, then yes,” Doctor Smith replies to me. “I suspect that these people have a medicine shaman among their tribe, but considering the way they regard us with a sense of hope, I further suspect there will be a price in exchange for their generosity.”

“Whatever it is, it would also give us more information,” Tanon mentions with a nod. “In the long play, that'll ultimately serve us. If there is a problem in these lands that they want our help with, it would also help us to be aware of it.”

“Has anypony ever told you how weird you are, Doctor?” I ask Doctor Smith with a perplexed face. “At this point I'm starting to wonder if you're an alien or something.”

In response, Doctor Smith gives an amused and cunning grin as he says, “Oh trust me, I get that a lot.”

Author's Note

Well it is the last day of the year. I hope everyone has a happy new year.

Part 13: Primitive Alliance

Dear Diary,

I hardly know where to begin with you. There's so much to say since my last entry. There was our first camp on this new continent, roaming about in the jungle and encountering this very large creature which chased the majority of us away but the three former Canterlot Guards held back to cover our escape. I later discover that Terminus and Trump Card lost their lives to that giant two-legged creature.

I'm . . . going to have to pause a moment and reflect on that one. Honestly, I've been trying to process that aspect alone ever since I encountered evidence of some of their shredded remains. The closest thing I had ever come to encountering death before is the death of one of my former pets and the remains of a dead woodland creature. On this day I can say it was shock and horror that sank into me, but ever since then, I've been surprised by how numb I feel. I expected grief or perhaps something much worse. I didn't know either of these ponies very well but I do know they were old, what their old profession was, the fact that they are among the very few unicorns we had in our entire party, and they were honorable and brave enough to cover our escape to the bitter end. Straight Arrow's life hangs in the balance too. He may die as well before the end of this night.

Why aren't I feeling more about this situation? I know I'm not heartless and I've been smothered in grief with related topics on this before. I don't know what it is, but out here it just doesn't feel important enough to warrant my attention yet. It is as if my heart is wounded but temporarily and voluntarily turned to stone as if realizing I absolutely need the reprieve for the moment. That my heart is deciding to cry later, but for now, I need to avoid distractions to help avoid any further deaths.

When did I get so practical? Right now, I know, this helps, but emotions aren't like a switch. One cannot just turn them off or on whenever it is convenient. In both my own experience and my observations of others, most ponies are stuck with it either totally on or off, or if it is somewhere in between then it tends to hold in that mode for them. Dramatic shifts like this is highly unusual, but I suppose the one situation where I would expect it the most is during an emergency.

I remember my grandmother once told me, “You'd be surprised what a pony can endure when it becomes absolutely necessary.” Back then, because I was a young foal, I just instantly took her at her word. As I grew up, I began to question the validity of adults, including that saying as if asking to myself, “Is that really true? Was she right?” Now it seems I'm beginning to discover that maybe she was indeed right, at least in my specific case right now.

There should be many other issues to emotionally process right now as well, such as looking up to adventurers such as Tanon Burrows who actually has given me some small signs of approval. Enough to give some professional advise of his own to me as if recently convinced that maybe I can be taught. That maybe I might have a knack for this after all.

As for Doctor Smith . . . where do I begin with him? Not to mention his mysterious confidence in me. I really don't know why, but that pony, more than any other pony, has been encouraging me to take big leaps and put on big girls pants or skirt. That's certainly not the only thing about him that I find mysterious. Really, I am not sure where to begin with that pony. Part of me is worried I might run out of ink before I finish all of my thoughts about that particular stallion. While it is true I brought plenty with us on this trip and I do know how to access more if we retrieve our abandoned supplies, there is also the anxiety hanging over my head that anything we use up here is potentially irreplaceable.

Another thing I find unexpected and, frankly, even aggravating is Doctor Caballeron choosing not to join us when Tanon, Doctor John Smith and I went to look for our missing survivors. I know he had his reasons and my rational side can't help but agree with him. Frankly I'm surprised enough that I volunteered to go.

Still, there is some irrational side of me that feels a bit abandoned by Doctor C. I know it's not his fault, but he doted on me ever since this trip started. I guess somewhere along the way I grew into the habit of always expecting him to remain with me no matter where I chose to go, but I have to keep in mind that Doctor C. is a professional adventurer. He's been over situations like this enough to know when he should press forward and when is wise to back off. A proper measurement of one's personal abilities and knowledge of our limitations is probably what keeps professional adventurers like him alive when all others die around him or have already died facing the same thing long ago. It's the survivors that ultimately tell the story, and the reason he is able to do that is because he knows when to back off. The fact that I pressed forward probably shows how much of an amateur I am at this, but at least in my case I have a valid excuse.

Anyway, we never did encounter that large creature again. Thank Celestia! But we haven't dealt a final blow against it either so it remains on the prowl. A creature that large might need to feed often too, but then again, there might be other lifeforms in the jungle that aren't carnivorous but they are large as well and thus able to sustain the large carnivore long enough so that another encounter with the same creature does not guarantee it will attack again. I have to keep in mind that these creatures are not evil, they are just driven by very basic survival instincts.

Speaking of carnivores, we encountered another that resembles smaller versions of the one that attacked us, only this tribe is far more numerous and considerably more intelligent. Intelligent enough to wield basic tools, craft and wear some kind of tribalistic ornamentation, and speak their own language. They are, without a doubt, the most intelligent species we have encountered that is native to this territory so far.

Oddly enough, Doctor Smith can somehow communicate with them which makes absolutely no sense to me. To my knowledge this is the first time he set hoof on this continent as well. It wasn't possible for him to get here before now because it required a brand new navigation method to help us navigate our way here this time. How could he have learned a language from a land where no pony has gone before?

My best conclusion to this mystery is he must be wearing a magical item or something that helps him translate any kind of foreign language. That's the only logical explanation I can think of, and it does make sense to craft and bring such an item if he were expecting to go on a trip like this. If such is the case, I wonder if anypony can wear and use it. If he indeed has such an item and he dies, we cannot afford to abandon an item that valuable. Out here we could use all the help we can get.

Well, in any case, he managed to convince this tribe of hunters to lead us back to the rest of their village. Tanon and I are currently alone in one of their huts that is mostly constructed of something at least akin to bamboo and palm tree leaves, although a pair of these creatures are guarding outside. I get the distinct feeling that Tanon and I are not welcome to roam the village just yet. They have no reason to trust us to that degree a this time, although Doctor Smith is probably currently working to change that with them.

Wow! I just realized it is true what some ponies say that writing things down can be therapeutic to a stressed pony mind. I guess, for me, it is this idea that I feel comforted and more secure to know my thoughts and feelings are locked in paper somewhere. A record for others to see and help to verify my existence and purpose in life. No matter what happens to me, I live on through somepony else reading my work. Right now it feels important to embrace any psychological comfort I can get.

Part of me feels annoyed with the return of Doctor Smith because I feel like I haven't finished putting my thoughts down on paper. It feels as if I barely scratched the surface of all the things I need to put down now not only because of the degree of importance but also because it is possible I might forget those details later.

On the other hoof, what the Doctor has come back to report might be of vital importance as well and this; therefore, makes me very interested in what he has to say.

On the way in, Doctor John Smith pauses a moment to say something to the guards of our hut. Based on the way he's acting, he seems to be answering some question the guards had for him.

I turn my attention to regard my roommate in this hut, Tanon Burrows. Until now, it seemed like he was sleeping. His back was to me, he was lying on his side, and he was being very still while here. Not once, however, did I hear a peep from him during that time such as snoring. Now that the Doctor is back, though, Tanon just instantly gets up as if he was awake and aware the whole time. Perhaps he was only semi asleep? It would make sense to me why a professional adventurer who survived this long has habits that kept him alive during a dangerous adventure.

As Tanon gets up I notice something I wasn't aware of before. Tanon stretches and I hear a lot of bones crack because of it. He occasionally painfully winces at it too but he otherwise takes it like a champ. It is then that it reminds me just how old this stallion is and, during his life, he probably survived some harsh adventures on top of that. As I regard him with a thread of pity because of his painful awakening which might be commonplace for him these days, I also start to wonder if I'll be like that someday if I survive to his age, even without the harsh adventures.

Both of our attention turns to Doctor Smith simultaneously when he enters our hut and crouches down nearby us.

“So what did you discover?” Tanon asks with a heavy croak to his voice. Like the rest of his body, his throat wasn't prepared to give him one-hundred percent yet. These days maybe his body is never prepared to go that high anymore and therefore sets a new standard of “normal” for him.

“Quite a bit, actually,” begins Doctor Smith's report. “First of all, I've established that this race calls themselves the Silurians.” Doctor Smith waves a hoof at Tanon for a moment as he goes on to report, “I've actually encountered members of this race before, but not this exact breed of them.”

“So Silurians are something like ponies,” Tanon figures aloud. When he said that, his voice seems more steady this time. There is still some croak in it but it has dropped by about sixty percent this time which means he's recovering. “Like, for example, unicorns,” he gestures to himself, “pegasi,” he gestures to me, “and earth ponies,” he concludes as he gestures to Doctor Smith.

“Something like that,” Doctor Smith somewhat agrees.

“Wait a minute,” I broach. “You've actually encountered members of this species before? Where and when? Also is that when you learned their language?”

“Miss Keystone,” Tanon says to summon my attention. When he has it, he just regards me as he shakes his head no but there is a glimmer of understanding in his eyes too. As scoldings go, this one is a particularly light form of it. It's as if he's non-verbally saying, “Believe me, I fully understand why you asked that, but right now I need you to just shut up and listen.”

That lightly admonishing look made me feel like a foal again, but I appreciate how he seems to have warmed up to me somewhat as if partially regarding me as a near equal. Not somepony who is at his level yet but acknowledges me as having the potential someday.

When we both return our attention to Doctor Smith, Doctor Smith resumes his report by saying, “Now Silurians are simply the name of this race. This particular tribe calls themselves the Tuk-Tuk and it is lead by a chieftain named Sissmalez who is actually a female chieftain.” The two of us listeners simply give a neutral nod in acknowledgment. Doctor Smith resumes, “They do consider this territory sacred and they are sentimental about it.”

“They seemed to have partial recognition about us,” Tanon notes. “Did you ask about that?”

Doctor Smith nods then says, “Yes, but to them, they regard us as legends that they didn't actually expect to encounter during their lifetime. They said their culture encountered members of our species many centuries ago and haven't encountered us often since, but there were unverified rumors here and there of sightings of us since then. From what I gathered, including from the occasional pauses from the chieftain as if she was reluctant to say more, ponies had a mixed history with them before. My guess is some of them were good to them and some were bad.”

“Makes sense,” Tanon agrees with another casual nod.

“But whatever they did, it was important and marked a pivotal shift in their society,” resumes Doctor Smith. “This culture used to be members of some larger tribe, and that tribe used to have access to very advanced technology. Technology that still exists today but this tribe deliberately avoids it. They consider it taboo as if blaming it for the corruption and downfall of their ancestors.”

“Oh.” Tanon looks taken aback. “Maybe I should hide my crossbow around them, then,” he figures.

“Perhaps, but something tells me the technological level they are talking about is way above that. Something like creating portals through distant locations and times,” says Doctor Smith.

“Gotcha,” Tanon says with another nod. “But you said they used to be part of some larger tribe. I take it this other tribe is still using this technology?”

“Again, perhaps, but this other tribe is a member of a different species. Some kind of snake-like sentient species with arms and hands. They call them the Naga,” Doctor Smith reports. “The Naga are very much in favor of using this ancient and advanced technology, but for some reason they don't have nearly as much mastery over it as this tribes ancient ancestors. Maybe the original power source was more abundant back then or the details on how to use that technology has eroded over time. In any case, the Tuk-Tuk consider this tribe of Nagas to be very dangerous and evil with further ambitions to match.”

“Right,” Tanon accepts with another nod but this time also a very deeply thoughtful look.

“This tribe of Nagas the Tuk-Tuk consider a blight in this land that's too powerful to remove,” Doctor Smith goes on. “So, instead, the Tuk-Tuk have protected themselves by being on the move and in hiding.”

“How is Straight Arrow?” I ask Doctor Smith in concern.

“Being cared for by their tribes shaman,” Doctor Smith answers. “Who is convinced Straight Arrow will eventually make a full recovery under their care. Their method to accomplish this is holistic medicine with perhaps a dash of magic.”

“Sounds legit,” I instantly accept. “Many kinds of plants can have magical qualities. When properly mixed, it can have highly medicinal effects.” I smile. “Anyway, I'm glad to hear that he'll make a full recovery.”

Doctor Smith nods at me briefly then shifts his eyes to Tanon as he goes on to say, “The chieftain has also told me that other members of our tribe have also been spotted, and their status has changed in an alarming way. This tribe of Naga have somehow discovered them and captured them. They are currently leading them to their old temple where this tribe expects they'll either be used for sacrifice to their dark gods or put to work as slaves.”

“Oh no!” I cry in alarm. “We have to help them!”

“Agreed,” Doctor Smith replies immediately. “And the Tuk-Tuk are willing to help us to a point. They're willing to lead us closer to the vicinity of their old temples which the Naga have since made into their home.”

“Why would they be willing to help us?” Tanon checks. “Did they ask for some service in exchange?”

“Not yet,” Doctor Smith answers. “I get the feeling that rescuing members of our tribe would already be considered a service because if our team remains there, they'll either be put to work towards some dark agenda or be sacrificed in such a way that it basically accomplishes the same thing. Either way, this tribe does not wish to see the Naga further empowered.” Doctor Smith shrugs. “Helping us may also be a way for the Tuk-Tuk to believe they are repaying some ancestral debt. I also get the feeling that, while they are fascinated to see us, they also want us to leave as soon as possible.” He shakes his head. “And there is less of a chance of that until we rescue the other members of our party.”

“I wonder how they got captured in the first place,” I wonder aloud. “Maybe they went looking for us after all.”

“Or maybe they simply got discovered where they were,” Tanon proposes. “The Tuk-Tuk did say that this Naga is using ancient and advanced technology that this tribe has long since abandoned. Who knows what those devices are capable of?”

“But we are in agreement that we'll commit to find out?” Doctor Smith checks as his eyes shift back and forth to the both of us.

“There isn't much of an alternative,” Tanon figures. “I've been hired to guide and protect this party anyway and I take my duties very seriously. Even if I abandoned that duty, there isn't much else I can do without their help. We'll need them to use our ship to get back to Equestria. If we do this, not only does that mean the Naga lose the resource they nefariously gained, but it also means we have additional incentive to leave this continent. It sounds like this tribe would consider this a plus.” Tanon nods with a grin. “If the Tuk-Tuk are telling the truth then it means I now trust them. I needed to know what their motivation was first before I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Now that I know what is 'in it' for them, their motivations are understandable enough to count on.”

“I agree,” I put forward. “It's nice to know we have some allies in these new lands too even if there are some conditions attached to it.”

“And they've apprised us of another threat in these lands as well,” adds Tanon. “One which sounds vastly more dangerous than the giant animal we encountered. As powerful as that creature was, it is lead by simple motives. As long as it is fed, it isn't much of a threat.” He shakes his head. “However, not only do we have to contend with this Naga tribe to rescue our people, but there is their motivation to consider as well. If the Tuk-Tuk are telling the truth, then what if the Naga try to use our people to accomplish some grand nefarious end? Whatever it is, there is a chance that it'll be a threat that could follow us back in Equestria. For example, what if it is a means to have the moon block the sun everywhere on the planet? Finding out what this other tribe is trying to do might be of paramount importance as well. Depending on what it is, it might be necessary for us to do more than just rescue our own people.”

“I agree with the reconnaissance strategy at the very least as well as the rescue of our people,” says Doctor Smith. “Pretend, for the moment, that the Tuk-Tuk are telling the truth.” Doctor Smith shakes his head. “That doesn't mean they have the whole story. It only means we're getting the Tuk-Tuk's version of it. It's possible the Naga don't have some evil agenda and this is all just a case of misunderstanding. That's why we need to find out before we commit to some further strategy.”

Tanon nods in agreement as he adds, “As long as it is within our means to accomplish.”

“Do you think you can communicate with this Naga as well?” I ask Doctor Smith hopefully.

“Well . . . there is one way to find out,” he replies with a daring grin.

“What about Straight Arrow in the meantime?” I probe further.

Doctor Smith drops his grin as he says, “Straight Arrow is in no shape to follow us right now. He'll need some time to recover and the Tuk-Tuk have agreed to tend him while we're gone.”

Tanon winces as he says, “You can also look at it this way. As long as Straight Arrow is here, the Tuk-Tuk have a hostage to manipulate us. Even if they never threaten him directly, that doesn't mean they have to continue to attend him either.” Tanon brightens as he goes on to say, “But in a way I consider this situation ideal. Since the Tuk-Tuk have some leverage over us even after we leave, it gives this tribe an incentive to trust us as well. That, in turn, makes them more cooperative with us.”

“Brilliant deduction!” Doctor Smith commends to Tanon proudly. “You are a credit to your profession, Sir.”

“As long as he stays here, that'll keep Straight Arrow from any further danger as well,” I figure.

“So everyone here has some chips in the pot, so to speak,” says Tanon. “It's good to know where everyone stands so far and why they do so. For now, I say we agree to their terms. We'll allow Straight Arrow to remain with them under their tender care. In return, they'll guide us closer to this other tribe so we can rescue our people and make sure the Naga do not use them to accomplish some evil end over there. Once we've done that, we agree to leave this continent in peace after returning to recollect Straight Arrow. Hopefully, by then, he'll be in better shape to travel. At that point the Tuk-Tuk can escort us back to our ship to verify the fact that we left as promised. During that time they'll also guide and protect us from any other threat that may exist here.”

Doctor Smith nods as he says, “That sounds like a plan.” He then looks at me to see if I agree as well.

“I agree that sounds like the best plan for the moment,” I say. “We need to move quickly but also cautiously. While the rest of our people remain in the clutches of the Naga, our people might be in danger even if the Naga otherwise have innocent intentions for them. Sheer ignorance might cause them to accidentally harm our people. Maybe by accidental exposure to some disease or something.”

“That threat could swing both ways,” Tanon realizes. “All of us could carry diseases that we're each immune to but the other is not because it's totally foreign to the other side.” He regards the Doctor as he goes on to say, “At least we have a trained medical professional on our side, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't react with all due caution mixed with haste.”

“If we're in agreement, I'll tell the chieftain our decision,” Doctor Smith decides as he finally stands up again.

“Are you going to ever tell us how and when you met the Silurians and learned their language?” I check with Doctor Smith. “You seem knowledgeable to a highly unusual degree.”

“I'll tell you later. I promise,” Doctor Smith tells me with a very sincere look in his eyes towards me. In return, I just nod in acceptance. I don't have much other choice right now anyhow.

When Doctor Smith leaves, presumably to do what he said he'll do, I return my attention back to my diary. There very much is more to report to it now.

Part 14: Spark of Youth Before the Twilight

“Where is he going?” I ask with worry while I watch our Silurian guide wander off beyond the light of our campfire on this hilltop. It does not take long for my view of our guide to get swallowed up in the shadows of this starry night.

“Scouting, I believe he said,” Doctor Smith answers as he stirs up our campfire with a stick. A spray of embers billows up as a result of his efforts and seem to be carried up further by the column of smoke.

“Scouting for what?” I nervously ask my two remaining travel companions.

“Nothing you need to worry about, I'm sure, or else our guide would have said so,” Doctor Smith calmly assures as he looks over to me. “We're not anywhere near the forbidden temple yet. I'm sure our guide is just keeping an eye out for standard fanfare within this jungle.”

“You should get some rest,” advises Tanon as he uses a floating rag to wipe his gear. “You'll need your strength for tomorrow.”

“So will the two of you,” I return a little more calmly as my gaze shifts back and forth between these two stallions.

“And rest we shall,” Doctor Smith assures. “We'll just keep watch a little longer my darling. You can be sure of that.”

I yawn and stretch my wings as I gaze downward with a bit of a nod. Eventually I say, “Okay. I won't argue with that much.”

I trust these two anyway.

I lay down on my bedroll. I feel only mildly disturbed by the fact that we're not sleeping in a hut or tent tonight. We're out here on this hilltop exposed to the starry night.

As I grew up while I was a filly, I went through experiences like this with my grandfather Fourwind. I recall I used to be nervous about that at first, but his presence helped to sooth me and assure me that everything would be alright. That I was well protected. As a result, I was eventually able to just relax and enjoy the experience back then.

This moment is similar except I've already learned there indeed are very threatening things out in this jungle. Two of our party already died because of such a creature. I can't blame myself for being more nervous after an experience like that, but with these two, I sort of feel like I'm a foal again and protected by very capable professionals. It's weird how this all works out.

My consciousness very slowly drifts down. Considering how exhausted I am, I likely would have fallen asleep quite a bit faster if only I felt safer, but that stubborn exhaustion is slowly claiming me anyway. That is why I don't know how long it has been when I finally hear my two companions speak to each other. The moment they do, my ears perk up and I almost turned about to look at them, but something stilled me this time. I decided instead to just listen for once. Aside from that, what they speak of immediately intrigues me.

“I know who you really are,” Tanon broaches in an offhoof manner. “I don't know why you decided to hide it this time. You haven't always done so in the past.”

In reply, Doctor Smith scoffs for a moment before he says, “Well . . . you're an archaeologist among other things. It doesn't surprise me that you've heard of some of my adventures and encountered evidence thereof. Well done, Sir, for putting it all together though. Bear in mind, however, that some of the adventures you read or encountered somehow might be some that I haven't done yet, so I'd appreciate it if you just leave it at that.”

“I don't recall them all off the top of my head,” Tanon says back. “So have no fear from me when it comes to spoilers in your life. I just remember enough right now to establish the general pattern about you and your Box. It's enough to know that this adventure fits the pattern. It doesn't really surprise me that you'd join an expedition where ponykind ventures out to a lost continent for the first time in recorded history. Heck, part of me even expected this. Exploration typically isn't the only pattern when it comes to you, however. Usually there is something else epic involved within the adventure itself, and my guess is these Naga fit that bill in this case. I guess you're here to save the world again.”

What in Celestia's name are these two talking about? I wonder.

“Believe it or not, no. I did not come specifically because of the Naga,” Doctor Smith replies. “If there is something that needs to be done about them then of course I shall do as I must. Honestly, a great deal of the heroism I've done before is just something I've stumbled into. Timey-whimmy stuff happens to me all the time while I ride into new adventures on the old girl. Perhaps greater credit should be given to that.”

“Well . . . if it isn't the Naga, then why are you here?” Tanon asks the Doctor, perplexed.

“Again, this may be difficult to believe, but I tell you the absolute truth, Sir, when I tell you that my original purpose for coming into this timeline is for her,” he says and probably indicates towards me.

Me? Why me? And what does he mean by the phrase “timeline”? Is he a time traveler?

Now I'm beginning to wonder if everypony with an hourglass cutie mark is part of some secret time travel society.

“Her?” Tanon asks, sounding as perplexed as I feel right now.

“Yes Sir,” Doctor Smith confirms. “It's very important for her to fulfill her full potential in this world, and I'm here to see to it that that potential is sparked. So much is at stake with that one that I'm here to ensure the ball gets started. I'm not here to take the spotlight this time, though. That's why I didn't present myself with my traditional name. Really I'm here just to offer a little encouragement.”

“She's that important, huh?” Tanon asks in a way as if he just realized something.

“Surely you've seen it too. That glimmer of greatness she has,” Doctor Smith figures. “She just needs a little encouragement to coax it out. Believe me, Sir, once she realizes what her full potential is, she'll be unstoppable. Arguably more important than that, though, is exactly what she does with that potential. Things that need to be done. Let me just put it that way.”

Oh my Celestia! Does he really mean that?

Why do I feel like crying?

I hear Tanon give a long winded sigh before he says, “Apple certainly didn't fall far from the tree in this case. Seeing her in action these past few days heavily reminds me of good ol' Fourwind. I just can't help it. I see that similar zest and potential just ready to burst out of her. Fourwind before her was like a living, breathing deus ex machina. Whatever needed to be done got done. I see what you mean when you mention that potential to be 'unstoppable'. I know because I've seen it before.”

“Runs in the family, I guess,” Doctor Smith figures in what sounds to me like he's somewhat amused by that fact.

“No kidding,” Tanon agrees with a chuckle, before going on to say, “Although, in this case, it seems to have skipped a generation.”

“It happens all the time,” Doctor Smith assures. “I've seen that plenty of times too. It's almost as if a family bloodline needs a generation to pause and relax before getting right back on that saddle and kicking it back into high gear.”

Tanon gives another long winded sigh before he says, “Well, I'm glad I get to be a part of something like this one last time. Having her travel with us almost feels like I'm nurturing Fourwind's old spirit within her. Helping her feels like it helps me repay many debts I've accumulated over . . . Gosh. Half a dozen decades it seems. I've lost track of how many times good ol' Fourwind saved my life and encouraged me in far more than one way. By helping her in return, part of me feels somehow . . . I don't know. More complete, I guess.”

“'One last time'?” Doctor Smith reiterates then says, “Oh don't be daft, man. I'm sure there are plenty more adventures in those old bones of yours. Believe me when I say I know what it is like to adventure as an old man. Don't let my current appearance fool you. I'm much older than I look.”

“I know, but that is because of what you are,” Tanon figures. I wonder what he means by that statement. “But I'm not like you. None of us ponies are. When we get old, that puts a time limit on our life that is way easier to feel. In my case, it is a terminal illness.”

I think I'm not the only one shocked to hear that announcement. Doctor Smith is noticeably quiet too for a moment, but he is the first among us to speak again.

“I'm sorry to hear that. I really am,” Doctor Smith says sympathetically. “If you wish, I do have some equipment I've been hiding for this adventure and perhaps some of that can . . .” When Doctor Smith trails off, it's easy for me to imagine it is because he is observing Tanon shake his head. I feel doubly confident of that after what Tanon says next.

“It's just my time, Sir,” Tanon assures. “I've accepted that.” He sighs again before he goes on to say, “Having said that, now you know for sure that I'm not on this expedition for anything like money. I won't be taking that on my next adventure.”

“Then why are you here?” Doctor Smith asks in a way that sounds like he already knows the answer. He's just asking to see if Tanon confirms it.

“I'm here because I recently realized something important about myself,” Tanon answers. “Shortly after I learned that my time in this life is now short, I did a lot of reflecting upon my life as you may well expect a pony in my position to do. In my case, however, I didn't just look back. I also looked forward and thought about how I wished to spend the rest of my life, as short as it may be. When I did that, a strong part of me cringed at the very notion of spending the rest of my days peacefully wasting away in some retirement home where I do nothing but reflect on my good old glory days. I hated the very notion that reflecting back on my life was the only value my life had left. Instead of that, I much prefer to die as I had lived, as an adventurer and explorer who accomplishes very meaningful things in his life. I wanted every last second of my life to actually count for something important. When I caught wind of this adventure, it felt like an invitation being sent to me by my late and great partner.

“One last adventure. One last glorious hurrah. Indeed, even, the greatest discovery I have ever made so far.

“I really don't expect to survive this adventure and that's alright. Maybe I could have lasted years in that retirement home but that is not me. That's not who I am. I'd rather have a few moons on a meaningful quest rather than living years reflecting on the fact that I'm now nothing more than a glorious has-been. It actually feels liberating to know that because it means I can afford to push myself to any limit this time. Pushing myself beyond the brink is only slightly accelerating what will soon happen anyway. If I am to face my end, then I'll do it on my own terms.

“Perhaps far more important is what I accomplish with this time. If my sacrifice ends up saving the life of another then facing my end comes with tremendously more meaning for me. It feels like I'm passing on the torch that I'm simply incapable of holding anymore no matter how much I want to. To find an actual worthy successor of my legacy, as well as Fourwind, actually feels like an act of providence to me and helps me to face my end in even greater peace. It's much easier to accept my end knowing that I'll be leaving this world in capable hooves after me. In this case it feels very personal to me too. I could not ask for a more fitting end to my story. I've never had foals, you see. I guess I really was married to my career far more than Fourwind ever was. This really is the next best thing.”

There is a heavy moment of silence which is broken by Tanon again.

“So now that the chips are down, it's time to cash in everything I got. With all the time I have left, I can't think of a more worthy or noble deed than to use all that I have left to invest in the next generation of heroes, and then . . . when I meet my final end, I can look forward to the next adventure. That shall always be my legacy. I . . .”

Tanon's voice cracks for a moment due to heavy emotion so he pauses for a bit to recover before he goes on.

“I'm looking forward to rejoining my old partner again on the next adventure. I'm also looking forward to retiring from the 'old' role script. No more creaking bones and waking up in pain every morning. I want to be young again and face the next adventure with zest and full of life. I want to reclaim that wonder again as I make marvelous and awe-inspiring discoveries, and I know it will happen again. I don't even question it. I see that as inevitable. I look forward to that even while I fight to make the most of what I have left as well.”

“I love you all,” Doctor Smith replies at last. “Mortals, that is. You're all so fantastic! That zest for life is what I seek as well, Sir, and I'll fight like hell to make sure that flame doesn't die out in my own soul. That is why I tend to travel with companions like you all the time. It is because I refuse to do what most of the rest of my people once did, and that is forget what it feels like to be young again. Young and excited to explore life. Forsaking that turned some of them inwardly as cold as a statue. I won't surrender to that fate as well.”

“I suppose I've never known what it feels like to be so old that I forget what it is like to be young,” Tanon muses. “If one were to live that way long enough, it might eventually feel like one never was young to begin with. That that level of existence is completely and totally severed from one's own life.”

“You have remarkable insight for a mortal,” Doctor Smith commends. “I think it is your imagination that reveals to you that potential. That's something else that tends to disappear in those who surrender and forsake their inner spark of youth. Life is all just a bunch of meaningless numbers and cold, emotionless facts to them. One needs emotion to spark creativity and endlessly ask one's self, 'What if . . .?' When the, 'Been there, done that,' attitude gets too old, depression sinks in. Depression which extends from the root of stagnation, I think. Sometimes it even sneaks in without them realizing it. They've lost something and they often don't know it, especially if they took it for granted. 'I already know everything' takes them over instead of the attitude of, 'Let's see what's out there! What if it is this or this? Ooo! I can't wait to find out!'

“Giddy excitement. That is what my kind tends to eventually forget, and I'm not going to let that happen to me without a struggle.

“But you . . . you'll be facing your end soon, and when you do, you'll have a chance to meet all the former companions I had that I wasn't able to follow to that point so far. Death is the final and ultimate adventure, and while it is a veil I was able to peek around many times by now, I've rarely been able to fully look beyond that curtain. That is where I envy you, Sir, so please do me a favor: When you go to that great beyond, please remember me. Remember us. That way a little piece of us is carried with you on that great journey. If you do that, then part of me might feel what it is like to join you up there too.”

“I shall,” Tanon promises in what sounds like solemn, very sincere, and firm conviction. “You have my word, Sir.”

There is another long pause of silence before Doctor Smith finally says, “Well, it's getting late. We should retire to sleep too.”

“That is the right of it,” Tanon agrees before I hear both stallions settle into their own bedrolls.

Which gives me a lot to think about too until I finally drift off to sleep as well.

Part 15: Secret Sect

Over the past four days that we traveled, a lot of anxiety built up within me. I keenly remembered that at the beginning of this journey, there were a whole lot of other ponies that I traveled with and I counted on every single one of them to help keep me safe. The more that were there, the wider my safety net seemed to be and I felt that I really needed that in this great unknown place. Conversely, to even conceptualize each loss was like imagining another hole in that safety net. A new area of vulnerability in that protection which tried to guard me from a bed of spikes beneath it. Knowing that, it was why I was so determined to protect them all even if I didn't feel confident in my ability to do so. I also wanted to protect them for their own sake. I want more ponies to come back home safe to tell the tale we shared together.

But now it is down to just the three of us and our guide, of whom I learned was named Turok. Just three of us to rescue the whole rest of the team. To do that, we have to put ourselves in a great deal of danger against an evil race with advanced technology who uses it for malicious purposes? Who knows what the ultimate fruition of those goals truly are, but if they are willing to capture slaves and make sacrifices of sentient beings to achieve those goals then I don't think I want to find out what their ultimate purpose is.

Essentially, though, it all boils down to the fact that most of the ponies I counted on to protect me have now become a burden. I have to rescue them first before any of them has a chance to protect me again. This feels backwards, yet this goal feels too important to allow my anxiety to make me falter. I keep on taking that next step forward because it honestly feels like I have no choice. I either find the courage to do this or we're all doomed.

Turok didn't remain that close to us these past few days which honestly made me even more nervous. Every time we lost sight of him I feared we'd never find him again, yet repeatedly he'd reappear somewhere along our path and point the way we'd need to go with his spear before shortly disappearing again, presumably to patrol for more dangerous encounters and perhaps even chase them off in advance. He also provided us food and some shelter wherever we can find it. I certainly appreciate the shelter, but snacking on giant bugs isn't a scenario I would normally call ideal. My race are herbivores anyway so I am surprised, in two ways, that I managed to keep this down in my stomach.

Turok may have traveled in our visible compony the minority of the time, but we kept trekking on and our guide remained reasonably confident we were not led astray. His attitude also seemed to suggest we avoided any major unforeseen complications. There were some challenges but they were at a level our guide regarded as downright normal other than the destination we were ultimately heading towards. All the while I kept on thinking that there will come a point when our guide will abandon us because it is taboo for his tribe to get close towards the society we are going for.

But on the fourth day, he surprises us by waiting next to a cascade of vines. When we catch up, he does not flee for once but instead waits for us to catch up. Since that is a break in the pattern he's demonstrated so far and the day is young enough not to take a break for the night, we aren't certain why he's acting differently all of the sudden.

Our surprise doubles when he uses his spear to brush aside some of the vines beside him which reveals a hidden door. That door obviously looks constructed and it has an image of two serpents coiling around a pole. When their heads meet up at the top, the twin serpents face towards each other and they are almost close enough to kiss each other. Turok approaches this door then brushes a clawed hand over some symbols on the door. In doing so, hidden runes on the door glow. Those groups of symbols collectively form a larger symbol before fading away when he is done.

“Ask him what he's doing,” Tanon requests to Doctor Smith as he regards our guide with sudden suspicion now.

“I'm showing you the door,” Turok says to us in apparent ponish with definitely startles us. He also turns to face us.

“YOU COULD SPEAK PONISH ALL ALONG?!” Tanon roared incredulously as he hovers up his crossbow to aim it menacingly at our guide.

“No,” Turok answers with a shake of his head. “I still can't. In fact, I am not speaking this 'ponish', as you call it.”

“So this is telepathic translation,” Doctor Smith guesses with both surprise mixed with delight. “That's interesting.”

“What?” I ask Doctor Smith in confusion.

“Why now?” Doctor Smith asks Turok, seemingly ignoring my question other than sparing me a quick glance to non-verbally show that he did notice my question but thinks gathering more information right now is more important than answering me. “What has changed that allows you to communicate with us now?” Doctor Smith goes on as he looks back at our guide.

“We are now close enough to the Divine Serpent,” Turok answers. “He is telepathic and his mental blessings help to translate other's tongues.”

I wince slightly when I finally notice something amiss. I am hearing ponish from our guide, but his lip movements do not match what he's saying. Moreover, when I listen more carefully, I can hear his native language beneath that. He is still hissing, gurgling in a way our throats can't do (for it is more akin to a purr of a cat), or clicking.

“Divine Serpent?” Doctor Smith echoes questioningly. “Tell us more,” he says with a disapproving glance at Tanon's crossbow for a brief moment then passing that same expression at Tanon himself, non-verbally telling the unicorn to put the weapon away.

“The Divine Serpent is the Quetzalcoatl,” Turok answers. “He's also known as the Knowledge God and Healer, The Great Sage Mezsizethelar. He was once known as the Great Teacher that both my own people and the Naga revere. Some of the Naga still do.”

“Most fascinating!” Doctor Smith says in delight. “And I think you are alluding to one other very important fact. This Great Sage you speak of . . . he's on our side, isn't he?”

Turok nods before he declares, “But it is still forbidden by my tribe to associate with this being for they believe that nothing stemming from this society has any sanctity left in it. I used to believe the same until they saved me, and even then I was slow to trust them.”

“By 'them', I am assuming you mean this secret sect that still reveres Mezsizethelar?” the Doctor checks.

“I'm surprised you said that properly on the first try!” I say in surprise at Doctor Smith before looking at Turok questioningly. “He did say it right. Right?”

Turok nods at me briefly before returning his attention back to the Doctor in order to answer his question, to which he says, “Correct. The sect I'm about to introduce you to is the minority of the Naga, but they still secretly adhere to the old ways of spreading knowledge and prosperity. For their own sake, they've kept themselves a secret from the rest. Unlike my tribe, however, they hide in plain sight.”

Tanon finally floats his crossbow away as he says, “If what you say is true, then it means we have secret allies in the temple we're going to. This is most fortuitous for us for it means they'll at least be able to provide us information about what is happening inside the temple. Perhaps, with that information, we may be able to rescue our herd more safely.”

“Exactly,” Turok agrees with Tanon. “This is why I volunteered to guide you all here. My tribe merely wanted me to guide you to this valley, but I guided you a lot closer because I was aware that you could find yet another guide within this valley if I lead you to the right place and people.” He then gestures to the door beside us.

Doctor Smith lifts a hoof to rub the bottom of his chin thoughtfully as he asks, “If this Great Sage is powerful enough to be regarded and revered as a god, why would he need any of us? Why would any of the rest of these Naga not revere him and some other evil entity instead?”

“Your question would be better answered by speaking to the Great Sage himself,” Turok replied, then amends, “Well . . . communicate at any rate. Speaking is a problem for him now.”

“Too old or ill to speak?” Doctor Smith guesses as he lowers his hoof back to the ground.

“Again, it would be best if I showed you,” Turok replies with another gesture to the door. “The Divine Serpent is far wiser than I am. He will know what best to say and not to say to you. I trust his judgment now and those who secretly remain loyal to him.”

“Then lets delay no further,” Doctor Smith decides as he passes the two of us a questioning glance to see if we agree with him as well.

“Cautiously,” Tanon agrees in a tight and distrustful voice. “You,” he points a machete at Turok as he goes on to say, “will travel on ahead of us.”

Turok wordlessly agrees by simply doing it. Shortly later, we all follow our guide into the tunnels of a hidden temple.

The population beyond really is quite sparse. This also means I got my first look at the Naga. As was described to me earlier, they are very large serpents except they have arms and hands extending from them. On average they are pony sized, but I have seen some which I suspect are young versions of them that are about the size of a pony foal, but a few fully grown adults about twice the size and girth of an average pony. The majority of them seem young, though, and they fearfully keep their distance from us yet also close enough to peek at us curiously from their hiding spots.

As for the tunnel itself, it is quite obviously constructed. Geometric is probably my best word for it. The architecture seems unusual to me but very mathematically stable. In fact it just might be much better than the majority of construction I've ever seen from Equestria because I get this sense that this tunnel system might be very old. Ancient, even. For artificial construction to last this long, especially without apparent maintenance, it suggests that its architects at least once had knowledge beyond anything I had ever seen.

There are some decorations on the walls too and a shape to the torch holders that remind me of serpents in general aesthetics. Both of those also seem more recent to me compared to the walls themselves. This seems to suggest that the tunnels are indeed very ancient, but not the sentient beings that moved in since it was first built. What these Naga have added doesn't seem nearly as advanced as what was once built before them which seems to suggest that there is lost knowledge here, even if they live within this place.

Eventually we are led to a stone bridge that, unlike the majority of the construction we've seen so far, this bridge appears much more natural. It kind of looks like a rolled out tongue which rests on a series of stalagmite rising up from a cavern floor too low for us to see the bottom. At the other end of this “bridge” is a waterfall cascading down from somewhere above this cavern roof. There is a large coiled object within the water which looks like a coiled serpent but with very intelligent looking eyes. For some reason there is light emanating from within the waterfall. I do see some glowing crystals of various colors behind this waterfall (which is wondrous to behold), but by themselves do not seem to explain why the water is as bright as it is. My best guess is there is more light sources connected to this waterfall that is beyond our sight. Either that, or the water is magical in its own right.

A few paces closer to us but still near the waterfall is another Naga that is the largest specimen I've encountered so far. If this one stood at full height, I imagine this one to be about eighteen feet tall. This Naga wears a veil over the face. I get the feeling this one has religious significance and for some reason I also get the feeling this one is female. Physiologically there is no obvious clue about that to me. It's just a feeling I get. Perhaps the jewelry, veil, and poise of this one is a very minor clue but that's all I really have right now.

When she sees us, she lifts a single hand before her towards us as she bids, “Come. The Master wishes to speak to thee.”

“Then I'm honored by the invitation,” replies the Doctor with a diplomatic bow. “I have to say, it feels nice to be invited rather than chased out with weapons fire. Believe me when I say I've had more than my fair share of the latter experience.”

“I do not doubt the sincerity of thy words,” the lady Naga responds with a smooth and soothing voice. “Be at ease here, travelers. Thou shalt not find enemies here unless thou seekest them. Rather, guidance and sanctuary shall be your fate here.”

“Excellent!” Doctor Smith cheers as he rises from his bow. “Guidance and sanctuary. I'm quite a fan of those when the time is right for them.”

“I see thy wit is as sharp as ever,” the lady Naga says in amusement and with a curious sense of familiarity.

“We've met before?' Doctor Smith asks curiously.

The lady Naga shakes her head as she says, “We have not had the pleasure prior to this encounter, but legends of thee abound beyond thy travels.” She pauses for a moment before she adds mysteriously, “That, and others thou travel with.”

At first I thought she meant Tanon Burrows, but my instincts mysteriously insist she's actually talking about me for some reason.

“Come,” the lady Naga requests of us again.

“Onwards and Upwards, then,” Doctor Smith cheers as he trots on ahead of us. Tanon and I glance at each other quite a bit more warily before we, too, proceed to follow.

“Welcome travelers,” telepathically booms in our minds when we get to about halfway across the bridge. The experience is kind of hard to describe because I heard these words in my mind with far greater clarity than anything I ever heard verbally. There is a curious way it resounds in my mind. It also comes with this curious sense of “knowing” as if I am actually recalling these words with unusual intensity and depth. I guess it simply is downloaded into my brain?

Glancing at Tanon, I notice him pause too which tips me off to the fact that he also “heard” that and in the same way I did. However, if this also happened to Doctor Smith, he shows no outward sign of it. He does not pause for even a moment. He just keeps on trotting.

“Be at ease, travelers,” some male sounding entity continues to speak in our minds from somewhere. “I do not have, nor ever shall I, the intention to harm you. Rather, it is my purpose, pleasure, and intention to enlighten knowledge seekers. Such is that you seek, and such it is you found.”

Okay. This is . . . strange.

Yet also comforting. The “words” that resound within my mind isn't merely just words but also feelings. Emotion is attached to the message as well. I simply “feel” this beings benign intentions. In fact, I also feel such intense love from this creature that I can barely describe it. While mysterious, it also helps to put me at ease. As such, I advance forward.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Keystone,” the still unseen being booms in my mind. “I see you have been through a great journey so far. Much you have seen, and if you wish it, more there will be to come for you.”

Testing a theory, I decide to mentally reply, “Why do I feel like I know you? With every word you utter to me, or as close to 'words' as this level of communication can be considered, I feel a sense of déjà vu and familiarity with a being I sort of recently met.

“Oh, and by the way, where are you anyway? Are you invisible?”

“Invisible? Not at all, dear lady. I'm right in front of you,” the being replies.

I freeze, feeling startled as I realize that this being that is communicating to me is coming from the giant serpentine statue in the waterfall.

“You've been turned to stone?!”I mentally ask with horror.

“Yes,” the being replies with unexpected ease. “I have been locked in this state for a very long time now.

“Or, at least, 'time' as you have come to know it. For me, time is not linear. That affords me a much higher perspective of reality. It is for that reason I can well afford to be patient and at ease with my state. There are certain aspects to my condition which can be considered an advantage of sorts.”

“I'm afraid I can't sympathize,” I mentally reply. “It would be quite horrifying to me if I were trapped in stone, especially if my mind kept on going and noticing the state.”

“Well, for me, it is not as bad as you are imagining,” the being I'm assuming is the Great Sage Mezsizethelar is “saying”. “And yes. I am the one known by mortals as The Great Sage Mezsizethelar. I have also been known by other names as well. If you wish, you can come up with another of your own choosing. I shall not take offense at this. I know that name is difficult for you to pronounce, even in your own thoughts.”

His offer intrigues me. I definitely did not expect it.

“May I have your permission to introduce myself in a more comfortable setting?” the being requests kindly.

Once again, his offer intrigues me so I reply mentally, “Ahhhhh . . . sure? I guess.”

“Thank you!” he replies with a deep well of depth to his gratitude that I can actually feel. Moments later I begin to grow a tad dizzy as my senses wash away to a blank whiteness.

Part 16: Internal Compass

I think I lost consciousness, but I can only realize that after the fact. There is this blank sense of timelessness where all concerns related to self identify evaporated. I can't say how long it lasted. To me, it feels like just crossing through a light barrier yet it has more profound impact upon me than I would expect from a moment that brief. It has the emotional weight of centuries going by or . . . perhaps more? It's hard to tell.

All of this leaves me dizzy so it takes me a moment longer to realize how much my environment has changed. When that finally starts to sink in, I realize I'm in what seems to be some kind of library, for a tall tower of bookshelves is all around me.

However, when I start scanning about the base level of this place, I start to realize that perhaps a study room is a more apt description because immediately in front of me is comfortable looking seats on a carpet. There is a coffee table between them and a lit fire pit behind them all. By taking in everything that is in close proximity to me, I get this strong sense of coziness, yet when I gaze up at the tower of books above me that seem to stretch on into infinity, I get a counterbalance feeling of being in another world or entirely separate dimension where normal logic need not apply.

“Welcome, young one,” greets a friendly being ahead of me. I look back at the seats a short distance ahead of me which I'm positive were empty before, but that is no longer true for one of them. There was no other warning or sign of his appearance like a “popping” or tingling sound normally indicative of magical teleportation. He is just suddenly there as if he was only allowed to exist in the split second I happened to look away from these seats.

The individual in question appears to be a griffon which is characterized as having the hind legs like some kind of large feline but a forward talons like an eagle. His head is also eagle shaped, but also appear very old, for he had a long beard. Instead of hair, though, his “beard” was a fluff full of white feathers instead. He wears spectacles over his faded blue, aging and wisdom-filled eyes. Another thing about him that strikes me as profound is the loving way he gazes upon me that also sets me at ease. I have nothing to prove to this individual. I can't surprise or disappoint him because the love I feel from him towards me is just too intense to believe otherwise. Curiously, I also gain a sense of familiarity with him too as if I met him before, but my conscious memory just ends up innocently shrugging when I demand an explanation for this feeling.

I lift a hoof to point to him as I ask, “Are you Mezliezer?” I guess awkwardly. “Mez-ah-zoonie?” I try again. “Mez . . . Um.” I grunt in frustration then revise my tactic by asking, “Are you the Divine Serpent I spoke to telepathically earlier?”

“I am an indeed,” he confirms as he closes a book I just notice him holding with one talon. As he does so, he appears to chuckle at me in amusement. He then briefly waves his other talon towards me in an arcing circle as he proposes, “How about you just call me Auzmeir? I want to make things easier and more comfortable for you.”

“Ah . . . sure,” I accept with a delighted nod. “That'll be much easier for me to work with.”

“Then I am glad we got that settled,” he says with a bright smile that reminds me of a very affectionate grandfather. He then gestures across from him to the other empty seat as he says invitingly, “Please. I welcome you to have a seat if you like.”

“Ah . . . sure,” I repeat, though this time a little trepidatiously because of my confusion. Despite that, I do it anyway because I do not want to disappoint him. I don't do it out of fear of him, though. I can't explain why, but I already trust him too much for that.

“By the way, what do you think of this place?” he asks as he gestures around us. “You might notice it bears some resemblance to libraries that you've encountered in the past. I made this mental construct using pieces of your memories to help further put you at ease.”

I look around more carefully. In doing so, I notice the wood of the bookshelves do appear familiar. There is also something recognizable about the color, architecture, smell, and even the general vibe of this place. Despite all of that, there is an otherworldly quality to it too which I suspect is equally no accident. He created this place to both set me at ease but also spark my wonder and imagination. To tantalize me with how much more there is to explore in creation.

“It's wonderful!” I tell him with delight both in my expression and my voice as I look back at him. “But I take it this place isn't real, right? At least not in a tangible sense?”

“You are most astute, young lady,” he expresses with near equal delight. “Such has served you well in the college you attended, but I also wanted to introduce you to the concept that there is so much more out there for you to explore. More than the books you read at home could ever tell you.”

“Right . . . but I can add to that knowledge as I explore,” I counter propose. “Just like my maps, the books I write is also meant to introduce my readers to a taste of the experiences I had. That's something I always wanted to do with my life. Not just see what is out there, but share that journey as much as I can.”

“A noble goal indeed,” Auzmeir expresses warmly. “And one I can deeply relate too. I, too, have a passion for sharing knowledge.”

“Why?” I ask curiously. “You seem to know so much. Maybe some of that knowledge might be too dangerous to share because you don't know what those who learn from you will do with that knowledge.” After a short pause, I then ask, “Or do you? You once said your mind now exists outside of linear time. Perhaps it always has.”

“I could reflect that question right back at you,” Auzmeir observes. “Say you do share the knowledge of this journey to the new continent. How would you know what your readers would do with that knowledge? Does such prospects always haunt you as you write? Or do you just feel a natural inclination to share what you know?”

“Why ask questions you already know the answer to?” I evenly reflect.

“The answer to that question is simple,” he says then flicks a point at me with a single talon. “To get you to think about the answer as well. The purpose of a teacher is to teach. I fulfill my role as a servant in this universe by enlightening my students. You cannot imagine how much pleasure it is for me to do that, but perhaps you can feel that truth when you pause in silence and just listen to your heart. To confirm the thought that just crossed your mind right now, I am communicating to you on multiple levels. There is the virtual verbal communication we have in this simulated environment, but I'm also communicating to you telepathically and empathically.” He raises a talon upwards which pauses at various levels. During that time he holds his talon level to the ground. “When I teach, I do so with the intention for my students to learn across multiple levels of their being. That way they can gain greater value of the lesson. A richer sense of understanding.”

“But why?” I ask. “Why do all of this?”

“As I said before, it is my pleasure to serve in this capacity. One I do completely of my own free will,” he answers. “There are other levels to that answer too, but some of that requires a higher level of understanding of the universe and the ties we have to each other.” He waves at me as he adds, “For now, just know that a non-linear perspective of time affords me a wider perspective of the universe. Wide enough to know the cascade ripple effects the knowledge I share causes. Overall, it leads to higher evolution of all sentient life. Once that happens, we can all share in greater levels of wisdom, understanding, harmony, and happiness.”

I wince as I mention, “But that didn't seem to happen to this society I'm currently at. The Silurians have grown so afraid of the technology they once mastered because of the harm it once caused, and the ones who continue to use it also do so for abusive purposes.” I wave a hoof in a small circle. “If all of this is an extension of the knowledge you shared, how is all of this leading up to harmony and happiness? It seems to me current circumstances spell the opposite of that.”

The book he was reading a moment ago mysteriously floats away when he lets it go. The way it does so reminds me of unicorn telekinesis except I don't see a magical aura around the book as it flies away, nor the magical tingle sound. It just floats away as if gravity has changed for that object alone.

Auzmeir also folds his talons in front of his white feathered beard. He seems to give me a brief appraising look before he says, “To answer your question, try to imagine a society in total peace and happiness but not from the perspective of a higher dimension. A time and era that is so good, there is no motivation to change. When everything feels perfect, or at least good enough to be content, there is no motivation to explore. 'Why change that which works' was a famous adage of an old bygone age. There are important lessons that can be garnered from such an age, especially with a guide like me who has diligent students who are willing to learn.” He shakes his head. “But such eras can only propel beings so far. Eventually there comes a 'time' when evolving beings stagnate if they lack the proper motivation to move outside of their comfort zones. Why risk that when they can just settle in paradise instead? But the underlying principle of this world, and many others like it, is to facilitate eventual growth to a higher state of evolution and that requires change.”

Auzmeir lifts one talon that has his pointing and thumb talon touching as he adds, “In a dream realm like the physical plane, it need not be a nightmare to facilitate growth. After all, there are many lessons one can learn here and some of them isn't as scary and stressful as others. One aspect that is required for growth, however, is a challenge to some degree. One needs to broaden their horizons of understanding and consciousness before higher perspectives can be achieved. It's just like when you fly high into the sky,” he says with an upward point, “and look down upon the world below you. From a bird's-eye perspective, it affords you a broader look at the terrain around you.” He shakes his head. “But that never would have happened if you lack the motive to take off into the sky in the first place, and that is just the first step. Even if you did have the motive, you also need the knowledge and experience on how to flap your wings to achieve stable lift. You recall that you didn't master those lessons in a day. Higher evolutionary enlightenment is the same way.”

I widen my eyes as I ask, “Wait a minute. If you really do have a non-linear perspective of time than that includes the future.”

As if to confirm my theory, Auzmier merely nods this time.

I point to him as I say, “That would also mean you foresaw the trouble this society would endure. You also foresaw that some of them would threaten you and turn you into stone. If you saw that coming, why didn't you try to avoid it? Why didn't you guide those who learned from you to avoid this path of ruin?”

“First of all,” Auzmeir begins, “everyone who learns from me has a will of their own. Included with that are some who may have fears or ambition. In their eyes, the fact I am willing to equally share my knowledge without cost was a threat to their plans, so they decided I needed a time out.

“Secondly, my wider perspective also affords me an understanding of why this catalyst is necessary for eventual positive change and growth.”

He gestures to me with his entire left talon as he says, “If you have a 'villain' in front of you, as you would define the term, then there can be incentive to take the opposite role just to attain a perceived sense of equilibrium.”

He folds his talons in front of him again.

“That isn't necessary,” he goes on to lecture. “You have free will every step of your journey so it is ultimately up to you to decide your fate. That decision is guided by what is in front of you and what you've learned through that journey. If a given role doesn't seem necessary then it might not even occur to you to take it.” He nods outwardly. “But the role some of the Naga play make other roles seem especially urgent. That, in turn, is a catalyst for change and with change comes growth.”

He tilts his head as he says, “Wise guidance can come in many forms, my dear. Sometimes the best thing for soul growth to occur is for guides to say nothing. After all, over reliance on a guide breeds stagnation. Why venture out and discover your own answers when some all-knowing being can just give you easy answers instead?

“But, on the other talon,” he opens his left talon, “a complete lack of guidance can cause souls to get totally lost. If they dwell in that state for too long, they may give up exploration altogether because they've grown accustomed to all efforts to explore ending in vain. If they just give up and plop down on the spot they are on while convinced all efforts to explore is futile, then it results in it's own form of stagnation but this time in a negative direction. Pure depression and bitterness keeps them rooted in that one spot.

“That is when guidance from a higher power is most needed. One who comes in one form or another and encourages, 'Please don't give up! Take my talon. I'll lift you up and guide you through the darkness. There is still so much to explore. So much you can accomplish. If you'll allow me,” he says with so much emphasis that he pauses there for a few seconds before proceeding, “then I'll show you how to take the next step, and the next, and the next and so on until you finally get the confidence you need to proceed on your own.”

Auzmeir leans back in his seat as he goes on to lecture, “What loving parent wouldn't want their offspring to be strong? To nurture and guide the next generation towards the widest possible opportunities for growth?” He gestures to himself. “This world exist for our own personal growth too. Never forget that, but it is also important that we pass on that knowledge because we share this world with other beings as well. In them, we see a part of ourselves and that is key.” He lifts his pointing talon. “Because it is true. They are us and we are them. We're all connected so sharing knowledge is simply sharing and strengthening other aspects of ourselves.”

“That sounds esoteric,” I remark before I fully realize it.

Auzmier gestures to me as he says, “You are free to believe whatever you wish. Only accept whatever knowledge I share that resonates with you and discard the rest. Any truly wise and compassionate teacher would always say the same thing.”

I lift a hoof to encourage silence for a moment because I feel I need a bit of time to pause and digest what was said so far. I also need that time to decide what I'll say or ask next. Patiently, Auzmeir does indeed wait. During this time I close my eyes and bow my head as I process this.

“So, um . . . if you can see the future and everything else as well, that includes this meeting,” I realize aloud after about a minute pause. I open my eyes and look back at him. “That likely also means you foresee the results of this meeting and that is why you are communicating with me and . . .” I tilt my head at him curiously. “Are you communicating with Doctor Smith and Tanon Burrows too?”

“Yes I am,” Auzmeir confirms with a nod. “I am communicating with both of them in their own dedicated virtual realms designed for each of them separately, and I'm communicating to you all at the same time.”

“Ah . . . neat,” I say with a blank blink then shake my head. “Anyway, my point is, I think this conversation we're having right now also has a point. Furthermore I'm guessing that it has something to do with our current crisis.”

“That is up to you,” Auzmier reflects. “I may be aware of what you will decide because, in my perspective, whatever you will do is something you are doing right now.” He shakes his head as he adds, “Regardless of that, I won't tell you what you will decide and thus take that decision away from you because that infringes upon your free will which, in turn, slows soul growth. There are other consequences to that as well but I won't get into that right now.”

I blink at him again as I think about what he just said before I reply, “Okay, but surely you are aware what ripple affects your lessons will provoke in me.”

Auzmier nods as he says, “That is accurate. Yes.”

“Which is the true point of this conversation,” I realize as I gaze outwardly blankly.

“Once again, I remind you what you are doing and will do is up to you,” Auzmier says again. “I'm just providing you with new tools. You choose how you wield them.”

“Are the others alive?” I ask sharply as I snap my gaze back at him. “The others that have been captured?”

“Yes,” Azumeir answers before adding, “though I caution you with the knowledge that those who currently detain them eventually plan to change that status.”

“The Naga are going to kill them?” I ask in alarm. “Sacrifice them for some nefarious end?”

“Not all the Naga are willing participants of such a deed,” Azmeir reminds. “You met some of them earlier.” He nods. “That said, some of them do have that intention.”

I close my eyes and rest my head on the back of this seat as I say after a brief sigh of relief, “To tell you the truth, I am very relieved to have learned that today. That some of the Naga are innocent, that is.” I open my eyes and look back at him. “Earlier I was very uncomfortable with the idea that an entire race is inherently evil. Something about that didn't sit right with me.”

Auzmeir nods in agreement then says, “There are actually multiple parts of you that felt that way. Part of it was moral hope, but another part of it is a deeper aspect of yourself that always senses the truth of things. Your own internal compass.

“Before I resume on that subject, may I have your permission to share something new that relates to your own inherit qualities?”

My curiosity piqued, I tell him invitingly, “Sure. Go ahead.”

Auzmeir lifts a talon and a piece of paper from the nearby coffee table floats above that upwardly pointing talon. On the paper is the image of my cutie mark.

“Now this is a very remarkable trait of your species which has me quite fascinated,” Auzmeir says in delight. “In truth, all souls, no matter their form and mission in life, have something like this buried inside them. The interesting thing about ponies, however, is that they eventually wear an outward manifestation of their soul's mission in life. Case in point,” he flicks a point at the image on the floating paper again. “A pony gains a cutie mark when they reach a certain threshold and discover something deeply intrinsic about themselves. It is a sign, reminder and trophy of the accomplishment of that realization which is very often accompanied by an explosive thrill at that discovery. What comes next often varies.” The paper floats gently to his lap and he folds his talons over it. “Some continue to try to explore that inwardly discovered talent while others rest on their laurels. The unfortunate latter say to themselves, 'I did it. I discovered my cutie mark so I don't need to continue my inward journey. I'm done!”

Auzmier shakes his head as he chuckles in amusement.

“That's the thing about inward discovery though,” Auzmier goes on. “It varies for each individual. There is a lot that can be learned from failure. Often even more so than success. Detouring off ones personal soul mission still has value, for the . . . Hmm. I won't say 'wrong' path, but different than intended could be more apt.

“Anyway,” the paper floats above his right shoulder and he resumes pointing up at it as he says, “In your case, I encourage you to look beyond the surface of such an image. You can take the literal translation of this image and that is fine because it is true, but to fully grasp ones potential such as this one requires a more subjective view. What we have here is an image of a tool. A tool that can help a trained user decipher which way is true north barring any external misdirection, for other things can be magnetic too and temporarily exude a stronger influence over a tool like this.”

When he gives a brief pause to allow me a chance to digest what he said so far, I nod at him as I prod, “Please continue. I'm deeply intrigued to hear and see what else you have to teach me about this.”

“Once again, I encourage you to be willing to look upon an image like this with a more subjective view,” Azumeir encourages. “That requires imagination and outside-the-box thinking while at the same time acknowledging the literal translation as well. So we know you have the cutie mark of a compass and that tool can be used for navigation. Ergo, you chose a profession as a map maker because you were convinced that is what your cutie mark signaled as your destiny.” He then points at me with both pointing talons as he says, “Let's address that point for just a moment. I know you are early in your career relative to your perception in your timeline, but so far . . . are you happy with the path you chose?”

I hesitate to answer long enough to surprise even myself. I didn't used to question it, but since a being this advanced has asked me, I decide to reflect on that point again and take a deeper examination of the answer.

After a few minutes of silence, I answer, “Honestly, not as much as I thought but . . . yeah. I do enjoy this path and I sense a lot of potential in it. That feeling stems from the fact that I like to have some guidance in my life and I sincerely believe I'm not the only one. Making maps isn't just for my own sake but for others as well. As I said before, I like to share knowledge, especially when I regard it as important.”

“Ah!” Auzmeir lifts a talon in triumph. “Now that is a keyword there. You value guidance.”

“Uh . . . yeah,” I say with a squint since I'm not totally sure where he's going with this point.

“You don't wish to be lost,” Auzmeir continues as he folds his talons in front of him again as he passes me a shrewd look. “At the same time you value exploration, but only if you can mitigate the chances of being lost. Hence your cutie mark and the profession you decided to follow.”

“Yeah,” I confirm again while continuing to study him, sensing he's not finished with his point.

Auzmier unfolds his right talon at me and gives me a brief wave before folding that talon with his left again as he says, “Take a moment to pause and reflect on your feelings at this very moment. What is it telling you?”

“That you're about to make an important point about my potential,” I answer instantly. “That also implies that I haven't been using my potential to its fullest.”

“Go on,” he bids.

I take longer to reflect on this issue this time. Doing so eventually causes me to realize, “I sense the truth sometimes, and when I do, those feelings are naggingly persistent.”

“Ah!” Auzmier declares with triumph again. “You sense the truth, eh?” He narrows his eyes smugly as he says, “It's almost as if you have an internal compass.”

I widen my eyes at him in realization.

“I encourage you to pay attention to your instincts,” Auzmier encourages. “For within you is your own built-in guidance system.” He shakes his head. “In the long run, you don't need beings like me to guide you, though we will continue to serve you in whatever capacity we can to the best of our ability anyway. You are never alone.” He nods at me. “But that said, it is my hope that you more fully realize and utilize the deeper aspects of your potential. A compass points to true north. An internal compass does the same. By knowing which way is true north, you also learn which way is east, west, south, and everywhere in between. These answers, this tool, always rests inside of you whenever you choose to use it and sometimes even when you don't choose to use it if the information it is trying to share is important enough.

“I lovingly encourage you to pay attention to this tool! If it is telling you to wait and not walk through a certain door, it might be because there is danger beyond that threshold that you cannot currently endure in your linear timeline. For multiple reasons that may change later. The threat might get weaker while you could grow stronger, but when the compass insists that you should not cross the barrier in that particular moment, pay heed to it. It's important to your destiny for you to more fully realize the deeper aspects of your potential. You want guidance? You got it! As such, you can also be a guide for others if you wish.”

His last sentence powerfully resonated with me, especially now. Doctor Smith, Tanon and I are about to venture into very dangerous territory. I feel very nervous to do so, but it would help if I had some trusted guidance along the way. That, in turn, would help boost my confidence. Moreover, if I have access to such guidance then I can increase the odds of success and chances of survival of my companions and those we plan to rescue.

“There's something I've been thinking about lately,” I muse aloud. “I grew up in a cloistered environment for the most part. For the longest time, my greatest option in terms of freedom of exploration lies in books. That wasn't entirely fulfilling at first, but I eventually grew to enjoy it. In fact I'm very passionate about it now. So much so that I'm even willing to become a writer myself in order to add knowledge back to Equestria. In my eyes, it is a way for me to give back to a society that gave so much to me.”

I look back at him as I go on to say, “But lately I've begun to wonder if I have misidentified my destiny after all. I used to think I had no potential as a full-fledged adventurer until I went on this journey. I convinced myself, before I even started, that this would be a one time thing. That I'd make my mark in the world with my maps of this journey and perhaps publish a book based on my diary, but that's about it. Adventure is done and I should go back to the library and scribes desk where my parents told me I belong.

“But lately, as this journey continued, I've gained a much deeper understanding of not only what it means to be an adventurer, but also a hero, or lack thereof. In this niche, I keep seeing unfulfilled potential that needs to be fulfilled by somepony. Is there an important reason I keep noticing that? Is the mere fact I noticed it a sign that I am meant to fulfill that role?

“Then there is the fact that others on this journey, and more than one pony at that, said I had a knack for this. Furthermore, I have an ancestral tie to this profession as well. My grandfather was a great explorer and wonderful adventurer. He contributed to the knowledge of Equestria left and right and he did it the hard way, but somepony has got to do it. These things are very important.

“So I've been wondering . . . am I meant to continue the path I had before the start of this journey? Or is everything I've been through a sign that a change of career is in order?”

At that moment, my internal compass, which I more fully realized is there recently, told me that he'd tell me to check my internal compass for that answer. I stared at him while I waited for him to do precisely that, but instead he just grew a slow smile because he read my mind and he knows that I know he read my mind. As a result, it became unnecessary for him to outwardly verbalize that. He can just wait for me to fulfill that request.

So I do. I take a moment to reflect on it. When I do, I grow confused when I realize the compass seems to be pointing in both directions. Both as a writer and as an adventurer. If both is equally true, which path should I take? Which one is more important to my destiny?

“I could use some advise,” I say as I return my attention to him. “My compass is saying both paths are equally valid, so how do I determine which one is more important?”

Auzmier briefly points at me as he says, “To answer that question, I ask another. Why is it important to choose one over another? Why can't it be both?”

Once again I widen my eyes as another epiphany dawns on me.

“An explorer, like you, enjoys the thrill of discovery,” Auzmier continues. “As you do so, I encourage you to keep an open mind about your options in life. You don't necessarily have to deadlock yourself on one path. You can and that's fine, but ultimately this is your personal journey and you choose its course. Even if you do settle on just one option, you can later change it as your life continues.”

Auzmeir whirls his pointing talon as he says, “Life is changing all the time, my dear. It's important to be willing to adapt with it. What works in one moment might not work in another. I encourage you not to choose stagnation. Instead, just keep on exploring and keep checking your internal compass as you continue your journey.

“Guidance is ever within you, my dear. You are a very special pony who is on a very special journey. Let it be wonderful and magical. Let it feel meaningful and important. The Book of Life is open to you, and you are the author of your own story. Let no other, even if they are well-meaning, choose it for you. Suggestions are fine, but as an explorer of life, it is ultimately you that sets the course of your flight.”

I return my gaze to the floor as I think and feel deeply about what he said. After awhile I gaze back up at him then give him a nod and a grateful smile.

Part 17: The Plan

When my senses are restored to normal reality, I once again lose my equilibrium for a moment until I later adjust. As I do, I take in my new surrounds. That is when I notice that I am in some kind of temple near a waterfall that has the frozen statue of The Great Serpent in it, or as I like to affectionately call him now, Auzmeir.

After that, I then notice I have returned to the compony of Tanon, Doctor Smith, and the still nameless lady Naga, of whom I am still convinced is the guardian, caretaker of this place, and probably also some kind of spiritual leader. Given her close proximity to a sentient, telepathic, highly intelligent and knowledgeable entity behind her, she probably can give her people some very wise guidance.

Next, I notice Tanon giving us a questioning look shortly before he asks, “Were you two locked in a telepathic conversation with the entity in that statue as well?”

“Indubitably, my good Sir,” Doctor Smith replies in a bit more chipper mood than I recall him being in before. “We had a long conversation as well which proved quite a bit enlightening for me.”

“He does that sometimes,” the lady Naga nearby informs us casually. “He loves to teach, and he has a good eye for those worthy of his lessons.”

“I didn’t see either of you with him when I spoke to him,” Tanon mentions. “Yet he told me he was engrossed in a heavy conversation with the two of you as well. Now it seems like he was telling me the truth which makes this quite remarkable.” He pauses a moment as he cracks his neck by tilting it from side to side then he goes on to say, “Be that as it may, the conversation I had with him leads me to believe he is trustworthy but it still calls into question what our next move is. He seemed quite reluctant to share too much insight about that, especially when it pertains to the future which he claimed was in his purview.”

“He said that to me too,” I note aloud in agreement with Tanon.

“The Great Master has a multidimensional consciousness,” the lady Naga nearby us says as she gives an admiring look to the giant statue in the waterfall. “As such, his perception isn’t confined by the limitation of linear space/time construct.”

“Believe me, I am very familiar with such a perspective,” Doctor Smith informs in what sounds to me like an almost bragging manner. I also give him a questioning look as I wonder why what he just said is true if it is true.

“You do not speak with a double tongue, Sir,” the Lady Naga says to the Doctor in what sounds like respect. I surmise what she meant by that is she believes the Doctor did not lie. Goodness knows how she knows that. Is she telepathic too?

“I have found in my travels that that is sometimes necessary,” the Doctor replies. “Just not in this case.” He nods to the Lady Naga as he says, “I think the first thing we should address is get our introductions in order. I’ll start us off.” He gestures to his chest with his left hoof. “My name is Doctor John Smith. You can just call me The Doctor for short if you prefer.”

I notice a faint cunning grin sink into Lady Naga’s lips as she replies with a shrewd expression, “I do indeed prefer.”

“And I am Tanon Burrows,” Tanon says with a curt nod to the Lady Naga. “Well met.”

Sensing it is my turn, I speak up by saying, “And I am Agate . . .” I briefly trail off as I quickly debate whether I should add my middle name in this very important and formal introduction, but I decide against it seconds later. If this Lady Naga is telepathic, though, she might have picked up on it anyway. After that brief moment of indecision, I shake my head to clear it then decide to start over again. “Miss Agate Keystone,” I finally finish as politely as I can while my cheeks flush in slight embarrassment and shyness.

“And I am Suwell Z'Ion, the spiritual guide for my people,” Suwell introduces.

“As my large brown friend here said moments ago, well met dear Suwell Z’Ion,” Doctor Smith says with an affectionate nod to her then looks at Tanon Burrows. “Now on to the second order of business which is again something you brought up. What we shall do next is save our friends, of course, and hopefully also derail the nefarious sect of the Naga who aren’t quite as enlightened as our new friends here.”

“Which is the vast majority of them, if what I’ve been led to believe is true,” Tanon adds grimly. “Something tells me that meeting these people will be our final blessing on this journey. The rest will be up to us.”

Doctor Smith looks down as sighs before he says, “Speaking of which,” he pauses a moment as his face remains aimed downward but he looks above his head at Tanon under the rim of his fedora hat, “the conversation I had with the Great Sage informed me more about what we’re up against. It turns out that the not-quite-so-nice sect of these people have already made some progress with their plans. Thankfully it wasn’t because of the sacrifices of our friends, but if we don’t hurry, that will be the next step.” He lifts a hoof as he goes on to say, “There is a High Priest of the evil Naga here named Nelkra Shlog'znof. He used to be in charge of the evil naga here until he partially succeeded with one of his goals, and that is the resurrection and restoration of an ancient former Silurian that was once known as Plague, but now he goes by the name of Decay.”

“Sounds like a fun guy,” I sarcastically say in a dry tone.

“Quite,” Doctor Smith replies to me in equal measure.

“Former Silurian?” Tanon double checks. “If he isn’t a Silurian anymore, then what is he instead?”

“A sentient living mass of worms that collectively and roughly takes on the shape of a Siluruan,” Doctor Smith answers. “Maggot worms in particular.”

“Oh lovely,” I say in a sarcastic dry tone again. “I bet you the smell of him would attract all the mares.”

Tanon looks confused as he asks seriously, “What? He is the worms themselves or . . .” he trails off in a way that obviously invites elaboration if he’s not on the right track with his guess.

Doctor Smith shakes his head as he says, “No. The entity that calls himself Decay is actually just a collection of magical energy. Dark magic in this case, obviously. The mass of worms is simply the puppet he animates then possesses to use as his mortal avatar. Theoretically he could have animated and possessed any other vessel he wanted, but I’m guessing the vessel he chose he considers symbolic to his nature and primary mission in life.

“Ultimately, though, Decay is just a servant to an even greater force of sentient dark magic, and in this case is almost purely that alone. The Great Sage called that entity the Dark Star which is a sentient comet that crashed into this world many eons ago. That entity brought dark magic to this world for the first time and it almost corrupted and destroyed the world back then, but it was thwarted in a way that banished it to parallel state of this world that you can say is the Shadow Plane which is basically a dark reflection of this world. From there, the Dark Star is attempting to return to this world so it can wreck havoc in full force again which is Decay’s ultimate objective.”

“So the sect of evil Naga plan to sacrifice our pony friends to empower this former Silurian known as Decay?” I surmise.

“Close, but not quite,” Doctor Smith replies to me. “What this sect actually plans to do is empower a dark magic artifact known as the Alicorn Amulet.”

“The Alicorn Amulet?” I echo questioningly. “I heard of that evil artifact somewhere but that was back in Equestria.” I look back and forth between Doctor Smith and Tanon as I go on to say, “According to what I read, supposedly it is an artifact created before pony kind even moved to Equestria. Back during the Age of Ice when the Windigos tried to freeze us to death, though some records suggest that the Amulet predates even that. It is also said that he or she who wears the Amulet gets greatly empowered somehow, but the exact way it does that depends on who wears it. If it is a unicorn,” I nod to Tanon, “it supposedly grants great magical energy and knowledge of spellcasting, albeit dark magical energy. If it is a pegasus,” I briefly gesture at myself with a hoof, “it grants unparalleled control of the weather and supremely fast flight, and if it is an earth pony,” I then look at the Doctor, “it grants immeasurable stamina, strength, and endurance so great, the wearer might as well be physically invincible.”

“And if the wearer is a combination of all three tribes . . .” Tanon begins but trails off with a shudder.

“That’s probably what the Amulet was designed for,” I surmise. “To empower and corrupt an alicorn, for whomever is foolish enough to wear the Amulet will gain great power at the expense of the corruption of their soul.”

“The wearer is also the only one who can take it off, if I’m not mistaken,” Tanon adds with a slight squint of recollection. “Unless, of course, the wearer is dead or killed while wearing it. At that point there is no will in the body anymore for the Amulet to attach to so it can be freely taken off then.”

“All of this sounds like the One Ring of Power,” Doctor Smith figures with a sidewards glance at nothing in particular.

“The One Ring of Power?” Tanon echoes questioningly which mirrors my own reaction. “I never heard of this item.”

“It is a fictional item from where I come from,” Doctor Smith answers as he looks back at Tanon. “Just a mere story. The reason I brought it up, though, is because the powers it grants, along with how and why it was built, sounds very similar to the Alicorn Amulet. The One Ring of Power can also augment the natural abilities of the one who wears it, but the way it does that depends upon who puts it on. According to the story, the one who originally crafted the evil Ring planned to conquer all of the known planet he was on, and if he puts on that Ring then the way it augments him would be much akin to a darkly empowered Alicorn.”

“Perhaps the one who wrote that story was inspired by the legends of the Alicorn Amulet then,” I guess. “I suspect a lot of so-called legends may trace their origins to some kind of historical fact.”

“In my travels, that has often been my observation as well,” Doctor Smith agrees.

“Why would the Alicorn Amulet be here?” Tanon asks with a confused squint. “This land is far from Equestria.” He lifts a hoof as he adds, “I’ll admit that the origins of the Alicorn Amulet seems to predate Equestria itself. If that is true then it hails from some other land originally, but not this far I suspect.”

“Distance does not matter to my people, at least to some extent,” Suwell Z'Ion chimes in. “My people are not the original architects of this temple and, as such, we are not as proficient with its use as the original designers. The original power source for this place is also offline so we had to improvise alternative means as a substitute. Unfortunately the majority of our people now stoop to using the corrupting influence of dark magic as a substitute. Since the technology here wasn’t originally designed to channel energy like that, it isn’t quite as effective. Nevertheless, it has occasionally caused some of the old technology here to work. Among them are magical portals that we call Stargates. With them, it can link two distant locations together. One such gate is located here. Another must be in Equestria or somewhere nearby it.”

Both Tanon an I look at Suwell Z'Ion in alarm. Tanon is also the first to comment on it.

“If you’re right, then that could explain how they gained access to the Amulet at one time,” Tanon realizes aloud. “I wonder if their influence extends even further than that.

“Come to think of it, the architecture of this temple actually reminds me a lot of various structures and temples Fourwind and I often discovered in the Tenochtitlan valley.”

“There very well could be a historical connection there,” Doctor Smith agrees with Tanon. “I would even bet on it. For a civilization to be as advanced as this one was, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if they branched out across this planet, especially if technology like this Stargate is involved.” A cunning grin grows on the face of the Doctor. “Which, in turn, gives me a brilliant idea.”

“You plan to use the Stargate as a shortcut to get our herd back to Equestria,” I figure as I regard the Doctor.

“That would be better than struggling to get them through the rest of this temple, then the jungle, then cross the ocean all the way back to Equestria,” replies the Doctor. “The native tribe of innocent Silurians, who helped us to get here, only did so on the condition that we leave. The way I see it, this would be an effective and efficient strategy to fulfill our side of the bargain.”

“What about Decay and the Alicorn Amulet?” I ask in concern. “Even if we save our herd, this evil sect still have the Amulet as well as a StarG ate. They can use that portal just as easily as we can, if not better. That means they remain a threat to our native land.”

“And considering what the Alicorn Amulet does, can you imagine how much a being like Decay would be augmented if he puts it on?”

“That would be dire indeed,” Doctor Smith agrees. “Even without the Amulet, I learned from the Great Sage that Decay already has great supernatural powers to spread sickness, rot, and decay. If someone like him were to put on the Amulet, he could and would spread a deadly disease across an entire nation just to cause them to suffer, for in his eyes, that would bring glory and augment the powers of The Dark Star itself. If that Dark Overlord gains enough power, then it could find a way back into this world then things would really go downhill from there.” He shakes his head. “So I agree. The threat of the Decay and the Amulet must be neutralized.”

“If we could pilfer the Amulet somehow, that would at least get it away from his hooves,” I suggest.

“More like claws,” Doctor Smith corrects. “Decay is not a pony so he doesn’t have hooves, though he could scarcely be called a Silurian either.” He waves a hoof at me. “Nevertheless, you’re on the right track. That is another objective we need to accomplish before we leave the temple.”

“Alright,” Tanon agrees with an accepting nod. “Any ideas on how we can deal with Decay himself? It sounds to me like we can’t safely approach anywhere near this guy or else risk contracting some kind of fatal disease.”

“Agreed and I do have a plan,” the Doctor replies then waves a hoof towards the statue with a grand gesture. “Behold the Great Sage Mezsizethelar. A highly evolved and ascended spirit who is positively brimming with a great abundance of what basically amounts to Holy Energy.”

“Also an entity who can’t move and weighs an unfathomable amount,” Tanon notes grimly. “Celestia only knows how that statue hasn’t eroded under the constant pressure of that waterfall yet.”

“The waterfall isn’t a threat to the Great Master,” Suwell Z'Ion confidently assures as she looks upon it reverently. “For the same curse that locks him in stone also makes him immune to any other purely physical change. It’s as if the stone is frozen in time. While his body is frozen in such a state, though, his mind and spirit transcends space/time, so it isn’t confined by a time frozen statue.”

“Exactly!” Doctor Smith enthusiastically agrees. “Sine his mind and spirit is not confined to this state, the energy he gives off is effectively Holy energy . . . and oh look! He just happens to be in contact with the water that splashes upon his physical form. Because it has touched him, part of his essence rubbed off into the water itself.”

“Which makes it a huge collection of Holy Water!” I exclaim in excitement.

“I’m willing to bet either one of my hearts that water like that would affect a purely dark energy being like Decay as if the water was made of acid!” Doctor Smith brags proudly. “Because remember, the dark energy within the collection of maggots is the only reason they are holding together in the form that they currently have. If that energy goes away, they revert to being just a normal collection of maggots. This water might even dissolve them entirely.”

Tanon squints one eye as he says, “Okay, but how do we use it? Please don’t tell me you want us to scoop out this water with a ton of buckets.”

“Water balloons?” I half-jokingly suggest with an amused smirk.

“Possibly, not to mention amusing, but unfeasible,” the Doctor replies. “Instead, we got to be smart about this. I don’t wish to take the chance that just a few scoops of this water is enough to wipe out an entity as powerful as Decay potentially is. Instead, I want this bastard to drown in this stuff.”

“So how do we accomplish that?” I ask more seriously.

“My people know where this water is channeled,” Suwell Z'Ion informs us. “As a matter of fact, this water used to be an integral part of what used to power this Temple back in the days when it was not corrupt. The main power source that this place used to use is still missing, but one of the key methods that transferred the energy throughout this great pyramid is a combination of the shape of this temple and the water that ran through it. Water easily conducts an energetic charge, you see, and it also flows.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Tanon agrees. “I often heard that liquid substances and crystals can easily be charged with magical energy. That tends to be how we accumulate and acquire magical crystalline items and various potions.”

“There is an aqueduct that flows through this place and the dark scions here are ignorant of it,” Doctor Smith says with a cunning smile. “That’s why they don’t try to use it, and even if they knew about it and attempted to use it, they’d be shocked to find it already has a magical charge. In this case a positive charge thanks to our friend here,” he says with a brief nod towards the statue while still looking at us.

“So the dark scions would be loath to use it if they discovered it,” Tanon figures with a nod. “Okay. With that established, how do we use it?”

“You still have that fourteen sticks of dynamite?” Doctor Smith asks Tanon while holding his cunning smirk. It is a smirk that Tanon copies a moment later.

Part 18: The Last Hesitation of a Daring Mare

I crawl along the crevices and upper ledges along the ceiling of this temple after stealthily flying up to it earlier. This room is particularly large and has strong acoustics. That is why the ominous and very cultish sounding chant reverberates strongly throughout this room.

I eventually peak beyond the ledge. Down below I see many rows of Naga dressed in ceremonial garbs and ornaments. They are all staring ahead of them at a very large statue of a coiled cobra snake, but unlike the statue of the petrified sagely Quetzalcoatl, I can tell this statue was designed as a statue from the start. With golden scales and giant red rubies for eyes, it is very clear to me that this statue was intentionally constructed. The pose of the statue seems to gaze down below it with mouth open and sticking its tongue out in a frozen, silent hiss. It gives a menacing vibe as if it is about to enjoy the meal directly in front of it. It very likely isn't a coincidence that a sacrificial alter is directly in front of it. On it is Doctor Caballeron who is gagged, has all of his limps forcefully spread apart, and he is very much conscious, struggling, and afraid.

A great deal of thoughts assail my mind right now. Among them is I remember reading about certain ancient cultures who used to do practices like this. Some of them were done by ponies, but I read far more fictional stories with a motif like this. Right now, though, it is startling to realize how little all of that read content, fictional or not, has done to prepare me for this moment. A strong part of me is baffled that this is really happening in front of me. It is so hard for me to understand how any culture can stoop to be this evil. In stark contrast, life in Equestria is far from perfect, but it's good enough to believe content like this should be restricted to imagination only, if that. Many of my kind probably really can't fathom this at all. It is just too unlike our own culture, at least to this degree.

To sacrifice a sentient life. Golly! What power could one acquire that can possibly be worth all that guilt and shame? I do understand the struggle to attain more resources in a world full of limitations, but even if I take fear and/or greed into account, somehow this feels like it's going too far. How can anyone be okay with this?

But this sect has a uniform and ornamentation that seems specifically designed for a ceremony like this. That, in turn, not only implies that those who are here, minus Doctor Caballeron, is not only okay with this but it is an act worth celebrating. They also consider this routine. They've done this before and may likely do it again if they aren't stopped somehow.

There is also a painful sense of irony that twists my heart over the fact that Doctor Caballeron was chosen as the subject of today's sacrifice. If this cult wanted to be more cliche to standard fictional logic, it seems to me they should have chosen a virgin mare for this ceremony. I'm not sure precisely why that tends to be a thing in fiction and real life so commonly when stuff like this happens at all, but apparently it is for some reason.

Moreover, though, there is a deeper twist in irony that it was Doctor Caballeron who promised he would protect me, and I really counted on him for that. He is a famous adventurer and I'm just a recent grad student. He seemed heavily motivated to protect me too and I was flattered. A stallion I looked up to. A stallion that caused me to fangasim just to meet him. A stallion who not only paid attention to me, but promised to protect me during this adventure and he had enough history and credibility behind him to prove he could do so. How in Tartarus did our roles get reversed?

I gulp down as I harden my resolve. I realize I could debate issues like this all day and often have during this journey, but right now the fact remains that he needs me. If I don't do something to save him soon then he's actually going to die. I could never live with myself with that knowledge burdening my conscience.

I also remind myself of my role in the plan. It's very scary for me to be by myself for this leg of the mission, at least until I rescue Caballeron that is, but the others of my team have their own roles and it is also very important. Right about now Tanon Burrows should be setting up his dynamite on one of the walls that leads to the hidden aquifers, and Doctor Smith is seeing to the rescue of the rest of our team that is imprisoned together, minus Doctor Caballeron. Doctor Smith was warned that those prisoners would be behind a magically locked door, but Doctor Smith espoused he was confident he could hoofle that after establishing that neither the door or the lock that detains our comrades is made of wood. I don't know why the material of the lock and door was concerning to Doctor Smith that specifically, but for some reason it was. Regardless, he was informed that his obstacle isn't made of wood and he said that was fantastic news.

In a way I have the hardest part of our plan, to rescue Doctor Caballeron and I'll have to do it in full view of the rest of this cult. Not only am I meant to rescue Caballeron himself, but I need to steal the Alicorn Amulet as well then flee with both him and the artifact. No doubt the majority of the cult will chase us after that which means they are also distracted from noticing my other companions elsewhere in the temple. That, in turn, means it'll be easier for them to fulfill their end of the job.

My ability to fly gave me a temporary advantage with this scenario. Because of that, I was able to literally go right over the heads of many of the temple guards who are not accustomed to looking up for potential intruders. It also means I was able to access some places very difficult for non-flying races. In addition, thanks to the good part of their sect that is secretly on our side, I was also able to create a map of this temple. It made me a bit giddy to finally put my official training to good use in this adventure. That map really came in hoofy for me, and probably not just me. I made a copy for Tanon as well. Strangely Doctor Smith insisted he didn't need it, but he did make sure he got a good look at it before I put it away.

I know that there can and very likely will be some unforeseen complications. My two other companions even seemed to expect it. I just can't understand, for the life of me, how they accepted that prospect so calmly.

Ultimately though, if everything goes well, I'll have the Alicorn Amulet, the leader of this cult will be wiped out, and we'll flee out of here through this mysterious StarGate. Since that was the plan, I asked in concern what we should do about Straight Arrow. He's still back in the Tuk-Tuk village and we can't just leave him behind. In reply, Doctor Smith assured me he had a plan for that as well, but he didn't elaborate on it. I recall looking at Tanon and expected him to share my frustration and insist for Doctor Smith to elaborate on that aspect of the plan, but for some reason Tanon just shrugged and accepted it. I wonder if that means Tanon knows something about Doctor Smith that I do not.

If everything does go according to the plan then I suppose I'll settle for it. I don't need to know exactly how we'll save the day so long as we do, indeed, save the day in the end.

I close my eyes and follow Auzmeir's advice for me. I pay attention to my internal compass. I guess I'm not fully accustomed to checking it yet, but it seems to assure me I'm on the right course so far. It warns me there will be some bumps along the way but this is the correct direction for the best ending to this story. It also warns me to brace myself because there will be some sacrifices along the way. Timing is also very important. I need to get ready, but not act right now.

While I wait, the tempo of the cult chanting picks up. I can audibly pick up on the fact that it is building to an epic crescendo. Noticing that is building anxiety within me. Most likely it is a signal, of sorts, that my moment to act is coming soon. If I screw this up, so much can go wrong here.

NO!

I shake my head then gaze down more firmly. I can’t afford to psych myself out of a vision of success. My parents and grandparents taught me that too. To give success a realistic chance, one has to first believe in it then act in accordance to any other step necessary to ensure its success.

My estimation of a building climax is soon seemingly verified when another larger Naga emerges from around the base of the giant serpent statue. This individual is wearing heavier and more fancy ceremonial garb which easily marks him as a leader or at least an individual with strong cultural significance to this cult. He is also wearing a headpiece that extends fins off to the side of his head and neck just like a cobra. He slithers his way to the sacrificial slab on the opposite side of the rest of the crowd facing ahead of him and they, in turn, are facing him back. That cult leader slowly lifts two large arms and hands as if inviting the chant to further build to a climax, and it does.

I tense up since I sense my moment to act is drawing closer. I have to be ready. While I do that, I give intense focus on what is transpiring below me. I concentrate on that so strongly that I don’t leave room in myself for panic or doubt.

When the head priest raises then holds his arms up in a high angle, sharp V formation, the chant before him suspends themselves in a high note. During that time, I see the head priests fingers curl up like claws then shake as if he’s channeling tremendous amounts of energy. Visibily I don’t see any actual energy being channeled at him, but that probably doesn’t matter. Even if that isn’t actually happening, it still matters that they think it is happening. Because of that belief, they’ll likely continue on to inflict a grim sacrifice soon.

While this goes on, it dawns on me that the cult leader seems tremendously larger than the rest of his cult ahead of him. He’s easily three times the average size of the rest of his cult. I estimate he’s about eighteen feet tall. No wonder his arms and hands are so thick too. That’s actually about right in proportion to a being that tall and broad.

As this information sinks in, it occurs to me that size might have something to do with rank in this society. Even their secret good side of their sect seems to follow this pattern, for the one with the most noticeably significant role in their society happens to also be the tallest among them. This makes me wonder if they are somehow channeling extra energy that makes them grow to such proportions, or if they naturally grow to such heights and their leaders are chosen among the tallest of them.

My focus on the scene below sharpens again when the leader’s actions changes. He reaches behind him and pulls out what looks to be a giant scimitar, the sheath of which is strapped to his back. At first he lifts it up with one hand, but eventually he grips it with two and lifts it straight up as if to now use that tool as the focus for all the gathering energy in the room. Seconds later my eyes grow wide when he startels me with a new action I genuinely didn’t see coming. In this case he pulls out an extra pair of arms that was hiding beneath a wide brim ceremonial vest which extends well beyond his shoulders.

This alone catches me off guard because I can see that all the rest of the Naga, even the hidden good ones, do not have four arms. Those arms look perfectly functional too and do not seem artificial in any way. Is it a mutation perhaps? Or maybe it is a side effect of being the focus of and channeling so much dark magic over the years.

When I mentally catch my balance again, I eventually notice another important detail. This priest is holding a new item which he then boldly presents forward and holds it with both of his new hands. Unlike the scimitar, however, this new item is much more tiny. Unlike the scimitar, I can easily lift this new item and, in fact, it actually seems designed to be more pony sized. Peering closer to it, I gradually realize that it even has a pony motif about it, unlike most other decorative snake-themed decor all over the place and worn articles on them. This new jewelry he’s holding looks very intimidating in its own right despite being much smaller. It is a black thing with the image of a horse head turned to the side. It has a horn extending off its head but also a black pair of wings spread out the sides of this amulet. It has a single visible eye of a cut ruby much like the ones in the giant looming statue above them. The single eye in the amulet is slanted at the front, making the horsehead look angry while simultaneously deeply thoughtful as if it is scheming with evil plans.

Then it suddenly hits me that I am beholding the legendary artifact the Alicorn Amulet. Sweet Celestia, it really does exist!

Well anyway . . . my course is now clear. I had three major objectives at this place and time. One; rescue Doctor Caballeron. Two; steal the Alicorn Amulet. Three; escape with our lives and the Amulet while also hopefully rendezvousing with the rest of our party. With even further luck, they successfully accomplished their end of the plan by then as well.

In further preparation to act, I reach my head back into one of my saddlebags and pull out my machete. I rip it out of my bag. It proceeds to spin in the air twice before I catch it in my teeth as it descends. I also crouch down tightly and paw at the ground once in tight preparation to spring forward. I focus so much on the scene down below me that my expression twists into an angry and determined expression.

Two of my main objectives are in front of me. I saw Doctor Caballeron down there from the beginning of this encounter. The only reason I didn’t immediately launch into action then, besides wrestling with my own internal fears, is because I hadn’t spotted the Alicorn Amulet yet. Now that I have, everything is in place. Time to move.

My fears try to creep up and claim me again because once I reveal myself, that’s it. I’m now stuck and committed to an overwhelmingly dangerous action. I can’t afford any weaknesses in myself right now so I hesitate just a moment longer while I attempt to squash down the last of my fears. It is true that my fears do bring up some very valid points, but there is a lot at stake right now.

Just when I am fully ready and about to launch myself into action, I spot something new at the last second which renews my hesitation. In this case a new creature has arrived at the scene, and the method of how this one entered is a mystery to me. All I can see is this one somehow emerged from the base of the snake statue. It is as if there is a secret entrance there I somehow can’t see even from this high angle. That alone mystifies me and makes me worried about what else I might have missed here.

As for the individual, I at first mistook this one to be a Silurian because of this one’s shape and body configuration. However, this one is entirely wrapped in what I can best describe as mummy wrappings. Not even a single inch of this one’s hide is exposed, and that includes any details of the face like its nose, eyes, ears and mouth. Furthermore, I noticed the way it very awkwardly waddles and contorts its way into the scene as if to suggest there is absolutely no bone structure of any sort in this creature. Its legs bend in very obviously unnatural ways. The whole body of this creature wiggles too. Upon closer inspection, I also notice many tiny maggots burrow their way in and out of the bandages wrapped around this creature as if the bandages were the only “hide” of this creature.

My eyes explode wide when I realize this is a legendary fearsome creature that myths call “The Worm That Trots”, or “walks” in this case. All legends about these types of creatures agree on a few points, though multiple types of base template creatures have been known to be modified into such a creature. Clearly Silurian in this case. Whatever they once were, however, ceases to be when they become a Worm That Trots. The transformation into such a creature has always occurred because of some epic dark ritual. Once there is such a creature, even one of such creatures could spell the doom of up to an entire nation because what kind of living society can still exist without their food or good health? Wherever these types of creatures trot, they bring plagues, famine, and curses along with them. Supposedly the scale of destruction these creatures wrought is so grand and epic that many thought they must be only a myth, otherwise no society on the planet could ever endure their ongoing existence.

If what the Tuk-Tuk and the secret good sect of this society says is true, then this one renamed himself Decay and he’s a blight resurrected from an ancient and bygone age. By himself he’s already an immense threat, but this one plans to even further augment himself by first further empowering the Alicorn Amulet then put it on himself at some point. That Amulet uses its power to tremendously augment whatever racial qualities the individual wearer has at the cost of dark magic corruption. If a creature like that were to ever put it on, especially if the Amulet gets further empowered, then even a single Worm That Trots (or, again, Walks in this case) could escalate from a National to a Global threat. Supposedly this one plans to use that magic to allow the very source of Dark Magic in this world to return in full.

Once again I am struck by the horrified realization that this creature actually exists. I had doubted the Amulet as well, but if a Worm That Trots is also here . . . Oh Sweet Celestia, I need help! Back when creatures like this first existed, the world likely and eventually devised counter strategies against them. However, none of them have existed for probably eons by now so the defenses and strategies against them have also elapsed. In short, the world is no longer prepared to face such a threat, especially if he puts an empowered version of the Alicorn Amulet on. At that point there might not be anything that can stop him. As for this Dark Star which this creature reveres? That really sounds like a cosmic-level threat that’s far beyond the scope of mortal kind.

All of the sudden I realize that getting the Alicorn Amulet away from this cult is of dire importance. It is actually worth giving up my life, or even Cabbelleron’s or anypony else's, just to ensure that if necessary. Decay simply cannot be allowed to have that Amulet. The world cannot endure a threat of that scale. He’s already dire enough as he is.

I notice that Decay wiggles awkwardly onto the scene with a very stooped posture. Likewise he just hangs his foreclaws before him in a draped manor. Even the Head Priest pauses to turn around and bow to this creature, and there he waits for something. In return, the fully bandaged face of Decay seems to gaze down at the Head Priest then gives a very subtle nod. He also gives a very small, dismissive gesture of a draped claw towards the Head Priest which I suddenly recall being named Nelkra Shlog'znof. In return, the Head Priest gives a dramatic nod in return as if to acknowledge permission for this ceremony to continue to the next phase.

That said, Decay seems to have no other role in this affair other than to merely be here and bear witness to this. It is the Head Priest himself that is appointed to claim the life of the sacrifice.

I grit my teeth on the hoofle of my machete hard. I am no longer certain that it is still safe to even breathe near an actual Worm That Trots. Indeed, a sickening odor is starting to pervade this temple which is apparent only after Decay had arrived. That is very likely not a coincidence. I’m not certain why the rest of those gathered here aren't vomiting uncontrollably right now. My best guess is that they are either used to it, they can’t physiologically smell things like this ever as a race, or there is some dark blessing upon them which gives them some kind of defense against Decay’s intense corrupting presence. This creature might be much smaller than the rest gathered here, especially compared to the Head Priest, but he’s a Dark Force of Nature. I desperately hope the Doctor’s plan for this creature works.

Nelkra Shlog'znof returns his attention to his captured victim. The tempo of the chanting seems to match his movements as if to foreshadow the great act of the ceremony they are all here for. The Head Priest raises his giant scimitar again, and this time I feel confident he will use it to strike poor Cabbelleron.

I am out of time. I need to act now. I have to save Doctor Cabbelleron, but perhaps far more importantly, I have to get that Amulet away from there. There’s a chance I may have already breathed in some now airborne virus within the stench of a very rotted corpse. This alone might later kill me, Doctor Cabblleron, and anypony else we come in close contact with. Such is the inherent and overwhelming danger of even being near a Worm That Trots. Nevertheless, I have to do this. If I play my cards very carefully, Doctor Cabbelleron and I may be this epic villain's last victims.

For a brief moment I squeeze my eyes shut as I think about my beloved home of Equestria and all of the innocent creatures that dwell there. My family is there. My friends are there. My ancestors were there. Almost everything I care about is there. I really don’t want to die, but if I have to, taking down a threat of this scale is worth it.

Then I open my focused and determined eyes. I take one last breath then dive into action.

Author's Note

Here is a good example of the cultish temple chanting music Agate heard in this chapter. Also, if you ever get the chance to watch the film this clip is from, I have to say it is worth it. It comes from the film "Young Sherlock Holmes".

Part 19: A Desperate Gamble

I waste no further time. As I swoop past the High Priest Nelkra Shlog'znof, I successfully snatch up the Alicorn Amulet far more easily than I suspected I would. Those hands of his are really big after all so I expected a much greater struggle to steal the Amulet from him, but apparently he didn't have a tight grip on it due to completely not expecting my arrival. Likely for the same reason, all the cultists just freeze in surprise while I land next to Caballeron and proceed to cut away the ropes that bind him to the slab using my machete. In my effort to do so, I am blessed with one more surprise. The ropes that tie Caballeron to the slab don't look especially tough, but they are definitely tough enough to secure him to the slab when he has no tools or leverage. Nevertheless, I proceed to slice through the ropes like a hot knife through butter.

Caballeron proceeds to stand up, shake his hooves to restore circulation then gives me an appreciative but also deeply surprised nod. We then look up at the Head Priest and discover that all the cultists have still not made a move against us. At least nine seconds elapsed by now and the temple remains dead silent with no other movement and activity. They still look like they simply cannot accept the new reality they see before them.

In fact, the only one in the whole room who seems completely calm is Decay himself. He is just staring down at us and me in particular. While he does that, he silently assesses me very carefully. In return, I regard him very tensely. I am struggling to hold onto my courage but it is very likely clear to those regarding me I'm not succeeding effortlessly.

I probably could have heard a pin drop in this tense moment if one did fall.

“I appreciate the rescue, Mademoiselle,” Doctor Caballeron expresses quietly as he regards everyone around us tensely and continues to circulate each of his hooves one by one. “That said, I'm afraid I must insist to ahsk what the next step of the plahn is.”

“Right now it is to not die,” I whisper back.

“Ah! An excellent plahn thaht is,” Caballeron replies a little dryly.

The Head Priest Nelkra Shlog'znof finally seems to snap back into reality enough to react to this development. His face contorts into an angry sneer. He lifts and shakes his arm as he shouts something in anger. Although I cannot understand his language, it looks as if he's shouting in a demanding tone, “GET THEM!!!”

“Okay. Now the plan is to RUN!!” I cry out then gallop away. Wordlessly and frantically, Doctor Caballeron follows at the same pace.

The whole room suddenly explodes into action as they race to slither their way after us, but again with the curious exception of Decay. He's the only one in the room who holds his ground. The only move he really makes is to turn his head and has his gaze follow me out of the room. I do spare a brief moment to glance at him over my left shoulder to notice that. Decay continues to make no other move or sound. He just studies me very sharply.

I whip my gaze forward again as I continue to race out of the room. While I do so, I find I can't get Decay's expression out of my mind. With a being that powerful and evil, I expected him to laugh maniacally or give some villainous monologue. I don't know. Just something to show he has supreme arrogance that normally accomponies overwhelming power like that, but instead he seems to be cautious, reserved, and deeply analytical. He's studying me as if convinced he wants, or needs, an even greater advantage over me than he already has.

I don't know why, but his calm reaction frightens me even more.

As I race into a hallway connected to the last room, it occurs to me that perhaps Decay's powers would have been too effective if he dared to use it. Powerful, but imprecise. Maybe he could have projected a cloud of spores or locusts, but it would have hit everyone, including his own minions. This one actually seems reserved as if trying to avoid unnecessary collateral damage against his own resources. Instead he's watching to see if the actions of his minions alone is enough to take us down, and indeed it seemingly is only two ponies against . . . Gosh. I don't know how many. Probably too many.

Another thing I have to keep in mind is that, as a pegasus, I can just fly away even at this moment up to the limits of the roof of this hallway, but now I'm with Doctor Caballeron and he can't do that. That, in turn, restrains my options because I refuse to abandon him unless it becomes strategically necessary to do so, and even then I plan to return and re-collect him.

As we continue to gallop away, I spare a quick moment to gaze down at the Alicorn Amulet that I am now holding with my left wing. Consciously I realize this item is pretty light. I estimate that it is probably only a few ounces at most. That said, it psychologically feels much heavier somehow. I don't know why, but my wing starts to feel tired within the few seconds I've been staring at it. The ruby eye of the Amulet looks particularly mesmerizing. The promise and temptation of overwhelming power swirls in my mind and briefly makes me dizzy.

But then I tear my gaze from it and tuck it back into my wing. The moment I do, my dizziness and strain on my left wing immediately goes away and thus proving both symptoms were psychosomatic.

I am no fool! I read about evil artifacts like this all the time. There's no way in Tartarus I'm stupid enough to give into to such temptations while knowing perfectly well what the true cost is. Items like this doesn't grant power that the pony controls but rather the other way around. I'll forever say, “No thank you” to slavery options like this.

“Do you know where you are going?!” Caballeron calls out to me with some oomph to his voice. I notice that he's on the verge of panicking but he's still struggling to sound calm and collected. I'm starting to wonder if he's doing that for my sake or his own.

“Actually, I do,” I call back to him with similar volume in my own voice. “I have a map of this place and I studied it carefully. I even know where some of the secret passages are.”

“Really?” Caballeron replies, looking taken aback. “Thaht is surprisingly re-sourceful of you, Miss Keystone. Som day you'll hafta tell me how you were supplied with it.”

“I'd be happy to when we're at a-”

“DUCK, YOU FOOL!!!” Caballeron interrupts in a cry of alarm. I don't know why he insisted, but I tumble on the ground cooperatively in order to duck but also maintain my forward momentum. Because I did that, I dodge a mighty scimitar swing of a sword considerably smaller than the one the Head Priest wielded, but this blade still could have lopped off my head if I hadn't dodged it. When I recover back onto my hooves, I look over my left shoulder and showed my teeth because of how tense with fright I feel upon noticing just how close I came to dying by the blade of one of the temple guards who was hiding behind a serpent statue down this hallway.

When I look forward again, I notice two problems I didn't see before. One is other cult members emerging from just about every nook and cranny in this hallway. Either they were already there and somehow got the memo of two retreating prisoners, or the ones behind us somehow gained a shortcut ahead of us. I also notice a flood of snakes starting to pour down many various holes in the walls, and every single one of those serpents seem to want the two of us dead, for it is soon apparent that we are their only targets. That's too much teamwork and focus from animals like this. Most likely they are either charmed by the Naga or magically summoned by them.

As we continue to flee, the situation is gradually looking worse and worse. More Naga and snakes are just showing up in many places down the hallway. Psychologically it makes it feel like the walls of the hallway is closing in on us because there is fewer safer spots to go to as we flee. In fact, it doesn't take me long to realize there will soon be too many threats in this hallway for us to reach the destination I had in mind.

“Pony Feathers! We're not going to make it!” I cry out in alarm. “In that case, new plan. Keep following me.”

“Right behind you, Miss Keystone,” Doctor Caballeron assures.

This is definitely very difficult. Soon we are dodging several dozen sword swings, tail swings from the Naga that try to coil around us, and all kind of snapping bites from the ever increasing number of snakes in this hallway. A little later on we also grow busy dodging many tiny needles shot towards us from the Naga's blowdarts. I actually see one of those darts bounce off a wall then land on the floor. I get a long enough look at it to realize that not only does the dart not appear to be lethal, it doesn't even look like it would be very painful to be struck by them, but . . .

“Do nught get struck by dose darts!” Caballeron cries out in alarm. “They are most likely laced with poison!”

Which is exactly what I was thinking. I would have echoed my agreement if I weren't so busy dodging instead.

Swishing, hissing, and whistling sounds abound around me from many attacks all around us that probably would have been fatal, at least eventually. I twist and contort my body in various ways to dodge some of those blows. The way I dodge might be painful to me later, but right now I'm just trying to survive and my adrenaline is temporarily hiding my pain. I even leap up and once jump off the face of a Naga that was about to attack me. In mid-air, I also give a wing flap, my right in this case since it is not holding the Amulet, at a rain of darts and use the wind thrust to knock each of those darts off course from hitting me and my partner.

Sweet Celestia! I'm doing amazing right now! I can't believe it! I really hope I survive long enough to write all of this down later on.

I get the feeling that my partner, Caballeron, almost feels the same way about me.

“In here!” I cry out as I leap into one of the rooms adjacent to this hallway. From within, I spin about and put a hoof on a lever beside the door. When Doctor Caballeron charges through, I press the lever down. In response, a door from above drops and slams into the ground, thus blocking those chasing us from getting in or us getting out.

“Now what?” Doctor Caballeron asks me while wheezing. He looks like he is struggling to catch his breath. I have some strain too but curiously not as much.

I shake my head as I reply, “I'm not sure yet. This wasn't part of the plan.”

Doctor Caballeron's eyes explode widely enough to see red cracks in it as he asks incredulously, “What?! Baht you said you 'ad a plahn! You even said you 'ad a map of this place.”

“True, but I couldn't get to the secret passage I had in mind before that hallway got too dangerous,” I reply. “I'm sorry.”

Doctor Caballeron grunts in annoyance then demands, “Give me dah map.”

Absently I do so while I continue to contemplate the situation we are in. I have no doubt that this door won't hold them back for long. They know this place better than I do for the most part, but they were unaware of some of the secret passages of this place. If push comes to shove, they eventually could probably ram this door down with brute force.

“Huh. Pretty good map, I should say,” Doctor Caballeron notes in an impressed tone behind me. “Really detailed. You actually scouted out all of this yourself?”

“No,” I answer with a shake of my head as I look back at him. “I had help.”

Doctor Caballeron winces at me as he asks, “Help from whom? Also, where are duh others?”

“Tanon Burrows and Doctor Smith are working on different phases of the plan,” I inform him. “Tanon was working on a trap for them while Doctor Smith was working on freeing the rest of our friends. My job was to rescue you and relieve them of this Amulet,” I say as I regard it in my left wing again.

“That's the Alicorn Amulet, isn't it?” Doctor Caballeron asks with some reverence in his voice.

“You heard of it?” I ask him as I look at him, then wince as I ask myself, “What am I saying? Of course you have.”

“True, but I did'ant think it actually existed,” Doctor Caballeron expresses with awe in his tone.

“That's still good enough for you to know how dangerous it is,” I say back to him. “And how much worse it could be if they get a hold of it again.” I look at the door with a haunted expression while I can already hear some efforts to bash down this door. “The former Silurian that joined the ceremony would be especially bad if he wore this. He is an actual Worm that Trots!”

I whip my head back at Caballeron when I hear him rant and curse in a language I don't understand but it at least sounds familiar. Like I heard it before. It is not too hard for me to guess the general theme of what he said based on the look of horror I see in his eyes.

“A Worm that Trots . . . and the Alicorn Amulet!” Doctor Caballeron says with horror. “If dose two things get united, dare is no telling what he might do.”

“From the way I hear of it, that one calls himself Decay, and he plans to bring back his Dark Master. In this case something called The Dark Star which supposedly is the source of all dark magic. Right now that much greater entity is trapped in the Shadow Plane of this world, but if that changes . . .”

“You can spare me the details, Miss Keystone,” Doctor Caballeron expresses with a wave of a hoof. “I know enough to know how bad that might get. My question for you now is what should we do next?”

“I'm not sure,” I reply with a shrug. “I say we wait here and hope for a rescue.”

“I'm done with that!” Doctor Caballeron spats. “Been dare, done that. Not again, Miss Keystone. At least, nary so soon.”

“Then what are you thinking?” I ask him as I look back at him questioningly and hopefully.

“At all costs, dis Decay person cannot get the Amulet back,” Doctor Caballeron says with determination. “Even if it cost us our lives, we have to make sure he doesn't get it back. The whole world could fall if an actual Worm that Trots gets further empowered by the Alicorn Amulet.” He shakes his head. “It wouldn't matter where we flee after that. Rot, disease and decay would eventually catch up to us.”

“Agreed, but what are our options?” I ask him.

“According to dis, there is no secret passage in dis room,” Doctor Caballeron says as he looks back at my map. “That means the only way we can escape,” he looks back at the door that continues to be assaulted as we speak, “is through that door. That's also the only way dey can get to us.”

“Dodging them was hard enough,” I add. “That took everything I had back then. I came into this room just to buy us some valuable time.”

Doctor Caballeron nods solemnly as he says, “A good plahn at the time, Miss Keystone, baht I'm afraid the next step may require us to make an impor'dant sacrifice.”

Suddenly alarmed, I ask him, “What do you mean?”

Doctor Caballeron reaches a hoof towards me as he requests, “Give me dah Alicorn Amulet, Miss Keystone. I'll use it to battle dose beyond the door and clear a path to dah rest of our friends.”

My eyes explode widely as I cry out, “You can't be serious! You know what that Amulet will do to you! What it always costs in exchange for that power!” I firm up as I shake my head. “That's not an option. We wouldn't really be the ones controlling that power.”

“And we should stay in dis room and die instead?” Doctor Caballeron asks me tightly then points a hoof at the door. “Dose minions there will eventually break through the door and we'll have to face them anyway. When they kill us because we're not prepared for dem, dale take back dah Amulet and give it back to Decay. At least dis way we have a fighting chance.”

I return my gaze to the door grimly. I hate to admit it, but he does have a point.

“A Worm that Trots cannot get a hold of the Alicorn Amulet at all costs. At all costs, Miss Keystone,” Doctor Caballeron firmly assures. “So pick your poison. Which is dah greater evil here?”

“That Amulet will corrupt you,” I warn him as I look back at him.

“But it won't corrupt you,” he returns as he steps up next to me. Almost close enough to hug me tenderly. “You'll still 'ave a good head on your shoulders and keep me in line. Keep me in check. To remind me that I must take off dah Amulet before it corrupts me too much.”

I frown as I look down at the Amulet.

“I want . . . Neigh. I need to protect you, Miss Keystone,” Doctor Caballeron urges. “I promised I'd protect you, and instead you rescued me. Well . . . now it's time for me to return the favor, but I'll need more power to get through those goons out there.”

I continue to frown at the Amulet in my wing. It disturbs me to notice the Amulet seems to quietly whisper agreement with Caballeron's words in my mind. It's trying to tell me this is the only way. Whatever it takes, it wants to be worn. In exchange, it'll gain a new body to control in order to spread its own dark influence to the world.

“We do dis, or we die here and dey get the Amulet back anyway,” Doctor Caballeron reminds with a firm press of his brown hoof on my shoulder. “At least dis way we get a fighting chance.”

While my face remains directed down at the Amulet, I lift my gaze up to his eyes as I say, “Whoever wears the Amulet is the only one who can remove it baring that pony's death. If you put this on, I cannot take it off for you. Only you can do that. Do you promise me you will remove it once we get back to the rest of our friends?”

Doctor Caballeron scoops up both of my fore hooves with his own with debonair charm as he looks deep into my eyes and passionately promises me, “I swear to you, Miss Keystone, that I will remove the Amulet once the threat is over. After all, I have no desire to be this thing's pawn either. By the time we meet the rest of our friends, you'll be safer so I'll no longer need its power either.”

I just stare at him while feeling a little enchanted by his words. This might sound cliché to say or to even think, but passionate words like that said to a mare really does sweep her off her hooves. Charm like that really does work. I should know, being a mare myself.

But then I frown again. Doctor Caballeron is a good pony. I know that in my heart, but that may change quickly once he puts this Amulet on. It is brimming with dark magic and it wants to corrupt the soul of anypony who wears it. Whose to say that influence would stop even after the pony takes off the Amulet? That would only stop it from corrupting them any further, but the damage already caused while wearing it may linger. Most likely the pony in question would need a lot of psychological counseling to recover from the damage this Amulet could cause. I just can't stand the thought of this stallion becoming something he is not.

“Miss Keystone, please,” Doctor Caballeron begs. “Let me do this. Let me save you as you once saved me. I'll take this hit so you don't have to. In return, you stay by my side and bring me back to my senses if I stray too far.”

My frown deepens at him as I announce, “There is another problem with the Amulet. The degree of strength it grants is proportionate to the corruption it causes. While that means its influence is weak at first, so to is the augmentation it grants.” I shake my head. “That means you won't be much better off than you are now at first. I'm not sure if you'd have enough power to get through all of them anyway, and it sounds like there are reinforcements out there by now. The only good part of that is that means more of them are distracted targeting us, and that also means there is less to go after our friends right now.”

Doctor Caballeron regards the door grimly after I mentioned that the Amulet's augmentation would be weak at first. I can see wheels spin in his mind as he mulls over that latest bit of information. Eventually he shakes his head and regards me again as he says, “It's still better to have a chance than none at all. I'd rather trust myself, and my struggle against the Amulet's influence, rather than fighting a Worm that Trots and he is wearing the Amulet instead. I promised you I'll take it off when we reach the rest of our friends. You're unlikely to get the same sincere promise from him.”

“Good point,” I reluctantly agree. “And while your motives is to protect me, his is to corrupt the world and summon his dark master back into this world.”

Doctor Caballeron nods at me solemnly as he says, “Then you know what we must do.”

I notice that Doctor Caballeron has been standing next to me for a bit of awhile now. He is currently close enough to snatch the Amulet away from me if he wanted to, but instead he's waiting for me to give it to him just to prove that he's trustworthy. Another thing I see in him that curiously gives me a bit of confidence is the lack of total confidence in him. He's still determined to do this to protect me, but I also see some fear in his eyes. He knows that as soon as he puts this thing on, he'll have to battle against himself. Gradually it would be the internal battle that would be harder to win compared to the external. He doesn't want to lose control of himself anymore than I do, but at the same time we're thrust into a corner and forced to consider this desperate gamble. We either take this risk, or we're taking an even greater risk that this Amulet could fall back into their . . . Well. I guess “hands” is the correct term here for once.

I grin in amusement as I realize I wish Doctor Smith was here and he said that, for he would be correct in using the term “hands” for once.

Then I give a very serious stare back into Cabelleron's eyes while he patiently waited for me. During that time, I'm starting to hear cracks spread in the door behind me due to the enemy's efforts.

“Please don't make me regret this,” I beg of Caballeron. “I'm trusting you,” I continue as I finally give him the Alicorn Amulet. When he has it, I feel further reassured by the look of fear in his eyes as he regards it. It's as if the reality of this situation doesn't fully sink in until he finally has that Amulet on his hoof while fully aware what it would cost him to wear it. Seeing that, I can't help but admire his bravery. He is quite literally willing to risk his soul just to protect me. I swoon at that thought.

Then he transfers his gaze back to the door. At this point he can now visibly see cracks spreading on the door, and I can as well when I glance back to it. I then look back at him as I see resolve sink deeper in his eyes. It looks like he realizes he's out of time. He has to put this thing on now or it won't have enough time to augment him enough to matter.

“Stay behind but also near me, Miss Keystone,” Doctor Caballeron requests with a firm voice. He casts a deep sigh then finally clips the Alicorn Amulet to his chest.

Part 20: The Price for Power

Since the door is now too damaged and misshapen because of it, Doctor Caballeron and I both knew we can't open the door the normal way anymore. As a result, Doctor Caballeron reverses their tactics by proceeding to bash on the door from our end as well. Cracks spread and deepen as a result of his first attempt, but it looks like his effort hurt him. He backs his left hoof from the door and shakes it for two seconds along with a painful wince.

During this time, I can't help but notice the efforts to bash the door from the other end suddenly stopped. I can now imagine them standing there and blinking at each other in confusion, each wondering what that recent noise was and what it could mean.

In a grunt of determined effort, Doctor Caballeron smashes the door harder the second time. Cracks spread and deepen even more, but he hurt himself to a greater degree. This time he squints his face tightly shut and hisses through the pain.

Ever since Doctor Caballeron put on the Alicorn Amulet, I have been observing him very carefully physically and psychologically. Physically not much seems to have changed about him. I had wondered if he'd suddenly get a lot bulkier and whatnot, but no. That is not what happened. Instead, the only visible side effects of wearing the Amulet seems to be a very faint reddish aura glow around his body. As for psychological, he doesn't appear that much different yet.

During the short pause, after Doctor Caballeron recovers somewhat (which I happen to notice is pretty fast), he blinks at the door and it is then that he also realizes that the assault from the other side of the door has halted. Upon noticing that, he glances over his shoulder at me and gives a curious blink. He probably realizes at this moment, just as I did, that they have temporarily stopped their assault against the door but there is no other way we can see to open it anymore. Either we, or they, have to resume the attack against the door.

Looking back at the door with a renewed grunt of determination, Doctor Caballeron changes his strategy somewhat. He backs off about fifteen feet then paws at the ground in preparation to charge. During that time, I see him narrow his eyes and give a horsey snort. While he did that, I see the faint red aura around him intensify a little bit.

When I see that, a startling revelation occurs to me. Until that moment, I had assumed the Alicorn Amulet gradually augments/corrupts the user over time constantly, but I just observed something that counters that theory. Now it looks like, instead of that, the Alicorn Amulet actually does nothing much until the wearer willingly channels the Amulet's power.

This may be a very important observation. I dearly hope I get a chance to write it down later.

Doctor Caballeron suddenly charges at the door. When he hits, he slams the entire forward half of his body against it. Fortunately for us, that did the trick. The rest of the door shatters with him charging through it a few steps more.

I do not hold back any longer. As per his request, I kept myself back from the door at first so that the more magically augmented one among us seizes their focus fire first, but I knew there is a few problems beyond the door that might quickly overwhelm Doctor Caballeron and it just so happens I have a counter for that. A mere second after he charges through the door, I quickly meet up near him and start flapping my wings hard in a forward direction. Doing so quickly builds up a gust of wind which blows back and scatters the hallway that is otherwise filled with a whole bunch of either charmed or magically summoned/controlled snakes. I also keep a sharp eye out for any of the Naga who places a blowpipe to their lips in preparation to blow another tiny needle. If they do, I'll redirect the gust of wind to knock those projectiles off course. Doctor Caballeron may be physically enhanced right now, but a continuous build up of poison raining down on him from various bites of snakes and poison darts may quickly counter our efforts. For this reason, I'll do my best to protect him in the back lines.

As it turns out, Doctor Caballeron and I get a brief reprieve from their assault for two reasons. Initially it was because of their shock at seeing us suddenly charge out of the adjacent room after one of us finally shatters the door. The second reason they hesitate nervously is they notice Doctor Caballeron is currently wearing the Amulet. I see the Naga nervously glance at each other but also with an edge of uncertainty. The way I figure it, they aren't accustomed to the pony race at all, let alone our individual breeds. As a result, they hardly have any idea how the Alicorn Amulet would enhance any one of us. They just saw him burst through a damaged stone door but, in their heads, they might be thinking he could be enhanced in other ways too.

I think the battle remained paused for a total of nine seconds. After that, the Naga reach a new decision. They remain nervous, but I also see them steel their resolve and ready their weapons. They knew there is only two ways to remove the Alicorn Amulet from anypony who wears it. One is that wearer willingly takes it off, or two, the wearer dies. It looks like they are opting to resort to the latter strategy, especially since we don't share a common language for negotiation anyway.

“Stay bahck ond keep thah snakes ond darts off o' me,” Doctor Caballeron quietly orders me over his right shoulder without tearing his gaze away from the threats ahead of us. “I'll take care of thah rest. Also, if we ev'ah see an opening through thah enemy lines, we charge through. Got it? Ond I'll be relying on your guidance af'tah that. You know the layout of this place bet'ah than I do.”

“Right,” I confirm in a very serious tone.

The next few moments is a tight explosion of action. Doctor Caballeron and at least a dozen Naga charge at each other. He weaves, punches and bucks his way through the crowding lines of limbs and sword swings. Meanwhile I hold my promise by carefully observing any snakes or dart fire aiming at either of us. For the moment, they all seem to be targeting him exclusively because they desperately want to take him down fast and get the Amulet back because they know that, until they do, he remains an escalating dire threat against them. Also they really need that Amulet back in order to finish their plans.

I almost don't mind them ignoring me because I don't feel nearly so prepared to face them, but I am also really worried about so much focus fire against my ally. If they take him down then not only do I have to deal with the guilt of his defeat, not only do they get the Amulet back and might even use it, but I know their next target will be me for those of them who remain uninjured enough to resume the fight. I won't stand much of a chance after that.

The other issues that really concerns me is the effects of the Amulet itself on him.

On the one hoof, it hasn't augmented him much yet so holding the line against so many Naga is a strain for him. I suspect they are aware of that as well which is why they are trying to tear him down as quickly as they can before he gets any stronger.

On the other hoof, if the tide changes in his favor, it may come at a dire cost to his soul. If that happens, I have to question if death may just be a more preferable if it weren't for the threat of them getting the Amulet afterwards and what they ultimately plan to do with it.

Either way, I know we got our backs pressed against the wall.

As this battle goes on, there is a temporary stalemate on both sides of the conflict. Doctor Caballeron suffers a few licks but they do too. Either way they don't take each other out yet. One against twelve or more is already a heroic effort on his part even with what little augments he is getting, but it's not enough to take any of them down yet. He hits some of them and even launches a few away as a result, but they endure his blows and get back up. With so many limbs and weapons swinging at him though, most of his efforts is actually defensive and he's still failing a little bit. He doesn't seem to notice the pain against him as much right now but I can still see red bloody lines gradually being traced all across his hide.

As for me, my efforts are far more successful. With nobody targeting me, I'm able to assist my ally with impunity for now. The snakes just can't approach him because of me.

Unfortunately this stalemate eventually ends and not in our favor. Doctor Caballeron suffers a vicious slash across his chest. The pain of that blow makes him hesitate as he flinches in pain. Because of that, three more really good hits score against him before he is backhanded away, spinning thrice in mid air, then tumbles on the ground closer towards me.

“Doctor C!” I cry out in alarm then almost take a step to charge at him.

“Stay BACK!” Doctor Caballeron insists with a demanding roar as he painfully starts crawling back up. He is shivering in pain but also in anger. As that continues, I see the red aura around him getting stronger. The shiver seems to be more in pain at first but then he glares at the rest of the Naga as if channeling all of his hatred and blame at them for this pain. The shivers start to ebb as we all grow startled to notice Doctor Caballeron's wounds shrinking as if he's slowly gaining his wounds in reversed time.

I am in awe but also horrified by this sight because I know why this is happening and what this is costing him. If this trend continues unabated, he may eventually target me next with all of that raw hatred and sudden lust for cruelty.

Then I peer ahead of him at the rest of the Naga. Once again I notice all of them hesitate as they take in this new piece of information. They didn't know precisely how the Amulet would augment him, but they are learning that now. With horror, they are watching all of their hard won efforts against Caballeron shrinking away. Efforts that costed them in return and they are not recovering nearly so quickly. None of them are defeated yet, but now it looks like battle damage in this war of attrition can only swing against them in the long run. Their surprise at this sight also alerts me to the fact that they might not have ever seen results of the Amulet like this before. Previously it seemed worth it for them to injure Caballeron in any way they could with the desperate assumption that those results will hold and accumulate, but now it looks to them that they are effectively fighting an immortal being whose strength and toughness is continually getting stronger to boot.

I see the Naga glance among each other as if each of them is hoping one of them has a new idea how to counter this recent threat against them. After all, if it turns out they simply can't kill Caballeron while he's augmented by the Amulet, nor convince him to take it off, then it is now they who are backed into a corner.

“Don't draw anywhere near them,” Doctor Caballeron growls as he crawls back onto his hooves. His stance is shaking at first but he quickly gets more steady. “I already told you . . . I'll take care of them. You juz do your part.”

I hear the anger in his voice, see it in his stance and see the red aura around him grow thicker and darker like crimson blood drying into black crust, yet what he just told me clearly signifies where his priorities remain. He hasn't lost himself to the darkness enough to turn on me yet. How long will that remain true?

There is also a little part of me that feels flattered. If he's protecting his own morals this strongly for my sake, it indicates how much he genuinely cares for me.

Suddenly I hear a loud hiss that almost sounds like a screech from one of the Naga as that individual dramatically points directly at me. It is in that moment I suddenly realize what their new strategy will be in this battle going forward.

“Oh no you DON'T!” Caballeron fiercely insists. “You're only target here is ME!!!”

Doctor Caballeron leaps so strongly that that effort alone spread cracks on the spot he once stood on. His trajectory carries him in a short U shape arc where he lands among them like a cannon ball. That effort alone blow some of them away like bowling pins getting struck by a bowling ball. From there he savagely kicks, punches, and now bites at his target as he tears at them to crash into each other further, thus keeping them off balance. Now the injuries are really stacking against the Naga, and soon some of them won't be able to get back up. Perhaps not ever.

I shake my head to clear it. I need to get my head out of the clouds. The snakes and the Naga are now targeting my ally much more desperately than before, but if they are not too busy attacking Caballeron or busy being too injured or dead, then some of them start to turn to look at me with a wicked gleam in their eyes.

I firm my stance as I glare back at them. I flap my wings to blow the snakes crawling at either me or Caballeron away. Some of the Naga lift blow pipes to their lips with the obvious intention to target me next, but the gust I'm projecting forces them to wince then cover their face with their arms. As long as they are doing that, there is no way they can attack me.

I see one of the Naga punched away from Caballeron with a new dislocated jaw. That Naga lands on the ground hard and presses a clawed hand to his face, but then he sees me above him and upside down from his initial perspective. Grinning with evil triumph despite the injury he just suffered, he flips about and was about to crawl his way to me, but then Caballeron bites savagely into the tip of the Naga's tail and painfully drags that serpent back into the fray. The Naga's evil grin suddenly transforms into desperate alarm. He claws at the ground to avoid being dragged back, but to no avail.

Meanwhile I see the the dark red aura around Caballeron getting stronger and stronger. Another indication of his corruption is his voice is starting to sound monstrously multi-tonal. I also see some desperate sword swings and clawed hands swipe at Caballeron, but at this point Caballeron is now fearlessly ignoring those attacks. The Naga are having a harder and harder time inflicting any injury at all against Caballeron as if Caballeron's hide is getting thicker and tougher, yet no actual visible change to his hide is taking place, nor is his muscles getting bulkier despite his ever ascending strength. This thereby proves to me that all of these changes on him are entirely from a supernatural source.

Another thing that is noteworthy is the few blows that are managing to pierce his hide, which is harder and harder to score against him as time goes on, are also healing faster and faster.

All of this combined really does make Doctor Caballeron an unstoppable juggernaut right now. Bottom line is the angrier he gets, the more powerful he is, but the greater the cost against him is as well.

In the end, none of the Naga or snakes ever manage to approach me, but to be fair, that's also because of my own efforts too. They tried to get to me but they either got blown away by me or savagely beat down by Caballeron. When more then half their forces seems obviously incapable of getting up anymore, perhaps ever, the rest finally decide they are way over matched right now and they need to retreat, regroup, and restrategize.

At first I widen my eyes in triumph. Because of the Naga and snakes retreat, we gained the opening we need to charge through. However, I pause in shock when I notice Doctor Caballeron leap after them instead to make sure none of them escape alive. He lands on one of them with a crashing downward stab of a hoof and flattens that one to the ground. I both see and hear him laugh maniacally as he pauses to savor the last drops of life of the victim he is on top of before resuming to batter his way on the Naga. The next blow crushes the Naga's head halfway flat. Doctor Caballeron just keeps beating on this corpse seemingly for fun right now.

I know this is an extreme risk against my life at this point, but I have to intervene now. This has clearly gone too far. Besides, we have the opening we needed.

“DOCTOR C, STOP!!” I cry out as I desperately leap upon him. I wrap all four of my hooves and both of my wings to restrain him in a hug. In response, I hear him monstrously roar in his multi-tonal voice before leaning his head forward then suddenly backing it to headbutt my face. This disorients me. After that he bucks me off then backhooves me spinning away and crash into the wall of this hallway. From there I slide to the floor in a heap. I can't see out of my left eye anymore, but the right keeps staring at him with tears in my eyes.

At first Doctor Caballeron gazes upon me as if he had something very insidious in mind, but then he recognizes me which quickly cools off his reaction. In that brief moment of calm, he has a chance to inwardly reflect at himself and what he's doing. He then looks down at the corpse below him which is well past the point of being a threat. This is literally overkill.

Next, I see him squint his face hard and shake his head as he tries to regain his sanity. I notice him struggling with that quite a bit at first, but it's already a relief to me to see him trying. That means he's not lost to me yet.

Finally he sighs as the red glow around his body dims significantly. He then looks at me with remorse in his eyes as he says, “Apologies, Mademoiselle, and thank you for snapping me back to my senses.” When he said that, I notice that his voice returned to normal which is a relieving sign.

As I crawl back up to my hooves, I flinch in pain when I notice my left wing is now too injured to be useful to me now after I crashed against the wall with so much force earlier. I then look at him as I say, “Never mind that right now. We have the opening we needed so lets hurry and get back to our friends before they regroup. The sooner we do that, the sooner you can take that cursed Amulet off before you lose your senses to it again.”

Doctor Caballeron nods as he says, “Indeed, a good plahn. Let's move.”

Part 21: The Folly of False Heroes

“I real-ly hov tah com-mend you in your resourcefulness during this venture, Miss Keystone,” Doctor Caballeron commends me as we both watch an obstacle in front of us slide away from the secret passage we've been using to get to this point. On the other side, we notice that the obstacle in question is a statue of a coiled snake. Doctor Caballeron chuckles in amusement as he adds, “And there juz seems to be som-thing appropriate about the fact you had to use a magical 'keystone' to open this gate.”

“Fate, I guess,” I accept with an innocent shrug as I step into the next room and quickly take everything in. Doing so allows me to notice that this is one of the larger rooms of the temple but not as large as the sacrificial chamber. Up a short flight of stairs I see a stone circular ring with a lot of patterns on it. Further inspection reveals it is actually two rings. One is within another and each shows its own group of symbols. In the middle of the circle is the curious image of what appears to be a rippling pool of water except it is sidewards. That also indicates that the StarGate is currently active which also serves to help explain why the majority of our expedition team does not seem to be here. Only a few are left standing here which include Doctor Smith, Leg it, Doctor Grazy Venture, Toolshed, and the henchponies Biff, Withers, and Rouge.

“And it seems like you hod an in-tar-esting ad-vencha while you were gone,” Doctor Caballeron continues when he steps into the room. “I do hov one point of criticism, though.” When I regard the Doctor Caballeron again, he goes on to say, “You hov a cop-y of tha map of this dem'pal, including its secret passages, az well az the keystone necessary to oh-pen those passage ways. Hod you been captured, it would hov made it very inconvenient for our new secret allies here.”

“That's why I didn't plan to be captured,” I return with a simple shrug to Caballeron.

“Oh good. You two are here,” Doctor Smith cheers when he sees us. “And with the Amulet, I see,” he adds as he narrows his eyes slightly at the evil artifact which Caballeron is still wearing.

After Doctor Smith said that, I look from Doctor Smith then back to Doctor Caballeron as I say, “Speaking of which, take off the Amulet now as you promised.” I gesture up to the StarGate as I go on to say, “I did my part. I delivered you safely to the StarGate.”

“And thot thing will deliver us back to Equestria?” Doctor Caballeron inquires as he trots further into the room and gazes up at the Gate with fascination in his eyes.

“Somewhere in the Tenochtitlan Valley, I think,” I answer with uncertainty.

“Actually, that's exactly where this gate leads,” Doctor Smith promises confidently.

“One of these days, Doc-tor, you're gonna hafta tell us how you know dese things so very well,” Doctor Caballeron says with fascination at Doctor Smith. Doctor Smith's only reply is to look back at Caballeron with a coy, knowing grin.

“The Alicorn Amulet, Doctor C,” I remind in an insistent voice. “Take if off now!” I peer at him very carefully at this point to make sure the Amulet hasn't corrupted him enough to compel him to keep it on. I wouldn't put it past a cursed, evil artifact like that to induce that impulse upon its wearers.

“Ah . . . yes. Of course,” Doctor Caballeron agrees as he looks down at the Amulet on his neck. He reaches up to touch it but there he hesitates. I take a nervous step closer to him when I notice his hesitation. His right ear flicks to aim in my direction which indicates to me that he notices my nervousness, and it is easy to decipher why. Doctor Caballeron looks tempted to keep it on, but its clear he's also really thinking about this. After a few breathless moments, I see him close his eyes, steel his resolve, then finally takes off the cursed Amulet. Only then do I finally take a breath then quickly glance up at Doctor Smith when I notice he does the same at that moment.

“Thank you, Doctor C,” I express to Caballeron gratefully. “You did the right thing.”

“I'll not be some puppet,” Doctor Caballeron growls in determination. “I got what I needed from dis thing.”

I approach to stand beside Caballeron and affectionately pat him using my right wing as I flash him a proud smile. The return look in his eyes reveals to me that gathering the will to pull that Amulet off was indeed difficult for him, but he still managed to do it. I knew I admired him for a reason.

Then I look in concern at the others.

“Is everypony else through the Gate?” I ask in concern.

“Actually, Tanon isn't with us yet,” Leg It reports to me in concern. “He wasn't with you?”

“Doctor Caballeron and I were clear on the other side of the temple,” I remind in a tone of alarm. “Our job was to distract the temple guards, steal the Amulet, and escape with our lives. We never ran into Tanon.”

Leg It paws nervously at the ground with a hoof as he says, “Something must have happened to him. He should have been back by now.”

“He's the most experienced member among us,” Doctor Grazy reminds us. “I'm sure he'll be okay.”

“He's also the oldest among us,” Leg it shot back at Doctor Grazy. “He's too old to think this wouldn't be a challenge for him. Plus there's all the other threats in this temple to consider. Something easily could have gone wrong for him.” He shakes his head then looks at the front entrance to this room. “I'm going to go rescue him!”

“By yourself?!” Doctor Grazy asks incredulously. “That's crazy talk!” Then a second later she narrows her own eyes as she decides, “But if your mind is made up, then I'm going with you.”

“No you're not,” Leg It says back to her sharply, “Look. It's actually an advantage to me if I go alone.” He stands up on his hind legs for a moment while he whirls his forelegs as he says, “I'm the fastest member of this team, remember? If I draw their attention, I can remain too far ahead of them for them to do anything about it.”

“Okay,” Grazy acknowledges with a look of confusion on her face. “But say you do catch up to Tanon and it turns out he's injured, hence the reason why he's not here. What's your plan then?”

“I'll escort him to one of the secret passages,” I volunteer. “I know this place well and I have the magical keystone to open the secret passages. While Leg It distracts them, I'll use that opportunity to safely extract Tanon.”

“Again?!” Doctor Caballeron asks incredulously. “You left tha team before to try to help rescue those old former Canterlot guards. Tha portal back home is right there!” He jabs a point of a hoof up to the StarGate. “And now you want to venture back out dare to rescue Tanon?!” He squints tight. “Lady, you're even crazier than I am, and that's saying something!”

“I'm not leaving anypony behind!” I cry back insistently. “Especially not in the hands of these monsters. We got a Worm-That-Trots here in this temple too. No pony on this entire planet deserves to suffer a fate that that creature can inflict.”

“But we hov dah Amulet,” Doctor Caballeron reminds as he lifts it for emphasis for a second. “Any plahn that creature has will be diminished without dis artifact. I say we've done enough by keeping it out of his claws. And besides,” he now looks at the Amulet greedily before adding, “Dis thing will fetch a mighty fine price!”

My eyes explode widely at Doctor Caballeron as I exclaim, “WHAT?! You can't be serious! You know that thing is poison to any soul who wears it.” I use a wing to cut across the air as I say, “Something that dangerous and evil isn't worth any price.”

“And what would you do wit' it, Miss Keystone?” Doctor Caballeron barks back angrily. “Bury it in the sand and hope that is the end of it?”

Disturbingly, I notice that Biff, Withers, and Rouge step near Doctor Caballeron and take a defensive position. It already looks clear to me that they intend to help Doctor Caballeron secure his new prize. It is at that moment I grow startled to realize that I begged Caballeron to promise me that he'd remove the Amulet as soon as we got to the StarGate room, and he did, but I did not have the foresight to also ask him to give the Amulet back to me. In hindsight, I realize the reason I didn't ask that was because I trusted him, but that was before he wore the Amulet. It might be the lingering corruption of the Amulet talking through him now.

For just a brief moment I glance at the others in the room to see what they will do about this situation. I see them hold their silence right now. The fact that Doctor Smith does that too especially surprises me for some reason.

“You stupid, naive filly,” Doctor Caballeron tisks as he now twirls the Amulet rather arrogantly. “You looked up to us ad-venturers, ahnd yo not even dat bad at it yo'self, I might add.” He narrows his eyes at me. “But dare is one thing you never understood about dis pro-fession.” He tosses the Amulet up in the air then catches it again with flourish before he goes on to say, “Ventures like dis costs a lot of money. The equipment, the boat, the personnel who ran it, even you,” he gives an emphatic nod to me. “All of dis costs money, and how did you expect us to repay our investors?” He jabs a point at the portal as he says insistently, “Dey expect som re-durn on their investments, or dey start breaking legs.”

Doctor Caballeron lifts his head in a mix between snobbish but also very cold pose as he goes on to say, “Da real world ain't as flowery an' fancy as dah novels you've been reading. Not every'ding about an adventure is written down by those who travel in it. Som tings remain hidden in da dark lest the competition gain the true edge in life.” He shakes the Amulet in his hoof as he adds, “Da true winners in life know when it is time to secure dare prize and retreat wit' dare lives. I survived dis long by knowing when enough is enough, and I also made sure I gain enough funding for da next adventure.”

I grit my teeth as tears rise to my eyes before I say, “Doctor Caballeron, I trusted you!”

“And dat is where you fail!” Doctor Caballeron arrogantly mocked. “I trampled over many other ponies like you who would hov become the competition.” He twirls the Amulet again. “But dey weren't ruthless enough to do what it takes to remain on top. In da end, it is my books that fly on and off the shelves while everypony else is either dead or destitute. Ev'ah wonder why others who challenged me remain silent? It is because heroic fools like dem chase after foolhardy objectives like saving Tanon in the midst of all those creatures,” he says with a jabbing point to the normal exit of the room and not the secret passage we just used to get here. “Dey never knew when enough was enough. Well I say do only what you hov to, secure your main prize,” he shakes the Amulet again, “den get out while the going is good.”

“Well said, Doctor C,” agrees the fedora wearing Biff.

I stomp both of my fore hooves on the ground as I beg, “Please, Doctor C., whatever you do, you can't give that Amulet to Colonel Panders!”

Doctor Caballeron is so stunned to hear that name that he almost chokes on his gasp. A tense moment of silence passes between us as he gives me an utterly shocked expression before it twists into suspicion and rage. He asks, “How in Equestria do you know dat name? I never told you dat.”

I can't answer right away because I'm caught off guard by something else. He basically just confirmed to me that he does, indeed, know Colonel Panders and that that mob boss very likely did fund this entire expedition. Was this the plan all along? To find and secure some dangerous artifact like this then bring it back to this criminal mob boss?

No. NO! I refuse to believe this! Doctor Caballeron would never do this willingly! He's all about extending the historical knowledge of Equestria. That's precisely why I looked up to him all these years!

Seething fury sinks deeper into Caballeron's face when he realizes something else. I don't know what it is until he says with livid fury, “You work for Princess Celestia's secret service all this time, hov'ent you?” His fury deepens enough to cause him to growl as he goes on to ask, “So all dis time . . . you were just 'pretending' to be this weak and naive little mare when all along you knew perfectly well what you were doing!” Then he roars, “YOU'VE BEEN SENT TO SPY ON ME, WEREN'T YOU?!”

I just silently stare at him, dumbstruck. I would have denied it if only I could think at all.

“An' I fell for it!” Doctor Caballeron continues to rant, this time with what sounds like genuine pain in his heart. “I really thought you looked up to me. I really thought you needed me. You asked me to protect you, an' I believed you!” His eyes flare open at me with extremely harsh resentment but also pain. I can see tears in his eyes in addition to flaming anger.

I still can't speak or move, or barely even think. A chill sinks into my soul all the more when I visibly see Doctor Caballeron drastically change his attitude. All of a sudden he goes from flaming hot anger to coldness. It's as if he instantly decides to reject all of his emotions. He closes his eyes, lifts his head high, cracks his neck from side to side, then gives me a cold and empty look.

“Well played, 'Miss Keystone', if that's your real name,” Doctor Caballeron commends in an empty voice. “All dis time, I thought you were the naive fool, but I guess you showed me up. Thank you, 'Miss Keystone', for revealing that I need to be even more distrusting.”

Doctor Caballeron suddenly gives a shrill whistle then whips his head towards to StarGate to indicate it. As he trots away coldly, his henchponies trot on after him guardedly. It is only at this moment that it finally occurs to me that those henchponies are taking orders from Doctor Caballeron and not just Colonel Panders. Maybe there never was a difference to begin with. He made his choice a long time ago.

Or did he? As much as seeing this pains me, there is still that tiny glimmer of hope within me that insists the only reason he's doing what he's doing now and said those nasty things is because of the corrupting influence of the Amulet.

But even with that theory, that doesn't explain his history with Colonel Panders. He just confirmed to me that he works for such a terrible mob boss and now he also thinks the only reason I showed any competence in this adventure was because I was a secret service agent of Princess Celestia all along.

It's kind of a good point, though. I wonder if a real agent of Celestia was trailing him. Maybe that's why the former guards were on this mission, but if that's the case, they could have hidden themselves better.

The three henchponies proceed on ahead of Doctor Caballeron. He is the last to cross through the threshold. Meanwhile I continue to stare at him as tears blur my eyes.

For a moment I honestly thought he was going to proceed through the portal without looking back at me, but at the last second, he does. At first his eyes give a brief flare of anger at me as if to show the last embers of his rage, but when he sees me, his expression suddenly changes again. He looks startled to see how much I am in pain to watch him go like this. The reason why my expression might be so convincing to him is because my expression actually is absolutely genuine. I feel terribly betrayed right now but I still look upon him sadly with one last shred of hope in my eyes. With that expression, I beg him not to do this with all that I am.

Seeing my expression returns doubt on his own face which then shifts to confusion then settles into guilt. At least one last time, he seems to be asking himself what if my feelings towards him is true. I see him close his eyes and bow his head. He holds that for several seconds before looking back at me with wordless expression of guilt in his eyes. When I see that, I can't help but think I am witnessing the last shred of his good side. The part of him that the Amulet didn't completely destroy yet.

But then my heart sinks again when I notice him take a deep breath and dismiss his emotions yet again. He closes his eyes, lifts his face, and breathes in deep before releasing his breath just as much. When he opens his eyes, he gazes emotionlessly at the portal and trots through it without another glance back at me.

My rear legs collapse under me as I suddenly burst into a sob.

He left me! He chose to leave me. There was hesitation and guilt in him for just a moment, but it wasn't enough to stop him or turn him around. Right now it feels so heavy to keep on desperately wishing that the only reason he's doing this is because of the Amulet's corruption. That certainly can be a factor, but the artifact isn't responsible for the pony they were before they put it on. I see that now.

And I've been a fool. I wonder if there is anypony else that I've looked up to who are less than I had believed in one way or another.

I grow startled and alert when I notice Doctor Smith trot closer to the portal. For a panicked moment I even thought he is about to reveal himself as yet another agent of Doctor Caballeron all along, but when he looks over his shoulder at me, I see something on his face that affects me to a shockingly profound degree. I've only known communication like this once before and very recently at that, and that is The Great Sage Auzmeir's telepathic communication. It isn't exactly like that this time, though, because there is no direct words or images downloaded into my head. Instead, it is simply a sudden and intense knowing of Doctor Smith's intentions and feelings which is this: For some reason he has complete faith in me. Whatever I decide to do, he knows it is the right course of action. He also plans to step through this portal right now for some reason, but he'll be back. I don't know how or when he'll do it, but there is something in his expression that wordlessly promises he'll be back.

Then he, too, also steps through the portal. This time, however, I feel a sense of hope and confidence flare back into me. This gives me enough encouragement to rise back to my hooves again. I sniff and wipe my muzzle.

“Are you still with me?” Leg It prods me with a brief poke to my shoulder. When I look at him, he goes on to say, “I still want to find out what happened to Tanon and rescue him if need be, and I could still use your help.”

Doctor Grazy looks hurt and offended by Leg It's words, but she also regards me with curiosity, obviously wondering what I'll say to his offer.

I take a moment to close my eyes and take a deep breath to calm myself just as Doctor Caballeron did a moment ago. When my eyes pop back open, they do so with focus and determination in them.

“Let's go get him!” I announce with steel in my voice.

Part 22: A Legacy Endures

I find it really strange that I'm growing accustomed to danger just a little bit. It isn't exciting me, but I don't feel overwhelmed by it either. Instead, there is this tiny voice of calm and confidence growing inside me that is saying, “You know what? I think I got this. I can hoofle this.”

I have to say, though, running beside Leg It emotionally feels a whole lot less stressful than seeing Doctor Caballeron directly tussle with the Naga and the snakes. There were many reasons for that, but primary among them was I was concerned for Caballeron's health and sanity. For every second he stood there against them was another chance for Caballeron to suffer a serious injury or death. I especially felt concerned about that before I knew the Alicorn Amulet would accelerate his natural healing. As for his sanity, that was obvious. We knew that the Amulet was working to corrupt his mind and soul. That made even him nervous at first.

But running along side Leg It is different because the objective is different. Instead of confronting the Naga directly hoof to . . . claw? Hand? Slither? Well, anyway, our objective this time was simply to stay ahead of them and it thrilled me to see that working. I've got to hoof it to Leg It too. He wasn't kidding about being the party's fastest sprinter. That really is a natural talent of his. He's got incredible stamina for this, too. Enough to impress even an average earth pony let alone any other breed.

In fact, even I am struggling to keep up with him. Unlike him, I am winded and I'm using a technique he physically can't do but it is helping me to keep pace with him a bit, and that is to keep flapping behind me even as I gallop hard. With each flap, it gives me a brief boost but I have to race faster to keep up with it or else I'd stumble. I know in any standard leg race that I ever heard of, what I am doing now would be considered cheating and get me disqualified from the race, especially if I'm caught doing it. Sometimes I just hop during the flaps so tripping on the ground isn't even an issue.

If I did keep myself in the air instead, I'd run into other problems. For example, sometimes these tunnels are too tight for me to fully extend my wings and occasionally I have to make sharp turns. Even without those problems, I'd still have a hard time keeping up with Leg It on the ground. He really is that fast, so I'm forced to use a combination of a hard gallop mixed with wind boost thrusts.

As we gallop, I catch him glancing at me over his shoulder to see if I'm still keeping up with him. He notices I'm there, notices my struggle, and notices my wing flap technique that would have gotten me disqualified in a formal race. For that, he simply grins at me. I return his grin with a sheepish version of my own, but I have to remind myself that this isn't a race but a life or death struggle. I'll do whatever it takes, within my physical and moral capabilities, to stay alive.

“Which way?” he calls back to me as he gazes forward again. Because of that, I have a harder time hearing him since he's also ahead of me, not to mention having to hear him above my own very rapid heart rate, but I still hear him and respond.

“Stay on this path!” I breathlessly call to him between gasps. “Tanon isn't far ahead if he's still there and . . .” My voice fades away because I need to gasp for air.

Along the way, we pass by yet another tunnel that causes me to frown. It is the wrong way, but it does lead to something that Toolshed tipped me off to before we left the chamber with the StarGate in it. He prompted me to pull out my map of the temple then pointed to one particular room. It isn't the room where Tanon should be so I didn't know why Toolshed pointed it out. He didn't tell me verbally either which deepens my suspicion that Toolshed really can't talk at all no matter how urgent the situation may be. Instead he sort of plays charades which eventually leads me to the correct guess that when the Naga captured his team earlier, he saw them confiscate his tools and put them in the room that he indicated. At first I didn't know why he told me that. It was the wrong way. Did he want me to fetch his tools for him? Did he think I needed them for my mission?

Toolshed shook his head, then gestured at me, then pointed at his head three times. It led me to believe that he simply wanted me to know that those tools were there. He planned to step through the portal himself a moment later. Undoubtedly he had plenty of other tools like that back in his home. Quite likely in an actual tool shed. Thinking of that made me realize that a pony like him was probably responsible for building the ship we used to get here in the first place.

Whatever I do with this knowledge is my business. Armed with this knowledge, I know for sure where useful treasure in this temple is.

Ever since he told me this, though, it has nagged at me in the back of my mind. With each tunnel we pass that could lead us to his tools, I feel compelled to wonder if I'm making a mistake by not going for his tools first. Will I need them later?

Celestia help me! I really hope I'm making the right call by going straight for Tanon right now. He's got his own set of useful tools too, but not nearly as much, or as organized, as the set Toolshed had. I know for a fact that Toolshed took very good care of his tools too while he still had them.

Still, despite the dilemma he unwittingly put me under, I smile warmly and gratefully because I realize why he did it. Toolshed was about to step through that portal back to Equestria, thus effectively leaving this adventure altogether. His last act before leaving was doing whatever he could to support me. This is yet another reminder that there really are very good ponies in this world that do whatever they can to help one another. Not everypony is greedy like Caballeron, and even in Caballeron's case, I can still understand why he was afraid of this adventure and wanted to duck out early.

A shrill scream behind us causes both Leg It and I to halt. That scream sounded so much worse than a mare who was scared. It sounded like a mare who was painfully dying at this very moment.

Horror deepens in both of us when it finally occurs to us why we accelerated ahead of the rest of the threat that chased us. Up until now I would have considered that a good thing, but now it looks like there is an extra reason this is the case.

“That . . . that sounded like Doctor Grazy!” I gasp in horror.

“Oh no! No! She wouldn't!” Leg It cried out in horror as he spun about then charged back the way we came to check.

As he does so, it occurs to me that I wish I could dismiss the possibility, but I remember how concerned Doctor Grazy was for Leg It before we left that room. These two really are romantically attracted to each other. That was as plain as day to see. Normally I'd say professionalism should have compelled her to trot through that portal and simply trust her coltfriend to hoofle himself, but romantic passions certainly have caused plenty of other ponies to do irrational things before. If this really is her, then it means she simply could not tear her mind away from her overwhelming concern for her coltfriend.

In a way, I don't blame her either. I know the heart of a mare since I am one myself, and I know that she knows he was charging almost recklessly into danger which is only mitigated by the fact that at least we had a semblance of a plan.

Oh no! Is it true? Could it really be her?

Very likely just as Doctor Grazy felt not long ago, I can't help but wonder and check, so I, too, also spin about and charge back the way we came.

“No! Let me hoofle this,” Leg It soon calls back to me as soon as he noticed me following. “Tanon may still need us too. It's better if we split up so we can hoofle both objectives.”

“But-” I say objectively before he quickly cuts me off.

“No!” he repeats insistently. “Just go!”

I reluctantly slow my gallop which quickly widens the gap between me and the ever swift Leg It. I also look behind me to where we were going. I notice that this particular tunnel is clear, at least for now. Celestia knows about the area Tanon is at, though. He might be lying there bleeding at this very moment. Maybe I don't have a moment to spare.

But I look back to where Leg It charged off. Where he is going leads to even more certain danger. It sounds like Grazy has already died or is dying. Leg It could be next. Back the way we came is an overwhelming challenge even if Decay isn't there.

I lower my head and close my eyes even as tears rise to them. I really don't want to be weak or indecisive right now but I can't help it. I have feelings and I can't just magically make them go away whenever they are inconvenient. I care about everypony involved here. What should I do?!

I'm shaking so hard right now and my heartbeat noticeably pound in my eardrums both because of fatigue but also because of raw emotion.

I take a deep breath and practically force myself to calm down. My memory of being with The Great Sage Auzmeir helps because that was a timeless moment. A moment when I felt like I had all the time in eternity I needed to make any decision with absolutely no pressure or judgment. I realize this moment is very different, but the feeling and memory of that moment with Auzmeir still helps to calm me down. Also knowing wise and benevolent guides and guardians like him in existence helps to comfort me. It makes me feel like there is a divine guidance into all of fate and beings like him help to confirm that.

During that conversation I also remember him trying to teach me that, whenever I needed it, I have an internal compass within me. I can only see it when my heart isn't clouded, though. I can't be telling myself what that internal compass should say. Rather, I need to simply examine what it does say.

It takes me awhile to focus on it, but what it seems to indicate is I need to go back and see Tanon right now. He needs me more, and as for the other direction . . . it's already too late to make a meaningful difference. Whatever will happen will happen. The chain of causality can't be stopped at this point.

To a lesser extent, I'm getting similar vibes about Tanon too. Something has already happened to him that I can't stop, but there still is something meaningful I can accomplish over there. Not so much the other way around.

I briefly consult with my compass to check if I should go for Toolshed's tools first, and the answer seems to be yes . . . but not yet. Tanon is first in line.

I open my eyes and gaze back at the tunnel we were going towards Tanon, but I find my heart is still strongly pulled towards Leg It. Grazy might indeed be dead right now, but Leg It isn't. Maybe I can still help him?

But how? If Doctor Grazy, his fillyfriend, is truly dead, what could I possibly say to him that would be meaningful enough to convince him not to give up and continue to live?

But then I recall his orders. How he told me to go back for Tanon. All this time, I remember the guilt that was deep in his eyes. About how his reckless volume back in the jungle helped to lure that large two-legged creature to our position, or at least so we believe. It could have been other factors, but it's clear to me Leg It blames himself for the loss of those two elderly former Canterlot Guards. Ever since then, he's been desperate to redeem himself in his own heart. Helping me to rescue Tanon might have felt like a opportunity for him to do that, but doing so may have compelled Grazy to follow us even though she was told not to. If yet another death lies on his conscience, then . . .

Then . . .

My shoulders sink lower when I realize that it doesn't matter. Well, it does but there is nothing I can do or say about it that will lift his spirits enough to deter some drastic action on his part. I already know he's the type of pony who is headstrong and charges at his problems without fully thinking things through. But, at the very least, he really does have a good heart in him. He tried to be the hero in this situation. He really did, but sometimes the odds are just too daunting.

Whatever happens, happens. During adventures, or even life in general, sometimes we have to make the hard calls.

I remember what Leg It said. I remember the way he said it. I remember that firm look of conviction in his eyes. This is his path. This is what he chose, and right now he needs me to choose another.

For all intents and purposes, I might as well view it as his last request in life.

Leg It certainly has his flaws, but in the end, he is only trying to help.

Tears dripping from my eyes, I whip my head away then gallop back the way I was going. At least the distraction these other two are giving me helps me to gain a very good head start. Considering the price they paid for it, I cannot let this opportunity go to waste.

“Oh no. NO!” Tanon Burrows grouses while otherwise sprawled helplessly on the ground. He closes his eyes and bangs his head against the cave floor. The impact of which is slightly blunted by his pith hat. “You stupid, stupid girl. You shouldn't have come for me.”

I frown as I trot up to him then say, “I'm sorry, but I could not, in good conscience, abandon you to your fate here.”

“And in doing so, you may have condemned us both instead of just me,” Tanon said with his eyes still closed. Moments later he winces much more tightly in pain. I also notice him touch his heart area reflexively.

It is then when his situation fully sinks into me. I found him in this cave near a cave wall where he was planning on inserting some dynamite which could later blast and unleash a whole lot of holy water hidden behind it. That water would flood through most of the temple and hopefully also drown Decay. I'm not even sure if that Worm-That-Trots needs to breathe, but normal worms can drown and holy water mixed with a being infused with overwhelming dark magic would likely cause him to dissolve in that water as if it was made of acid.

Until now, I had wondered if Tanon had some other complication to slow him down. I half expected to see him surrounded by corpses down here, but nope. The two of us are alone. That might change soon, but I locked and barricaded an iron gate leading down here. That won't stall those who were chasing me indefinitely, but it should at least slow them down. I had hoped that it would stall them long enough to come up with a solid plan with Tanon, but now I'm seeing he's actually being hindered by the most inevitable enemy of life of all. His very own mortality.

And come to think of it, I don't know how Tanon could possibly set those dynamites off and still get out of here with his life. Doctor Smith assured us both he had a way, but he wouldn't explain what it was.

This, however, is very likely an unforeseen complication.

I scanned the cave walls and noticed I didn't see a trace of any of the dynamite which compels me to ask him, “Did you plant your sticks of dynamite?”

I see him relax his painful wince a bit as he answers, “Yes, but I have it very well hidden just in case any of the Naga catch me down here. If they pull out those sticks before we're ready to set them off then this whole section of the plan fails. I was determined to defend them even if it costs me my life.”

“But they didn't do this to you, didn't they?” I ask as I look down at him and gesture to his heart area with a brief flick of a right fore hoof.

With his eyes still closed, Tanon shakes his head as he admits, “No. This is another problem entirely. I'm afraid old age is catching up to me.”

Tanon finally opens his eyes as he scans about the place. Moments later he says, “I often wondered where I'd be when I die. There were so many close calls before. I didn't have enough time to think about it during those moments, but afterwards it got me thinking . . . that place that I narrowly escaped with my life . . . that could have been the place where I could have died.” I see him grin. “Some of those places would have been very appropriate because they were obviously dangerous. Pits of lava, for example. There wouldn't have been a trace left of me had I died there. No pony would have known what happened to me back then unless my partner made it out.”

I see him smile fondly at the thought of his old friend. My grandfather.

“Still other places seemed totally random,” he goes on. “Places I could have died that seemed perfectly safe, but I had some enemies chase after me and good ol' Fourwind at times. One can never know of all the kinds of places that could suddenly turn into a battlefield. Typically there were unique challenges and/or opportunities in each place and that can apply to either side of the conflict. Baskets I could toss at the enemy, or enemies, or vice versa. Sometimes there were potential hostages in the area we had to watch out for. Generally speaking, me and Fourwind often preferred to fight in areas clear of non-combatants, especially if our enemies knew that about us. Not every pony or creature likes to fight fair.”

I crouch down beside Tanon and gently stroke a hoof through his mane. Neither he nor Doctor Smith knew that I was secretly awake when Tanon confessed to Doctor Smith that Tanon was dying. For this reason, I ask, “Why didn't you tell me that you had health problems on this mission?”

He opens his eyes and looks at me squarely as he answers, “Because there is nothing you could have done to prevent it. I didn't want you worried or distracted.” He looks up at the cave ceiling as he goes on to say, “In hindsight, though, I think I regret that decision now. If you had known, maybe it would have convinced you not to come after me now. I am dying one way or another, so it is more comforting to me for that death to have some useful meaning and purpose to it.” He looks back at me. “But I wanted to die alone. I especially didn't want you to die with me.”

“Because you love me?” I ask with an emotionally shaky voice. “Love me like a grandfather?”

Tanon gazes at me softly as he reminds me, “I didn't want you to come to this adventure entirely, remember? I know what your parents wanted for you but that isn't my only reason. It may sound selfish of me, but in you . . . I see his legacy. His bloodline. Gradually I realized it was more than that.”

Tanon pauses as he screws his eyes shut and winces in pain again. When he does, my heart squeezes both out of sympathy for him and panic that I might not hear him finish his point.

Eventually whatever pain is crippling him temporarily passes so I prod him, “And? What else did you see in me?”

Tanon takes a few more calming breaths before he looks up at me and says, “In you, I see more than just his legacy. I see more than just his face. Perhaps a tad more feminine than him and certainly much younger than he was at the end, but I've been with him long enough to remember his younger face too. Not as young as you are now, but close.

“Beyond that, however, I also see his spirit inside of you. It's almost as if you are him reborn, or his spirit dwells within you.” He winces slightly as he says, “I can't exactly explain it well, but sometimes what you say, the way you say it, or what you do reminds me of him. Whenever I see that, I get nostalgic. It's as if he's back in the world and resuming to fight the good fight. He taught me to be the stallion I am today. He was the real hero. I was just tagging along and trying to keep my foolish friend from being killed. In exchange, he saved my life too many times. Eventually it became pointless to try to keep track of who owes who a favor for saving each other's life. It became more like an old habit between us.

“We never felt invincible. We both suffered and gathered plenty of scars to prove that, but we were an extra safety net for each other that we had to rely upon plenty of times.

“And now . . .” he pauses for a moment as he scans his surroundings again before going on to say, “. . . this is where I die. I wondered where it would be for so long, but finally . . . that stress comes to an end. I have my answer now. Those questions and morbid curiosity can finally and totally be set to rest.”

He looks back at me with sudden flare of determination in his eyes as he says to me, “But you? You need to live. You got so much of your future ahead of you, and I know it's going to be glorious. Promise me that you'll continue to live! Promise me that you will never stop exploring those endless horizons. At least the ones that exist within ourselves.”

I burst into a sob and need a moment to recover before I smile down at him and say, “He said the same thing to me too. My grandfather. Your friend.”

He returns my smile with a nostalgic version of his own as he says, “It was almost an old catch phrase he and I both shared to each other. A promise that we'd never stop exploring those endless horizons. At least the ones that exist within ourselves.”

I look down with a frown, reminded of his loss.

“I used to think he was a fool for retiring from the life of an adventurer. Meanwhile I kept going while feeling nervous that he was no longer there to cover me.

“Still, by then, I had grown so skilled at it that I easily thwarted most average challenges. I no longer needed him to the degree that I once did as long as I scaled back the challenges we once sought. I always kept my strengths and limitations in mind and aim only for challenges I could realistically face on my own.

“But later it occurred to me that Fourwind still kept his promise to me. He kept on exploring those inner horizons, for a family presented lots of challenges of its own. In the end, he has more to show for it, and me? I do have one regret. I have no pony I can pass my legacy too, so for now . . . you'll have to do.”

I notice him stare at me squarely again.

“If it's true that his spirit is alive within you, one way or another, then I promise you mine soon will be too. I pass onto you all of my strengths, wisdom, knowledge and experience. All that I am. All that I ever would have been. It's all in you now. You now carry the legacy of us both. In you shall endure the might of two of histories more famous adventuring stallions. You have it all now. With that in mind, I just ask you to do two things. Live and be happy. Whatever that means to you, I want you to throw your all into your passions.

“The Doctor believes in you. Fourwind . . . believes in you, and now, finally . . . in the end of my life . . . I believe in you. You have us all within you, carrying and uplifting your spirit. Take it . . . your legacy and destiny. Master all that you are and all that is bequeathed to you so that you become as unstoppable as you are meant to be.”

He lifts a shaking hoof. Still sobbing, I grasp it between both of my fore hooves.

“Promise me!” He struggles to say to me with a tight wince of pain.

I apply my forehead to his outstretched hoof as well. Another reason why I cry now is because I don't think I can deliver on his promise even if I wanted to. I don't think I can escape the way I came and continue to expect to live. Besides that, some pony has to set off this dynamite. No matter what happens, this world cannot continue to suffer from Decay's ongoing existence. He must be stopped at all costs. At all costs!

“Promise me!!!” Tanon begs in a more desperate grunt of effort and pain.

I sigh. I really don't want to lie to him, but this is his last request. He won't die in peace until I give him some hope. I'm not heartless enough to endure the idea that his soul is writhing in agony in the afterlife because I refused to give him the answer he sought just before he dies.

Finally I look back at him and nod, then say, “Yes, Tanon. I promise.”

I see a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. He might have seen through my lie, at least partially, which compels him to his next action. I see a golden/brown aura engulf his pith hat then he guides it to float over to me. I gaze at it in astonishment.

“Tanon, I . . . I can't. This is yours!” I remind him emotionally.

“I won't need it where I am going,” he reminds me in return. “And I want some symbol of this promise to remain with you. I want you to know that this hat,” he shakes it for a moment, “is now your second cutie mark. With it, I invest all of my knowledge, wisdom, and experience.”

Tanon flattens the hat against my chest as he stares at me more passionately before he goes on to say, “But do not put it on unless you are ready to make the commitment. Unless you are ready to take that final plunge. From now on, so long as you wear this hat, then you . . . my dear . . . are an adventurer too. With it, be bold. Be brave. Be smart. Be resourceful.” He narrows his eyes at me and grunts, “Be unstoppable!”

Still holding onto his hoof with both of mine, I instead press the hat close to my chest within a hug from my wings. Strangely I do sense a kind of power radiating from this hat now. Maybe his spirit is indeed being invested in it now. As such, it has become an important legacy item. It might as well be a historical artifact now, at least for me. Along with that power comes a lot of responsibility. If I dare to put on this hat, I need to be serious about my promise to him.

“Thank you,” I tell him in a weak, tiny voice, but it also has as much conviction as I can muster right now. “I'll cherish it . . . and remember what you said to me.”

I finally see Tanon relax now. He's almost ready to let go of his spirit.

“The journey is yours now,” he tells me weakly but also much more calmly than before. For once, he doesn't seem to be in pain anymore. “With your maps and your compass and with our spirit with you to guide you, may you ever find your way on your journey.”

He gazes up at the ceiling as he says with his weakest breath yet. “Meanwhile, I'll resume to mine. Onwards . . . I go.”

Those are literally his last words. When he expels his next long breath, he does not take another. In his eyes, I see his eyes widen as if he just noticed something wondrous at the last second, but then his eyes still in that pose as if I'm looking at a frozen photograph. The rest of his body goes limp too. His hoof drops from mine.

I burst into a sob over him. Not many personally knew him. Not even me, but I read about his famous adventures. He had a lot of them. Some really good ones. Tanon can easily be described as the reluctant hero, but in his determination to follow the hoofsteps of my grandfather, that is what he became. Many lives and even whole societies got spared because of these two. That's a legacy that will die with him. The next time the world needs a really good hero, it shall suffer instead . . . because I can't be there. I wish I could keep my promise to him, but too much is at stake right now.

As I look among the cave walls, I realize I still can't see where he planted the dynamite. He told me that he hid it well, but I need to find it. A pity I don't have Toolshed's tools to help me ignite it once I do find it. I guess sparking it with two stones will have to do. Grandfather taught me how.

But then I grab his pith hat with my forehooves and drag it forward enough so I can gaze down at it. When I stare at it, I feel his spirit calling out to me through it, “Remember, you promised.”

My hooves shake as I gaze at that hat more tearfully. I do want to live. I really do . . . but somepony has got to stop Decay with all that holy water and I'm the only one left here.

Then I think about my diary. I still have it in my saddlebag. I put his hat away then pull it out. I affectionately and gently brush a hoof over the cover the the diary. Within these pages is my story. All that I have written so far. Perhaps I'll die today too, but it would be such a tragic loss if at least this diary didn't endure. Something, somewhere, someone needs to remember all that we've done during this adventure. All that we sacrificed. We all deserve it. Our memory must live on!

I cast a long sigh then slowly put the diary away. My spirit sinks too. This is all so tragic.

But then my ears perk up when I start to hear a very weird sound that I cannot, for the life of me, place. I can barely describe it. Some weird echoing sound in this cavern that is getting louder and louder. Eventually a second sound joins it which I can best describe as some kind of groan of an engine. I look around me for the source of this noise and I eventually locate it. When I do, I slowly see some weird and mysterious blue box fade into existence.

I widen my eyes at this. I have never seen this thing before personally but I have seen a few historical pictures with this thing in it or historical text mentioning the legend of it. Far more recently was Doctor Caballeron himself mentioning that this was the greatest treasure he ever sought.

It really does exist?!

I continue to stare at it in numb shock even after the thing fully materializes. Even after those weird sound effects fade away. Quiet descends in this cave, and I continue to stare at the Blue Box. Somehow I can even read the text on it. It says, “Police Call Box”, whatever that means.

Finally the door on it opens. Doctor Smith pokes his head out and scans about the place. First he notices me, then he notices Tanon's corpse. Sympathy sinks into his face when he sees the latter, but not surprise.

When he looks back at me, I see conviction sink into his eyes. He lifts his hoof and says to me, “Come with me if you want to live.”

For some reason amusement flashes in his eyes as if what he just said is an inside joke, but he continues to hold his hoof out to me to convey his offer is very serious. He holds his hoof out to me expectantly but gradually grows alarmed when he notices I am reluctant to accept it. Confusion seems to sink into his face too as he tries to puzzle why I might be reluctant. He quickly figures it out, though. I always suspected the stallion was sharp. His expression then grows more earnest and he shakes his hoof at me as if begging me to accept his offer.

I look down at Tanon.

I look at the wall where the dynamite is hidden somewhere.

I look down at my own hooves as I lift them up.

I look at his extended hoof and contemplate what he is offering.

I look deep into his eyes and his very earnest face.

Then I smile.

Author's Note

Oh. My. Goodness. Did a major mess up here. Not only did I post this chapter two days late, but I posted the next chapter ahead of this one instead.

Sorry for the mess up, folks. I'll try not to let it happen again.

Anyway, for the few who did read the next chapter already, don't worry. It'll be back next week. In the meantime I'm trying to post this in order.

(sigh) So embarrassing.

Part 24: A Daring Hero's Stand

Just about everything is in place. I practically know this temple like the back of my hoof now. I studied my map of it inside and out, and that includes the secret passageways that most of the natives here aren't aware of anymore. Thanks to that and my sneaky flying skills, I was able to literally go right over the heads of many of the Naga guards here.

Once again I am hidden among the ceiling support columns. Around that, I peek down and notice, to my satisfaction, that one of the temple cultists has finally found the decoy Alicorn Amulet that me and my allies planted. That cultist is delivering the fake right up to their exceptionally large leader, Nelkra Shlog'znof, who is at the base of the giant cobra statue in the sacrificial chamber. To my greater satisfaction, it seems that at least half of the cultist are in this room too. They look busy discussing something among themselves.

“I found it! The Amulet!” triumphantly declares the Naga who is delivering the fake Alicorn Amulet. I secretly grin at this encounter above because I realize I can finally understand them all thanks to the telempathic blessings of the TARDIS. As the Doctor had explained to me earlier, now that I set hoof in that machine and had been accepted by it, benefits like this lingers.

“You have?” their cult leader, Nelkra, asks in surprised delight. “Bring it to me now!” Nelkra demands.

That is exactly what that Naga was doing. Too bad for them that I'll now intervene. It's high time to make my new début.

I aim Tanon's former crossbow down at this scene. Attached to the end of that crossbow bolt is a plunger that I improvised onto this crossbow bolt thanks to secretly retrieving Toolshed's tools. I then fire the crossbow. As the bolt flies away from my weapon, small coiled rope attached to the back of this crossbow spins at is uncoils. The other end of this rope is attached to the back of the crossbow bolt I just fired. Once the plunger end hits the Alicorn Amulet, I spin a crank at the back of this crossbow to recoil the rope to it. That, in turn, yanks the fake Amulet out of the surprised Naga's hands and eventually delivers it to my hooves.

“YOU!” Nelka roars in outrage as the whole assembly gasps up at me.

Since I have deliberately abandoned stealth at this point, I stand up straight and tip my new hat down at them.

“Sorry, boys,” I call down with a flair of sarcasm in my voice. “But this here is a legendary pony artifact and I'm taking it back. My kind made it and it's our mess to clean up.”

The entire assembly down below me gasps when they realize they can actually understand me this time, but Nelka is the first to voice it.

“You speak our tongue now? How? When?” He then narrows his eyes at me. “Were you creatures just playing dumb with us all along?”

“Just the opposite, actually,” I partially bluff with a teasing grin revealed under the shadow of my new hat. “We find it's not always wise to tip our best hoof to would-be enemies who capture us and try to boss us around. Oh, and ah . . .” I lean down, “the name of my species is 'ponies', in case you're interested to know.” I give a dismissive wave to the lot of them. “You can be the 'creatures' if you want to.”

Nelka quakes with intense fury as he points up at me and demands, “GET HER!”

“Come and get me, boys,” I deviously mutter quietly in a daring tone under my breath before I glide away from the upper columns and make it to the exit of this chamber then curve right into one of the massive hallways of this temple. I hear, to my satisfaction, every Naga gathered here now chasing after me. That probably now even includes their leader Nelkra Shlog'znof. The only thing that bothers me about this situation is I haven't gotten all of the cultist chasing me yet because some of them are spread out in the temple looking for my kind or, more especially, the Alicorn Amulet. Another thing that bothers me is I never gained eyes on Decay either, and he is, by far, the most threatening force in this temple.

I twist one of my ears behind me as I listen to the crowd that's following behind me. The other ear I aim in various different directions ahead of me. I have to find the scattered remaining members of this temple and get them to follow me too.

In my head, I have a mental map of this whole temple. I also know some of the doors in this temple are not only closed now but jammed shut thanks to the Doctor's marvelous alien technology. He claims he's wearing another that makes him hard to notice somehow. Not invisible per se but somehow difficult for the mind to notice.

That's not the only advantage we're trotting into this adventure with. Considering that Decay is on the prowl, we know we really had to up our immune system verses diseases. To combat a threat that strong, we also knew it would require holy magic because Decay's magic is reinforced with dark magic. It's not just a disease but a curse he spreads. One that makes his disease far more effective. To combat that, the fake Alicorn Amulet I'm holding right now is ironically charged with holy magic. That'll give me proper protection just encase I gallop into Decay. I don't even have to wear the Amulet to gain those benefits. Just hold it somewhere on my person.

For now, I'm choosing not to actually wear it because I know those chasing shortly behind me would expect me to be augmented by dark magic. Those behind me would grow suspicious if I don't pull off augmented abilities that they'd expect me to have if I wear it. While it is true that they wouldn't know precisely how the real Alicorn Amulet would augment me, I don't want to give them an early lead to realize this Amulet is a fake and I might be leading them into a trap.

To keep from galloping too far ahead of those chasing me, I occasionally pause to look over my shoulder. When I see them still chasing me, I give them a teasing flick of my salt and pepper tail then resume on.

An internal map is not the only thing I'm relying upon right now. I'm also relying upon my internal compass. It is guiding me to the right path where I encounter more of the Naga. When I see them ahead of me, I pretend I made a mistake then double back into a different route. Those that spot me quickly realize I'm an intruder, especially with a whole hoard of other Naga already chasing after me. That convinces these new groups to join the chase as well. If they had been more astute, though, they gradually would have realized a bunch of the doors in the temple are suspiciously jammed shut now.

While everything is going according to plan so far, I'm not entirely faking when I give a shocked and sheepish expression to each new group of Naga I encounter before I either take a new route or sail right over them.

Gradually I thought things would get easier for me as a larger crowd is chasing after me. It is true many of the temple corridors are large, but with an exceptionally large crowd chasing behind me at roughly the same point, they should be bumping into each other and slowing the crowd down.

That is indeed happening to some extent, but some of them just happen to be well ahead of the rest of the crowd. I hear the swish and whistling sound of their scimitar swings nearly hit me. I glance back at them with a “Yikes” expression before suddenly screeching to a stop and deliberately allow some of them to catch up to me. When they do, I buck my hind legs hard at them. As the kick connects to them, it sails them back to crash into the crowd behind them. This knocks over a bunch of them like dominoes. With that brief reprieve, I spring to a sudden gallop again and use my wings to launch myelf forward, thus giving me a boost that my legs can't naturally do alone.

“WAIT!” Nelka roars above the crowd at one time. That demand brings everyone to a halt, including me. I also look back at him to see what he says next. Nelka gives me a narrow-eyed stare as he says, “She's leading all of us to a trap.”

“Oh really?” I ask back at him in a taunting voice. “Well good for you in figuring that out. I guess maybe you are smart enough to spell big words. I'm so proud of you!”

Nelka narrows his eyes at me further. He stares daggers into me. He knows that I'm deliberately taunting him but that knowledge alone doesn't necessarily fail to trigger him.

“Regardless if I'm leading you into a trap or not, we all know one crucial thing,” I say before twirling the fake Alicorn Amulet on the tip of one of my beige wings. “I still have this.” I pretend to regard it curiously. “I wonder what would happen if I put it on?” I then flash the group behind me with a daring grin. “Another former partner of mine put it on a short while ago, yes? I bet they are still recovering in the infirmary.”

Saying that really ticked them off, but I'm surprised to discover that they are still hesitating.

“Fine,” I say with a tired groan. “Just keep standing there while I get away with the Amulet. That makes my job easier anyway.”

With that, I take off and I don't look back. I grow a secret, devious grin when I hear them eventually take the bait.

“End of the line . . .” Nelkra Shlog'znof begins in a menacing tone but trails off when he regards the water rushing right past him in the chamber with the Stargate. He slithers on in then scans about at the even more unusual sight of seeing this room half flooded with rain water. Not only that, it is still raining in this room thanks to the dozens of storm clouds. He then looks up and notices me peering down at him from on top of the edge of a storm cloud. The right ridge of the scales above his right eye lifts a bit which would have been more noticeable if he had eyebrows of some kind. He then finally finishes his sentence by saying “. . . pony? Um,” he looks around again then back up at me. He then points up at me with an almost comically timid stretch of one of his four arms as he asks me, “Are you, um . . . standing on a storm cloud?” He shakes his head with a double take. “How are you doing that?”

“I'm full of surprises today, aren't I?” I ask back at him with a cheeky grin.

Ain't that the truth! I've even surprised myself today! Here I was galloping all around the temple, gathering up the cultist and luring them into token traps that I've set up in multiple places throughout using Toolshed's tools. A little nailgun on a trip wire over here and flaming spray can over there. It was funny to watch them stumbling into one trap after another, but none of those traps were supposed to stop or be injure them too much. All I had to do was reveal a few cards to show I was putting some effort into hindering them in order to coax them into thinking I'm steadily exhausting all of my surprises, and little by little, that's true. However, I need to keep distracting them from my greatest trump card. The one that will checkmate this entire adventure. I just need to wait for one more player to show up for that.

Meanwhile I got this room all set up in order to convince them that this is my final stand. I'm not surprised that the Naga didn't know I could do this considering they are very unfamiliar with my species. I'll admit I hardly ever done this myself in the past either. About the closest thing I've ever done to assist weather control teams in Equestria was Pegasi Tornado Duty Day, in my local community at the time, to help pull water from a reservoir into Cloudsdale. Still, it's important to remember that, as a pegasus, I was always capable of affecting the weather like this. Weather isn't as cooperative outside of Equestria though but I brought this in through the Stargate.

Given the amount of water that built up into this room over time, a bunch of the Naga had to struggle to slither into the room. They aren't as large as their leader so it took quite a bit more effort on their part until the water in here thinned out as it spread to the rest of the rooms. Even after that, though, they are all still getting rained upon.

Nelkra's eyes lowered halfway in a deadpan expression while he lifts an arm with upwardly spread fingers and asks, “Was this your plan? Were you hoping to wash us down through the temple?”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” I replied honestly. “But I'll admit I didn't consider that very likely. It would be a pain in my flank to drag in that many storm clouds through the Stargate anyway. Usually we have a whole team of pegasi doing weather control duty.”

The Naga stare up at me in confusion. Obviously they have little to no idea what I'm talking about.

I lift the wrist of my right forehoof near my muzzle, pretend to clear my throat, then begin again by saying, “Anyway, I figured rainwater on your scaly hides wouldn't pose much of a threat to you. You'll be 'shocked' when you realize the next phase of my plan, though.” I give a cheeky smile again as I bid them, “Enjoy!”

With that, I start bucking repeatedly at the storm cloud I'm standing on in order to agitate it. As planned, it thunders for a brief second before cascading down a bolt of lightening into the water. Water which the whole lot of them are still connected too! As promised, this delivers a shocking experience for them indeed. Multiple times, in fact. I keep kicking at the storm cloud until it exhausts its store of electrical energy. I think it produced a total of eleven lightening bolts. While all that was happening, the pool of water continued to be thinned out as it kept spreading beyond this room, but they were still wet due to all the rainwater so it kept what could have been a targeted attack into an area attack each time.

With that done, the whole group of Naga collapse onto the ground. They are either dead, unconscious, or nervous system too fried to move. In any case, they spasmodically wiggle on the ground for awhile. During that time I continue to see crackles of electricity crawl along the water, zap between their scales and eyes, and flicker off of their metal weapons.

This still isn't my greatest trump card, but I need them to think it is. That way they'll be that much less prepared for the next blow.

As it stands, the small fry is taken out of commission, including one of their primary leaders. There is only one threat left that has yet to reveal himself. Now that he's lost all of his pawns, I secretly steel myself for the reveal of this game's true King.

While I wait, it continues to rain in this room but much more calmly. Now that I've kicked out most of the energy these storm clouds had, the weather gets more calm in this room.

The Calm Before the Storm!

A chill instantly crawls up my spin when I hear a “ching” sound. Shortly later I'm a bit surprised to hear a eight hoof clomps splash into the still running water. The ching sound continues three more times before I see a pair of recognizable ponies enter into the room; Leg It and Doctor Grazy. However, both of them look worse for wear. Their manes are a chaotic mess and some bits of flesh hang off of them. I gulp when I realize I am now staring at a pair of zombie ponies, but it takes a closer inspection to reveal that what I'm beholding is even worse than that. Their mouths are sewn shut, but their eyes are wide open and they have this crazed look in eyes as if they are in the absolute peak amount of pain a mortal can possibly endure, yet because their mouths are sewn shut, they can't scream. Not only that, but an uncountable number of worms and maggots burrow into and out of their hides, including their eyeballs. Every time a worm dives back into their flesh, the flesh regenerates seconds behind each one. So, not only are the worms/maggots causing damage, but the pair of them are healing just as fast.

Beholding this, something tells me that I could hack either one of these two to pieces and they'd just keep on coming. Not only that, but they'd regenerate, especially if their hacked off limbs were reattached somehow. Moreover, all it seems it would take is one touch from either one of these to transfer some of their worms to the next host and turn that person into a worm-infested zombie pony as well. A zombie pony alive enough to feel the pain of constant torture but simply can't die for some reason. A reason that certainly has something to do with really despicable dark magic.

Standing on top of both of these ponies (or maybe more accurate to say former ponies) is the ancient corrupted former Silurian, the Worm That Trots now known as Decay. He has a leg on the back of each of the earth ponies. As they move, Decay bends and twists in an obviously unnatural, nightmarish way beneath his mummy-like bandages. In his left claw he carries a rusty-looking brass ball that is swinging on an equally rusty-looking chain. As he swings it from side to side it produces a “ching” sound at each end of the swing. Constant black smoke spews up from this brass ball. In addition to that, a constant rain of worms pours down from the ball into the water below. Too many worms spew out from that ball to be logical for its size. I'm almost tempted to call that ball “bigger on the inside”, but it seems far more likely that these worms are created through pure dark magic. The way Decay holds and swings this chain slowly seems almost religious in practice. In the back of my mind I can even imagine dark and cultish religious chanting issuing in this room now as Decay enters.

When Decay looks up at me, or maybe the rain clouds, it kind of looks like his face “morphs” to look in an upward direction rather than lifting up his head in a natural way.

The two “ponies” stop. Decay stares up at me. In return, I stand up straight and push my new hat further down my head and tilt it partially forward to conceal half of my face. I give a very hard stare back at him with a single eye. I don't think my expression has ever been this deadly serious before.

Ironically, that expression of mine seems to make him chuckle mirthfully. I wince as I hear it. He makes an ugly, gurgling sound as he chuckles and when he speaks. In addition to that, I hear a slight hint of his native Silurian hissing sounds but the TARDIS's telempathic translation makes me hear the language I most understand instead.

“I guess somepony feels prepared to face me,” Decay expresses in his ugly gurgle. “I've been trying to infect you for quite some time, but alas . . . my efforts have been for naught. Your immune system has been augmented far beyond normal and that's further secured by that accursed Amulet that you have.” His whole head squishes down to half its normal size for a moment as a wide, creepy grin spreads across his face. His head returns to normal size as if it is this pulsing, puss-thing. “In addition, a bunch of the doors to this temple are now mysteriously locked, and the bugs I implanted in others of your kind have been cleansed the moment they crossed through this Stargate. I had originally planned to use them as my eyes, ears, and sleeper agents when they returned to your lands but . . . Alas.” He shrugs. “Time Lord shenanigans notwithstanding, I would have won this day.” He twists his head to a creepy and unusual degree as he continues to stare up at me. “But this day isn't over yet.”

After everything he said, I now put the fake Alicorn Amulet on immediately. Doing so also frees up a hoof or a wing. I want this item secure on my person. It may not be the real Alicorn Amulet, but it does have an actual enchantment on it now.

“So you know about the Time Lords,” I note with deadly seriousness.

Decay's mesmerizing, wiggling body seems to bow to me as he says, “It seems we have that much in common. I'm well aware of the telempathic translation of their vessels.”

“Their” vessels? Plural tense?

I shudder again. I have to keep in mind how ancient this former Silurian is. He might have even participated in the Time Wars itself which is a concept I've only recently been acquainted with when the Doctor tried to recruit me for an organization he calls “Knights of the Hourglass”. For now I told him I'd consider his offer later.

“What a bold pony you are!” Decay gurgles and purrs as he lifts back up to his normal stooped posture. “So brave. So daring. So . . .” He trails off for a moment to open his wide mouth and, for the first time, I actually see an opening in his bandages. A bunch of maggots and worms spill out of his mouth as if it was saliva. Instead of teeth, he has bigger wiggling worms in their place. “. . . delicious!” he finally finishes.

At first I just continue to stare at him silently and coldly. The eye I peer at him gleams with deadly intent that is so antithetical to normal pony nature. Raised in a culture that is filled with so much harmony, I'd normally never conceive of this outside of works of fiction, but I know I am beholding an unforgivable monster.

“It's important to you for me to feel fear towards you, isn't it?” I eventually ask. “I'm guessing you can smell it or sense it somehow if I had it, but tell me something . . . what do you sense in me right now?”

Decay just gives me a silent stare.

“Is it fear?” I challenge then lean my head down to peer at him just a bit more closely. “Let me tell you one thing to make sure we get this record absolutely straight. No matter how much you try to hurt me, scare me, or slow me down in any way . . . you are going to fail! My name is Daring Do, you despicable little slug, and I dare you to try to stop me!” I raise my head up straight. “Or even slow me down.”

“You think you are invincible?” Decay asks with a dark chuckle. “I am Decay. All who stand before me rots and decays.”

“Yet here I stand boldly and proudly,” I return. “Am I invincible? No.” I shake my head. “But I am unstoppable because you, or anypony else, shall never be more determined to win than I am. My will is invincible, Thing, and that makes me mighty. For as long as my will endures, I shall always find a path to victory. I am a living, breathing Deus Ex Machina.”

“Bold claims, pony,” Decay mentions dryly.

“I agree,” I reply as I spread then flap my beige wings. “Words are not enough. You may stand there with all of your dark powers, but I am the heroine of this story and only I determine how this story ends. And Thing,” I narrow my eyes at him, “I foresee that your story ends on this day. That's what it's going to say in my book.”

Decay drops his “jaw” to a very unnatural degree. About four feet which is almost as tall as he is. From that mouth he spews out a cloud of black flies.

I dive down and fly right past him. Over my shoulder, just before rounding the corner of the door, I notice him spin his head about one-eighty degrees before he dives off the two former ponies he stood on. He disappears from sight somewhere below the water that is now normally too shallow for him to vanish beneath, and yet he does anyway.

As for the two worm-infested zombie ponies he stood on, the stitching on their mouths tear open and now I'm hearing a constant horrendous scream from them both. A scream that both seems to beg for mercy, and yet they turn around and charge at me in an attempt to tackle me, or at least touch me, in order to spread the infection.

I know why Decay used these two against me. He's trying to get under my hide psychologically. I can't say he entirely failed either, but the results is probably not as he hoped. Seeing this, I've become even more determined to defeat him. If I do so, it might grant a peaceful rest to these two ponies and I know they more than deserve it. Even if they were my enemies, like the other unconscious Naga, the sight of this much pain would still make me determined to destroy Decay because nothing in the world deserves to suffer as much as Decay's curse can wrought.

Because he's been raining worms in the water with his device for quite some time, I no longer trust it. I just keep myself aloft over the ground and tuck my legs in beneath me.

Meanwhile, behind me, I can hear Leg It and Grazy galloping after me as hard as they can. Leg It is starting to gain on me between the two which makes me realize their physical mortal potential endures even after this horrific transformation. I don't even have to glance back to hear them coming because no pony can possibly scream more painfully than these two are right now. This is the absolute peak a pony can scream.

I curve around a turn in the hallway then reach back into my saddlebag as I do so. From it I pull out a hatchet using my mouth then proceed to spit it into my left hoof. Gazing back from below me, thus looking back upside down, I see Leg It rush at me with so much momentum that he actually runs up the wall of the turn before leaping off of that to launch himself at me. Taking careful aim, I fling my hatchet, yet another treasure from Toolshed's treasure hoard (and notably their former friend in life), I end up cleaving Leg It's right leg off just as it touches the ground. Because of that, he trips, tumbles on the ground then gets right back up and continues his chase without that leg. This temporarily slows him down and I finally start gaining some distance from him, but I also observe worms and maggots crawl out of the stump of his leg and slowly start to create a new leg made purely out of worms and maggots.

I gaze forward and I shudder again. The accursed powers of a Worm That Trots is every bit has horrific as I had once imagined, if not more so. This blight should not exist upon this world at all, nor shall it continue to exist for long if me and my friends have any say in it.

Grazy never had a serious chance to keep up with me unless I am injured. She just continues to fall further and further behind even in her unlife state. In life, running wasn't really what she specialized in. Instead of that, she was highly knowledgeable. She was among some of the ponies that once happily taught me about all kinds of fascinating flora and fauna in the jungle of this new continent. She never asked for anything in return for that service either. She was just happy to teach a fellow budding adventuring companion.

Tears rush to my eyes for a brief moment. During that brief moment my resolve cracks just slightly. What happened to them fills me with sadness. Adventures can be like that sometimes. It is a very dangerous profession. Not everypony is going to make it to the end.

But, for as long as I continue to breathe, their legacy shall live on through me. I'll add them to my strength and determination. They are among the reasons why I shall not allow anything to defeat me. For their sake, among others, I SHALL WIN!

Eerily, I start to hear Decay's voice echo throughout the temple. It's almost as if he is the temple. What he's saying isn't successfully being translated this time, but from the sounds of it, it seems to be some Arcane language.

Then I notice a new threat. Cracks start crawling up the walls and ceiling of the temple. It seems as if he's damaging the stone with pure entropic energy. Black spreads from the cracks that seems to be oily acid. There is a sizzling sound indicative of true acid and yet I can't be entirely sure if that is what it is. Not when it comes to the powers of this creature.

This is a problem to me in multiple ways. Not only is the temple crumbling and raining down upon me, but I can't have him in the walls like that when I spring my last trap upon him. I didn't even know he could do this. Maybe it's because of the corrupting energy this cult has been stockpiling in this temple?

Then I widen my eyes. I do know of one area he can't infect. Actually, I know several. If the only reason he can be in the walls is because of the corrupting energy that was amassing in this temple, then I'll simply go to the areas that still has holy energy in it, including the walls. That strategy risks tipping him off to my true plan, and this one doesn't seem to be an idiot either, but I really have to get him out of these walls.

Up ahead, I see an archway holding up the ceiling spread a crack in it then partially collapse. When that happens, the design of the stone reminds me of the gaze of two angry eyes considering its slanted eye position. From that stone, I can even feel his burning hostility towards me.

Cracks spread further as I near it. That causes me to be certain that it will collapse about the time I catch up to it. He's timing for that exactly. To counter his effort, I launch myself forward much faster at the last second. During that time Leg It attempted another leap at me. I end up just barely sailing past a rain of rubble behind me, but it does catch and crush what is left of poor Leg It. Grazy was safe, though. She didn't even catch up enough to be threatened by that debris.

Despite my better judgment, which is even against the recommendation of my internal compass, I skid to a halt and take one last look back at Leg It. Only one leg and about half of his head is now visible on the other side of this collapse of stones. He is still wiggling that one last limb flailing at me as if to prove absolutely nothing natural can stop him now. He doesn't rely on a normal mortal body to move anymore. The dark magic enchanted worms in his system can ensure it. I realize that the magic itself has got to go or he'll never rest in peace.

I remember how he ran off to meet the other members of the cultist head on to stall them from catching up to me. I remember how his guilt drove him to desperate extremes in order to make up for his previous mistakes. All of that led to a fate that not even the foulest Naga here deserved. A heavy clump of “wrongness” sinks down my throat and pit of my stomach when I witness this. The one eye I can see on the side of his face, which is now bulging out more than it should as a direct result of being smashed, is still as wide, bloodshot, and cracked.

“I'm sorry,” I tell him remorsefully. “I'll make this right. I swear, and I shall not fail.”

With that, I take off.

I skid to a halt again when I witness Decay directly ahead of me. At first I am surprised he emerged from the walls, but then it occurs to me where we are. The wall with the holy water is near this position. Surely such energy seeped into the walls enough to make him uncomfortable, or even completely unable, to remain within the walls.

“Why do you fight?” Decay asks me with his ugly gurgle and hissing sound. “What fuels your determination? Weren't you just a mousy librarian until recently?”

I'm startled that he realized that. How did he know? It's not as if I've been wearing a shirt that says, “Former Librarian Here” on it.

But then I recall the first time I saw him. When I took off with Doctor Caballeron, Decay didn't follow me then. Instead he just studied me very carefully. If he saw something telling in me then, then he might be as skilled as a detective pony with a cutie mark in it.

It's creepy to realize that this creature has the wits and skills to be a true psychologist and he uses all of that psychological knowledge against those he studies. Always probing for weaknesses. Always looking for chinks in one's mental armor. After all, it's far easier to feed off ones fears if he can find a way to skillfully evoke it.

In a strange way, he reminds me of the Doctor if the Doctor had gone pure evil. Just someone with wit and intellect far above the norm. Someone who would have layers and layers of backup plans for every contingency. A person who is truly ready for whatever he encounters, and he has a great deal of dark magic to back it up. Terrible and normally overwhelming destructive power in the claws of someone who uses it like a skilled surgeon to boot.

“Pretending to be an adventurer?” Decay goes on. “I'm sure you read many books on the subject, haven't you?” He chuckles darkly. “An author and librarian who thinks all it takes to be an adventurer is to put on a pith hat.”

I peer at him carefully. I wonder if he's stalling for something, but in a way, I am too. A few more details needs to be in place. I could also use a moment to catch my breath. My determination can make me almost unstoppable but I need to be wary of my physical limits too. I haven't been at this for long after all. Certainly not to this degree.

Since he's willing to talk for now, and I have a rough idea as to why, I decide to humor him for a bit and engage him back. I have something to prove too, after all. At least to myself.

I remove my pith hat for a moment and hold it aloft as I say, “It is true that this is a symbol for me. Kind of a comfort blanket, you can say.” I narrow my eyes slightly at him. “But it's what it represents that is most important. The feeling behind the meaning of it's symbolic representation. A cutie mark is the same thing. A symbol of what is accomplished so far, but what is important here is to keep going. See the sign, nod in respect to it, then keep on going.”

I put my hat back on my head.

“The thing that makes me a true adventurer is not my hat just like wielding a sword doesn't make a pony an automatic warrior, nor simply holding a hammer automatically make one a skilled carpenter. It's what's in here,” I thrust a hoof to my chest, “that makes one whatever they set their hearts to achieve. It is courage, determination and drive that sets one upon any path. It's a willingness to learn and to keep on growing in that path. A true master of any craft realizes there is always room to grow. I stumbled as I explored a new path in my life. Once I finally gained my balance, I seized the opportunity. I own it. What you see before you,” I spread my wings, “is all that I am now. All that I choose to be.

“I warn you, Thing, that you never encountered a pony like me before. You feed on fear, but today you met your match because your days have come to an end. I won't give you any fear to feed upon. No matter how powerful you think you are, no matter how powerful you actually are . . . today it doesn't matter. Fate finally gave you an obstacle you cannot overcome because this is not your time, Thing. The days of ancient and accursed blights like you are gone now. The world has moved on without you and I'm here to prove you no longer have a place in it. You gave up those rights a long time ago when you surrendered your mortality to your fears and ambition. Shortcuts to power always has a weakness. Those who skip the path of pure and natural progress lacks the integrity to keep themselves stable in the end.”

“I heard that before,” Decay replies in a tone that curiously lacks any hint of cynicism or sarcasm. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he actually believed me. “There were others before you who came to me and made similar promises. Promises that they actually delivered upon. I was arrogant then. I thought I wasn't. I thought I meticulously planned every possible detail, every possible contingency, but truly my full and utter defeat was not part of my plan, yet it happened anyway.

“I've encountered Deue Ex Machina's before, pony. Enough to realize I need to take those threats seriously. These creatures,” he waves a single pointing claw about to indicate all around us, “raised me from the dead, pony. That should tell you one very important thing; I've been defeated before. No amount of power saved me then, and I realize it could happen again.

“So here we both stand. Each with reasons to have unshakable resolve. You have your goals and I have mine. They are incompatible, so one of us needs to fall today. Whose story will really end today?”

“What would you like on your tombstone?” I offer. “I don't like you but I do respect you. I acknowledge your presence. After I win, how do you wish to be remembered?”

He actually surprises me when he pauses in thought. He even seems to symbolically close his “eyes” as his bandages collapse down where his eyes would have been. I expected for him to dismiss that request or give some sarcastic answer, but instead he really seems to give this some serious thought.

“That I have many regrets,” Decay finally answers when he “opens” his eyes again. “I followed that which I thought would be an unbeatable master, but the world has clearly turned in a different direction and I sense I have no place in it. Perhaps the only role I have left in this world is to give you one obstacle. Prove your words by beating me. I want to be remembered as someone who gave everything he had in his path. In the end, was it a mistake?” He shrugs. “Maybe, but I'm here now with a new opportunity. Losing once is not a guarantee it would happen again. I won't give up before the fight.”

A very curious moment passes between us. A moment I will have a hard time describing later. What I can say it is a timeless moment when total clarity passes between us. Clarity that is also mixed with mutual respect. He's not underestimating me in the slightest despite how powerful he is. After all, he's been defeated before by those he once considered his lesser and he honestly has learned from that lesson.

From him I feel a kind of sadness and emptiness too, yet curiosity as well about the path that was not taken. The hero and the villain face off against each other and he actually wonders what it's like to be me instead; the underdog who is destined to win in the end.

It's odd, but I can suddenly see myself in his place. What I could have been like if I made different choices in my life. His was influenced by an ancient time. Things were different back then. More desperate. More primal.

When we both come out of our mutual trance, it's funny to me to think I was actually just one move away from winning this game. What I needed to do is right behind him.

I wonder if he knew that. I wonder if he even accepted that. He saw how he is about to go. It saddened him and yet he accepted it. He turned around and engaged me one last time. He wanted to get to know the pony who would defeat him. Him, what most would consider an unstoppable monster.

So what does that make me, I wonder?

The next few moments seem to go in slow motion for me. I crouch down then spring up. He opens his mouth and launches what seems to be a single worm that quickly grows in size. I sail over him and the conjured worm. My machete sails out of my saddlebag and spins twice in mid air. I catch it with a hoof as I arc back down. I end up cutting the wick of the dynamite hidden in the wall so hard that it not only shortens it, but also ignites it as my machete hits the stone behind it hard enough to cause sparks.

With that set off, I know I have about two seconds before the dynamites hidden in the wall explodes. I crouch down then leap up with a strong flap. As I sail back into the air, a chain of explosions assists my leap and also causes me to angle away from the exploding wall. Once I arrive at the cave ceiling, I cling myself to the cave ceiling using a stalactite hanging there. I transfer my grip on my machete to my mouth then cling to the downward stone spike using all four of my legs and both of my wings.

Down below me the dynamite explodes which sets off a chain reaction, for there are other sticks of dynamite hidden in the wall too. This is where Tanon Burrows died. I even sparked his dynamite using the very machete that once belonged to him.

The wall explodes into violent shrapnel that would have threatened just about any other creature other than him. However, the gushing wall of holy water that hits him next is a different story. That is something he can't endure for long.

All of my limbs, including my wings, shake as I cling to a stalactite on the roof of this cave. Tears rise due to the strain of my effort. I know I have to avoid that water right now at all costs because the Doctor warned me he would add something to it. Something that will cause amnesia to all of the other Naga in the temple that comes into contact with it. It will erase enough to give them a fresh start in life. Meanwhile he also had been working to close and lock a series of doors so that this water would only flow in a certain direction. I've been working all this time to ensure the Naga will be in the pathline of this water flow.

The hidden good sect of this temple is safe from this water where they are at. When the water flows through this temple and eventually drains, they'll come out and reeducate all the other Naga that lost their memories. Hopefully their new life will be better than the last.

I had initially objected to this plan when I first heard it. After all there is no justice in it. These Naga have caused plenty of suffering before and all they'll lose for it is the memory of what they did. The Doctor was adamant about defending life, though, and insisted that all life, in any form, no matter what they have done, deserves a second chance if able.

In hindsight, I finally realize that the Doctor has a point. If there is a way to deal with the evil Naga that neutralizes them as a threat but also doesn't kill them then my conscience remains clear. As a pony who honestly does want to do good in the world, this feels very important to me. It's an option I didn't expect but eventually became glad to have it.

Decay is a different story, though. He doesn't have a true life to defend. The truth is he actually died a long time ago. He's been nothing but dark magic and animated worms ever since. A creature like that really doesn't have a place in this world. Not in a form like that.

That is why, despite my struggle to hold on, I peer down in order to behold the fate of Decay himself. When I do, I see him give a paltry effort to defend himself by clinging to a stalagmite.

However, when our “eyes” meet, I see something I don't expect. In him to me, I see admiration. I see respect. Sweet Celestia, I think I even see love in him! It's the kind of pride like beholding a daughter that finally surpassed him. Who achieved everything he knew she could accomplish deep down and part of him wanted that. That he existed as a foil, a test, in one last moment and I passed.

I feel as if he took a mask off and revealed an inner purity that was very well hidden before. After all, that was one really convincing mask!

But beneath that there is a purity that exists hidden within everyone. In this moment he lets go and accepts death. In doing so all ego is forsaken. All “pretenses”. What is left is the absolute core of his being.

When he lets go of the stalagmite, he looks to finally be in peace as he dissolves into the still rushing water.

Part 25: It's My Life

I pensively trot into the TARDIS slowly right after the Doctor. My mind and emotions is whirling with all of the crazy thoughts and feelings this entire adventure has evoked in me. So many unexpected turns and surprises. So many lessons and transformations that I've had to endure. I would do it all over again if I had to, but I guess inner discovery can be a rough ride sometimes.

Once inside, I get distracted from my inner complex thoughts and feelings by a metallic echo-y sound that issues somewhere inside of the TARDIS. I can't really pinpoint a central location for that sound. It seems to surround me and, for a moment, I grow concerned that the sound is indicative of some kind of malfunction or trouble. It seems unlikely to me, but just in case, I look at the Doctor with a confused and curious expression while also giving a vague point of my largest beige feather on my left wing to roughly indicate somewhere towards the center console.

The Doctor, having met my gaze for a second, then has his eyes wander about the TARDIS for a few seconds before meeting my gaze again then explaining, “That's just the sound of the TARDIS calibrating. It makes noises like that on occasion. One gets used to it eventually.” He grows a mischievous smile. “For the moment, consider this the TARDIS's way to saying, 'Hello' to you.”

“The vessel really is sentient?” I double check.

“Sure is,” the Doctor replies with an expression and tone that is a mix between pride and a scholarly lecture.

“Huh.” I blink. “No doubt this vessel is full of surprises then.” I grin while still standing close to the open entrance into this vessel. “Funny to think I first heard of it from Doctor Caballeron. He's the one who said encountering this thing was his primary objective. As a fellow archaeologist, I can understand the appeal of traveling in a vessel capable of visiting the past we love to study.” I shake my head while still wearing my grin. “It's ironic that I'm the one that ends up standing in here instead of him. He's the one who really wanted to find this thing.”

The Doctor squints at me as he says, “Well, to be fair, do you also recall that, after I asked him what he would hypothetically say to the pilot, he replied, and I quote, 'That I'd like a ride? Also, if I discover that Blue Box without any pilot and the thing is unclaimed, then I call dibs.'” He shakes his head. “In other words, he literally said right to my face that he'd steal this thing if he could.” The Doctor chuckles. “It amuses me to consider him to try to pilot this thing. The TARDIS is kind of picky about that anyway.” He shrugs. “Still, I promised him in return that, if I ever met the pilot of this ship, that I'd deliver his message.” He gives a grand gesture to himself along with a bow. “Lo and behold, I kept my word to him.”

When the Doctor looks back up at me, his expression suddenly turned a great deal more serious as he says, “I can be picky too whom I invite as my traveling companion on my journey. I can assure you that a pony like Doctor Caballeron doesn't make the cut. Even if he's somewhat competent at adventuring, I much prefer to travel with a companion I can trust.” He points out the still open exit to the ship. “The only thing I can really trust a pony like Caballeron to do is see dollar signs at every opportunity.”

I wince at him as I ask, “I assume 'dollar' is some form of currency?”

He nods at me as he says, “One particular form of it. I apologize with my choice of words. I should have been more clear.”

When I look down with a pensive expression again, I soon look back up at the Doctor with my eyes only but my face remaining directed down as he trots up next to me and applies his brown hoof to my shoulder.

“The criteria I have that rejects a pony like Caballeron is the same one that accepts a pony like you. Brave, strong, smart, resourceful, and most importantly . . . motivated to do the right thing for the right reasons. You're every inch the kind of individual I'd proudly invite on my journeys.”

I smile at him softly as I guess, “Is that your invitation to me?”

“In more than one way, in fact,” he answers with a soft expression in his eyes and a proud, beaming smile on his lips. “You're more than worthy, and I'm pretty sure you can recognize the opportunity that I'm offering you. This ship,” he waves around at it, “can go anywhere in time and space.” He gives a brief shake of his head. “So no longer do you have to merely imagine what history was like. I can help you go there and see it for yourself. I can also show you the future of this world or any other.

“I think we both know that you are a natural adventurer and I'm offering the opportunity of a dozen lifetimes. While we're at it, we can save the lives of any creature that needs saving which gives even greater meaning to our travels together. So what do you say?”

I keep staring at him as his offer gradually sinks in. Initially it feels overwhelming. Part of me actually realizes that I can't possibly fathom the total depth of what he is offering until I trot that path for quite some time, and even then it might be a struggle for awhile.

What he is offering seems to mostly agree with my inner heart, too. The part of me that I didn't even realize I had until I recently more fully realized that I yearned for a journey like this a long time ago. That part of me desperately longs to accept an exciting offer like that.

But . . .

My face and gaze are drawn back to the exit of the TARDIS. Soon after I turn about and trot a few steps closer to it until I'm right at the edge of the exit. As I stare out the exit, I contemplate how I reached this point of safety at the end of this particular journey, but there were others who weren't so lucky. Terminus, Trump Card, Doctor Grazy, Leg It, and finally Tanon Burrows. Each one didn't make it to the end for different reasons. Right now I can take a little comfort in knowing that Grazy and Leg It are finally and fully at peace. The holy water washed away all the corrupted worms from their system which restored them both to their new rightful state, that of a natural corpse. I made sure of that before I accepted the Doctor's invitation into this vessel. He knew what I would encounter but didn't blame me in the slightest for double checking.

I lower my head, close my eyes, and use my right wing to drag my new hat to the center of my chest as I take a silent moment to mourn the dead. During that time, I notice that the Doctor also maintains that respectful silence. He's likely certain why I am doing this.

This isn't some empty gesture I'm making either. While I hold that pose, I think about each and every one of them carefully and how I feel and felt about them. One by one, I thank them all for what they have taught me and vowed to uphold their brave and heroic stance from here on forward. I'll make sure I remain worthy of that trust, too.

My mind also skims across the still living members of this journey as well, particularly any of them that had a strong emotional impact on me or taught me something important. As I do so, it dawns on me how young and naive I was at the beginning of this journey. That realization didn't cause me to blame myself for who I was. In fact I feel proud of the intense degree that I've grown across this journey, but it's also daunting to contemplate considering the sheer degree that I've changed. I've become a completely different mare. If this happened to me once then I'm living proof that it could happen again. That's scary to think about, even if those changes are ultimately for the better.

Not knowing who I will be.

Not being able to trust that anything I am currently will permanently endure.

Life is always changing. Sometimes to minor degrees and sometimes in major ones.

For all that, I'll simply have to trust myself and the pony I will become. With a map in one hoof (even if it's a blank one at first) and a compass in the other, I shall venture boldly ever onward. As I change because of my travels, I think it's important to forgive and understand myself for changing. By the same token, I need to forgive and understand myself for being different in the past.

Whatever may come; I shall face it with courage and acceptance.

Finally, after I don't know how long, I open my eyes, raise my head, replace my hat on my head then proceed to shut the door.

“You certainly do know how to tempt a mare,” I venture to say in a way that shows only the barest hint of how attracted I am to him. What I said, though, I largely meant in a deeper sense. The offer he makes calls to my inner spirit. The chance to be an explorer and a hero at the same time. To think and feel that while knowing it is one-hundred percent my choice. It feels so good to finally be confident in myself even if I don't know where the next step will lead me. That doesn't really matter. Exploring and growing because of that journey is the entire point. I face that with a sense of excitement.

I turn to face him with a profound look of gratitude on my face. I then trot up to him and touch his right cheek with my left hoof with tender affection. My eyes sparkle as I gaze deeply in his eyes. This stallion, who kept encouraging me and standing by my side without being too intrusive. A stallion who showed me the door and inwardly promised exciting things await me if I bravely open that door and trot through it. I wonder if he'll ever know how much I needed that.

But, while still meeting his gaze with deep affection, I quietly tell him, “No.”

A look of concern and confusion claims his face while staring at me and asks me, “No?”

“I appreciate your offer very deeply, but I reject it,” I clarify. The hoof that I had tenderly touching his right cheek returns to the ground as I go on to say, “Don't misunderstand me. I shall ever be eternally grateful for you lighting a bit of a fire under my flank and in my heart. For teaching me and encouraging me on this journey. I don't know if I ever would have reached my full potential without you.

“But you're not the only one who taught me a lesson. I used to be like a naive little filly who stubbornly always looked up to other adventurers as if they could do no wrong. I praised them and respected them because they have something I was secretly longing for. Something I used to think I wasn't allowed to have.

“One by one, however, they each showed me the folly of my former beliefs. How this lifestyle can be so much more complicated and nuanced than I originally thought. I used to think that all I could ever want and know about adventuring could come from books alone, but there are a lot of potential filters in there that obscures the reader from the truth, including the readers own imagination. By putting all of these ponies on a pedestal, I didn't see them for who they really were. Like everything and everypony else in life, life is a lot more complicated once we take a closer look at it. Every single one of my former 'heroes' show their own unique strengths and flaws in their own way. All of this has taught me that I can't take the truth for granted and there is no substitute for the real experience.

“As I continued this journey and finally recognized each of their individual flaws, I gradually started to realize my own, too. I got swept up in the classic fantasy of being the damsel in distress who needed to be rescued from a high tower. That's the role society taught me, at least at a subconscious level. It's so easy to take for granted all the little influences that swept under our notice.

“On this journey, however, I was confronted with a mirror that revealed some harsh truths that I wasn't comfortable facing at first. That wasn't easy but it was necessary for my personal growth.

“Adventurers come in all shapes, sizes, and motivations, just like any other profession in life. 'One size fits all' is a poor adage for pretty much anything. Some have the motive to do good but not the means and others are the opposite for one reason or another. You are the rare exception that I might not ever encounter again. In fact, you're too perfect and that is why I'm rejecting you.

“I assure you that your offer is tempting, but if I accept it, I'd just be continuing the same pattern that I've done since the start of this journey. I'd keep on looking up to you as if you're not my equal. I'd keep on trusting your judgment at the expense of my own. How am I to ever grow if I keep on deferring the challenges to you? You have the means and the motive to do good in this world. In almost every way that matters, I can trust you.

“But I need to earn that trust too. I need to be on my own so I can learn to be independent. Maybe someday I'll be ready to travel with you on more even hoofing. Perhaps I'll even encounter another on my journey that is equally trustworthy in terms of means and motive, but until then . . .” I give him a firm look as I state very emphatically, “I. Work. Alone!”

“I completely understand,” the Doctor replied with a tone of acceptance. “You wish to brush up on your own skills and build up your own confidence before you start relying upon others again, else you might fall back upon old patterns.”

I nod as I say, “I need to grow on my own. To choose my own course and fly with my own wings. There's plenty of skills I plan to pick up on the way such as first aid training, martial arts and, of course, I'll continue my personal education on history and archaeology. I'll need that knowledge and insight to prepare me for any potential traps I may encounter in any would-be dungeon. I know, from this experience, that the dangers of adventuring is nothing to scoff at and I need to take it seriously. I can do that, and I will.

“I will, however, join your little secret society; The Knights of the Hourglass. I may not travel directly with you for awhile but if you're little club stands against those who would abuse history by time traveling into it and meddling with it for selfish purposes then I'll proudly join any organization that stands against that. To me, history is sacred and I want to be prepared with sufficient resources to deal a blow against threats such as that.”

The Doctor nods in understanding as he says, “Then I'll make you something that will help show that you are a member of and represent the interests of the Knights of the Hourglass. I'll also create something that will help you get in contact with us. Both items might even be the same device.”

The Doctor clears his throat for a moment as he appears to debate something before he says, “Since you are joining, I can tell you that one of the secret members of the Knights is Princess Celestia herself. Like you, she is adamant of not setting hoof inside the TARDIS. She sees no point when she's always present and 'traveling through time' herself just by being here.

“On the other hoof, she is also proud of being a member of a secret society that stands against anything that threatens her beloved citizens.

“Princess Sunbutt made me promise never to reveal her membership among the Knights except to another fellow member of the Knights.” He nods at me. “When I do encounter another member, though, I'm free to tell them that they can write her a letter to apprise her of any threat that dwells in her lands. Be sure to seal that letter in wax the shape of an Hourglass cutie mark. That'll be a signal to her that the letter might be from a member of the Knights.”

I winced when he said “Sunbutt” again but I also nodded in gratitude to him when he finished and then say, “Thank you. I'll keep that in mind.” Then I grin as I add, “Funny enough, Doctor Caballeron once accused me of being a secret agent working for Princess Celestia,” I say with intense emphasis on her name to demonstrate how to say it properly. “He said that because I was too competent at adventuring and I knew too much about him, but now I'm wondering if I should make his fears a reality.”

“That's up to you,” the Doctor casually invites.

“Well . . . as long as she's not too strict about it,” I figure. “I don't want to limit my personal freedom like my parents once did, but I also wouldn't mind having trustworthy allies at a distance just in case I need them. I already knew the Princess has useful resources at her beck and call, but if that includes being a contact of the Time Walkers then I definitely think she and I need to at least remotely remain in contact with each other. I can tell her of any threats I've discovered in her lands and vice versa.”

“In that case, aside from what you just said, are you planning to resume any part of your old life aside from your education?” the Doctor wonders. “You've expressed an interest to be a writer in multiple ways. Both through your diary and through your maps.”

My expression grows thoughtful as I look over my shoulder at the exit of the TARDIS. I contemplate the answer to that question very carefully. I think about it for a few minutes before I look back at him and answer his question.

“Those who ventured through the Stargate earlier have no idea what happened to those left behind,” I muse. “Leg It and Doctor Grazy actually died. They might think the same happened to me, and perhaps that is for the best.”

“Really?” the Doctor reflects with an edge of surprise in his tone.

“Doctor Caballeron wasn't the pony I thought he was,” I explain. “He has a history I didn't take into account and I can see why it's also details he wouldn't write in his own book or allow another to do so if he can help it. He had connections to a mob boss and I can't help but wonder how far back that relationship extends. If Doctor Caballeron ever figures out that I survived this trip then that information may leak back to Colonel Panders or perhaps somepony even worse. I may have the confidence to hoofle such challenges now but that doesn't mean I'm fully prepared to face such threats yet.”

A look of concern sinks into my eyes as I go on to say, “There is also my family to consider. If the criminals knew I am alive, they can look up whom I'm related to, capture them, then threaten them into influencing me in any way they want.” I shake my head firmly. “I can't let that happen. Not when I have this chance to stop it now.”

“But if you support the story that this adventure killed you, wouldn't that information get in the hands of your family too?” the Doctor asks. “That seems cruel to allow them to think you died too.”

I wave a hoof at him as I say, “While it is true that I plan to distance myself more from my family for the sake of gaining more personal freedom, and that because I plan to make some choices that they wouldn't personally approve of, I also plan to send them a letter letting them know that I'm okay but I won't disclose my new address. They'll know that I'm alive but I need some personal space so I can grow on my own independently. Even then, I still plan on keeping my adventuring career a secret from them because I know they'll never approve, especially my mother. I don't want to concern her unnecessarily.”

The Doctor grins a bit as he says, “This plan is starting to sound more and more like a super hero with a secret identity. By day you may be a mousy librarian, but by night you're conquering another dungeon.”

“Well I'm not a comic book super hero. I'm a real pony!” I express brightly. “That said, though, I plan to sell my stories as an adventurer as if that part of my life is fictional. If everypony thought that, they won't seek out my real family and use them as a hostage against me. This is my life and I'll choose its course independently without endangering others as much as possible.”

“Interesting,” the Doctor expresses with a lift of an eyebrow. “But as an author, you'll still have your name out there. If you get more famous because of that, certain personal information may steadily leak into the public eye. Celebrities do tend to have trouble maintaining their privacy.”

“I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I don't even know how well my would-be books will sell,” I express. “I mainly want some record of me out there so I can be sure I'll be remembered in some form. The journey I take and the lessons I learn may benefit others, too.

“For now, however, I think I'll go with a pen name. Something authentic but less familiar to others.”

“Got any ideas on that front?” the Doctor asks curiously.

“I do have one,” I reply pretty quickly. “And I've been contemplating this for awhile, too. Believe it or not, I even considered this before the start of this journey. You see, I have a middle name that, until now, I've deliberately kept from the public because I had some bad experiences with it while growing up. That name is Yearling.

“However, across this journey, I've faced far worse hardship and now that name feels trivial in comparison. Until now, I've always said my full legal name is 'Agate Y. Keystone', but now I'm thinking of reversing that pattern to, 'A. Yearling K.'”

Both of us are silent for a moment as we both contemplate that. I actually notice a small shade of discomfort from both of us with that declaration.

“Actually, maybe I should change it to, 'A.K. Yearling',” I amend. “That rolls off the tongue better and strays a little further from my true name just to be on the safe side. My readers will probably think 'Yearling' is my last name when it's actually my middle.”

The Doctor nods in agreement as he says, “That sounds better.”

I suddenly give a shrewd look at the Doctor as I ask him, “Since you're a time traveler, do you already have a book of mine on this ship?”

The Doctor briefly closes his eyes as he shakes his head then opens his eyes again at me when he says, “If I do, the only thing I'll say about it is it's up to you what it says in that book. Speaking strictly of the here and now, however, I'm confident you'll find success in whatever you work to achieve. You have that potential for greatness and you always have. We all have that to look forward to as you gradually unveil that potential.”

I smile at him gratefully again as I say, “And I have you to thank for setting me on this path initially.”

“T'was my pleasure, my Lady,” the Doctor expresses with a graceful bow. “I've learned and grown from you too. Teaching has always been something endearing to me, too, but that's always a two-way street. The more I teach, the more I grow, and the more I have to teach the next student.” He whirls a hoof. “On and on the spiral continues.”

I give him a serious expression as I request of him, “By the way, don't forget to swing by and pick up Straight Arrow after dropping me off. He still needs a ride after we left him in the Tuk-Tuk village.”

The Doctor nods in agreement as he says, “I will do that and then some. We still have the Captain and some of his crew back on The Intrepid. Either I'll pick them up too and deliver them to Equestria or I'll go in reverse and deliver more of the crew from the Captain's ship back to him so that they can take their ship vessel to Equestria. In that case I might give them a donation of more coal, too, to further ensure they'll make it back safely.

“I have to say, though, that wasn't part of my original plan. I wanted to go largely unnoticed for the most part in this adventurer rather than revealing myself to be a Time Lord who pilots the TARDIS. However, this time, things got more complicated when the majority of The Intrepid's crew made their own way back to Equestria using a Stargate at an ancient temple.” He shakes his head. “I didn't see that one coming.”

“Isn't that the point of an adventure, though? To face the unknown?” I ask him with a daring grin.

“Well said,” the Doctor replies with a proud grin. He then takes in a deep intake of breath, lets it out, then makes his way to the center console as he says, “Well then . . . as I like to say in my current regeneration cycle, Onwards and Upwards, my friend.”

I pass that same daring grin back to the exit of the TARDIS as I say under my breath, “Another day . . . another dungeon.”

Author's Note

This is the conclusion of Daring's Story for this arc, but there'll be one more chapter after this focusing on her somewhat.

I really hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and thanks for reading it this far. Any comments you have on it is welcome.

Below I got a video that most of you probably have seen. I will admit that the chapter is named after this video too, but also for the content of this chapter itself. I think this fits for being boldly assertive in an adventurous way. Plus, maybe you might remember that Agate, aka Daring and A.K. Yearling, was parkouring through Manehatten as early as chapter two. As such, I think this video fits for an extra reason.

Epilogue WHO ARE YOU!!!

The ape-like purple creature with a white belly, very elongated face and hands on the end of his arm and tail lifted up a glowing opal jewel dramatically above his head which is glowing white but has lots of cracks in it. This seems like a design flaw in the jewel, but it is not. This temple head guard, Ahuizotl, is the leader of this ceremony which is meant to further empower the jewel he has between his hands. He stands on a dais which is in front of a short pyramid which is composed of various steps. Ahead of him is row after row of ponies wearing tribal paint. They are chanting, “Ho, ho, ho-ho-ho” over and over again while pounding the spears they are holding on the ground each time they say the word “ho” and they do it simultaneously.

“Behold, my loyal minions, The Chrono Trigger, otherwise known as The Jewel of Fractured Time!” Ahuizotl announces with dramatic tempo. “With it, we are on the precipice of a brand new era! Armed with this Jewel, not only can it be used as a new gatekey for our Stargate, but it will also allow us to use it to travel through TIME!” he announces with dramatic flair.

The temple guards raise and shake their spears as they cheer.

“With this Jewel in our hands . . . absolutely nothing can stop us! We can travel into the past of Tenochtitlan Valley and erase any of our would-be enemies from existence! Just imagine, with the ability to re-write history, we can reforge ourselves into the greatest empire this world has ever seen!”

Ahuizotl raises the The Chrono Trigger higher proudly. “THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE FACE OF DESTINY IS NOW IN OUR HANDS! ALL WE NEED TO DO IS FURTHER CHARGE IT AND . . .”

Ahuizotl grows annoyed when one of his loyal pony minions tugs at his tail. For this interruption, Ahuizotl roars “WHAT?!” to that minion. The face of that minion flushes in embarrassment but he also holds resolute. With a hoof, he gestures for his master to bend down so the pony can whisper a secret. Still feeling annoyed but now also curious, Ahuizotl bends down to and lifts an ear above and to the side of his head to give this pony closer attention. The minion whispers something into the temple leader's ear. Ahuizotl ends up nodding several times before wincing then turning his very forward elongated face at his minion and says in disgust, “What? That's all you wanted to tell me? You interrupted our sacred ceremony to further empower The Chrono Trigger just to tell me that?”

Ahuizotl stands up straight again and gives his loyal minion a dismissive wave while also saying, “Whoever this intruder is, I'm sure our many temple traps will deal with this pony in short order. I'm sure we have nothing to worry about.”

In response, the minion that tipped off his master about the new intruder simply shrugs.

“Now go away!” Ahuizotl bids as he gives a dismissive gesture with the hand on the end of his tail since it is not currently holding the Jewel. “We need to proceed with the ceremony. It cannot be paused and bothered with trifle matters. Once we finish, the fates of Time itself will be at our command. Until then, however, interruptions and pauses in time is a nuisance.”

As bidden, the temple guard that informed his master of the new threat leaves.

Ahuizotl scoffs one more time as he shakes his long head. “Intruder. Ha! I'm sure that's the last we'll ever hear of that little pony!”

Amazingly and annoyingly, the great temple master Ahuizotl ends up getting interrupted by the same loyal minion several minutes later. It turns out it is for a very similar reason as well. The only difference is adding the report that this new intruder managed to get through the temple traps at the lower floors of this temple.

Still, Ahuizotl shrugs carelessly as he says, “So what? This pony obviously got just a little lucky is all. That hardly matters. Once the intruder meets up with our enchanted stone gargoyles, this will be the last we'll ever hear of the intruder.” Ahuizotl chuckles darkly before he adds, “Whether it is skill or sheer dumb luck that got this pony through the lower floors of our traps, it doesn't matter. Our gargoyles are a little more sentient. If our intruder lacks the correct keystone or passwords to safely bypass our little guardians, they'll lock onto our intruder and never give up until this little pony is dead. We have nothing to worry about.”

The temple guard that updated his master about the threat does not seem as confident. He passes his master a facial expression that remains concerned.

“Now go away!” Ahuizotl bids his minion again. “This is the last time I want to hear of this matter. It shall be cleaned up in short order.”

Reluctantly, the temple guard bows his head and trots off backwards away from his master.

Watching the guard go, a tiny flare of concern ignites in Ahuizotl's eyes. This causes the master to lift a finger with his tail as he bids, “Wait.”

The guard pauses.

The same finger that lifted now points at the guard and says, “Just in case, keep an eye on this intruder. If, and only if this intruder manages to bypass our stone guardians somehow, come back and give me another report even if the ceremony isn't finished yet.”

Feeling more satisfied with the revised order, the temple guard backs off in greater confidence.

“Huh.” Ahuizotl rubs the end of his very elongated face with a finger at the end of his tail. “Who is this intruder, I wonder? Not just any pony can bypass our temple traps that easily. Was this pony tipped off somehow?”

Ahuizotl contemplates this for a moment. It is a disturbing prospect to consider that this intruder has information from a traitor among him. Someone who told this intruder how to bypass the traps on the lower floors. If it turns out that this intruder does indeed have a keystone or knows the password to safely pass his stone gargoyles then he's going to need to question the loyalty of his minions a lot more carefully.

For now Ahuizotl can afford to be patient and he has an important ceremony to resume besides. The fate of the whole world will soon be in his hands. One little thorn in his side can wait just a little longer.

“NOW WHAT?!” Ahuizotl cries in outrage when a blaring bell sound issues throughout the temple. Notably it is a warning system put in place that signals an emergency of some form is currently happening.

The Temple Master notes how his minions in the rows ahead of him have paused their chanting and are looking about in confusion and concern. In the meantime the ceremony has been interrupted yet again! What's even worse than that is it got interrupted during a critical juncture. They have actually lost some progress because of that. A great deal of energy was being channeled into the Jewel but it wasn't sealed yet. If, at any point during that critical moment the flow of energy gets interrupted, then all the energy they invested these past several minutes gets leaked back out. Worse, they have to actually wait for that new energy to fully drain before they can even attempt to refill the Jewel again.

Still holding the Jewel with one hand aloft, Ahuizotl now uses the other to clench into a fist and shake it.

“CURSES!” the Temple Leader cries out. “WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT OUR CEREMONY DURING THIS CRITICAL MOMENT? I'LL BURN AND CRUSH THE ENTRAILS OF WHOMEVER DARED TO DO THIS!!!”

The same temple guard that initially warned his master of the intruder the first few times reluctantly approaches his master.

Ahuizotl's shoulders sags as he exasperates, “Oh, don't tell me!”

The temple guard only answers with a sad nod.

Ahuizotl growls then shouts, “Oh THAT DOES IT! Our progress with this Jewel is interrupted anyway and we need 'time', ironically enough, for it to reset. In the mean'time', I want this intruder DESTROYED once and for all!” Ahuizotl waves outwardly dramatically. “Scatter and find this intruder. I order you to capture and/or kill this intruder for good! This is the absolute last time I will tolerate an interruption from this intruder again.”

As he bade, the remaining amount of his temple guards lift their spears, give a battle cry, then boldly charge out of the room.

Which leaves the Temple Leader mostly alone for the first time in awhile.

“Curses!” he repeats under his breath. “Who is this pony and how is this intruder managing to bypass all of my traps and obstacles? Curses! Have I underestimated this intruder too much? Hmm.” He rubs his chin then narrows his eyes. “Well . . . no more of that. I'll need to prepare some contingencies just in case this intruder gets this far.” He looks at the Jewel in his hands. “Above all, I cannot allow this intruder to steal The Chrono Trigger. I've come too far and come too close to my victory. Soon the world shall be mine for the taking and I shall not let anything stop me.”

Now feeling cautious but also determined, Ahuizotl retreats to the back of this room. He grasps a lever and pulls it down. As a result, a hidden compartment built into the wall slides up. At the same time, a chest on a moving platform slides forward. He hovers a hand over the chest as he wiggles each of his fingers excitedly as if he can't wait to touch the treasure inside this chest. Waiting no further, he touches the jeweled scarab that has its pincers through a loop in the chest. As long as that scarab is in the way, the chest cannot be opened. He pats the wings of the jeweled scarab. In response, it spreads its wings. Ahuizotl presses a finger on its exposed back and whirls it in a circle three times. In response, the wings of the scarab flutters then it opens its pincer and thus falls off the chest. Ahuizotl proceeds to catch the magical lock with one hand then opens the chest. Inside he beholds the chest full of various weapons he can throw. A few of them are even enchanted.

But there is one more item here that catches his eye. He picks up a whistle that is in the shape of a cat. When he blows on it, several more of his loyal minions get summoned but, unlike the rest of his temple guards, these ones are considerably more feline. In total what he summons is a tiger, a cheetah, a lynx, a panther, and a fussy white kitten, the latter of which he scratches under the chin. This causes the kitten to close its eyes, lean into his hand, and purr in pleasure.

Feeling a bit more prepared, Ahuizotl turns back to the main chamber of this room and waits.

A few minutes later, Ahuizotl gets shocked and horrified when only a small handful of his minions make their way back into this chamber then collapse in exhaustion.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Ahuizotl cries in outrage.

“The intruder managed to rig one of our traps against us!” one of his guards informs his master in horror. “We were chasing this pegasus mare across one of our hallways. Then, all of a sudden, she started flying up off the floor just a bit. We didn't know why until we caught up to a certain point and the floor suddenly gave out. The good news is the spike trap at the base of the pit didn't activate for some reason. Maybe the intruder rigged it so that it wouldn't come out for some reason? But the bad news is the majority of your guards got trapped in that pit. We ran back here to inform you and guard this central chamber.”

“IDIOTS! ALL OF YOU! YOU CAN'T EVEN CAPTURE ONE LITTLE PEGASUS MARE? THIS IS PATHETIC!” Ahuizotl roars with limbs shaking in anger.

“We're sorry, Master,” the same pony apologizes. “We did our best and at least some of us came back to warn you.”

Ahuizotl growls in frustration before asking, “How long do you think it will take before this mare reaches our center chamber?”

The guard shakes his head and says, “Honestly, Master, I wouldn't put anything past this mare anymore. Any report I give you might be out of date by the time I finish it.”

As if to agree with that last point, another guard points up with a spear while still lying on the ground and warns loudly, “SHE'S HERE!”

In surprise, Ahuizotl looks up and notices a ledge near the roof of this chamber. There stands a beige colored pegasus mare wearing a double breast pocket green button up shirt. She also has saddlebags off to her side and wears a egg-white pith hat which is currently tilted down enough to conceal her face.

At this moment she is currently standing on an area not normally accessible to anyone but, since she can fly, this isn't a problem for her. Seeing this flaw causes Ahuizotl to reconsider the design of his temple.

Ahuizotl stabs an extremely straight and dramatic, accusing point up at the pegasus mare as he cries out “ YOUUUUUUUUU! WHOOOOOOOO AREEEEEEEEEE YOUUUUUUUUU!?”

The only response the Temple Leader gets is the pegasus mare lifting up the edge of her hat just enough to reveal her daring grin.

Author's Note

In the show canon alone, it's been heavily implied that there are other villains in Daring's adventures, but only two ever got any real focus: Doctor Caballeron and Ahuizotl. This chapter finally gives some focus on the other half of Daring's antagonists, and this one presenting it as their first meeting. This is also the only chapter not in Daring's perspective obviously, but her character arc was concluded in the last chapter. This one simply hammers in her progress one more time while also shifting perspectives enough to show what it is like to be on the receiving end against a seemingly unstoppable force. In the process, had to youthen his fussy "house cat" to "kitten" because these are earlier years.

This story will now go on a hiatus till I complete the next arc. Since 4/2/2024 I am up to 7 chapters in the next arc. Not sure how many will be typed by the time I am done, but I'd like to finish it and edit it a few times before resuming to post it to this story.

Well, I hope you all gained something special from this journey and look forward to hearing from you. Stay tuned.

Trouble In Paradise: Part 1: Necessary Departure

*Knock-knock-knock.

Feeling startled by the knock, especially since he was so engrossed in his writing, Feather Wind whips his head at the entrance of the room and pauses a moment to calm down before he calls out, “Come in.”

The door cracks open and Derpy timidly pokes her muzzle through the entrance and calls within, “I hope I'm not disturbing you.”

Feather Wind grins at her and says, “Actually, you were, but come in anyway.”

Derpy frowns as she pushes the door open the rest of the way using her face then steps inside. As she does so, she says apologetically, “Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't want to disturb you.”

Feather shakes his head at her and proclaims, “No need to apologize. Maybe you have news for me?”

“Um,” Derpy steps a few paces into Feather Wind's room in the TARDIS. She notes how it is dark in here again aside from a few lit candles. There are a bunch of scrolls on his desk. Some of them are rolled up.

At first both of her eyes are focused on this scene, but her left eye lazily drifts away a few seconds later.

“You were busy writing?” Derpy guesses based on her observation here.

“Yeah. Trying to,” Feather replies as he looks back at all the supplies on his desk. “I was hoping to do more of that while we were in Ponyville.” He looks down with a frown. “We originally came to your home village to get a break and recover from our previous adventure before that. Truth be told, I was looking forward to having a little downtime.” He looks back at his desk. “Not only would that give me some time to recover, but it might also give me some time for my writing.” He looks back at her. “We were there for only one day, Derpy. I didn't sleep there even once.”

Derpy frowns again as she says, “Yeah. I know what you mean. I, too, would've appreciated showing you all around my home village some more. It really is a pleasant place.” Her right eye drifts in the same direction as her left as she adds more quietly, “Most of the time.”

“I feel unsettled that we just left Vision there too,” Feather adds. “But your folks did seem nice and we left in a time machine. We can pop back in before she even knows we left.”

“That's true,” Derpy agrees as she looks back at Feather with both eyes, at first, while also wearing a slight smile. “It's still strange for me to think about. Whole adventures could occur in the span of a few seconds potentially. Adventuring with the Doctor in the TARDIS sure opens up my mind to whole new horizons of possibilities.”

A few seconds of silence passes between them before Feather says, “We've arrived at our next destination, haven't we? The one Daring encouraged us to go to?”

Derpy nods with a slight rattling sound as she says, “Apparently, yeah. The Doctor seems convinced that this is the time period that some extinct cure exists for an ailment somewhere in my timeline.”

Feather Wind tilts his head slightly at Derpy when he says, “Since we've come all this way, maybe we should take more than just one sample of this extinct cure and plant it in your native timeline again, or potentially in mine as well. With all of this effort we're making to secure it, it seems a shame to limit ourselves to exactly one sample.” Feather Wind shrugs. “What if this disease comes up again or something else like it? Diseases and viruses have a nasty habit of mutating. To keep up with it, we have to adapt too. Getting and planting another sample would save us the effort of coming back to this timeline to secure it again.”

“I totally agree with you,” agrees Derpy. “One-hundred percent.” She shrugs. “The only thing is we don't know what this sample is that we have to secure or how easy it'll be to secure it. We need at least one. Can we get another? We'll just have to wait and see.”

“If we secure only one sample, maybe Doctor Kelly can replicate it somehow,” Feather muses as he looks back at his desk. “She seems to have access to science and technology far beyond either of our time periods.”

“I haven't thought of that. Great thinking, Feather!” Derpy cheers. “Her or the Doctor. Both of them seem to have access to advanced tech. In the Doctor's case, if he can't do it himself, he might at least be able to go to another place where he can replicate it.”

“Well, since we're here,” Feather ignites his horn with silvery magic. “I better take a few extra scrolls, quills, and ink with me. While the chances of me getting another calm moment to write during this adventure is thinner, I'd have no chance at all if I don't bring any of these supplies. Besides, these might come in hoofy in other ways later on, and I need to bring a saddlebag anyway to store and retrieve my Mist Cloak.”

Derpy approaches Feather and his desk further. Along the way she says in an admiring tone, “I've always admired and envied ponies like you, Feather. Artist who uses words like sculptor sculpting a . . . um . . . a sculptor,” she finishes with a bit of a blush at her own lame description. Despite her embarrassment, she goes on to say, “Those words create an enduring legacy and help capture a moment like taking a picture. Poetry can do that with emotions too. To me, that's magical.”

“I've had many years of practice,” Feather explains as he floats a saddlebag close and starts to float some supplies from his desk and neatly tucks it into his saddlebags. One side in particular. “In the soul of an artist, something builds inside of us and it creates a sort of pressure. We need an occasional outlet to let it out.”

“Taking supplies like this with you on your travels seems like a necessary step, then,” Derpy muses. “One extra layer of preparation you need because you'll never know when a moment of inspiration is going to strike.”

“Exactly!” Feather agrees enthusiastically.

Derpy sits down, closes her eyes, flaps her wings slightly in a cheerful manner and claps her hooves together which sounds like two halves of a coconut bowl being slapped together repeatedly. She also cries out, “Yay!”

Warm joy passes through Feather's system when he hears Derpy cheer like that. Looking at her for a second, he also notices how the tip of Derpy's tongue is sticking out the left side of her mouth just slightly. It seems unlikely to Feather that she is doing that on purpose. It gives her a dopey but also adorable expression.

Then Feather looks forward at nothing as he widens his eyes. The warm feelings that passed through him a moment ago also reminds him that moments like this are the kinds of emotions he needs to capture and store in the Red Crystal. He looks at it hanging on a hook in his room while the Crystal is secure on a necklace. He has the necklace and Crystal float over to him. From there, he pokes his head through the necklace's opening then has it hang on his neck.

“Good idea,” Derpy agrees again. Since she just spoke, her unconscious tip of her tongue sticking out goes back inside fully. “You never know when that might come in hoofy either. You'll need that to capture other good memories.”

“Agreed, and it has a sentient soul in it besides,” Feather Wind adds. “He's been teaching me a few new spells, too. He actually has a whole virtual library in there.”

“Virtual like Doctor Kelly's world?” Derpy wonders.

Feather shakes his head as he says, “It's an entirely mental construct in there so not exactly. Doesn't feel as hollow either.” Then he thinks about it before amending, “Well, in a different way, it is hollow since nopony else is in there. He's got a recreation of the entire Crystal Empire in there but it seems sad and lonely with him being the only resident there.”

“Hmm. I guess I can relate,” Derpy figures. “If I imagine all of Ponyville empty of every soul except for me, I don't think it would feel nearly as warm and friendly. At best it would feel sad and lonely and at worst it might feel downright spooky.” She looks up as she recalls, “Come to think of it, there were a few moments like that in the past where the town seemed empty.” She looks back at Feather with her walleyes. “We used to be spooked by a zebra named Zecora before we got a chance to know her. Back then, whenever she attempted to visit the town, we'd all hide in our homes. It made the town seem abandoned.”

“That's terrible!” Feather says at Derpy with a disapproving frown. “Why was she so mistreated?”

Derpy gives a shy shrug as she explains, “We weren't accustomed to her kind around there back then. We didn't even know what she was. Add to that, there were some nasty rumors spreading about like she was an evil enchantress.”

Feather looks at his desk with a frown but looks back at Derpy when she speaks again.

“Hey! Don't judge us! You don't know what it was like. It might seem easy to you since you have all this high-class education. It isn't like that with small-town folks, though. We can get highly superstitious. Canterlot has way more security anyway, but small towns feel more vulnerable.”

Feather's frowning expression relaxes as he admits, “True. I didn't grow up in such a town so I have no right to judge. If I did grow up in those exact same circumstances, I probably would have reacted the same way.”

Derpy grins as she says, “Funny enough, it was a pony like you that initially opened our minds to broader possibilities. Twilight Sparkle was also a highly educated unicorn wizard from Canterlot.”

“Well, that was bound to happen eventually,” Feather says as he hops off his seat and floats his saddlebags on. “Ponyville really isn't that far from Canterlot.”

“Yeah, but most trained wizards either stay in Canterlot or go somewhere else they perceive needs them more,” Derpy figures. “For some reason they don't tend to go to or stay in an area filled with country bumpkins. Maybe they tend to think we’re beneath them?”

“Their loss, then. Ponyville seemed very pleasant to me for the most part,” Feather says with a soft smile. “And it is so reassuring to me that the future of Equestria, relative to my timeline, is moving forward to such a pleasant state.” He shakes his head slightly. “Sometimes ponies can worry about their personal future, or the future of Equestria at large. To get feedback that the future actually turns out very well really does help me to sleep better at night.” Feather Wind takes a quick but deep breath in and out before adding, “Stern Wing and I both agreed, though, that we'd both do our own parts in our timeline, when we eventually return, to help ensure a time like yours comes to fruition. Just because we saw it doesn't mean it'll occur effortlessly. We each have to do our own parts.”

“Your writing was probably your own contribution,” Derpy figures. “That and all that energy you, and your family, have secretly gathered to help the return of the Crystal Empire.”

“I figured you hadn't read any of my works considering your disability,” says Feather. “You said that to me earlier anyway. I am curious, though, if you have any idea what kinds of ponies do enjoy my work in your time.”

“Poet enthusiasts probably,” Derpy figures. “That, and probably others in high social circles or highly educated at least. Any of those are the types of ponies who tend to read more and are, therefore, more likely to have come across your work.”

Derpy's information makes Feather thoughtful.

“Your work isn't overwhelmingly popular from what I can tell,” Derpy adds. “Not like required reading in school or anything like that. Probably more like others who tend to be into those sorts of things. More than likely, you helped to inspire other poets who then inspired other poets and so on.”

“An endless cycle that started long before me as well,” Feather figures. “Eh. Well.” He shrugs then looks back at Derpy. “Whatever comes, comes. I'll let the future sort itself out and do my part in the meantime.

“In the meantime, the others are probably waiting for us so we should meet up with them.”

“Yes. Let's,” Derpy agrees.

“There you two are,” Stern expresses when Feather Wind and Derpy enter the TARDIS console room along with everyone else that is still aboard this ship. For the moment, that includes Daring Do.

“Sorry. I just needed a few moments to gather my thoughts and some supplies,” Feather explains and apologizes to the group. “I assure you, it had nothing to do with Derpy. She was a good girl and informed me that you all were waiting.”

“What supplies, if you don't mind me asking?” Daring Do checks with Feather Wind as she examines him, and his saddlebags, curiously.

“Well, aside from my Mist Cloak, I also brought some scrolls, quills, and ink,” Feather explains and even floats out a few samples of them for a moment before floating them back into his bag. “I'm a writer, you see, and I like to be prepared just in case inspiration later strikes me during the adventure and there is a safe opportunity to write it down.”

Feather Wind notes that the answer seems to please Daring Do for some reason. The kind of smile she gives him makes him think that she is beholding a kindred spirit.

“Well, anyway, since we're all here,” Doctor Kelly says as she transfers her look from the group at large to the Doctor who is still near the center console. As she looks at him, the stem of her lollipop switches from her right to left side of her mouth. “Where and when are we exactly?”

“Still on the homeworld of the rest of these ponies here,” the Doctor nods to indicate every pony standing in this room aside from himself and Doctor Kelly. “The only difference is the time period. Since you're all aiming for a sample of an extinct cure, we've gone backwards in time. To an ancient age, actually.”

“Same continent as Equestria?” Daring checks with the Doctor. “Also, does Equestria still exist at this time?”

“The answer to both of your questions is no,” the Doctor answers Daring.

“I see,” Daring replies with a very thoughtful and analytical look.

“Check with your monitor at the console,” Stern Wing requests of the Doctor. “It should give us a preliminary look at what is around us. If it's snowing, for example, we'll know to put on warmer gear before we step outside.”

“Sure. I can do that,” the Doctor agrees then knocks on the rail around the console four times. Between that gesture and the look on his face, it indicates to the rest that the Doctor has an important announcement to add. When he notices he has all of their attention, he goes on to say, “But first I'd like to make a very important announcement. For this particular adventure,” he nods in such a way to indicate the exit of the TARDIS with his muzzle, “I shall not be joining you all. Moreover, as soon as you all leave, I will take off to settle a few issues.”

The entire present group regards the Doctor in alarm. Stern Wing just happens to be the first to voice it.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a cloud-kicking minute. You plan on abandoning us in this time period?!” Stern Wing asks incredulously.

“No,” the Doctor replies. “Abandon implies I won't return to reclaim you all. In my case I do plan to come back when you're all done here with your mission.”

“Why are you taking off?” Derpy asks in alarm. “What's so important out there that you have to do this all now?”

“I just think certain issues would be simplified if I go at this alone,” the Doctor explains. “Some of them would otherwise be . . . shall we say? . . . sensitive if I had all of you with me, or even any of you. For example, certain questions I need to ask others and the answer may change, and not in our favor, if I don't ensure that conversation is private. The discussion of state secrets and the like.”

Feather Wind knew enough to know that this group wouldn't normally be considered a burden to the Doctor. The explanation that the Time Lord is going to certain groups to discuss sensitive issues gives him a rough idea what the Doctor is talking about. Still, he feels compelled to request, “Can you give us all more of a clue as to what issues you will be discussing?”

The others present looked at Feather Wind when he asked that question. Upon reflection, they all realized that they agreed with his question then almost simultaneously looked at the Doctor for an answer.

“Timey-wimy stuff,” the Doctor answers. “For one thing,” he looks at then nods to indicate Doctor Kelly. “When we first met, you told me that you found certain clues in the annals of history which indicated that the two of us might meet. By telling me that, it also informed me that you were an important pony and I'd need to pay attention to you carefully. Back then, I didn't know that I'd later do any of that yet, but thanks to your tip, that's been on my to-do list ever since. I'd like a chance to check it off the list at least partially.”

“Well . . . that I understand,” Doctor Kelly says with a nod to the Doctor. “But you can just pop in and out of this time period a few seconds apart. Who else are you trying to meet that might go unfavorably if any of us are there?”

The Doctor sweeps a scan among every pony here as he says, “Let's just say I plan to build a little more momentum with the Knights of the Hourglass. I'm playing 4-D chess here and it's time I started making more moves on a few of the other boards.”

As soon as the Doctor says that, Daring Do widens her eyes in astonished recognition when she realizes that one of the members the Doctor plans to recruit is her own past self. Feeling anxiously curious, she gives the Doctor an earnest, questioning look and hopes he's smart enough to realize what she's silently asking.

In response, the Doctor meets her gaze and gives Daring a very subtle nod that every other pony, other than Feather Wind, missed. Feather Wind also notices how the answer gives Daring a very deep look of realization and contemplation.

For Daring's part, she has mixed feelings about that announcement. On the one hand, she knows how important it is for the Doctor to do this. She wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for what he's about to do with her past self, nor would any of her other adventures likely occur either. She owes him a lot for that action.

But on the other hand, she was also looking forward to finally joining the Doctor on more even footing since she finally feels, more or less, ready. Daring has been very stubborn about doing her adventures alone for years but three things have changed since she last met the Doctor.

For one, she has gathered much more experience as well as feeling considerably more confident in herself and her skills. At this point partnerships aren't likely to hurt that. If anything, gathering more alliances is far more likely to make her stronger thanks to the extra resources those useful allies could provide.

For two, Daring recently encountered another adventure that she would have failed if it weren't for the stubborn help of a certain rainbow-maned fan of hers. That adventure taught Daring that independence has been pushed too far. That, and it felt nice to get further proof that there are indeed others trustworthy on both a technical and moral front. She promised that she'd remain open-minded to that possibility and it finally happened recently.

And for three, Daring isn't the only one who has been improving over the years. Some of the antagonists Daring has faced have a team of their own. As the bad guys' teamwork gradually gets better with each encounter they have against her, it causes Daring to realize she's gradually playing a losing strategy if she sticks to her independence too strictly. Even if it is only two against one, then her enemies are still capable of twice as many actions per second than she can pull off.

Considering all of that, it's such a shame, to her, that the Doctor is backing off now just when she finally feels closer to being his equal. At least equal enough not to feel lost or dependent in his shadow.

“Given the fact that Daring is a guest in this adventure, that she is a professional adventurer too, that she knows history well and the fact that this adventure is her personal request, I'm leaving her in charge of this mission if there are no objections,” the Doctor proposes.

“I object,” Stern Wing says immediately to the Doctor. She then looks at and gives Daring a respectful nod as she adds, “I'm not objecting to your personal leadership. You seem to have some brass in your spine and steel in your nerves. You'd likely do fine in the context of this mission even if you,” she looks back at the Doctor and goes on to say, “choose to join us, Doctor. It's your departure that I'm objecting too. If none of us are there to protect you, then the next disaster you suffer may have dire consequences. We need you, Doctor, likely far more than we know. Maybe the whole universe needs you more than we know. And besides, if you die out there while you are away, then that leaves us stranded in this time period. I don't think any of us would want that no matter how pleasant this world and time period is. We have goals of our own too, you know. Things that we have to do.”

The Doctor lifts a hoof as he says, “A perfectly reasonable concern, I'll admit, but please have some faith in me as I have with all of you. That's why you're all standing here on my ship. I trust you all with my life.” Using the same hoof that he originally raised in objection, the Doctor now tightens his green necktie as he continues. “Believe me, I've been traveling through time and space for many centuries now and I know my limits very well. I'm not throwing a random course in the TARDIS this time. Instead, I have very focused objectives and plans of action. I even know the exact sequence I plan to accomplish each of these objectives. Of course the details will vary depending on what I encounter. Plans can only get one so far, but in this case I'm asking you to trust me and the fact that I have a solid plan this time. In the end, it'll only serve to our benefit. We need these allies in place for us to fulfill our own missions. If I don't, then it'll be my enemies who will gradually gain more and more of a lead.

“Trust me, I'm well aware what the stakes are. My friends, and everyone in the universe, needs to have its innocence protected. You all know me and what I stand for. Please believe in me.”

“Is anything you're about to do could help us gain some leads on the kidnapped Alphalmians too?” Feather Wind checks with the Doctor.

“The what now?” Daring asks Feather in confusion.

“I'll explain the details later if you wish,” Feather offers to Daring. “Long story short, some aquatic aliens were captured from an innocent world and the Doctor promised one of its leaders that he'd help to return those that were stolen from that world. So far we haven't returned any and we even suffered an ambush with one of our most promising and recent leads. That's why we were later in Ponyville. We were trying to recover from that emotional blow.”

“Oh. I see,” Daring says with an accepting, understanding, and also sympathetic nod.

“It just might,” the Doctor answers Feather Wind. “With extra allies joining our cause in the fringes, some of which may invite others too, this gradually expands our network of allies, resources, and information. I'm not going to lie; it may add to our 'to-do' list too since they're aware of other problems that need to be addressed, but still. In the long run this will be a boon.”

“With a time machine on your hooves, time becomes very subjective,” Daring Do realizes. “Those kidnapped aquatic aliens you're all talking about might not suffer more than a few seconds of absence from their home world if the Doctor approaches the situation from a very prepared stance.”

“That is always where I am at my strongest,” the Doctor agrees with Daring. “Typically the first phase I go through is gathering information. That includes the realization that there even is a problem to solve. As I continue to steadily gather more information, a plan of action gradually gathers into sharper focus.” He waves a hoof in the air. “That includes putting forward initiative that will help me gather more intel later and/or put a plan into action.”

Daring gains a worried frown as she says, “Well, alright then. All of that sounds perfectly fine except . . . Doctor, I don't have much experience in teams at all right now let alone leadership. You may wish to consider nominating another here. Or, better yet, join us yourself.”

“I'm aware that you don't have much experience with this,” the Doctor concurs with Daring. “Nor do they have any experience traveling in a time/space adventure without me. You see,” he points at Daring, “right there is the problem and the solution is simple. Believe me, I'll be monitoring you all closely enough to realize you'll need my help if it ever comes to it, but for now I think this will be a valuable experience to you all to know that you can rely on yourselves and each other if need be. That I don't always have to be beside you to ensure your success. For other reasons, perhaps I'll be unable to help you in the future. I need you all to know, right now, that if and when that ever occurs, you'll still be fine because you can still rely on each other.” When he says that, he brings his fore hooves together while also leaning on the rail for support.

Stern Wing grunts and says, “Eh . . . I suppose you have a point. Are you sure you'll still be monitoring us?”

“Absolutely,” the Doctor vows then lifts a hoof. “I swear that I will appear when you need me.”

Stern Wing shakes her head as she says, “I still don't like this because we can't monitor and/or go after you if you're in trouble. We don't have access to our own time machine.”

“I think you'll all be surprised what you're capable of when the need arises,” the Doctor proclaims with a shrewd look to the group. “Don't count anything out yet. You may still find the resources you need to come after me during your adventures if need be.” He waves behind him. “One of the very reasons I'm taking off now is to help us gather more allies. Allies who are also prepared to travel through time and space or at least monitor it. Help them with their problems and they should be able to return the favor.”

“Like me with my problem right now,” Daring brings up as an example. “If I don't get the help I need with my current problem then the disease I've been talking about will spread with no way to halt it.”

“That's not a future I'd want to see,” Feather Wind agrees then focuses on Stern Wing. “We promised each other that we'd do whatever we could to help ensure a brighter future. That includes traveling through time and doing whatever we can.”

“Agreed,” Stern Wing concurs with a firm nod of her head. “Past and future don't really matter to me. I'll only deal with the issues that are right in front of me, and right now that includes Daring Do and her noble mission. I'm proudly willing to help her with that objective regardless.”

“Me too,” Derpy chimes in. “Since Vision isn't with us this time either, I don't have to babysit her so I'm free to join all of you this time.”

“As for me, I am a medical doctor,” Doctor Kelly announces. “I made a sacred vow a long time ago that I'd do whatever I can to improve the health of others. Plus,” she looks at Daring Do, “I'm interested to at least scan this would-be extinct medical cure on your world. Perhaps I can synthesize a suitable replacement for it in preparation against whatever ailment that has you concerned this time or any other in the future. For the sake of scientific discovery, I'm also interested in the medical techniques of my ancestors. Who knows? Maybe some of those methods are actually better than the ones I have in my home world. As a scientist and serious medical practitioner, I must always endeavor to be curious and active towards any potential improvements to this sacred art. As such, I proudly declare that you can count me in on this mission.”

“In fact, you might find Doctor Kelly a worthy second-in-command for this mission,” the Doctor recommends to Daring Do. “She has a lot of experience, knowledge, and a good head on her shoulders. Her motives are also trustworthy, especially in this case since medical issues are involved.”

Daring Do nods at the Doctor as she says, “Noted . . . and I trust you to your mission as well. Whatever it is you plan to do,” she pauses a moment as she grows a grateful smile. “I just want to say . . . thanks.”

There is a sudden deep knowing look in the Doctor's eyes and smile towards Daring Do. He nods at her as he says, “You're most certainly welcome, Milady.”

Part 2: Trouble in Paradise

It feels unreal for the TARDIS crew to watch the TARDIS fade away with the Doctor inside. Despite his declaration and explanation, it still feels like the Doctor might be bluffing until the TARDIS fully fades away. Only after they continue to stare into the empty space and realize he's not coming back soon did their new reality more fully sink in.

“Well . . . this is a new one,” Stern Wing proclaims with a stunned blink.

“You have to admit the Doctor has a good point, though,” Feather Wind brings up. “He doesn't want mindless automatons with him, he wants friends and companions who can think for themselves.” He gazes among those gathered here. “If we become stronger simply by learning we don't always have to rely on the Doctor being here all the time, then we're more useful to him and to each other.”

“Vision isn't here this time,” Derpy reminds the group. “That's both a good and bad thing. Good because it means her health isn't at risk. Also nopony has to remain behind to watch her.”

“One of my drones could have been suited for that task,” Doctor Kelly also reminds.

“Yeah, but a personal touch is still better,” Derpy argues. “We haven't set up the teleport circle thing yet either. If the drone did detect a problem, we might not be back soon enough to take care of the issue anyway.”

Doctor Kelly nods as she says, “True, but the Doctor promised to address that issue this time. He might be able to solve it before our next adventure.”

Derpy sighs then goes on to say, “Well, anyway, Vision's absence is also a bad thing because we won't receive any forewarning about any disaster. She saved your lives,” she says as she scans between Feather and Stern, “back on Water World. We don't have that safety net this time so . . .”

“I see your point,” Stern Wing acknowledges. “That said, not much has changed in terms of our raw strategy. I did my best during that adventure and I intend to do no less during this one. Honestly, I think our biggest difference here is the Doctor's absence and the presence of Daring here instead.”

Hearing her name mentioned returns Daring's attention to the conversation. Until then, she was observing the fact that their local environment is some kind of cave filled with many various colored crystals spiking out of the cave walls, floor, and ceiling. Just about all of these crystals are glowing, too, which is proof positive that magical energy in the local environment is intense here. There are many crystals growing in various places back in Equestria too, but it's rare to see even a few holding a natural enchantment. Here, however, all the ones she can spot are glowing which means magic here must be very intense.

But when her name is mentioned, Daring is reminded, with a bit of a blush, that she isn't alone in this adventure. Not only that, but the Doctor actually left her in charge of this group! It's mind boggling for her to think she was only recently open to the idea of traveling in groups for her adventures, but to be in charge of one too? That's a significantly higher responsibility than she felt prepared for.

Daring is starting to think the Doctor is taking perverse pleasure in pushing her out of her comfort zone. After all, he really didn't have to leave. She can understand that there are other tasks he can do that are important, but he could have returned with the TARDIS seconds later unless he was killed in the detour, and even then, it could only mean he might return with a different face.

However, the fact he declared he shall deliberately not return until this adventure is done means leaving is entirely the point. In her last adventure with him, he encouraged her to grow through his presence. This time it seems he intends to push her potential, as well as the rest of his companions, specifically with his absence.

“Without him or the TARDIS, we're stranded wherever and whenever we are,” Stern Wing brings up. “I don't think I'm being unreasonable when I declare that I find that fact unnerving.”

“There might be an extra reason for his confidence in us with this adventure,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “Remember, he travels through time and that includes an era ahead of this one. He might already have some evidence that we'll accomplish whatever we're meant to do here.”

“I'm not dismissing your point because you might be right in this case,” Feather counters to Doctor Kelly, “but he also said many times that most time periods aren't fixed. Because of that, seeing evidence of success in one reality doesn't guarantee it in all of them.” He tilts his head to indicate Stern Wing beside him. “So I'm with Stern Wing on this one. Our primary strategy hasn't changed. We do our best in this adventure and don't rest on our laurels. In other words; let's not take anything for granted.”

Feather Wind shifts his gaze to Daring then asks her, “All that said, what do you think we should do now? He did leave you in charge.”

“Yeah. Right. He did,” Daring agrees with a flush of embarrassment because being in charge of an adventuring group is far outside her past experience. In fact, this has never happened to her before.

One thing about her present situation that does comfort her, however, is the fact she is certain she can trust this group not to be deliberately treacherous. Whether they can handle what they'll face is still in question, but the Doctor hand picked this group himself and he seems to be an overwhelmingly good judge of character. As such, Daring can feel certain that their hearts will be in the right place at the very least so that's one major concern off the table for her.

“I think, for now, a tactical assessment of our situation is in order,” Daring brings up when she forcefully gathers her confidence. “With any adventure, we need to have as much awareness of our situation and environment as possible. I'm pretty sure the Doctor would agree with me.”

“Well, you are a professional adventurer!” Derpy says cheerfully. There's also a hint of relief in her voice.

“Since you bring that up,” Doctor Kelly says with a slight nod to Daring, “I think I need to mention that my race comes from the distant future ahead of all the rest of you so far, and I'm a historian too. Moreover, my race grew up in an environment thick with magical energy and, as such, we have become extra sensitive to it. This means my race, known to my herd as the Magi, can naturally feel the presence of magic.”

“Since they have also learned to cast magic in extremely refined ways as well, they have also learned to downright communicate with magical energy alone,” Feather Wind brings up with a fascinated voice. “As long as they use it to project magic at others equally sensitive and that individual learns to differentiate what those signals mean, then it effectively is very similar to telepathy insofar as it is also wordless communication.”

“That is fascinating,” says Daring, “but I think the more pertinent point here is your ability to naturally detect magic.” Daring focuses on Doctor Kelly. “So what are you detecting now?”

Doctor Kelly briefly nods to Daring as she says, “That is the point I was coming to. I wanted to inform you all that, like my home, this area is very thick of magic as well. However,” she scans about with a discerning look, “something about it is also different. Since I can't put my hoof on it yet, I'm going to have my drones spread out and start scanning some samples here. Once I gather that data, I'll analyze it and give you a more refined answer to that question.”

“While you do that, I have some information to share as well,” Feather Wind brings up which draws Daring's attention to him. “In a way, I can naturally detect the presence of magic too but I think my method is different compared to Doctor Kelly here. Because of the environment her race grew up in, their bodies have become super sensitive to magic. In contrast, my talent is more an extension of soul and my cutie mark.” Feather focuses on Daring's eyes. “I have a strong bond with the air and sky, you see, and it communicates with me on some inexplicable level. For me, I merely have to breathe in the air and it sometimes has a message for me. In this case, I detect the thick magic too, but something more as well. I also detect the mood and spirit of the air as well.”

“Which is?” Daring asks curiously almost to the point of being anxious.

Feather Wind closes his eyes and breathes in deep several times before he answers in a very calm voice, “Calm. Still. Extremely strong harmony. Joy. Love.”

“Oh!” Derpy says in delight. “That doesn't sound so bad.”

Feather Wind slowly opens his eyes and seems to be a bit dazed as he says, “Now this place, unlike Doctor Kelly's home world, might be true paradise because, this time, this energy isn't simulated. It's real. It's alive! It is charged with very colorful and vibrant energy.” He tilts his head a bit. “Despite that, the energy is moving very slowly too, at least in this local environment.” He scans about. “I think what I'm detecting is the energy in the immediate vicinity. Specifically this cave in particular.” He looks back at Daring. “Any area with heavy earth energy tends to be that way. Very slow and deliberate.”

Feather then looks at Doctor Kelly as he says to her, “I'm sorry if you're offended about my opinion of your home world, but for me personally, it feels like a hollow paradise.”

Doctor Kelly lifts an objecting hoof at Feather Wind while shaking her head and says, “I'm not offended with your opinion about my home world at all. In a small way I even agree. Why do you think I left it?”

“Scientific curiosity,” Feather Wind immediately answers. “You said so yourself.”

“True,” Doctor Kelly says with a nod of agreement. “Aside from that, I respect that your opinion is your opinion. I take no personal offense to that fact. Remember, as a professional psychologist and scientist, I have been trained to detach myself from personal matters. As such, I know how to keep a cool and level head.”

“Good,” Daring says to Doctor Kelly. “That'll come in hoofy. In any would-be adventure, it is very important to keep a calm and level head. In your case, if any of us start to stray from that, you have the skills to put us back on track provided you have the time to do so.”

“I said as much when I first joined this team,” Doctor Kelly informs Daring. “The physical and mental health of the whole team here is very important to me, and I'd like to do regular check-ups with that periodically whenever possible.”

“This place is so very pretty!” Derpy marvels as she gazes around at the cave they are in with wonder. “The lights, the crystals, the warm feeling in the air . . . I could be comfortable here forever!”

“And therein lies one of the dangers of true paradise,” Stern Wing says cautiously as she gives a shrewd and narrow-eyed look at Derpy. “We can't allow ourselves to be too content in such places unless we really intend to spend eternity here.” She looks over at Daring Do. “But we came here with a mission and I suggest we keep that in mind. Let's trek on and expand our perimeter search. To that end,” she nods towards the nearby exit of the cave which is spilling in so much light beyond, none of the ponies here can see what is beyond yet. “I suggest we expand our search in that direction in particular.”

“Good idea,” Daring agrees. “I'd like to check this cave just a little bit longer and verify if it really is a dead end or not. If it is, then we'll continue our journey by exploring what is outside of this cave.” She looks at Doctor Kelly. “I'm not certain what you mean by the term 'drones'. I heard of the word but I get the feeling you have something else in mind.”

“I have a link with artificial devices that are flying, multi-purpose tools,” Doctor Kelly explains as she has one of them float nearby to reveal itself. When she does, Daring sees a small mirror-like hovering sphere. It splits apart to reveal some kind of glowing red dot in the center. “With it,” the doctor goes on to explain, “I can accomplish various tasks such as scanning this place. When I do, I'll gather lots of technical data which might come in hoofy now and/or later.”

“Interesting device,” Daring says as she regards it with one eye squinted with semi-confusion. “So, ah . . . how long will your scans take approximately?”

“Probably just a few minutes,” Doctor Kelly answers. “With more time I might be able to come up with more detailed information, but eventually what I can gather with these things will plateau.”

“Continue with your work, then, while the rest of us check out this place as well,” Daring declares. “We'll spread out and search this area before expanding our search towards the exit of this cave. At all times, however, I want each of us to maintain line of sight with at least one other member of our party. Understood? Also, if any of you do find something noteworthy, I'd like a report on that immediately.”

The rest of the group agreed then spread out to do as ordered.

When the group does venture to explore the exit and entrance to this cave, they behold a marvelous sight beyond anything any of them could imagine or experienced before. In addition to the sun in the sky, rivers of rainbow energy dance in the sky and cascade prismatic light to everything down below. Not only that, but many plants, animals, and even minerals cast their own light as well which is bright enough to stand out even in the daylight. Just like back in the cave, there are lots of various colored and glowing crystals spread across this landscape. Some of them had very distinctive shapes to them too as if to represent a tree, for example.

It isn't just the sight of this area that amazes them but every other sense as well. The air has a natural perfume-like quality, probably because of the many glowing flowers across this landscape. The temperature is absolutely ideal for all of them. Humming music also hangs in the air with a soothing and joyous melody.

“Beautiful!” Derpy marvels with a gasp of wonder.

“This certainly beats the claustrophobic and steam-mechanized hallways of the Klaxian ship. That's for sure,” Stern Wing says with a raise of an eyebrow. “When I agreed to join the Doctor on his adventures, I have to admit I didn't expect to ever come across something like this.”

“The energy has changed, too, at least out here,” Feather Wind reports. “Like the cave, I sense deep joy and harmony in the air. Out here, however, it is far more active. It swims through the air with intense motion. Um.”

Feather Wind looks up and studies the apparent aurora borealis that is so bright in the sky, it actually stands out even in the daylight. As such, it bathes the entire landscape with a pattern of whirling and prismatic shifting colors.

After about fifteen seconds, he nods at the swimming energy above with his muzzle then reports, “The energy pattern you see above is pretty much what I sense down below as well. It's shifting and cascading at the same rate.”

Stern Wing squints as she says, “This seems like the last place that would ever need an active hero.”

“On the other hoof, it might be among the most ideal to have a miraculous cure that is later extinct,” Doctor Kelly points out. “I say we count our blessings. Our journey here might not only be safe, but downright pleasant. Still, we should keep in mind why we've come here and not get too distracted.”

“A venus fly trap seemed pleasant to a fly at first, too,” Stern Wing cautions. “I caution you all not to drop your guard. No matter how pleasant a flower might seem, it might also be hiding some deadly thorns.”

“Normally I'd agree, and in a way I still do,” Feather brings up, “but the degree of harmonic energy I sense in the air is so intense, it's as if conflict never existed here. Not even once. All things that exist cast off energy that gets imprinted in the air. For the air to feel this pure means something far more intense than we have ever encountered before. Every creature and plant here grew up with this intensive joy and harmony so strong, that influence would cause them to never even consider harming another. In that regard, we are the odd ones out. The dark and corrupt aliens from the future that don't really belong here simply because we're capable of conceiving the mere concept of conflict to any degree.

“I do, however, agree that we should keep our guard up nevertheless. It's always possible harmonic energy even this intense might be hiding something sinister.”

“Or accidentally harmful,” Doctor Kelly points out. “Every flora and fauna here might have a disease that they are all immune to. Put displaced aliens here, however, and it might be a different story in both ways. Just because something doesn't intend us harm doesn't mean it isn't capable of it anyway. All it would take is for us to stumble in a pothole or the like, so I agree that we should remain alert and aware of our environment no matter how hospitable it appears.”

“I, too, have studied history,” Feather Wind announces. “But in all of my readings, I never came across anything like this before.” He looks at Daring Do beside him and says, “The Doctor assured us that this is our world but in an earlier time period. Have you ever come across anything like this before? Do you know where and when we are?”

“No,” Daring Do answers. “I am not sure, but I think this is another continent I've explored just a few times before. If it is, it seems to have changed a lot. Then again, I didn't explore that entire continent before in my time.”

“Then we're all in very unfamiliar territory,” Feather reasons. “Any suggestions for us to start with?”

“I have one,” Stern Wing brings up. “Several, actually.” She focuses on her small, sky blue unicorn friend. “You can communicate with the wind and air, right? I remember one time such a thing tried to download the entire planet's history into you.”

“Wow! Really?” Daring asks Stern Wing then looks at Feather Wind with a surprised blink. “What was that like?”

“Overwhelming at first,” Feather answers Daring. “But over time I noticed a lot of what it reported was the same thing over and over again so it was easier for my brain to process. It just reported the weather across all of its eras and mostly in big picture context.”

“In this case, I wonder if you can inquire for specific details,” Stern Wing muses. “Could you ask where the cure we seek lies? Or any clue thereof?”

Feather Wind winces at Stern Wing as he says, “I can try, but the perception of elemental spirits, like the air, has a vastly different perception of the world than we mortals do. Largely what they notice is whatever falls within their purview. If we sought a forest fire, for example, I'm more likely to get a precise answer because such a fire would cause lots of smoke to rise in the air and that is a change in their environment strong enough for them to notice. On the other hoof, this cure would likely go entirely beyond their notice unless it affects the wind and sky to some significant degree.”

“If the cure is a plant or animal, it normally breathes,” Doctor Kelly brings up. “So that affects the wind and sky.”

“So does an ant,” Feather retorts to Doctor Kelly. “Think you can find a specific one because of that fact alone?”

“No, but I'm not a wind spirit,” Doctor Kelly replies evenly. “I have no clue what falls under their perception, and it might even be different from world to world or even the same world but different time periods. It’s still worth asking.”

Stern Wing knocks on the side of her head three times as she proposes, “The other suggestion I have I'm a little wary to propose but, strangely enough, all of us in this party can fly to some degree. Even you, Doctor,” she adds as she looks at Doctor Kelly. “I saw you float off the ground with those force constructs of yours. I don't know how high, far, or fast you can travel with those means however.”

“That might actually be something worth testing,” Doctor Kelly says with an interested tone. “Because the answer might actually change from world to world. The method I use to cast magic might differ from unicorns of your various eras, but the fact remains I recharge my magic depending on the strength of magic in the area. Here it's very strong so that might affect my spells accordingly. Even if it doesn't, it at least affects how fast I recharge my magic. In this case, I sense I would recharge my magic very fast indeed.”

“With really clean and positively charged energy, too,” Feather Wind adds. “The energy here is so outrageously positive, I wouldn't be surprised if even our bodies would regenerate quickly from any scrapes and bruises. Here, we might even have significantly longer lifespans so long as we spend that extra time entirely here.”

“That's not our plan but good to know for several reasons anyway if true,” Daring Do notes. “If we indeed heal fast in this place, then so does anything else we might encounter. If they just happen to be hostile, it could end up a very long fight indeed. Plus, if this place could expand our lifespan here, then the lifespan of that which we encounter could potentially be long indeed too. So, if it is an opponent, it could be an individual with a great deal of experience on how to be effectively hostile. The only thing that conflicts with that fact is that this place naturally encourages everypony to be super friendly.”

“There can be some drawbacks to that too,” Stern Wing brings up. “For example, with any society that is so friendly that they are not used to conflict at all, they'd be especially unprepared for it in the rare times it does show up. We could potentially find ourselves surrounded by many innocent beings who have no idea how to save themselves from danger during the very rare times it shows up. Let's keep that in mind too.”

“I've actually read something like that by scholars who made that same argument about the naturally peaceful lifestyle of Equestria,” Feather Wind announces. “That most of our society, too, wouldn't know what to do during the rare times true danger is involved.” He then looks at Daring Do. “The only exception to that rule is any pony who specifically has a cutie mark involving the ability to meet and confront danger to some degree.”

The group is silent for a moment, broken first by Stern Wing.

“Anyway, the reason I made that proposal about our ability to fly earlier is it could make for effective aerial reconnaissance. We could either fly together and explore a large amount of territory or split up and multiply the information we gather even further.”

“I don't think we should split apart this early in the journey,” Daring Do says with an uncomfortable squint. “This place seems unusually nice but we just got here. If any of us does run into trouble, I'd prefer if that pony isn't alone. If that option becomes more necessary later on, however, then I'll keep it in mind.”

“I could send my drones out right now and accomplish the same thing,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “I can even make them invisible so as not to disturb any life form here. If and when we have a later need for them, I can call them back. By then, they may have more data to report.”

Daring Do almost says something but Stern Wing beat her to it.

“For the moment, I agree with your assessment,” Stern says directly to Daring Do. “It's a little too early to split up. If any of us encounters trouble, I think we'd be more prepared for it if we stick together.”

“If trouble you seek, then Trouble you'll find,” suddenly announces an ominous and mysterious disembodied voice that echoes around them a bit. “Whenever you do, you'll be in a bind.”

This announcement puts them all on sudden alert. In Derpy's case she's quite frightened too. The voice they just heard was such a stark contrast to all the peaceful energy that surrounds them which makes it even more negatively surprising.

“Who's there?!” Daring Do calls out as she sinks into a ready battle stance. She also scans about herself very vigilantly. The others do too, but in Doctor Kelly's case, she has her drones secretly assist her with that. “Show yourself!”

Unnervingly, the response Daring gets is just an insidious laughter. It continues to echo too which displaces the voice’s true position. It seems to surround them instead.

“Everypony, stay close!” Daring orders while remaining on high alert. “Keep your eyes peeled too. Kelly and Feather, do you sense any unusual magic nearby us? Something that might help to explain this?”

“Five little ponies who are out of place,” announces the mysterious individual again. “Little would most realize that they traveled from space. Far they have come, and desperate is their stride. They have arrived, to this time, without their usual guide. With their resources, they have brought some; while nary they realize that Chaos has come!”

While in another fit of maniacal laughter, finally a visible target starts to appear. A creature starts to materialize in front of them in much the same way the TARDIS would except this creature lacks that vehicle's usual sound effects and it is considerably smaller. What does appear seems to be a very strange creature indeed. At first it looks like a cat, but as it solidifies more, they gradually realize it is more like an amalgamation of various creature parts. The face is very feline-like which includes cat-like ears above its head. However its eyes are overly large and it seems crazed. Just like a cat, it has vertical slits for eyes. It is also heterochromic in a highly unusual way. Not only is the color of its iris's different colors, but so too is what would normally be the whites of its eyes. Those eyes also glow and keep shifting colors, but those colors are always mismatched compared to the other eye. Its eyes are very naturally hypnotic to behold.

The torso and limbs of this creature is lizard-like. An iguana is the closest comparison, especially given its size. It even has spines off the spine of its back. Its tail ends with the head of a snake complete with its own mouth. The claws in each of its paws are unusually long, too. They stick out about three inches beyond each of its paws. Closer examination would reveal the exact length of each of its claws is always off by at least a few centimeters.

This creature just floats off the ground in front of them but seems to be laying on something invisible. Whatever it is, its fore claws hang over the forward edge of this invisible thing while its snake tail swishes lazily down the other end.

“Hello, my new friends. I have come to play!” greets the chilling creature. “I seek entertainment on this most auspicious day.”

“And you think we are out of place?” Stern Wing challenges it. “Ever look into a mirror recently?”

The large, hypnotically shifting colored lighted eyes of the creature widen even further as it says in delight, “What a wonderful idea you have brought unto me. I'll happily acquiesce with a sense of glee.”

Then, mysteriously, a hand-sized mirror just fades into existence then hovers beside the creature who then regards it with a vain expression on its face. To the mirror, it says, “Hello there handsome. Glad tidings and well met. Surprising, you are, is my usual bet.”

“What do you want with us?” asks Derpy in a very frightened way. The gray pegasus mare is visibly shaking so much that some nearby her can feel it without even looking at her.

“Motion to this story, come what may,” the creature says as the highly unusual looking thing looks back at them. “Excitement I seek on the eve of this day. As you continue your travels, our meeting shall repeat. Onward with you till our journey's complete. Until then, I shall be counting our days. Forever you shall be in my gaze!”

Suddenly the creature rushes at them which greatly startles them. At the last millisecond it curves and whirls around them instead. It creates a brief and tiny tornado around them that whirles with leaves and magical sparkles. As it continues, though, the creature eventually vanishes and the tornado dies seconds later. While all of that happened, it laughed maniacally again. When the creature and tornado faded, so did the echo of its laughter.

The group remains still and stunned into silence till eventually Stern Wing is the first to break it.

“What in Celestia's name was THAT monstrosity?!”

“I'm not exactly sure, but I do have a guess,” announces Daring Do.

“I'm all ears,” Stern Wing says immediately and with an insistent tone.

“If I had to guess, I think we just encountered a draconequus,” Daring Do figures.

“You mean Discord?” Derpy querries curiously.

Daring Do shakes her head as she says, “No. Well . . . I doubt it anyway. I think that thing was a draconequus but not Discord. This is another individual of the same race.” Daring stands up straight now. “Until now, I had wondered if the name of his 'race' was a moot point if Discord is, and always was, the only member of it, but it now seems there might have been other members of his race . . . at least at one time.” She scans about the horizon carefully. “And it's either highly ironic or appropriate that a spirit of Chaos and Disharmony appears in a time and place where harmony has never been higher that I know of.”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa. Time out here,” Stern Wing requests as she crosses her wings into an X pattern in front of her for a second before lowering and refolding her wings. “Just because you say the name 'draconequus' doesn't mean it is a fair explanation. I have never encountered a name like that before and I have no idea what it means.”

“I'm sorry.” Daring Do turns to face the others. “You're right. Some of this knowledge relies upon encounters more native to my time as well as Derpy's. From that time, we, unfortunately, encountered an entity that exists outside the bounds of normal space/time. It claims to be a creature of Chaos and Disharmony and it can easily evoke it because it seems to have the ability to change anything in reality as it sees fit.”

Feather Wind and Stern Wing look stunned at that announcement. Doctor Kelly narrows her eyes a bit at Daring Do while continuing to suck on her lollipop. Eventually Stern speaks up by saying, “You're kidding . . . right?”

“If only I was,” Daring says grimly. “This creature that I spoke of, calling himself Discord, was a threat that was dealt with by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna many centuries ago. It was frozen in stone and-”

“WHOA!” Feather Wind interrupts with an exclamation of shock. “Wait a second. I think I saw that statue you speak of!”

“Really?” Stern asks her short-stature friend. “This is the first I heard of it.”

“Then you haven't been to the Canterlot Gardens like I have,” Feather says back to Stern. “Plus I read about this creature.” He looks back at Daring. “But it was in a book of myths and legends. Are you saying that that statue is a real creature?”

“Was a statue in my time,” Daring answers. “When that changed, he brought with him . . . well . . . chaos and disharmony as promised.” Daring turns her head about with a thoughtful look. “This creature, however, I sense is different. It might be the same species but I think this one is much weaker. It is also much smaller.”

“I can vouch for that,” Feather Wind agrees. “As I said, I saw Discord's statue.”

Stern Wing passes a discerning look from Feather to Daring as she asks, “Are you sure it is weaker? And what makes you think so?”

“No, I'm not sure,” Daring says as she looks back at her friends. “It's just a hunch.” She points at Stern. “But even if I'm right, it shouldn't be underestimated. Just because it only has the power to turn our heads into watermelons instead of an entire mountain into a giant watermelon doesn't mean we should relax around it, for if our heads did indeed transform into such a fruit then . . . Well. Let's just say it might be hard to think in our usual way. Such an act might even outright kill us.”

“Wow. That's just what we need!” Stern Wing growls sarcastically. “I told you all these roses of this time might hide thorns!”

Although still shaking with fright, Derpy squints one eye as she says in a tone of objection, “While it's certainly possible that Discord could do a thing like that, and he used to be very cruel . . .”

“Used to be?” Stern inquires.

Derpy just shakes her head, deciding to momentarily ignore that recent question, and goes on to say, “Nevertheless, he didn't seem nearly that homicidal. Rather than that, things were always about 'games' to him.”

Daring Do nods at Derpy and says, “Agreed. Entertainment seems to be the primary motive of these creatures in addition to spreading chaos and disharmony. As such, I think they'd rarely be lethal on purpose. They wouldn't want a quick end to their opponents. That would end their sick little games too soon.”

“If these are spirits that can control reality, I don't see what would normally frighten them anyway,” Feather Wind figures. “Princess Celestia and Luna once dealt with one of their kind before. I'll bet you anything Discord underestimated them back then. He's too used to having his way. Plus, as a true spirit, I suspect they lack any physical needs like eating, drinking, sleeping, and even aging or being hurt in any standard way. If they can control reality, they are probably used to instant gratification of any wish. Accordingly, if all of their needs are permanently taken care of, then it's only their wants that ever motivates them into action. As such, they are likely always acting on pure whim.

“However, you did say this one might be weaker,” Feather adds with a nod at Daring. “The prevalence of Harmony here might be an explanation for that, yet at the same time attracting it to whatever degree that it can hoofle. More powerful draconequuss simply might be unable to come to this era yet. There is also a possibility that that entity is Discord exactly, but a younger form of him.”

“That had crossed my mind as well,” agrees Daring to Feather. “This one might be weaker simply because he's younger, or hasn't inflicted as much chaos yet. Maybe that's harder to do in a world already full of so much harmony.”

“Pony feathers!” Stern Wing curses. “If you're right, I think I just figured out why that creature is so interested in us in particular.”

Feather Wind widens his eyes for a moment then looks at Stern as he nods at her. “That's a good point. This creature might be so interested in us because, here in this time, we're an anomaly more likely to evoke chaos rather than harmony. Even if we don't plan to be, we might be accidentally because of our ignorance. Plus, compared to the rest of these creatures raised in this time, we could seem like the darkest creatures imaginable.”

“'If you seek Chaos, then Chaos finds you',” Stern quotes then shakes her head. “It said something to that effect when it first appeared.”

“I think the word it said was 'trouble',” Feather corrects.

“Well, regardless, it now seems we have even more reason to be cautious here,” Daring says as she spins about and faces the outward environment. “We need to press on with our mission, but as we do so, keep in mind that there are things here worthy of keeping up our guard for. Stay close and stay sharp.”

Part 3: Camp Bonding

The recent encounter with the ominous creature, potentially a draconequus, puts the TARDIS crew in a strange mood because, on one hand, they encountered a creature that puts them on edge, and on the other hand, they are surrounded by overwhelming standards of harmonious perfection far beyond what any of them are accustomed to even in their native home of Equestria. What they see is more like some childish imagination of paradise fully realized. It's so strong that it truly feels surreal.

But for those in the party who have a more direct way to communicate with that kind of energy, it keeps reminding them of a reality that is otherwise hard to believe or even imagine. It's one thing to see playful balls of light fly at and spin around them as they travel. It's quite another to feel it with every breath which, in turn, conveys a sense of depth to this new reality that makes it feel too intense to entirely dismiss.

The reaction of every pony in the party differs for each.

Stern Wing stays cautious. She refuses to allow what she experiences here to cause her to drop her guard because she had already witnessed that this place can hide some levels of danger. What she experiences around her, though, tests her resolve in that stance more than expected. Never has one place and time tried to evoke such a false sense of security in her. More than that, she also realizes that what is around her is most likely genuine too. The reason the area looks so benevolent is because it actually is, but that doesn't remove the fact that danger can still hide within it.

For Doctor Kelly Saddler, this place is exciting insofar as it evokes scientific curiosity in her. There were no official records for her to read about this place in her native time. The closest thing to it were more like myths and legends. Stories told about paradise lost for some reason, and there were many versions to explain precisely why it was lost. Those places were said to have abilities unknown in other eras too, or at least extremely uncommon. For example, she can't find any edible thing in this environment that is even remotely toxic to ponies. On the contrary, what she finds instead is things that are so overwhelmingly packed with intense nutrition that even a single nut could probably feed their bodies for a whole day. It might even boost their immune system enough to cure them of most afflictions or speed up their natural healing process. “Too good to be true” seems to be a standard norm around here. What would normally be too good to be true in other eras is common practice here.

Despite their earlier run-in with the ominous creature, Derpy Hooves is having so much fun around here that she can't help but break into a friendly and cheery song. Everything around her seems to encourage this. The joy is downright infectious so she does what comes naturally for her. She bobs her head from side to side and sometimes closes her eyes as she joyously sings. Sometimes she nudges others with an elbow or a wing to encourage them to sing along.

Feather Wind's mood is kind of between Derpy and Stern Wing. He's deeply affected by their surroundings too and he's learning even more about it with every breath. It is enough to reveal to him that what surrounds them really is as intensely positive as it seems or more so. There are hidden layers to reality too that he happens to be attuned enough to perceive that, if anything, this place is actually more harmonious than they would normally notice with their five senses. It's not a trick or a fake this time. It's utterly real.

Still, he can't ignore the sign of danger they encountered earlier either so he embraces the mood of their surroundings somewhat while remaining on his guard in the back of his mind. As such, he eventually sings along with Derpy. When he does, they notice that the wind spirits around them become playful too. Tall grass starts to dance and swirl around them and leaves spin in the air in a pattern too graceful and complex to call it random. The more they behold this, the more it seems the wind is dancing around them and is guided by some obviously intelligent force. Some in the party think it might be Feather doing this directly, but nope. The wind is doing this on its own.

As for Daring Do, her reaction is similar to Stern insofar as she remains on her guard which also means consciously rejecting the ambient mood of their surroundings.

Unlike Stern Wing, though, Daring is far more proactive. She acts like their overwhelmingly positive surroundings simply aren't there and, for that matter, neither is the rest of the party. Instead of that, Daring is checking for tracks, gathers nuts and berries, cautiously scans around her for danger or anything noteworthy. Basically the same thing she's done in her adventures for years.

Despite what others in her party might think, though, she isn't ignoring them. She only seems to because she honestly doesn't know what to do with them nor is she accustomed to socializing during an adventure. Usually no other pony is with her during these times so she doesn't interact with them out of sheer habit.

Trust is a complex issue for Daring. For her, she can at least believe that this group won't back stab her because they were personally selected by the Doctor and she trusts him completely. It's everything else that she can question about them. Besides moral trust, she can also question if they have the means to survive and thrive out in an adventure. Do they have enough potential power to protect themselves and/or others? Even if they do, will they utilize that power efficiently, smartly, and wisely? Great power is not always an asset in every situation. It depends how it is used. She knows, from past experience, that good intentions alone aren't enough to secure victory.

Daring Do had only recently opened up to the idea of traveling with others again thanks to Rainbow Dash, but this adventure isn't starting how she had imagined. She was counting on the Doctor to be here and handle all of his other companions that she isn't used to dealing with but, not only did he back off from this adventure entirely, he actually put her in charge of this group. This puts so much pressure on her because she is the kind of pony who really does care for the welfare of others. If they screw up on her watch, then she can conceive the fact that it's her fault. That maybe she didn't fully utilize them efficiently or smartly enough to protect them. As a result, it felt simply easier for all of them to remain in the background while she handles all the danger instead. That way only she will get hurt instead. Same as always.

Even as A.K. Yearling, she still isn't used to socializing with others beyond book signings and such. Sure, she deals with the occasional fan and, from time to time, she's even happy to do it, but there is a reason she keeps everyone else at a distance. If they get too close, they might find out that she secretly is Daring Do and that the stories are real. If that happens then maybe they'd try to help but can't handle it or otherwise try to meddle in her adventuring affairs somehow. She has a lot of dangerous artifacts hidden in her home at times which is precisely why she has her humble little home so isolated. There she keeps those dangerous items until she can figure out some safe way to dispose of it. Typically she donates them to a museum that she knows is well guarded. Even the majority of her book sale royalties is saved and spent on her adventures. Doctor Caballeron did have a good point that adventuring can be an expensive career, but she handles it her own way and she makes sure she's not beholden to any pony else.

Aside from that, selling her stories she considers important for educational purposes. Even if ponies think her work is fiction, it doesn't remove the fact that they'd be that much more prepared if they do happen to encounter the same traps that she did. There's a lot of historical knowledge that she sneaks into her stories too in order to help preserve the idea that knowing history not only can be fascinating, but also important.

Just like with Doctor Kelly and Feather Wind, though, not much is known about this era other than fantastical stories that, until now, was considered too unlikely to be true. As she continues her venture, though, she notices a pattern when it comes to food gathering. Mere moments when the thought crosses her mind that, although they did bring some food supplies with them (especially Derpy), it could last longer if they supplement it with anything edible they find along the way and Daring is well trained to seek out such things by now. However, the moment she even attempts to do so, like seeking out edible berries, she almost immediately finds them and plenty of them as well.

Later on, when the thought crosses her mind that it would be nice to also find some good nuts to go along with these berries, she again finds it moments later. It's almost as if her desire to find such things created them then quickly put it on her path to find.

After a while it dawns on Daring Do that their surroundings might not be as physical as her own reality. Instead of that, it is more alive and active in a more purely magical state. It is physical but only because of the intense magic around them. Apparently that force, whatever it is, can sense their moods and thoughts as well. When it does, it reacts with incredible benevolence.

Daring has to admit that this is much different from her usual adventures. She's encountered fantastical things before that holds many wonders, but it's never been this actively positive before in an almost sentient way. Not only that, but the places she went before needed a hero somewhere within it so it has a greater tendency to be dangerous rather than hospitable. Because she's so used to that, it is actually this place that makes her feel out of her element.

And yet she also knows she can't take any of this for granted because she already encountered a potentially hostile reality bender. Because of that, she knows she can't fully trust anything here, not even the basic laws of physics. While her instincts did tell her that this particular example of a draconequus might be weaker than Discord, it also still might be powerful enough to easily be lethal. Discord seemed to favor games rather than being outright deadly but this individual is probably new. She can't trust its motives to be clear to her yet.

Night time for the adventurers is just as beautiful as the day. Indeed it is darker compared to the day, but not nearly as much as their native home and that for several reasons. First of all, the stars seem somehow brighter and more magical here. They twinkle with a prismatic glitter of beautiful light. Secondly, the aurora borealis, that magical river of light in the sky, continues to shine. It shifts through various colors too as it continues to dance and weave across the sky. Thirdly there is an abundance of crystals stabbing up from the earth in many places and they each glow with their own magical light. Fourth, magical wisps of light dance around them which seem to be playful incorporeal spirits. They might be something akin to faeries.

Finally, fifth, they made their own magical light. Daring Do, at first, insists that they do not make their own campfire because she does not want the light or smoke to draw any undue attention. She does, however, relent to Feather Wind's suggestion that warming the camp with heated stones which he causes to dimly glow because he held his magical hornbeam blast on them for several seconds. Daring isn't used to having such a resource at her disposal but does quietly admit that it does help to warm up their camp without being too bright.

“We should get some rest soon,” Daring Do proclaims to the rest of her companions as she gazes at the glow of the heated stones with a mildly fascinated look. Fire typically is more calming and hypnotic to look at but these heated stones are pleasant to look at and feel too so long as they are not directly touching them.

“Are you always so serious?” Derpy asks Daring while sitting around the heated stones nearby.

“Are you always so carefree?” Daring reflects at Derpy with a disapproving, narrow stare. “That can get you killed out here if you're not careful. That, or others.”

Derpy frowns and sinks her head. It is no longer as easy for her to meet Daring's disapproving gaze.

“Ease up, please,” Feather Wind kindly requests to Daring. “We're all not used to this place and you have to admit it is pretty pleasant. More so than even our native land and time.”

“Only a fool would use that as an excuse to drop their guard,” Daring coldly retorts. “I say we stay cautious until our job is done. Until then, we never know what we might encounter.”

“We already encountered one thing worthy of raising our guard against,” Stern Wing reminds. “I'm not dismissing the pleasant things we've seen today but that thing seems pretty dangerous as well, and it might not be the only thing to be so.”

“I'm well aware of all of that,” Feather Wind assures. “And I'm keeping that in mind too, but just because danger could exist doesn't mean everything we encounter is hostile. Remembering that there is innocent life here too could be equally important to acknowledge. If we treat everything we meet as a potential enemy, we could end up scaring away a potential friend.”

“You're right,” Daring Do agrees. “So it's important we remain even-hoofed. We want to remain open to any possibility.”

“I'm sorry!” Derpy apologizes with a frown. “I didn't mean to be a burden.”

“I'm just warning you to be careful,” Daring replies in a lighter tone. “What is more important than the mistakes we made is the lessons we learn from it. I'm more concerned about our future mistakes rather than our past right now.”

“Even you have got to admit that this place is beautiful,” Derpy presses with an obvious attempt to gather her courage again. “I mean, have you ever seen a place this beautiful before?”

“In many ways, yes,” Daring answers, again with a lighter tone. “But never this intensely or consistently. It honestly makes me nervous.”

“Really?!” Derpy squeaks in disbelief.

“Have you ever heard of the term, 'Too good to be true'?” Daring checks with Derpy.

“Yes,” Derpy replies.

“Slimy salespony often approach their customers with a smile,” Daring goes on. “Now here, I'm not saying the harmonious energy is fake, but something dangerous could be lurking behind it. Plus, you remember that lizard/cat-like creature we encountered this morning. That thing alone is worth raising our guard for, but I'm on edge because it might not be the only example of something potentially hostile out there. All of my past adventures have never been this seemingly easy before and I'm worried it's trying to get me to lower my guard.”

“I have the same impression,” Stern Wing agrees. “I'd rather err on the side of caution anyway. I'd rather be the mare that relaxes back in the TARDIS and think back on this adventure thinking, 'Huh. I guess I didn't have to be a hard flank as I was back then' instead of a ghost thinking, 'Huh. I wish I was more careful. Then I wouldn't have died.'”

“Oh I get what you're all saying,” Derpy assures. “Believe me, I'm kind of out of my element too. No place I ever visited has ever been this pleasant before, but the Doctor and the TARDIS tend to deliver us to places where heroes are needed in some way. I have not forgotten that.”

“True, but we didn't arrive here randomly,” Feather Wind says to Derpy then looks at Daring. “We came at this time at your request. You said there is a cure here that doesn't exist anymore in the future.”

“It's more like I chose the goal and general direction,” Daring partially corrects. “I didn't set the course for this exact time and place. The Doctor did and he seemed relatively confident that we'll find what we seek here.” She looks at Derpy as she asks her, “To your knowledge, has the Doctor ever been to this time and place before?”

Derpy shakes her head and says, “Nuh-uh, but the knowledge he has is vast! Seemingly more than any normal pony can fathom.” Derpy then blushes with obvious affection as she adds, “The Doctor is so wise and dependable. I adore him immensely.”

“I know the feeling,” Daring quietly mumbles under her breath.

“Excuse me?” Derpy asks Daring with a curious tilt of her head. What Daring said was too quiet for the gray pegasus to hear.

“Oh! Nothing,” Daring proclaims in a slightly startled manner.

Silence descends upon the camp for a moment. It is broken by Stern Wing eleven seconds later who also rises to her hooves. Daring regards Stern curiously when she notices that action from the large brown pegasus.

“I'm going to do a quick perimeter check,” Stern Wing declares. “I want to make sure the coast is clear for the moment before I nod off in bed.”

“In the dark?” Daring inquires with a wince of confusion. “I know this area is brighter at night than Equestria normally is, but still . . .” Daring trails off.

“Agreed, which is why I want Feather to accompony me,” Stern says as she looks at her small, sky-blue friend. “Your hornlight can light my way. I think it would also be better if I wasn't alone during my patrol. Furthermore, if we actually do encounter any trouble, you can either send a warning message to our friends subtly through the wind or quickly alert them with a brilliant flash of light.” Stern then looks at and points a hoof across them all as she adds, “Watch for that.”

“Ah . . . sure thing,” Feather acquiesces as he rises to his own hooves. Once he does, he passes a curious look to Daring to make sure she agrees with this plan. After all, she is the one put in charge of this mission.

“That's fine,” Daring accepts. “Just don't wander off too far or remain gone too long. We still need to rest up and gather our strength for tomorrow's journey.”

“Okay,” Feather agrees with a nod of acceptance. “But before I go, let me take a moment to reheat these stones.”

“Go ahead,” Daring invites, then Feather proceeds to do so by blasting the stones with a hornbeam and holding it for nine seconds. During that time, he waves the beam back and forth among the stones a bit.

“By the way, I've been meaning to ask . . . do we have any idea where we are going?” Derpy checks. “Because we've been wandering about all day and it seems like we're on a specific course but I'm just wondering if we're actually on our way to some specific place.”

“I'd rather keep the details to myself right now because there isn't much I can promise in good faith,” announces Daring. “The cure we seek is a plant that I think grows in very high places. A place so high that the oxygen would normally be thin. It would also be a place thick with earth magic, but magic seems unusually abundant everywhere here so, for the moment, I'm still gathering my bearings.

“Speaking of which, I should also be recording this,” Daring suddenly realizes before she pulls out a parchment, ink and quill from one of her saddlebags.

“So you're still in information gathering mode,” Derpy figures. “The Doctor often says he tends to start with that modality.”

“With good reason, I suspect,” Daring figures as she uses a wing to dip a quill in ink. Before transferring the quill to her mouth, where she is much more proficient with her writing, she warns the group by saying, “Now give me some time to finish my writing here. I can't easily speak while I do so.”

“Gotcha,” Derpy agrees. “One question, though. If you're using a quill to write with your mouth, does the feather ever make your nose ticklish?”

Daring flashes a grin of amusement at Derpy before ignoring her and proceeds with her writing.

“I'm serious!” Derpy insists.

“Probably, but as Daring said, let her finish her work,” Doctor Kelly advises. The first words she spoke since the camp started, in fact. This whole time, and even now, Doctor Kelly seems to be reviewing data scrolling across the inside of her holographic lens which include information she gathered from her droid scans across this day and some of the night.

“Speaking of feathers,” Stern reminds, then gives a tilt of her head away from camp while looking at Feather Wind. Seeing that, Feather nods in acknowledgment then proceeds to follow Stern while igniting the tip of his horn with silvery light.

“Something on your mind?” inquires Feather Wind to Stern when they gain some distance from the others. In his case it is an educated guess since he knows Stern so well.

“Indeed, and I didn't wish the others to hear this just yet,” Stern confirms as she gives a concerned frown in the direction of their camp.

“Is it about Daring Do? I know she's largely seemed to ignore us across this day.”

“That too, I suppose,” Stern says as she looks back at her friend with her large brown eyes. “But I know that she's used to having her own system and she's not accustomed to having others around. Quite frankly I've been impressed with her today. You saw the way she scanned the terrain and picked up on little details. That mare has a lot of skills and training and she'll be sure to be an asset in our journey. Honestly, I wish I had the time to learn all of those skills from her. I'm tempted to ask her for a few tips.”

“You totally should,” Feather Wind agrees. “The worst thing she can say to that is no. The best thing she can say is give you valuable tips just like you asked for. We never know when those tips might come in hoofy later, and someday she'll probably take off again to resume her own adventures. By then it's too late to ask so you better do it soon while you have the chance.”

Stern Wing grins as she says, “You know, she kind of reminds me of the two of us in a way. Like me, she seems very cautious and down-to-earth. Strong, confident, and she's even a pegasus to boot. Like you, however, I think she's very smart and learned, especially when it comes to history.”

Feather Wind winces one eye at Stern as he asks, “While I agree with the sentiment in general, is that your way of saying that you are not smart?”

“I know who I am,” Stern says as she stands erect. Straight and proud. “That includes my strengths and weaknesses. I have nothing to hide or feel ashamed about. I accept who I am. Proud of it, even.”

Feather tilts his head up at Stern. “But if Daring Do isn't the one you wanted to discuss, then who, or what, is?”

Stern Wing sighs as she looks down with a frown before admitting, “The one I'm concerned with is Derpy.”

Feather Wind copies her frown. He already doesn't like where this conversation is going.

Still with her head aiming down, Stern Wing shifts her eyes to her right at Feather as she says, “Up until now, Derpy has supported us by looking after Vision in the TARDIS, but now Vision isn't here. Where she is instead I have no complaints about. Not only do I trust Derpy's parents after seeing how they raised such a compassionate daughter, but they have access to all of the resources of Ponyville and so does Vision. All things considered, Vision most likely is in very capable hooves.

“But now, with Vision out of the way, at least for now, Derpy is finally free to join us and, in that regard . . . I have concerns.”

“If you're referring to the singing, you may recall I eventually joined her too,” Feather reminds. “But I was still on alert. I'm pretty sure Derpy was too in her own way.”

“It's more than just that, and honestly I didn't have much of a problem with the singing itself,” Stern assures. “The tune was pretty catchy and puts a little bounce to our step, but there are a lot of other issues to be concerned about with a mare like her.” She pauses as she frowns again before saying, “While I hate to admit it, largely because I adore the mare to death despite all of her problems, I need to also acknowledge that her presence does present some security concerns. Namely . . .” again she pauses because admitting this makes her uncomfortable, but she's also determined so she goes on to say, “. . . you got to admit, Derpy isn't the brightest cloud in the sky. Her vision is also impaired and she really is clumsy. Now all of those traits,” she says as she cuts a wing across the air at her chest level for a moment, “makes her adorable to me . . . but I’m also concerned because these traits truly are a weakness. In the wrong context and the wrong moment, Derpy could end up a major liability. It probably won't be her fault on purpose, but we need to remain aware of that nonetheless.”

Feather Wind holds his frown as he says, “I am glad we are discussing this away from the others to protect her feelings but also to address yours in a moment of privacy.”

“Please tell me you have some argument to refute mine,” Stern Wing begs. “And again, I would like to reiterate that, as a friend, I absolutely adore her and love the fact she is part of my life now. Out here, in the wilds of adventuring, however, I feel as if I have some legitimate concerns here and I know you're not stupid enough to be blind to it too.”

“Of course. Of course,” Feather Wind assures with a lift of his hoof. “I understand and fully acknowledge your concerns. In fact, if you did bring this up in front of her, she'd understand it too . . . but I fear she'd take it personally anyway because I'm pretty sure she's been teased about this often as she grew up.”

Stern Wing winces as she says, “I got that impression as well, and you know darn well how I feel about bullies. I wish I was there to defend her as she grew up.”

“Imagine growing up well aware of her personal weaknesses and then thinking to herself, 'I'm probably a disappointment to everypony else because I'm . . . well. I'm me.' Then imagine how she felt when her fears got fully confirmed. Others really did tell her, 'You stupid klutz! Look what you did! You endangered that pony by having a piano drop on her or something. You're fired, Derpy, and please consider never taking a job like this ever again! You really can't hoofle it and you probably never will.'”

“Ouch!” Stern says with another pained wince. “That really hurts to hear, Feather . . . but it's probably also a fair assessment. I'm not willing to turn a blind eye away from an uncomfortable but otherwise important fact.”

Feather nods in acceptance as he says, “Right, but there are two sides to every coin, Stern, and I don't think that the Doctor, of all ponies, took her aboard his ship because of pure pity.”

“If you see a bright side to any of this, please tell me!” Stern Wing begs. “You know, besides the obvious. She's a very kind-hearted mare. I totally get that. Innocent too, but that's not always a good thing. Heck, even Vision seems ten times more mature than Derpy.”

“Vision is a very special pony too that I doubt any of us can fully understand,” says Feather. “I, at least, have some glimmer into that. She has certain unusual abilities, and hoofycaps, and she always did. That has shaped her entire world view in addition to the culture that raised her.”

“Right, but we're not talking about Vision right now,” Stern Wing reminds. “That one concerns me too, but for very different reasons. Right now it is Derpy that is traveling with us and I pray to Celestia you can give me some reassuring news about her.”

“That kindness you spoke of earlier is, in itself, quite an asset in the right situation,” Feather says. “It helps others to trust her faster and helps her to make fast friends. Then there was that time she sang in the ocean depths of Water World. Not only did that help to heal the psychic damage done to Vision, but also to that captured Alphalmian princess.”

Stern Wing nods as she says, “I remember that, but that was a very specific situation.”

Feather Wind tilts his head slightly as he says, “It also revealed an important talent of hers. Imagine her singing like that again and lifting up the spirits of an entire exhausted army. An army that is on our side and was on the brink of losing, but the hope, passion and genuine compassion they hear in her voice causes them to push just a little harder. Her innocent spirit, too, spurs them on as they are reminded that this sweet mare they've grown to care about will probably be harmed if they fail, so they all get back on their hooves and charge forward with one last desperate and united battle cry . . . and it works! We win the day because Derpy's inner strength inspired the same in the rest of us.”

With a somber but also warm expression on Stern's face, she gazes down as she really does try to imagine the scenario her friend described. She feels a strong emotional stir even from that imagined scene. She somehow feels a little taller and more mature because of it.

Such is the hidden power of Derpy.

Stern is almost in tears when she looks back at Feather Wind again, for she is equally proud of him for spotting such hidden talent as well as describing it in such a stirring way. This is yet another reminder to her that he does, indeed, have the soul of a true artist.

“It takes so much courage for her to stand among us too, Stern, while well aware of her own weaknesses,” Feather adds. “That's the essence of courage. To be afraid of something and willing to face it anyway. That is inner strength. That is the light of her glorious soul.”

Stern nods in agreement then says, “You're right. You're absolutely right. Plenty of other ponies would break in her place. They could be the most stacked jock you've ever seen yet flee in terror the moment there is any hint of danger, but Derpy loyally remains by our side while saying to herself, 'I can't take off yet. My friends might need me.'”

“Passion and compassion,” Feather reminds. “It gives hope and inner strength whenever it is needed the most.”

“Yeah,” Stern agrees as she looks down. Part of her even feels ashamed for ever doubting Derpy, but the reasons she was so concerned in the first place remain glaringly clear to her too. Both are worth keeping in mind.

“Maybe this already happened to the Doctor,” Feather theorizes. “His courage isn't invincible either. There might already have been moments when he was tempted to give up, but then he looked at Derpy whose eyes shone with tears and fear, but she also gazed upon him with hope and faith, clearly thinking something along the lines of, 'He's the Doctor. He won't let me down.' And seeing that, in that moment, a burst of inner strength ignited within the Doctor as well. He got back on his hooves with renewed strength after she inspired him.”

“I can easily imagine that happening,” Stern Wing agreed. “And even if it hadn't happened yet, it very well could someday.”

“Not everypony has to be a combatant to be useful in an adventure either,” Feather Wind adds. “If such does become necessary then you, me, and Daring Do can hoofle the front lines . . . but wouldn't it be nice if we also had somepony in the back lines who was guiding other innocent creatures away from danger? Creatures that can hoofle it even less than Derpy can. They might even be foals or some equivalent. She'd see something like that and feel driven to help them, so she sings to them to give them just a little extra courage while guiding them out of a burning building. Meanwhile the rest of us are confronting the thing that caused the fire in the first place.”

Firm resolve sinks into Stern Wing's eyes as she nods in agreement.

“There will come a time when we'll be grateful for every last ally we have, and if nothing else, we know we can count on Derpy to have our best interests at heart. You saw her be clumsy when the situation isn't urgent, but I think you'll see a whole new side of her when things really do become important. You know what it's like to find just enough extra inner strength when it counts the most. When something is or becomes important to us, we can fight that much harder. Derpy is a very compassionate soul so that means things become important to her easily and quickly. That translates to motivation when the time is right.”

Still looking at the ground, Stern Wing nods firmly in agreement while her eyes still shine with tears.

“Um . . . there's something else I suspect about her too that could come in hoofy, but right now it is an unconfirmed theory,” Feather mentions. “If I'm right, though, it could become a major asset. A game changer, even.”

“Oh?” Stern says with interest as she lifts her face then returns her gaze to Feather Wind. “Please enlighten me, even if it's just a hunch. I want a total estimation of any tactical value of my allies because someday I may have to count on it.”

“Okay, but remember the fact that this is just a hunch,” Feather reminds. “Also, when I tell you, I want you to carefully observe her, too, to see if you can help me confirm or deny this theory.”

“Sure! I'd be happy to help,” Stern accepts.

Feather squints one eye at Stern Wing as he says, “The hidden aspect about Derpy that I suspect is there which could become a major asset is her luck.”

“Really?!” Stern Wing asks with a surprised blink. “Because, it seems to me that, if anything, she seems to have exceptionally bad luck.”

“Normally she might agree, but then she met the Doctor,” Feather Wind reflects. “Then she met all of us. Then she went on all these crazy and amazing adventures that have a maturing aspect to those who experience it. Derpy did grow up with a lot of hardships and got teased for it. That surely sunk her self-esteem and likely also explains much of the bad fortune she's ever encountered in her life . . . but for every iota of bad things that happened to her, equally positive ones came at her too in explosive bursts.”

“What is your point?” Stern Wing asks with a wince. “Even if you're right, it doesn't seem wise to count on something as ambiguous and fickle as luck.”

“But that's the thing. Luck normally is fickle, but in her case she is affecting probability in highly unusual ways. I also think that, with the right attitude, luck could end up in her favor more often than not. Such a thing her allies will also benefit from as well.”

Stern Wing blinks at her friend and remains silent for four seconds before she eventually coaxes, “Go on.”

“Imagine what this could mean for us if I'm perfectly right,” Feather encourages. “That the only reason she tends to suffer some negative misfortune is because of her low self-esteem, but if that changes, we could see her hidden power at her full potential . . . and for the better at that. If her luck is high enough,” he shakes his head, “then we don't need strength, stamina, strategy, intelligence, wisdom, resources . . . or pretty much anything to win. Instead, we'll simply accidentally win around her and do so with highly unusual consistency. The ultimate form of plot armor, basically.”

“Huh.” Now Stern Wing looks thoughtful.

“Luck can affect a great deal in fate, but primarily anything that involves pure random chance,” Feather lectures on. “And we're surrounded by that constantly. All the time, tiny little factors build up to its final result. Every time we cast the dice in some form, it'll keep landing in our favor more often than not when she's around and gains more confidence in herself. By her very presence alone, she affects otherwise pure random probability.

“Now think about that for a second. What if we did have lots of magic, brains, brawn, and strategy on our side. Strategy tries to analyze everything we can see then plots the best course of action which gives us the best chance of success, but nothing we can do can give us an absolute guarantee that we'll succeed. Even with her help, that only lifts the probability in our favor even higher,” he says as he lifts a hoof, pauses it two feet perpendicular off the ground, then raises his hoof four feet off the ground in the same way to indicate the odds were originally here and now they are up here. “So if we got all these resources on our side plus good luck, then we are that much more likely to succeed.”

“I pray that you're right, Feather,” Stern says solemnly. “I'm sure it would be nice to have a little extra luck at times. I'd also feel even more grateful having her around while knowing she has something like that to contribute.” She narrows her eyes at him. “But let's say, for a moment, you're absolutely right. How, in the glorious name of Celestia, is one to exercise that particular trait? At least we know, with me, when I continue to lift weights in the gym, it'll eventually result in me getting stronger and hardier, but with luck?” She shakes her head. “I have no idea how to 'practice' that in a way that ensures eventual progress with that trait. I mean, like ever!”

“Something like ‘luck’ is way more esoteric,” Feather Wind figures, “so the method to strengthen it is probably equally ambiguous. The exact methodology could even be unique to each individual. If I had to guess, though, it is a feeling and mindset. When one enters a room with strong 'presence', it affects probability in the room in more ways than one. Derpy has a great deal of inner strength. Inner light. Perhaps this is one of the ways it can manifest. I say we encourage her to embrace this talent by loving herself rather than criticizing herself as frequently as she does. She has magic in her body too. Same as anypony. For her, this is one of the ways it manifests. Right now she has strong bad and good luck, but do you see the territory it tends to avoid? Neutral luck. For her, her luck tends to never be in the middle which is the standard for most everypony else. I say that, right there, is a hint of her true potential and I'd like to test that theory.”

Stern Wing shakes her head with a wince as she says, “This one is a little confusing, but I must admit it cheered me up some. Hope is a very powerful thing. It is a light in the darkness and she has that in spades. While it is unclear to me how to advise her to get her 'luck' stronger for the better,” her expression turns from a wince to hopeful, “I'll be glad to encourage her to love and have confidence in herself. After all, it makes my job that much easier to have strong allies at my back. Frankly, I'm excited to see if your theory has weight with her. If we have good luck on our side and it's strong enough, we might not need anything else. If we got something else anyway, let alone several other things, then it might actually be overkill right there.”

Feather Wind gestures around them as he says, “Look at where and when we are, Stern. Mind you, this is the first adventure where Derpy finally joins us in full. When that finally happens, we find ourselves in literal paradise and it isn't fake or synthetic this time. I take that as a major sign right there. It's almost as if we're standing in an outward manifestation of her natural inward joy, bubbly nature, and caring heart. This place is a pipe dream to pretty much everypony else we've ever known, but here we are. Take it for what it is.”

“I will. I promise,” Stern Wing vows.

Feather Wind nods in satisfaction as he says, “In that case, if we're done with our 'patrol', then I say we return to the others and get some shut eye.”

Ever the pragmatic one, Stern Wing agrees by saying, “Good idea.”

Part 4: Deciding the Course

“Up there,” Feather Wind announces as he points up a giant mountain with snow cresting the top. “The Blue Ice Lily grows at the top of that mountain.” He looks back at Daring Do behind him as she approaches then stops behind him while gazing up at the giant mountain in wonder. “At least, that is the location the wind spirits say a flower grows which matches your description. According to them, the flower doesn't have that particular name.”

Daring's light purple eyes shift from looking at the top of the mountain ahead of them to the small sky-blue wizard as she asks him, “In that case, what is the name of these particular flowers?”

“Um . . . that's hard to describe,” Feather answers with a slight wince. “The 'name' they give is more like an energetic song, I guess? A frequency that speaks more of the spirit of the flowers. When the wind speaks of it, the melody of its name evokes a strong feeling of purity.”

“Purity, huh?” asks Doctor Kelly with a matter of fact expression. She spits out her empty lollipop stem to a hoof then flicks it away. From her white coat pocket, she floats up another lollipop that has a purple color and sticks it in her mouth. At that point she says, “At least symbolically, it seems we're on the right track, then. Anything that signifies 'purity' sounds like our best lead so far.” She then looks at Daring Do over the rim of her floating holographic lens. “I hope it has occurred to you that the flower you seek might be a cure for more than the affliction you wish to cure. There could be a dozen others it could help with. We also need to make sure we gather enough to cure everypony that is afflicted. Just how many is it anyway? You can give an approximate number if . . .” She trails off when she notices Derpy giving her the stink eye, to which Doctor Kelly asks the gray pegasus, “What?”

Deepening her frown, Derpy complains, “This place has been nothing but hospitable to all of us, and you just flick a lollipop stem on the ground and litter?! That's rude! Pick that up this instant!”

“Pick what up, Derpy?” Doctor Kelly counters while wearing a subtle, cunning grin. “Point to the lollipop stem right now . . . if you can.”

“Of course I can! It's right there!” Derpy insists as she points to empty ground before looking directly at the spot. When she does, though, a surprised exclamation symbol appears above her head for a split second along with a startled sound effect. Derpy then brings her face a lot closer to the spot she points at as one eye scans the spot mere inches from it while her left eye remains aiming lazily cornerwise up. “Bah-but . . . it was right there! I saw it! I really did!”

“What you saw was magical energy condensed and coalesced to simulate the form of a lollipop and lollipop stem temporarily. When that magical energy gets exhausted, it dissipates back into its default state,” Doctor Kelly explains in a lecture tone.

“Fascinating!” Derpy marvels as she lifts her head back up and looks at Doctor Kelly with her right eye. “So these things naturally clean themselves up, eh? Well,” Derpy closes her eyes as her expression lifts in delight, “in that case, I'll take a lemon flavor then!”

“You got it,” Doctor Kelly accepts then proceeds to float a yellow lollipop to Derpy. Floating in front of the yellow, messy mane pegasus, Derpy snaps her mouth forward to envelop the lollipop and closes her eyes again as she gives a delighted squee. “Anypony else want one?” Doctor Kelly then offers to everyone else.

“Maybe later,” Feather Wind says back to the Magi.

“If the flower we seek is up there, there are some factors we need to consider,” Stern Wing says as she gives an appraising eye to the peak of the giant mountain ahead of them. “I mean, just look at it! It seems pretty cold up there, but I know Feather Wind has a spell to help with that.” She looks at her small blue friend. “Higher altitudes are almost always cold and Feather has a small body, so he devised a spell that could help him, and us too if he casts it at us, a way to keep us warm up there.” Stern Wing then looks at Daring Do beside her who also looks back up at the taller and broader pegasus. “But you said that the flower tends to grow where oxygen is thinner too. If what we seek is indeed up there, then what we'll also find is thinner oxygen as well. However,” Stern Wing looks among the rest as she adds, “it is a well-known fact that pegasi generally happen to be more adept and flying at altitudes with thinner oxygen, at least potentially. Since I am the largest and strongest among us, I could just fly on up there and-”

“Bad idea,” Feather Wind interrupts with a shake of his head. When he says that, he wins Stern Wing's undivided attention. Feather Wind goes on to explain, “It's not just cold up there. Winds are very strong up there too.” He looks up at the mountain. “It has something to do with the temperature, air pressure, and the shape of the mountain.”

“But if you come with me, you could calm the winds?” Stern Wing suggests. “No pony I know can influence the winds better than you, and for a unicorn, you're well-adept at high altitudes as well.”

Feather Wind winces as he looks back at Stern Wing and says, “This isn't Equestria. Weather patterns here have a mind of their own. I might be able to influence the weather here a little, but that's like asking a flowing river to halt or reverse its course. That would be a constant struggle if it's possible at all.”

“Hmm,” Stern Wing gives the mountain another appraising eye. “Can we at least fly closer to the top safely?”

When Stern Wing asks him that, Feather Wind is silent for a while as he looks back up the top of the mountain. Seconds later he closes his eyes as he breathes in deep. He listens to the message of the wind after using his talent to ask it a question. About half a minute later a small breeze blows on him which makes his puffy, cloud-like white mane jiggle a bit. He then pops his eyes open as he says, “Yes . . . kind of. The wind varies, but I'd say it is safe about sixty percent of the way up the mountain. After that it gets more unpredictable and generally stronger.” He looks up at Stern Wing. “If I'm there, I may be able to calm and guide the winds more, but I think we'd be pushing even my limits once we go past the eighty percent mark.”

“Eighty percent really helps,” Stern Wing commends in an impressed tone. “That could probably shave about a week's worth of climbing off right there.”

“I'm not willing to send the two of you off to danger like that by yourselves,” Daring says with a disapproving frown. “If anypony is going off on a task like that alone, it's me.” Daring gives a firm nod. “I have plenty of experience climbing mountains and I even brought some equipment specializing in that task.”

“Yeah, but . . . why?” Derpy asks Daring in confusion. “You're a pegasus. You've always been one and a pretty good flier, so I heard. Because of that, it doesn't seem necessary for you to gather rock climbing experience.”

“I did that ever since I was a foal!” Daring reports to Derpy in minor delight. After that a fond smile sinks into her lips as she says, “It was something I did with my late and great grandfather. Sometimes we climbed mountains just for fun.” She grins at Derpy. “You know, I actually mentioned something like that to him back then, and he said, 'We're climbing this anyway because it is good exercise, it is a valuable experience, and sometimes we can't fly up every obstacle for one reason or another. Maybe the weather is too strong and chaotic, or perhaps our wings could be injured.' Believe me, I've had my fair share of the latter experience to verify that possibility.”

Stern Wing lifts a brown hoof to signal she wants to gather attention now. When she has it, she says, “Be that as it may, icicle winds and thin oxygen may not be the only problems up there. We already encountered a potentially hostile reality bender in this time so I'm not comfortable sending anypony up there alone.” Stern Wing focuses a determined and stubborn gaze at Daring Do as she goes on to say, “The Doctor may have put you in charge, and to a point I respect that decision, but if you're asking me to remain behind while you try to fly off to the top of that mountain alone for who-knows-how-long then no thank you. I insist to accompony you at the very least and that's final!” Stern Wing insists with a stubborn stomp of a hoof for further emphasis on the word “final”.

Daring Do sighs as her look transfers from Stern Wing to the rest of the group as she asks, “Do all the rest of you feel that way too?”

“Absolutely,” Feather Wind immediately agrees. “When it comes to the capabilities of this creature of chaos, we can't take anything for granted even if it is a weaker form of draconequus than the one you know.” Feather half shrugs as he adds, “Depending what this creature does with that power, potentially it wouldn't take much to injure or kill us. In that case, our odds of survival are better if we stick together.”

“I also agree,” Derpy chimes in.

“And I'd like to go for other reasons too,” Doctor Kelly puts in. “There's no guarantee that the mountain has enough samples of the flower to cure all the afflicted in your time. A better strategy would be to cultivate more. To do that, we need to know the right conditions to pull that off. If I go up there, I can scan the flowers in several ways. That kind of information could be helpful in growing them again closer to all of your native timelines.”

“That includes magical energy too, right?” Feather Wind checks with Doctor Kelly. “I ask because I get a strong feeling that is one of the major factors in growing this particular flower. I don't know for sure why it is extinct in our time, but I do know the magic of our native time isn't as strong as this area and era. Areas like this might still exist somewhere closer to our native time but we'd have to be more selective in that case.”

“The answer to your question is yes,” Doctor Kelly assures Feather Wind. “Even I can feel the presence of magic and decipher it keenly enough to invent an entire language around it. My instruments can do it more precisely, though. If I bring my droids, they can give us exact number figures. That may end up being vital information in this case. With that information, we can be selective in an educated way.”

“The flower would need time to grow, too,” Feather Wind realizes. “As such, if we secure at least one sample of it, I suggest we don't take it to your time period at all,” he says as he looks at Daring Do. “Instead of that, we aim a century or two behind your time. Once there, we look for an ideal spot to plant it. If possible, it could be even better if some kind of sentient and benevolent force was there to protect and further cultivate the flowers.”

Suddenly Feather Wind widens his eyes as if he just realizes something. After that he closes his eyes as if either listening for something or being deep in thought.

“What?” Stern Wing asks Feather Wind after twelve seconds.

“I just got a suggestion from Crystal Sage,” Feather Wind answers as he opens his eyes. “You know . . . the pony in this Crystal?”

Stern Wing nods as she says, “Yeah. I'm aware of him, and oh . . . by the way, have you been taking some time to gather all this positive energy in this area? It seems unusually abundant here so it could be useful for your project.”

“I have some, but that's hard to do while we're moving,” Feather Wind reports. “I'm still new in attuning myself to this Crystal so it takes all of my concentration. As such, I can't be doing anything else during those moments. Not yet, at any rate.”

“Noted,” says Daring Do before she asks, “And what did he say? Where should we plant the flowers in the future?”

“The Frozen North in Equestria,” Feather Wind answers Daring while also looking at her. “That kind of environment is already ideal for a flower accustomed to high altitude, icy climates, thin oxygen, and abundant magic that is as pure as white snow. The Crystal Mountains of the Frozen North also have lots of magical crystals growing inside and around it. If necessary, maybe I can charge some of those crystals and enchant it to be especially conducive for the magic these flowers need. If I have Crystal Sage's help with that project, we'd be virtually ensured to succeed provided we are given enough information that we need to enchant those crystals with,” he says as he swings his face and gazes at Doctor Kelly. “So your scans definitely could come in hoofy. It might even be vital for this project.”

“And if we plant the flowers up there a couple of centuries back, I can mark it on a map,” Daring Do says with a thoughtful expression as she rubs the bottom of her chin with a left hoof. “The Blue Ice Lilly is thought to be extinct in our time, but I've got to admit that much of the Crystal Mountains of the Frozen North is still uncharted and unexplored. If I have the only map of its location in the world, and even I'm skipping two centuries ahead with it, then it is less likely any other creature will disturb them before we are ready to cultivate them.”

“The Yaks are up there, among other creatures,” Feather Wind reminds the group but Daring in particular. “But there are some areas that even they wouldn't dare to tread, possibly because they'd be unable to access it without flying or weather control.”

“Or there's another strategy we could use,” Doctor Kelly brings up. “What if we could recruit the Yaks to guard the flowers? Maybe even attend them. Maybe they could be bound to a sacred promise to keep these flowers from being known until the right ponies show up to collect them. In exchange, we let them keep some of the flowers for their own purposes. Who is going to say no to a powerful and helpful medicinal flower that could help cure any affliction?”

“From what I saw, the Yaks are pretty stubborn and thick-headed,” Daring Do mentions while still holding a thoughtful pose. “But that could also be a good thing. If they make a promise, it can sink into a cultural tradition they'd pass on. As long as the promise they make is useful to us, they could actually become an advantage to us.”

Daring Do's hoof sinks back to the ground as she gives her companions a more serious expression as she adds, “But to get their cooperation, it is essential to win their trust and respect.”

“Got any ideas how we can do that?” Derpy checks with Daring with an innocent and curious blink of her walleyes at Daring.

“Actually, yes. I got a few I could try,” Daring concurs. “There are some mythical and mystical objects among their tribe that I know they deeply revere. Tradition is very important to the Yaks and that also means taking care of that which is sacred to them. In my time, the objects I'm thinking of they already have, but if we time travel back a few centuries, we could establish ourselves as the heroes that got them those objects in the first place. That'll be yet another story they'll pass on through the generations. Then, when we get back to my native time as well as Derpy's, we could meet up with the Yaks again who owe us a favor by then, and the Yaks shall not allow themselves to forget their debts. They take such things very seriously.”

Daring Do widens her eyes as she realizes something else then gets thoughtful again as she goes on to say, “Come to think of it, that might already be true. The first time I visited the Yaks, they already respected me for some reason. Prince Rutherford, the current leader of the Yaks in my time, even called me an honorary Yak in his village and he further emphasized that was a rare honor he bestowed upon a non-yak. At the time, I thought his attitude was because he respected me as a rugged adventurer. Perhaps he even heard of some of my tales somehow.” Daring shrugs. “I'll admit that he did have a personal request for me on behalf of his village, which in turn helps to explain why he tried to butter me up when we first met, but the fact remains that it was unusual he trusted me so much on our first meeting. Maybe this is why!” Daring looks across the group in delight. “Not only will I help his ancestors get a hold of the Blue Ice Lily in the first place, but I might have helped them with some other task at the time. I may have already proven my worth to Prince Rutherford in the distant past so he knew to trust me with this other task in his time.”

“That very well could be,” Feather Wind agrees. “The Doctor already said that a future that will occur has already happened in the perspective of some other timeline. If you're right, all we have to do is close the gap of this causality loop by actually doing whatever it is that will get us famous among the Yaks. Helping to plant the Ice Blue Lillies in the first place probably would already win us some social points in their books. After all, a miracle cure like that might have come in hoofy for them multiple times.”

“I'll make sure they don't sell it or advertise that they have it, though,” Daring Do vows. “If information like that was more public in my time, then I already met more than my fair share of ponies who would abuse this information for selfish and/or corrupt purposes.” Daring stomps a hoof. “This flower was thought to be extinct in our time for a good reason. The only tribe who knew about it was sworn to keep their mouths shut about it until their sacred heroes return to collect on an old debt.”

“In that case, our course is relatively clear,” Doctor Kelly proclaims. “We can worry about the details of the next adventure later. For now, let's get our hooves on the Ice Blue Lily in this time.”

“To do that, you want us all to travel together?” Daring Do double checks with her group.

Feather Wind smiles in delight as he says in a chipper way, “Actually, yeah. That sounds fun, and we don't need to rush as we do so. We got a time machine on our hooves as soon as the Doctor returns so we can take our time with this challenge.”

“I'd recommend that anyway if we're doing this together,” Daring says as she looks up the mountain. “There are some decent challenges to a task like that, and this mountain is particularly large. It should take us at least a week.”

“Be that as it may, harmonic energy is particularly thick in this era,” Feather Wind reminds. “I'm not saying there won't be a challenge, but that said, it may be safer than it usually is. Plus, I bet you anything there will be many scenic spots along the way up there. This time seems designed to be naturally idealistic in every possible way, so the odds are actually good that whatever is the best case scenario for a task like this, so shall it be. I can already promise you that the elemental spirits I've been speaking to are unusually friendly here compared to most other times and places.”

“Hostile draconequus notwithstanding, that is,” Stern Wing reminds the group in a grim tone but then her expression shifts to curious as she says, “I wonder what the plural version of 'draconequus' would be. Um . . . draconequii maybe?” Stern Wing asks with an innocent shrug. One by one, the others copied that shrug.

After Derpy shrugs, though (and she is the last of the bunch to do so), she adds, “Based on what I can tell, if you were to ask Discord that question directly, I think he would give you some random, nonsense answer. He seems fond of everything not making sense.”

“Like the plural version of 'draconequus' being a 'toaster',” Stern Wing half jokes with an amused smirk.

“Probably,” Derpy kind of agrees before she squeals in delight, stands up on her hind legs, and whirls her forelegs excitedly as she says, “Anyway, climbing this mountain together actually sounds kind of fun now!” She lands on all four of her legs again as she continues to say, “If the journey is going to be especially idealistic all along the way, then I'm looking forward to it.” She tilts her head slightly to her right. “Besides, pretty much all of us here can float or fly in some way or another so we do have a backup strategy just in case we fall. We also got two unicorns here to catch us.”

“Or more like one unicorn and a Magi, but point taken,” Doctor Kelly partially agrees.

“I've got some climbing gear too,” Daring Do reminds. “That might actually be enough for us, but just in case, it's nice to know we have several other layers of backup strategies.”

Daring Do pops some cricks in her neck by twisting it left, then right, then straightens it again as she says, “But since I am the most experienced climber here, you'll be listening and following my careful instruction as we proceed. Is that clear? I want to make sure everypony here survives my watch.”

“Understood and agreed,” Feather Wind concurs.

“Yes Ma'am,” Stern Wing also accepts with a formal salute. That gesture was not even remotely sarcastic.

“You bet,” Derpy also agrees.

“You'll have my cooperation as well so long as you listen to my suggestions whenever I offer it,” Doctor Kelly compromises. “I promise I'll only offer them in a safe and timely manner.”

“You can all communicate with me using the wind if need be,” Feather reminds and informs the group. “There may be times when that ability could come in hoofy for the journey ahead.”

“I agree with your terms,” Daring says to Doctor Kelly. “In fact, if any of you have important suggestions to offer along the way, I'll listen. I still don't know much about your capabilities after all and it's always possible any of you might spot something important that I missed. I want to be informed of details like that at any moment when it is safe and important to do so. We're a team, after all.”

“It would be nice if we started acting like it too,” Stern Wing says with a slightly disproving look at Daring Do.

Daring Do frowns but also nods in acceptance at Stern Wing as she admits, “I admit, I might not have included you all as much as I should have, but working in teams is new for me and there are reasons I have trust issues. Being put in charge of a group was much more responsibility than I was expecting either.”

“If the Doctor trusted you, I'm sure he had good reasons,” Derpy says confidently.

“I've been a team player before in a professional sport,” Stern Wing informs the group and especially Daring Do. “That experience has taught me that is a skill each team needs to work on, but it is also important for each member of the team to be included and do something valuable for the team.”

“Professional sport, you say?” Daring Do asks Stern Wing curiously. “Which sport, if I may ask?”

“Puffball,” Stern Wing answers. “Have you ever played it or seen it? Typically only pegasi have the capability to play. Feather's a very unusual exception insofar as capability is concerned but he still hasn't played it. I don't know if it's still a thing in your time.” Stern Wing passes that same curious look to Derpy since she is also a pegasus from Stern's future.

“I heard of it, but that's about it,” Daring Do admits.

“Same with me,” Derpy concurs. “Maybe, while we make our way, you can teach us some of the rules.”

“I've also worked with a team before aside from us,” Feather Wind reports. “In my case it was the Wonderbolt recruits. I was the first unicorn to apply for the Academy . . . but there were several problems during my attendance so I had to eventually drop out.” He gives this group a serious expression. “I won't let any of you down, though. I promise.”

“Anyway,” Doctor Kelly announces after she takes a moment to pretend to clear her throat, “be that as it may, I did give a doctor's order not long ago that taking a vacation is a necessary respite after the tragedy we suffered on my first mission with this group. In accordance with that, the Doctor took us to Ponyville initially but that vacation got interrupted.”

“Sorry,” Daring Do apologizes as she shuffles a hoof a bit. “I didn't know any of that when I first approached you all.”

Doctor Kelly lifts a hoof to forestall any further apologies from Daring as the Magi goes on to say, “My point is if climbing this mountain ends up particularly ideal, I say we relax and have as much fun as we can during our climb. Exercise is also important. Far be it for me, as a medical professional, to say otherwise . . . but our mental and emotional health is important too. I'll probably be taking some pictures and holo recordings as we proceed as well, and Feather,” she regards the short wizard, “we'll be sure to give you plenty of time to absorb the ambient harmony feelings here in order to charge your Red Crystal too.”

“Sure. We can do that,” Daring agrees as she looks at Feather Wind. “Whenever we reach a safe stopping point and nothing else urgent is going on, we can give you the time you need to gather your energy. It's important to take plenty of breaks anyway whenever it is safe to do so. Our muscles can get plenty tired during the climb so we'll take some breaks in order to help with that. While you do that, that'll give me time to write down some notes in my diary.”

“Me too,” Feather Wind agrees. “If we take our time, not only can I gather useful energy for the crystal but I can also write prose and poems too.”

“Share it too when you feel ready to reveal it?” Derpy asks Feather Wind hopefully.

“Sure,” Feather says with an accepting nod. “Perhaps some of it.”

“Well then. I guess we have a plan,” Daring says as she takes a few bold steps closer to the mountain. “Everypony, prepare yourselves. It's time we ventured on.” She gives a daring grin as she adds, “Onwards and Upwards, as the Doctor is fond of saying.”

Part 5: Transcendental Experience

The next week and a half is a transcendental experience for the TARDIS crew who climb the mountain. It feels odd to them that they do get exactly what they expected, yet it has always felt far beyond that as well. In some ways, it reaches levels that transcend what they can describe, and one of them is a poet.

On a more grounded level, what they go through is pretty simple. They simply climb a mountain, but somehow the experience far exceeds that too. During that time, they also experience physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. It's almost as if their entire experience is custom designed for that specifically. It challenges them in a way that is unusually perfect for them during this time. No ordinary computer program from Doctor Kelly's world could have done that. This is a design from a far more evolved consciousness.

As planned, Daring Do takes the lead on this project both literally and figuratively. She ties them all to a climber's rope and she is usually the one on top in this line. The reason being is she's the most experienced pony here to assess the situation and properly instruct the others, the latter of which is a somewhat new experience for her. She's done this plenty of times before, even as far back when she was a filly, but teaching others how to do this introduces her to a whole new level of mastery for this particular skill and in some other ways, too. Teaching something strongly encourages her to be a team player. That's something she's not used to or entirely comfortable with, but during this leg of their journey she can't ignore how important it is.

But her thoughts and feelings about this transcend the mundane, just like it does for the others in their own unique way. For Daring Do, especially during their breaks or when she has to be more active in helping the others, her thoughts keep flashing back to when she was a filly and it was her grandfather that helped her to climb. Back then she well remembers her own experience. She complained at first back then but gradually saw the value in it. For the first time in her life, however, she starts to understand what it must have been like for her grandfather Fourwind. To teach this skill to others and deeply care about their well being as they do so. To steadily feel that inward glow of pride as they slowly start to master this too.

Tanon Burrows, Fourwind Keystone's most trusted friend and adventuring companion, often once spoke about how he felt that Fourwind's spirit is alive in Daring Do. Hearing those words, back then, made her feel deeply sentimental and even somewhat giddy, but it was difficult, at the time, to fully process that information. Just how exactly should she take that? To what degree should she believe that? What does that mean, exactly? Is her grandfather's spirit actually inside her, or is it somehow even more than that?

Whatever those answers are, she isn't certain how to feel about that either. She did know that she felt kind of flattered by that statement from Tanon because she really looked up to her grandfather. To be compared as someone very similar to that is somewhat flattering, but there are deeper implications as well that she never felt certain how to fully process.

Strangely enough, though, during this climb, there is just something about it that finally gives her time to more fully process this. She gradually realizes it doesn't need to feel creepy or too flattering or anything else like that. Up here, she finally realizes something very simple; whether it is true or not, it changes nothing. She is who she is and there is no need to over analyze beyond that.

Up here, she often reflects on how proud her grandfather likely would have been if he was still here and observing her today. Somehow, though, this experience grows beyond mere theory. She feels his pride from him actively during her climb, and it's not just a memory of her past. It is now. For the first time, she feels him keenly alive inside of her. It gives her strength and confidence beyond the ken of ordinary mortals. It unlocks potential within her soul to ever new heights.

For the first time, she fully makes peace with that fact. In that process, it makes her feel whole on levels she never experienced before. It teaches her who she is on a deeper level, and that is an ascension beyond any wisdom and maturity she had before.

During one of their many breaks, which is particularly necessary for Derpy's sake, Daring Do removes her hat and lifts it up as if it is a bowl on her hoof that she extends before her. She gazes at the horizon beyond it and wills for this “bowl” to be filled with the essence of this sacred moment. She always felt, long ago, that this hat empowered her with the strength of a sacred promise. This moment is a way for her to further empower that even more. When she puts the hat back on, it'll forever be charged with the essence of this moment too. The moment her soul grew to new heightened levels.

Stern Wing is naturally the next pony in line. Daring Do knew she did not want the heaviest pony in the group at the bottom of their line. If Stern was, and if Stern Wing slips up, she'd easily drag the whole rest of them down with her. In fact, if Stern Wing had more practical climbing knowledge, Daring would have put Stern Wing at the top instead. With that much strength and stamina, Stern Wing can serve as an anchor for the rest of the group. With Stern at the top, or very nearly so in this case, she can offer more stability and security for the rest in line. A role that naturally fits Stern Wing to a tee.

Aside from that, Stern Wing is the most eager in this group to learn from Daring Do anyway and in far more ways than one. Stern's natural and imposing strength and stamina gives her a lot to work with physically, but in her eyes, they are still mostly unrefined tools, especially when she compares herself to Daring. In Daring, Stern Wing sees the best of her own potential more fully realized. With strong raw power combined with refined skill and training, Stern Wing is convinced Daring could help take the brown pegasus mare to a whole new level of progress, including emotionally. There will never come a time when Stern Wing feels she's gathered too much confidence. Instead of that, she sees that personal aspect of herself much akin to this mountain. It is something she can just keep scaling. Keep accumulating and it will never be too heavy to carry more because confidence will always give her enough inner strength to carry more.

The more she can shoulder the burden for others who might be weaker, the better. Proper preparation for Stern Wing always means finding a way to get stronger in any way she can. Always finding a way to scale to new heights.

The more Stern Wing gets to know Daring Do, the more she feels respect for the beige adventurer growing. This is not mere fan idolization either in Stern's case. Stern Wing wants to be like Daring in all the right ways. To get guidance to transcend her own personal limitations. It is inspiring to Stern Wing as she finds her love for this mare grows because of that. It's like an important glimpse into the future of what Stern could become. A goal to reach for. A motivation to strive for, and the confident belief that Stern really can do this someday.

On a more personal level, Stern gradually starts to realize she wishes she could be more special to Daring Do as well. Something more than just a mentor. Maybe something like a sister. An older sister, perhaps?

But emotionally, Daring seems distant from the rest of the group for some reason, though that resolve is gradually cracking as their journey continues. Of all the personal details about Daring, the compass cutie marked adventurer seems the most willing to share details about her past adventures. After all, she publicly published them anyway and its primary purpose never really was about the money. For practical and mundane reasons, the money helps, but the real purpose of publishing her work is to inspire and teach others. This experience is no different. When Daring Do tells the others about her past adventures, mostly during their breaks but sometimes during their climbs too when it doesn't seem so dangerous to do so, Daring gradually gets more animated about the telling of her story as if she's gaining more practice in how to describe it in an inspirational way. She tells more than just what she did, she describes her emotions and motivations. She often reminded her audience why her goals were important. About the stakes that were involved if she failed.

Beyond the stories of her past adventures, though, Stern Wing noticed, to her personal disappointment, Daring was quiet and reserved about her personal life beyond adventuring. In some ways that is ironic, too. Most of Equestria, in Daring's time, thinks that Daring is just some fictional character. It's A.K. Yearling that is the one to be known to be real, yet it is that aspect of her life that she keeps the most private. Based on Stern Wing’s observation of the adventuring mare, it gradually seems trust is the heart of that particular issue. Some pony, perhaps more than one, must have burned Daring's personal trust in others which is why she tries to keep others emotionally distant.

Noticing this makes Stern Wing feel sad, but she keeps that observation to herself. The last thing she wants to do is feel intrusive into private matters. Stern Wing can only hope that Daring will gradually be more emotionally open with the rest of them on her own accord. The good news about that is it does seem that they are chipping away at the stone around Daring's heart little by little.

Beyond all of this, there are lots of other things Stern Wing does. Exercise, practice what Daring taught her, socialize with the others, keep a vigil eye out for danger around them which sometimes includes taking off and doing patrols in the sky which is particularly common whenever they stop for the night. Stern wants to make sure the area is relatively clear enough for that.

Stern is well suited to that task, too, even if the winds are temperamental, largely because Stern is a really strong flier like everything else in her life. In that, she also notices how the winds can be challenging at times but never overwhelming so far. It's as if those elements, like pretty much everything else, are willing to push their limits but never beyond what they can handle.

No matter how dangerous their situation appears to be at times and no matter what they do, it feels to the whole group, not just Stern, that there is a curious feeling of a hidden safety net here. That it's not just their rope, pitons, their skills, and the fact that they all can fly in some form and fashion, but reality itself will somehow throw them a bone whenever they need it.

This is especially noticeable whenever they stop and camp for the night. Somehow they keep ending up finding a spot that is ideal to camp. It can be a cave, a ledge with food growing on it, the weather may suddenly become calm and soothing. Basically whatever it takes to give them a good break from the stress of their climb.

On top of all that, they often find the views to be gorgeous in some way. Sometimes Stern Wing feels that the Red Crystal should somehow be getting fat with all the positive energy her friend is able to pour into that thing during this era.

There's something else the group mentioned along the way up, and from Feather in particular, that feels important to Stern Wing when it comes to that Crystal and the nature of magic in general. Here in this time, magic is not only so abundant that each unicorn in the party, or anyone else for that matter, would naturally recover their magic faster, but Feather pointed out that the magic around them specialized in something. In particular, it is abundant with the energy of harmony. That also means that casting any spell that supports harmony like healing, cleansing, or protection would be naturally enhanced in this environment somehow. By the same token, any spell that has the opposite affinity should be weaker, so spells like curses should be more difficult to cast here, cost more energy to even attempt to cast, and somehow weaker even if the spellcaster manages to pull it off. The curse would be easy to resist, have a shortened duration, or barely affect the subject. It could be any or all the above.

While all of that is nice to hear for the moment, Feather Wind brought up the disturbing possibility that there could be other times and places with the opposite magical affinity. An area with an aura of negativity where curses would be enhanced and it is blessings that would be hindered instead. Stern Wing found that possibility very disturbing to contemplate, especially since it seems more likely that her group might naturally gravitate towards such eras because the TARDIS itself deems it needs a hero. Even if it doesn't, it could also be the Doctor that might drive the ship deliberately towards such environments because he sees that they are needed there. Stern Wing is not entirely opposed to that idea, but if they have to go to such times and places, she wants to be prepared in some shape or form.

But then Feather mentioned the curious anomaly of his magic not feeling hindered in Water World even though that was a low to sometimes nil magic zone. Feather gave that a lot of thought since then and has since come to realize that it might be their connection to the TARDIS that is offering some protection. Perhaps by the same means that it is also offering telempathic translation of other species' languages. Maybe it is also acting as a conduit to the magical levels native to Feather's own time which effectively treats that as a baseline. If that's true, then his and Doctor Kelly's magic is protected in such a way that it is either baseline normal or enhanced by the place and time they go. However, if the latter is true, then it most likely would be more universal. In that case everyone is enhanced, not just the TARDIS crew.

In thinking of that, Stern couldn't decide what is better. To be in an environment where their magic is enhanced but so too is their potential adversaries, or go to a low to nil magic zone where unicorns, like Feather and Doctor Kelly, are the only effective spellcasters there by default, but only to the degree that is normal for their native times and worlds.

When asked, Doctor Kelly mentioned that she didn't feel like her magic is augmented to the degree that is normal for her world. Perhaps it is because that magic is artificial and the TARDIS doesn't like to channel it even though the TARDIS is kind of artificial too? She said this phenomenon needs more academic and scientific study. She even acts like that is a moral imperative.

However, when it comes to cursed or negative zones, Stern Wing is hoping for some level of protection from that too and she even suggested that maybe they could use the energy gathered by the Red Crystal. Feather, Kelly, and even the silent voice of Crystal Sage agreed that that plan is worth looking into, but they remind Stern that if such becomes necessary, it might cost some of the energy the crystal has gathered. That, in turn, delays its ultimate purpose.

It can still be worth it. After all, if they have no protection, they could get killed instead and that would permanently delay the acquisition of more positive energy. Nevertheless, it may be wise to reduce the necessity of using that protection as much as they can since it seems likely there would be a price for that protection.

At least they have a resource that might help at all, though.

Derpy is the third pony in their rope line which puts her in the middle. Of all the ponies here, she struggles with this climb the most and everyone here pretty much expected that. She isn't the most feeble of the party. That “honor” actually goes to Feather Wind, but at least he can lighten his body weight whenever it is advantageous for him to do so, and he is light to begin with. He can also use his magic and weather control to help himself or anyone else if need be, both of which are enhanced in this environment. Here, not only is his magic stronger, but the elements are especially vocal, friendly, and cooperative. Sometimes even playful and a tad challenging but only for the purpose of facilitating further growth in the group.

As a pegasus, Derpy is naturally lighter than the other two equestrian breeds but that comes at a bit of a cost. Lighter bodies and bone structure usually means being weaker than at least the average earth pony, but exceptions like Stern Wing do exist. For Derpy, though, she also has to contend with vision problems, coordination problems, learning disabilities, confidence issues, physically feeble and a frail constitution but not to the same degree as Vision. In pretty much most ways that matter, Derpy is more naturally built for hospitable places like Ponyville, and even there she'll suffer some challenges that continually remind her of her handicaps. Not only has she put herself in danger there but other things and ponies too.

This challenge is somewhat different, though. It even feels different. She feels like her potential is pushed, but not beyond the degree she can handle. It is still very hard on her to feel like a physical and emotional burden to the others, but even they are being unusually supportive here. They cheer her on, teach her new techniques to enhance her safety and/or make things easier on her, and they sometimes join her in her singing to show moral support.

Feather Wind and Doctor Kelly told her that the magic of the area is highly charged with harmonious energy and Derpy can feel that in some ways. It's especially noticeable, to her, in spirit. It gives that little extra pep to her step. She can feel it in the oxygen with every breath she takes. She feels it in the sun when it rises in the morning. She hears music echoing off the mountains or carried in the wind. Even some local fauna, especially birds, also show up and tweet to cheer her on and join her music. Sometimes the mere sight of them cheers her up because they are very pretty birds.

Derpy has sometimes given into despair before and she can occasionally feel herself getting close to that edge even here, but there is an unusual degree of support for her in this case. She often finds many good ledges to grab. Just by touching the earth, it feels like it tries to give her its strength and endurance if she allows it.

In fact, just about everything here feels like it is eager and downright privileged for the chance to empower her such as the food she eats here and/or prepares herself. Everything tastes unusually delicious here and Doctor Kelly verifies that it is exceptionally nutritious far beyond the norm, and quite frankly, to levels that are usually absurd.

But that seems to be a consistent theme to an environment highly charged with positive energy. Everything here leans towards love and perfection, whatever that happens to mean at the time.

As a result of all of this, it helps to make up for Derpy's handicaps. Not only does this empower her confidence but this place augments her spirit and refines her physical techniques. Joy and pride grows in her when she gradually notices herself getting stronger and she's gaining that progress to an unusual degree. So much so that Doctor Kelly finds no end to her fascination with this place and how it affects those who are here.

Deep down, though, Derpy always innately has known that to be true. She often feels emotionally uplifted too in the past. It’s even common enough to be called her default state despite all of her handicaps. She has also noticed that everything in life has a greater tendency to go her way as long as she feels good inside. It's almost as if one affects the other.

Instinctively she's always known that to be true. Since her mind has never been a powerhouse, instinct often is something she tends to rely upon more subconsciously.

One thing that really cheers her on, though, is noticing how she can actually contribute to this group instead of merely feeling like a burden. In this place, that quality seems especially highlighted for her. In her case, it is moral support. That comes in multiple forms, too, but the two most obvious ones are her music and her cooking. She isn't as aware of it, but it's also her playful attitude.

For example, during times when they take a break, she pulls out of her saddlebag something that isn't practical per se, but for her, it still feels important, and that is a soap bottle and bubble loop. Just like her cutie mark clearly advertises, Derpy really does love blowing bubbles and she is magically good at it, especially here. She is so giddy about it that her hind hooves wiggle in an adorable way even if she is sitting on it. She occasionally entertains the others, including other life forms (some of which are not entirely visible) with her playful antics in blowing bubbles. She blows standard bubbles easily enough, but her talent propels that skill to new heights too. She can create unusual shapes, colors and sizes to her bubbles. Sometimes she even makes her art look downright sentient, and in this place, one has to wonder sometimes.

Sometimes it is hard for her to accept this, but she does have a usual place in the world and with this group. They often remind her of that repeatedly both consciously and otherwise. Feeling useful and included goes a long way to help her tighten her bond with this group and lift her spirits. In turn, she lifts theirs in more ways than one. The bottom line is the more empowered she feels, the more she succeeds with empowering others as well.

Doctor Kelly is the fourth in line. Notably that makes the back half of this group entirely unicorns, or Magi in her case. She isn't overwhelmingly physically strong but not weak either, and she improves the fastest in this group thanks to some medical marvels more native to her time but also because of the naturally uplifting nature of this place. It even finds a way to synergize with her science, magic, and technology. Anything she has that promotes well being seems to be enhanced in this place and it isn't discriminate on that front. She finds this data endlessly fascinating.

More than everyone else here, Doctor Kelly is easily the most cerebral of the group with the only possible exception of the Doctor himself if he happened to be here. She has a heart too and is well aware of that fact but tends to lead with her mind more in all things. She's driven by endless fascination and curiosity to learn more to feed her ever expansive knowledge as well as the eventual urge to share it. In that way, she can identify with other ponies like Daring Do and Feather Wind, each of which is also highly intellectual in their own way.

As promised, Doctor Kelly does indeed take many holo pictures, audio, and video recordings of their journey as they ascend. That isn't just for scientific posterity but also for personal reasons. Recording a record in some way is her way of making a mark in the world. That's something else that Feather and Daring can identify with.

Her approach in life is far more analytical, though, which greatly reduces, but does not eliminate, the mystical magnitude of this experience. She's rarely overwhelmed by anything and instead has a far greater tendency to just continue to suck on her lollipop and at least privately admit to herself that whatever she is observing is scientifically interesting, even if it normally would be frightening or awe inspiring to most others. Challenges, to her, are just a mental puzzle to solve and she's always confident she'll find a solution eventually. It's just a matter of effort and time.

She devotes great care and attention to the physical, mental, and emotional well being of the other members of her party, although this place feels like a cheat code to her with how easy it makes that aspect of her job. Instead of finding that frustrating, though, Doctor Kelly instead regards it as a learning experience. Something here is working and she's determined to find out exactly why. To her, that's just as important as discovering what doesn't work in life. Scientific methodology often involves breaking down something into its simplest terms. Try every possibility until only one is left, or keep on going even after one method works because what if there are others that could also work? Understanding how and why everything works is the true heart behind all of her endeavors aside from a natural inclination and desire to heal in some way.

To do that, she's even willing to secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) dabble with the dark side just a tiny bit in pursuit of those overarching goals.

Dispassion seems to be something she specializes in, and certainly she thinks so. She's even proud of that fact, but she's also not as successful at it as she thinks. Those who are very observant of others, like Feather, Vision, or the Doctor, have noticed that about her to varying degrees. She has a heart even if she tries to deny it. There's no outright denial of that fact, especially for a trained psychologist like her, but she's far more vulnerable to it than she suspects.

To her, being dispassionate translates to logical and moral integrity. If emotions are out of the way then it's easier to settle with the cold, hard facts. Life ultimately isn't that simple though and even she knows that to some degree, but she has more to learn on that front than she realizes.

Finally there is Feather Wind. Easily the lightest pony of the party, both naturally and supernaturally, which is why he's dead last in the line. For him, he probably learned the most throughout their journey up the mountain because he's just as spiritual as he is intellectual. That means he becomes aware of why things are the way they are on multiple levels. That, in turn, translates to personal growth for him.

There are many times when Feather Wind feels lost in his thoughts and feelings. That often causes him to be distracted which is probably the greatest danger he ever presented to the party during this particular challenge. Around here, though, in this place and time, he has enough of a safety net to fall back upon that his failings are barely more than a nuisance. Sometimes it's even a source of amusement for his very dear friends. While he tends to be painfully shy enough to find those moments embarrassing, he also strangely finds himself laughing along with them because his love for them seems greatly magnified here and Feather does nothing to willingly diminish that.

Still, his head and heart being lost in the clouds come naturally for him and, frankly, there is a lot for him to notice here. More than any other pony here, Feather Wind is the most affected by the sheer beauty of nature and, unlike the others, he experiences it in multiple ways. That, in turn, makes reality a much deeper concept for him which is inspirational to the soul of an artist. He keeps getting mentally and emotionally lost in this gorgeous landscape while silently pondering what words he could possibly choose that could best describe this experience in a poem. When he tries, the words flow into his mind, heart and soul far more easily than it usually does despite and because of the scope and source of his inspiration here. As he beholds this, something grows deep in the wells of his soul which gradually feels just as urgent to let out as the need to go to the bathroom. He feels he must write this down whenever he gets the chance or else the pressure within him will only increase. That, in turn, is uncomfortable and distracting.

He also realizes that many other writers, like Daring Do, likely can sympathize with that feeling due to their own personal experience.

On a personal level, Feather Wind tends to be more quiet around his companions both because he is absorbing the experience around him and also because he's shy. If, however, he's spoken directly to, he often responds, especially if he has useful knowledge to offer the others about whatever the subject matter is that is brought up. Given his heavy educational background, which is way higher than the vast majority of Equestria in his time, he usually has something to say about whatever is brought up, even if it is only an educated guess. If, however, his knowledge fails, sometimes his instincts pick up the slack.

The one thing that he is most vocal about, though, is singing along with Derpy. He often joined her even if no pony else does. He does that both to give support for her but also to have fun himself.

It's moments like this that teach him and magnify the value of life itself. To feel those “ah-ha” moments and say to himself, “This is why I am here! I am here to experience this, record this, and share it with others as profoundly as I can.”

Magic swirls around him from within and without as he travels up the mountain, but unlike Doctor Kelly, there is no attempt to disassociate his emotions from this experience. Rather than that, he sees such things as the source of his power and personal strength. The reason why he'll be an awesome mage someday is precisely because he is fully willing to live in this moment and absorb it for all that it offers. He can analyze and categorize all of this in his mind and still feel really charged and alive from this experience because he embraces his emotions too. For him, it's not just about understanding something but becoming it, just like the wind itself. Even the most esoteric concepts can become simply a state of being for him. Understanding is not as crucial as being and living an experience, but his mind is generally sharp enough to put some definition on such concepts anyway. That, in turn, gives him at least some structure to build upon and help to explain this to others.

Ever since he first learned to attune himself to this Red Crystal, never has he been bombarded with so many rich opportunities to empower it. Sometimes it feels painful and overwhelming to steel his nerves and accept that he needs to let some particular moment go because he's too busy concentrating on climbing instead. He'll have to wait until they reach a moment of respite. When that happens, sometimes the energy of the moments he passes comes back to him. Energy is timeless after all. He knows that because it innately exists beyond the confines and limitations of a mortal existence. He always has one hoof in each state at all times, too. That's what magic has taught him and what it personally means to him. To be willing to look beyond the mundane, but it includes that too. Magic can be practical, convenient, fun, and sometimes essential. Through it all, though, it always is.

Part 6: Elements of Friendship

Sitting near the mouth of the crystal cave they found themselves in to take a break for the rest of the day, Feather Wind, Daring Do, and Stern Wing watch as Derpy Hooves and Doctor Kelly Saddler both venture further in to explore the cave in their own way. Derpy is playful and Doctor Kelly is largely scientific in her approach.

“The air is getting thinner up here,” Stern Wing mentions to her adjacent companions while keeping a careful eye on those who split from the party and also warming her hooves over a pair of heated stones thanks to Feather Wind's magic. That helps in addition to Feather’s bubble of warmth around them. “Logically, I figured this would eventually happen, but this place has been so overwhelmingly magical and hospitable that I also figured I can't take anything around here for granted. It could always surprise me, and with a potentially hostile reality bender on the prowl, those surprises might not always be a good thing.”

“Well, in consideration with the thinner oxygen,” Daring says as her look transfers from Derpy and Doctor Kelly to just Stern Wing, “the majority of our party here are pegasi so we have an advantage on that front. As for Feather Wind here,” her eyes shift to look at him who also returns her gaze, “I get the feeling that he's far more acclimated to higher altitudes than the average unicorn.”

“Maybe even compared to pegasi,” Stern adds while regarding her small blue friend proudly. “As a living embodiment of the wind and sky, he's in his natural element up here.”

“Which leaves Doctor Kelly here as our sole concern,” Daring goes on as she looks back at the white lab coated mare. “Strictly speaking, she's not an average unicorn either. She's a Magi and there might be some key differences in her physiology accordingly. As a result, I can't say with confidence how she'll react to conditions like this.”

“Those conditions will probably continue to get worse the further we scale up,” Stern Wing warns. “Also, right now, the winds are starting to get heavier out there so normal flying is more and more off the table. Ironically that actually leaves Doctor Kelly's magic for levitation and force fields as the safest option for flying right now, but it seems slow. We'll have to keep that in mind as well.”

Daring looks at Feather with a lift of her right eyebrow as she asks him, “I'm curious, is there anything you can do about the thinning oxygen up here? The reason why I ask is because I don't normally have access to ponies with abilities like yours, so I can't reject the possibility that you might have a trick or two up your sleeve that can help.”

“Believe it or not, I've been contemplating that question as well for the past several days,” Feather Wind answers. “I, more than anypony here, am well aware of the conditions of the wind and sky. That awareness extends to knowing what conditions we will meet at this rate.” He flashes a look at Stern Wing along with a brief nod at her as he adds, “Like you, I wasn't totally certain what we'd find up here at first because this environment isn't like any other we've ever encountered.” He looks back at Daring. “Like Stern said, this place is unusually hospitable.

“That said, it is still a physical realm and it is guided by physical rules except not as strict. Being as highly charged as it is, there is some room for flexibility here but we're all well aware what kind of baseline we're working with here. As such, I have discovered that, indeed, the oxygen is thinning and we can expect that process to continue as we scale up. In a way that's a good thing too because you said the flower we seek tends to prefer high climates with thin oxygen.”

When Feather said that, Daring acknowledged that with a nod.

“So I've been giving this issue some thought like I said earlier,” Feather Wind continues, “and I did come up with one idea but I'm a little nervous to try it.”

“Which is?” Daring Do presses.

Feather Wind sighs before he says, “I could try to increase the nearby air pressure around us or even localize it entirely around each of our heads. If I do that, the smaller amount of oxygen particles might be squeezed closer to us.”

“But you'd have to maintain that concentration consistently I assume?” Daring Do figures. “Which means it might be a problem while you're asleep, not to mention the constant tax on your magic.” Daring shakes her head. “It's an interesting suggestion but I'm not sure if it's one we can reasonably maintain.”

“My influence over the wind and sky doesn't always take constant concentration,” Feather counters. “I just talk to it. That's the essence of my talent aside from lightening my body weight and I guess sharing some other traits with pegasi.” He shakes his head briefly. “Anyway, once I do make a request to the wind, it uses its own power to fulfill that request. The environment is using its own magic to fulfill my request. In fact, whenever I am in a deep trance and really connect with nature, there doesn't feel like there are any barriers between me and nature anymore. At that point I'm beyond mere talking. Instead I feel like I've become one with it. When that happens then influencing nature feels about as easy as moving any of my legs. It becomes second nature.

“Furthermore, when I get that connected, that means I am one with nature's magic as well. That does far more than merely recharge my magic. It rather feels like my drop of magic has merged with the ocean, so to speak. When that happens, it feels like I have truly bottomless amounts of mana, or at least the amount the local environment has.”

“Wow!” Daring exclaims with stunned wide eyes at Feather Wind. “That's truly an amazing talent.”

“I'm not normally like that by default,” Feather cautions. “Instead I'm more like what you see now. Thinking and talking coherently. When I get into a deep, deep trance, though, everything changes.

“I actually first noticed it during brief moments during Wonderbolt practice. When I let my mind relax enough and just sink into a trance, I am in the Zone. During that time, I feel fully connected to nature as if there is no separation. At that point I'm suddenly aware of all that nature is aware of. As for my body, it just moves in mindless instinct. I'm telling you now, I sometimes had to get that good with my talent to fly with the Wonderbolts because it required such precise control of my abilities that I was previously unaccustomed to.”

“I know that feeling of sinking into the Zone,” Stern Wing says with an enchanted voice. “That happened to me plenty of times when I played Puffball along with the rest of my teammates, and I'm not the only one to have that experience. Our coach taught us that that is common practice for any good players of any professional sport. To really get the most out of anything, we just have to channel some higher power.”

Daring nods in agreement then says, “I, too, had that experience from time to time. It got me out of a lot of trouble back in the day. During a moment of crisis when everypony else would normally panic, I sometimes get super calm instead and just sink into a trance. I get this feeling like nothing can hurt me. I just dance and weave around any danger like I'm playfully flirting with it. It's such an incredible high.”

Daring Do lifts a beige hoof and briefly closes her eyes as she says, “But let's get back to the issue at hoof.” She lowers her hoof and opens her eyes again with focus on Feather as she says to him, “So okay. We've established now that you do have a way to affect air pressure and it doesn't even always require great concentration or magic. Under the right circumstances your connection with nature could either rapidly recharge your magic or astronomically expand your maximum mana supply to be equal to the environment around you, so what's the problem? Why are you nervous to try?”

“The problem is I've tried this before and noticed complications with the attempt,” Feather explains to Daring then regards his large brown friend. “It was actually in Water World and more specifically in that underwater base which I forgot the name to. We were in the foreman's office. While there, I noticed one of his ponies breathing hard because he recently galloped quite the distance. In an attempt to assist him, I tried to squeeze oxygen closer to him but I think I only made him dizzy.” He returns his gaze to Daring. “So either my control over the air isn't precise enough, or there are medical side effects to the method I tried that I'm unaware of.”

“It could be where you make the attempt might also make a difference,” Stern Wing figures.

“The pony you attempted this experiment on might have had personal issues instead,” Daring counters. “Perhaps he has unusual respiratory issues. You did say you were in an underwater base. If he's been working down there for a while, that might develop some medical issues.”

“Possibly,” Feather acknowledges. “And I'll admit I didn't take all of that into account, but still . . . I could try this up here then become personally responsible for developing certain problems.”

“If you're good enough with your influence over the wind to fly with a bunch of Wonderbolt cadets, then you're probably good enough to use this solution safely as long as you go gentle with it,” Daring encourages. “It wouldn't take much pressure to make a significant difference.”

“You really think so?” Feather asks with rising cheer.

Daring Do nods as she says, “Just be careful how much pressure you apply around ponies. I heard tales of deep sea divers who came up from the depths too fast and there is a significant degree of pressure difference down there. Some ponies' blood literally boiled.”

Feather Wind balks at that information but he does not look entirely surprised about it. Daring had him figured correctly. Feather Wind is way more educated than the average pony, but this appears to be an issue that slipped his mind until Daring gave this reminder.

“Boiled their blood? Are you serious?” Stern Wing asks with an unconvinced blink. “Just what kind of temperature was the water that those ponies were swimming in?”

Daring shakes her head and looks at Stern as she says, “No. This had nothing to do with temperature. Instead, it had to do with the water pressure around them and how that affected the oxygen in their blood. There are other ways to cook things aside from using temperature alone. A drastic change in pressure is one of them.”

Feather Wind looks meek and terrified by the reminder of this possibility. Not noticing this, Stern Wing asks him, “Is any of this true that you know of?”

Still holding that same facial expression but it calms down slightly in order to address Stern Wing's question, Feather Wind informs, “It's true. Scholars have known that for a long time now. A drastic change in air pressure is another way to cook things, including food. But, when it does, the exact method it employs differs from fire-style cooking. Instead of charring something, it can really tenderize it.”

“Is he okay?” Daring asks in concern as she regards Feather Wind.

Finally noticing his pained expression, Stern Wing answers, “Well . . . no. Not at the moment. Feather Wind is still struggling to understand himself and his powers and he's often been afraid that it could have the ability to harm others in ways he did not initially expect. Since he has a really good heart, that prospect bothers him.”

When next Stern speaks, she does so directly to Feather Wind by saying, “Feather Wind,” she waits till she's gathered his attention before she resumes, to which she gathers his attention almost immediately. Stern Wing goes on, “You don't need to fear your powers because you can trust yourself to hoofle it responsibly. You once said so yourself. The reason why nature trusts you with these powers is because it knows your heart and you wouldn't abuse it on purpose. In fact, I see it another way. Instead of abusing this power, you can use it to prevent others from abusing it if they can do so somehow. You can act as an intelligent safeguard in favor of nature's natural intentions. If the air is poisoned or unnaturally toxic for some reason, for example, then take comfort in the knowledge that you have the power to clean it up.” Stern Wing grins as she adds, “And given what we just learned, it sounds like there are other ways to use this talent non-offensively. A strong increase in air pressure might help us to cook food without needing heat or light.”

Daring nods in agreement as she says, “That can come in hoofy too at times. Perhaps there is nothing else around to burn or you're hiding and don't want the light to attract too much attention, but you also want to cook this delicious food you have, so . . .” Daring trails off as she gives a shrug.

Feather Wind looks back and forth between the two mares as he contemplates what they said to him. Shortly later he grows a very innocent and grateful smile as he says to them, “Thanks, gals, for that reminder.”

Stern Wing drapes her right large wing across Feather Wind's back and even uses it to pull him closer to her side for a side hug as she expresses, “Anytime, pal.”

Seeing this, Daring Do grins at the two of them then says, “You know what I just realized? As strange as it sounds to have a unicorn with such an affinity for the air, it just dawned on me how much of a connection that you, Stern, have to the earth. You know, for a pegasus that is.” She shakes her head slightly. “It seems oddly fitting how much you two complement each other.”

At that comment, Stern Wing smiles in delight as she expresses, “You know, you're not the first to make that observation. I've had other ponies say such things to me even if they didn't know about Feather Wind or my personal association with him. Some of my other friends, family, teammates, and even opponents have made the remark that I strike them more as an earth pony rather than the pegasus aside from my ginormous wings, of which has to be this big and strong to lift my bulk let alone allow me to fly so amazingly well.

“That comparison goes beyond mere appearance too, though. I think my natural affinity actually is the earth. In fact, it's so strong that I don't even need to touch the earth to feel connected to it. Instead, it is within me.” She gestures to her large barrel-sized chest with her left fore hoof. “I am the earth. That's why I am so strong, sturdy, loyal, and possess unshakable moral integrity. When I make a promise, know that no force can stop me from fulfilling it to the best of my ability, which is quite a lot. I also like to keep my life simple and 'down to earth' whereas Feather likes to keep his head and body in the clouds.” Stern's smile sinks into a grin as she goes on to say, “I think you might be the same way. A natural earth element despite being a pegasus.”

“Really?” Daring asks with a surprised lift of her right eyebrow and has her ears perk up above her. “Because I always thought I was a natural fire-type personally, especially when I'm out on an adventure. Whatever I do, I do with a blazing passion. My friends may find light and warmth in that. My enemies may feel burned instead.” Daring Do tilts her head curiously at Stern Wing as she says, “But I am curious about your argument why you see me as an earth-type mare. Who knows? You might actually convince me.”

“Eh.” Stern Wing shrugs. “I suppose I can see you as a fire type too, so maybe the truth is you're more like lava. You're both earth and fire at the same time.

“Anyway, my argument in support of you being an earth-type is how much affinity you have for the land as you travel in it. You just seem to know where you are going even if it's the first time you are ever there. The tracks you find tell you a story as if the land is talking to you. Also, if you seek out food like nuts and berries, you seem to know where to look. Again, it's almost as if you have a natural and uncanny way to communicate with the earth.”

Daring lifts a hoof as she says, “To be fair, this land has been unusually accommodating. Don't get me wrong. I really do have extensive wilderness survival training, and I think you have made some valid personal points about me and my connection to the land as well, but judging that by the standards of this adventure alone might also give you a slightly skewed impression. It seems to me that all we have to do is merely desire to find berries and voilà. We suddenly find it even if it is a little illogical for us to find it.”

“I've noticed that too,” Feather agrees as he looks at Stern. “When I talk to the sky, normally I find it at best delighted that I can speak to it and therefore eager to serve me, or at worst indifferent and obeys me because it doesn't feel like it has anything else better to do. That is, unless, the environment is corrupted somehow. Only then do I tend to get a hostile reaction from nature.

“Out here, however, the elements feel almost aggressively determined to please us. Like it just leaps on even the tiniest and most remote whimsical thought to cross our minds and sees it as an opportune and moral imperative to serve us again. I've never seen the elements that strongly positive before.”

“Eh. I don't mind it,” Stern says with a shrug and a small smile. “After suffering through hurricane force storms on Water World or navigating tight, clock-work style walls that spew hostile steam on the Klaxian ship, I figure I'm due for a nice vacation. It's very pleasant for me to finally have the environment working for me for a change.”

“The vibes in Ponyville were pleasant as well,” Feather recalls. “But compared to here, it was more subdued. Relaxed. Chill. Pleasant. Out here, the vibes are so overwhelmingly positive that part of me actually finds it suspicious.”

“Tell me about it,” Daring agrees with a roll of her eyes before deciding to return to an older subject. “Anyway, so if we're in agreement that Feather is air element, Stern is earth and I might be a fire/earth combo, what about Derpy? Any thoughts on her?”

The three of them are silent for a moment which is broken by Feather Wind after the three of them get a chance to consider their answer.

“At first, Derpy seems to embody everything her outward impression would seem to suggest,” Feather Wind proposes. “On the surface, I'd say she's an air-type element, just like me, which is very fitting and perhaps even common for a pegasi. She's light, often carefree, and playful. She's often accused of being an airhead or some similar term and, while I do frown at the derogatory term, it kind of also fits but I mean it in a good way. I see somepony who expresses herself very authentically and I can't help but smile in deep approval of that.

“At the same time, though, I think there are deeper and more esoteric levels to Derpy that are hidden by what she seems to be on the surface. Other elements I would attribute to her are 'shining light' and 'melodic sound'. That's the essence of her soul and it can cause a positive lift to others too even if they are unaware of it.”

“Interesting answer,” Stern Wing remarks with an impressed tone as she rests her forelegs on the thighs of her hindlegs as she is sitting. “Then again, I've come to expect some deep and poetic answers from the likes of you. In that case, I have to ask what element you see the Doctor as?”

That question immediately seizes Daring's fascinated attention to Feather, equally eager for that answer, especially after reading some of his work in the past and getting to know him better now.

“The Doctor?” Feather repeats then muses. “Hmm. Well . . . similar to Derpy, I think there are multiple dynamic layers here. In his case, though, the surface might depend on his current regeneration cycle. We know him as the lovable, eccentric and ecliptic Doctor of the TARDIS. If I had to pick a typical element, I guess it would be earth.” He focuses on Stern as he adds, “But remember that time when he exploded with all kinds of golden light in the TARDIS? The time he went through something like a regeneration cycle?”

“I remember that very well,” Stern confirms in a spooked tone.

“Well, I remember it too and it taught me something important about him ever since that day. It was a feeling I got before that as well but that moment solidified it for me. The Doctor's true element is Time and Space. In other words, pure cosmic energy. If he was an Element of Harmony, I'd actually attribute him as the Element of Magic. That quality about him is so well hidden if you just look at him at the surface level, but I glimpsed beneath that when he exploded with golden light that was as brilliant as the quasar. Ever since then I became certain that this stallion is unlike anything I have ever seen in a natural world. The description of 'otherworldly' very much aptly fits him. He's the visitor across time and space that never really belongs in any one time and place. An eager traveler who can never settle down, maybe not even where he came from. The truth is he is no more 'earth' than he is any other element because it can change in the very next cycle which hints at a deeper truth.”

“Whoa!” exclaims Derpy which startles the others since they didn't know she approached them during that explanation. Derpy's eyes are wide with amazement despite looking otherwise unfocused because of her walleyes. “That is deep!” Derpy commends Feather.

“Well, anyway,” Stern says as she settles down after being startled by Derpy's unexpected and sudden arrival then returns her attention to Feather. “I hadn't thought of it that way before, but after you explained that, I see what you're saying. Because of his ever changing nature as a result of his natural capabilities, he's hard to quantify so pure cosmic energy feels like a more apt label for him, especially since he is a traveler from space who never settles in one place.”

“Hey! That rhymes!” Derpy cheers, then sings melodically, “A traveler from space who can't settle in one place. La-dee-dahhh!”

The others pause for a moment before breaking out into a mirthful giggle.

Part 7: Heaven then Hell

Most of the group is singing. This started because of Derpy of course. Feather and Stern immediately join because they both know and love this song. With a bit of a delay, Daring eventually joins the song even though part of her felt awkward and embarrassed to do so. To her, doing so feels a little unprofessional but she's been spending the last several days getting emotionally closer to the others while under unusually ideal circumstances. It almost feels as if these conditions became this conducive to social bonding in order to encourage a pony who is unusually resistant to it. It's as if that is the lesson of this experience, at least for her.

The one pony in their group that didn't join their chorus, and never did, is Doctor Kelly. It's as if she doesn't know how. She does observe the others though and even records them sometimes, including this moment. Her professional observation of the others informed her many details about this group dynamic from a psychological standpoint. Because of that, she feels she has gathered a lot of valuable data outside of a formal setting such as private psychological counseling with each of them minus Daring Do so far.

By now the doctor is well aware of Daring's heavily guarded and private nature which has slowly been crumbling across the duration of this trip. Part of the reason is that is there is some effort on Daring's part to open up to the others. She's trying and she wants to, but she spent so many years in enforced social isolation that it has become a habit for her. Doctor Kelly quickly realized that Daring has sensitive trust issues but her willingness to try to open up to this group indicates she trusts them far more than she normally does with others, and Doctor Kelly is smart enough to have some educated guesses why that is so.

This group, minus Doctor Kelly, isn't the only ones joining their song. Feather Wind informed them that the elemental spirits often respond positively to the music, especially if the song supports their general mood. Happy, loving, and joyous music almost always evokes a response from them. It's only a guess, but Feather figures that any music with a negative mood might actually confuse the local elemental spirits because it's so foreign to this environment, but it most likely would not encourage them to join and might even chase them out. This theory was never tested though because those kinds of songs have never come up so far. After all, these ponies are in this environment too and it has a heavy psychological influence on them that is difficult to resist, especially over time.

In this place, elemental spirits are more visible than they usually are. The most common form they take that these ponies can see with their naked eyes is balls of energy of various colors that dance and swirl around them. They can fade in and out of the visible spectrum for these ponies but even if they are invisible, they are still there for as long as they choose to be so. If they don't, they are incorporeal and can fly through solid structure accordingly, even if it is the ponies' physical bodies which can sometimes be felt, especially if they are sensitive to feeling energy such as Doctor Kelly. It took awhile for Feather Wind to notice this but they can also apparently teleport at will. No spell is actually cast when they do. Instead, they just suddenly fade away in one spot and fade in at another location. It seems they effortlessly have a way to skip the space in between. They can also split apart and merge which they have occasionally demonstrated.

Sometimes there is other evidence of influence by the elemental spirits such as change in temperature, air pressure, electrical activity, sudden gusts of wind even if it is only a gentle breeze. Another way their influence is noticeable, which is especially so in this crystal cave, is when they affect the lights shining off the other crystals in this cave. They all normally give a steady glow of some kind. The intensity and color varies with each crystal, but under the influence of the elemental spirits, that pattern occasionally changes. Sometimes the crystals glow brighter. Sometimes they dim. Sometimes they gleam. Sometimes they flash. Sometimes the light shifts around the crystal and one can see one or more shadows dance around it.

Whatever form of visible influence that manifests here, it is in support of whatever music is being played. It matches the tempo and theme of whatever the song is. Because of all of this, it makes it overwhelmingly obvious that these ponies are not alone. Whatever else is out here with them might not be fully sentient per se, at least in the traditional sense, but it does react to whatever energy these ponies cast off from themselves. The spirits’ general mood seems largely playful and upbeat.

Which, of course, is why Derpy is having the easiest time connecting with them. She and these spirits seem to have a lot of natural synergy between them. Her bubbly nature is naturally conducive to this kind of atmosphere. Playful, happy, child-like, curious and highly innocent.

Today, however, there are a few extra surprises in store for them. The first of these is the fact that audible music joins them. At first it just seems to be humming from the crystals and that is true, but in time the music turns into a more organic sounding voices and eventually this group spots the new source. Other creatures fade into existence in much the same way these elemental spirit balls do. These new ones seem to be pony shaped at first and even have the correct size. They, too, are four-legged creatures with a central barrel body, single neck, head, and tail extending off of them. These creatures have more fur, though, particularly around their heads and necks which makes it look like a lion's mane. They also have some hair extending off the back of each of their hooves. More curious still is some scales that extend down certain portions of their body and are particularly thick along the backs and back of their neck. They also have horns on the top of their heads. The ponies that observe them quickly realize that that appendage of theirs has the same function as a unicorn horn, but the curved shape of them is subtly unique to each one and almost looks like an elegantly curved tree branch instead of a typical pointy unicorn horn. If these creatures cast magic, the way their horns glow is different too. It is like they have glowing arcane lines in their horns instead of their entire horns glowing with energy. Just like a pony unicorn, though, the exact color that each of these horns glow appears to be equally unique to each one.

The final detail that stands out about each of these creatures is a brilliantly shining aura around each of them. The color of that aura tends to match whatever their horn color is but the observant would notice that is not always the case.

Feather Wind, Daring Do, and to a lesser extent, Doctor Kelly are the ones in this group to properly identify the name of this species, which in this case is known as kirin in their respective timelines, but this is the first time any of them have personally met one. Of this group, Daring has come the closest to doing so in her past. In her case, she never met a living example, but had found some of their bones and other ancient ruins. She grew well aware that living examples might still be out there in the world somewhere, but only now is finally the time when she encounters not just one of them, but several.

Like the visiting elemental spirits before them, the primary interest of this group of kirin seems to be the same. It takes time to notice this, but even their mindset seems to be the same as well. They operate far more on raw instinct alone rather than any sort of logical thought. This likely means they can't talk. They probably don't even think in words and they never did. Instead, they are swept up in pure magical passion at all times which is probably why their bodies and horns are glowing so much. They are also probably not fully corporeal beings. They seem to be for the moment, but the truth is they are just made of energy that is temporarily solid. That's why they were able to fade in from seemingly out of nowhere and likely can depart in the same manner.

Doctor Kelly Saddler was recording this the whole time with her drones. Initially it was for posterity to have a record of this groups progressing social dynamic and scientific curiosity about the reaction and influence these elemental spirits have in the crystals of this cave, but now she becomes even more determined to let the recording continue the minute the kirin show up. At that point she has the drones initiate some scans as well after a brief moment of hesitation because she feared that doing that might chase these new creatures away, but doing so appears to have no reaction in them for the moment.

Curiously, Derpy has the least reaction to the arrival of the kirin because, by then, she was already in a musical trance. In fact her melody shifted to match theirs, or perhaps it is the other way around? At that point there are no lyrics to the song. Just harmonic humming instead. In addition, they also dance and swirl in the crystal cave in a way that is in sync with each other to the degree of highly unusual perfection. It is as if, in that moment, they are all one mind and spirit that is controlling multiple bodies. It is as if each body is merely a single limb extending from the same body. Their music and movements compliment each other far too well to believe otherwise.

At that point Feather Wind, Stern Wing, and Daring Do stop joining the music and instead observe this new phenomenon. They are all cautious at first but Feather is the first to relax about what they see. He even takes a moment to concentrate on the Red Crystal and use it to absorb some of this positive energy pervading the cave right now. He also smiles in delight when he notices Derpy being so happy at this moment. Gradually that look sinks into a cunning one as well because he realizes how this moment could be useful to Derpy and even the group later on.

Daring and Stern remain on high alert. They carefully scan everything in front of them for signs of trouble, but the reason they don't do anything else is because they aren't observing any obvious signs of trouble. Instead it is the opposite, and yet neither mare fully trusts it. This is just too highly unusual to them to settle with them fully.

Despite their guard, there is no denying that the music is beautiful to an otherworldly degree. The kind of music that can make any other kind of music they are accustomed to feel stale in comparison. In fact, that is why they will have trouble remembering this fully later. The quality is just too good for their brains to process. This is literally beyond the quality any mundane mortal can possibly achieve so retaining memory of it later is equally difficult. The only thing that will preserve this to some extent is the raw emotion of the moment, not the singing or dancing motion that caused it. They'll also remember that it was music and dancing that occurred at that moment, but the details will fade like a dream which, in a way, is a blessing because otherwise they would not be able to enjoy any other music at a mundane mortal level of quality. At least they'll know that quality like that exists at all and their souls will remember it even if their mortal minds can't. That, in turn, has a subtle influence on the rest of their lives ever onward.

The fact that the influence of that music is so overwhelmingly positive is another reason they gradually, but never fully, relax their guard. Both mares are loath to shake Derpy out of her musical trance when it is clear she is having such a joyous time of her life so they stay ready for action just in case instead.

The performance felt timeless while it occurred, almost as if it is eternal which is yet another reason why the others cannot remember it well later on. How can their minds process something that truly feels eternal? Besides, when their memories later fade about this moment somewhat, it becomes even more difficult to identify exactly how long it took.

When she later checks, Doctor Kelly eventually discovers that even her equipment gets confused with regards to how long the performance actually took. According to it, time kept skipping back and forth randomly and the files of the performance itself is largely corrupted because even it had a hard time recording true otherworldly perfection. It is just a scramble of data filled with snow, static, digital screeching, or nothing at all.

But the kirin, which curiously seem to all be female for some reason, eventually vanish as mysteriously as they once appeared. By then the music came to its natural conclusion. However, the sheer suddenness of their departure left a curious hole in the atmosphere. As joyous and uplifting as their presence had been, their sudden departure left the room feeling curiously empty all of a sudden. A danger instinct ran through the systems of Stern, Feather and Daring as well. It made them think that is precisely why the kirin departed so swiftly. They sensed a shift in mood coming that is not compatible with their nature and they are so in tune with their instincts that they reacted before the danger even came.

Derpy is an exception, though. While she was the one who was most swept up in the passion of the musical moment, she faints instead of vanishing like the other kirin did. It probably costs more energy to be corporeal for the kirin so they simply return to their natural state and flee in spirit form, but Derpy is solid by default and has mortal limitations on top of that. During the performance the energy of it kept her going but, in the aftermath of it, the cost of it caught up with her body. Bending mortal limitations beyond what it is normally capable of is only a temporary state for her. When the performance passes, she is spent and therefore collapses onto the cave floor.

“DERPY!” Stern Wing cries out in alarm and almost charges after the unconscious gray mare but Daring is faster because she's smaller for one thing and has more honed reflexes. As such, she is immediately able to charge after Derpy the moment the walleye pegasus starts to fall.

Still, there is too much distance between them for even Daring to close the gap before Derpy's head hits the ground but Daring is on Derpy a split second later. From there, Daring applies a hoof to a few spots on Derpy to check for vital signs. It takes a moment for her to register a heart beat in the bubble cutie marked mare, but the very first encouraging sign Daring notices is that Derpy is still breathing. Aside from sudden and intense exhaustion, Derpy seems fine. In fact maybe better than fine. Derpy is unconscious with a peaceful and angelic-like smile on her face as if she is dreaming about heaven itself.

“Scan her with your equipment now!” Feather Wind immediately and uncharacteristically demands of Doctor Kelly. “Find out if she's safe and fine.”

“Ah . . . working on it?” Doctor Kelly replies with an unexpected questioning inflection to her tone.

“Something wrong?” Feather reflects because of her reaction.

“The drones are glitching right now,” Doctor Kelly reports with a highly surprised tone. “I may have to reboot them.”

“What does that mean?” Feather asks her with a questioning wince.

“It means I'll have to turn them off then on again,” Doctor Kelly replies. “If I do so, it might fix whatever is wrong with these things.” Then she grunts in frustration before adding, “This might mean the data I gathered just a moment ago could be corrupted as well. That would truly be a pity.”

“How is she?” Stern asks Daring after trotting up to the other two mares.

“Stable,” Daring reports. “Even seems peaceful . . . but unconscious. I'm not sure why but my guess is exhaustion.”

Stern Wing sighs in a bit of relief after hearing that but she gets on edge again when she resumes scanning the rest of the cave. For the first time ever since their mysterious meeting with the small and possible draconequus, the atmosphere doesn't feel welcoming anymore which is highly, highly unusual compared to the normal standard they've ever otherwise gotten from this side of the world and time. Since their experience has been overwhelmingly positive wherever they have gone for over a week now, this one moment with a spot of darkness feels drastically different in comparison. They are no longer accustomed to this so it stands out all the more.

“Be ready for action,” Stern Wing cautions. “I sense danger ahoof.”

“Me too,” Daring Do agrees as her fur visibly stands up on end. “Feather,” Daring calls over her right shoulder, “can you lift and carry Derpy close to you carefully? Maybe you should take her out of the cave as well.”

“I can try,” Feather volunteers, then looks to his right at Doctor Kelly. To her, he requests hopefully, “A little help? I just want to be careful with her.”

Still regarding her drones with a frown, which are no longer floating but instead seem dead on the ground, Doctor Kelly sighs with frustration mixed with confusion then shakes her head before regarding Feather Wind and affirms to him, “Right. We'll do this together. Once we have her near us, I can probe her the old fashion way. I also have some spells that will help me gather some data unless my gems are malfunctioning too.”

“Test it with something safe before you try it on Derpy,” Feather Wind suggests to her. “But do it quickly. Please.”

Doctor Kelly confirms this with a nod. She tests her magic by having her lollipop float out of her mouth then back into her mouth, of which she does successfully and with no delay whatsoever. Nodding to Feather to communicate her success and willingness to engage their next task, they both concentrate and soon have Derpy's body surrounded by two magical auras. With that done, they easily but still carefully float the unconscious mare closer to themselves.

“I don't like the way those things so suddenly departed,” Stern Wing quietly tells Daring while on edge. “Maybe they sensed whatever danger was coming this way, or perhaps they even summoned it.”

“I don't think they summoned it,” Daring argues as she rises to her four hooves and tilts her hat slightly forward over her face. She has a piercing eye scanning about under the edge of her hat. “But I do think they sensed it. Those creatures, of which I suspect were ancient versions of a species known in my time as the 'kirin', seem to entirely operate on primitive but also highly sensitive instinct.”

“If you're right, do you have any idea what it could be?” Stern Wing asks Daring cautiously. “The danger, I mean.”

“It could be the nirik,” Daring Do guesses. “Legends say these evil creatures often follow the wake of the kirin for some reason. If I'm right,” Daring regards Stern Wing off the corner of her right eye, “be prepared to engage creatures that emit a lot of fire by their mere presence.”

“Oh goodie,” Stern Wing sarcastically replies. “I could use a little warmth after all those cold fronts out of this cave due to our high elevation.” Then she winces. “Doesn't fire need oxygen too? Is it strange to encounter such creatures at such high altitudes accordingly?”

“I don't know yet. I never met them before,” Daring admits to Stern. “All my knowledge of either species comes from obscure books I found and read as well as evidence I discovered in ancient ruins where both species used to dwell. Some of those places have ponies, or other species, that moved in since and have tales and legends about those who used to reside there.”

“Hey! What's this?” Stern Wing asks curiously when she spots a new object on the ground that is very close to where Derpy was. Stern Wing scoops it up with a large brown feather then examines it closely. What she sees appears to be some kind of flower with a stem in a loose S shape pattern. At one end of it is U shaped petals that curve outward at the end of it. As she examines it, she notices the petals of this flower are ice blue. Seeing that, she gasps and widens her eyes before extending it closer to Daring do and asking her, “Wait a second! Is this the Ice Blue Flower that we were seeking?”

“Ice Blue Lilly,” Daring reminds then glances at it. When she does, she also widens her eyes with a gasp then ecstatically reports, “YES! That is indeed the flower we seek . . . except . . .” Daring trails off when she notices a detail that is amiss with this flower. It's not supposed to be frosted with a glitter of tiny crystals on it like this flower has. Close examination reveals that the frosted crystals emit a very slight glow to them.

“What's wrong?” Stern Wing asks with a nervous edge to her tone which borders on disappointment.

“This flower normally isn't frosted with gems like this,” Daring reports.

“Um,” Stern Wing bends her head down to look at the flower still in her left brown wing more closely then asks, “is that a bad thing? Do you think it will still work? Also, I noticed that the stem seems to be broken at the base so this was picked off the ground.”

Lifting her head back up, Daring Do then says, “I get the feeling that the frosted gems on this flower are meant to help preserve it, potentially indefinitely.”

“So it is still good?” Stern asks with rising cheer.

“Yes. I think so,” Daring answers. “In fact, I think the method used to preserve it is specifically to make sure it remains useful to us.”

“A parting gift from the kirin?” Stern Wing guesses. “Maybe in gratitude for allowing them to dance and sing with us, or at least do so with Derpy.” She tilts her head curiously. “And how did they know we were seeking this flower anyway?”

“I don't know,” Daring replies with a shake of her head. “There is a lot about this adventure that isn't standard for me. Something tells me that these kirin are not totally like the ones that once existed closer to our time. The kirin I’ve read about in the future built structures after all, but these ones don't seem capable of normal speech or even logic at all.” Her eyes shift to Stern. “So they might have some other trait instead like super instinct and such. For all I know they might all be highly psychic and telepathically in tune with each other.”

“If you're right, that might explain how and why their movements and music were in such perfect sync with each other,” Stern Wing figures. “They were mentally communicating to each other so fast, it's as if they all had one mind.”

Daring nods then says, “My thoughts exactly.

“Anyway, take that flower back to the others and tell them to preserve it. Put it in their saddlebags or something. I don't want that lilly anywhere near the front lines. It's why we've come here, after all, and after all this effort we made to secure a sample, I don't want to risk losing it.”

Stern Wing nods and says, “You got it.” She then gallops her way back to Feather and Doctor Kelly and reports what they have discovered so far and what to do accordingly. Stern Wing almost finishes updating the rest of her friends but trails off when they all hear a familiar and multi-tonal laughter echo around them. That immediately puts them on greater edge as they scan about.

“Five little ponies take shelter in a cave. From there they discover a flower to save. Preserving their objective is that which they crave. Stories abound of bonds they did pave, but caution is nigh lest they meet with their grave.”

“WHERE ARE YOU, YOU COWARD!” Stern Wing cries aloud. “SHOW YOURSELF.”

The laughter picks up again around them as if to mock Stern Wing's words. Not long after that the laughter localizes more in one spot ahead and above them. The cat/lizard-like creature first appears as a widely smiling mouth and eyes before the rest of the creature fades into existence. Once again it appears to lay on something flat nobody else can see. Its tail with a snake mouth at the end swishes playfully behind it. One of its long claws is pressed on the invisible circle it is laying upon and lazily uses it to trace a continuous circle.

“Coward, am I, doth that I appear? Nary, I say, to you . . . my dear. Mischief, instead, is the method I play. That is what you'll see by the end of this day. Before we continue, there is one thing I must say; to your gods is that which you must pray. Your journey must continue and I'll show you the way.”

“Enough of your games and riddles, cat . . . lizard thingamabob,” Stern barks back harshly at the creature. “Let's just get to the point. What are your intentions now?”

The creature lifts a claw as it bids, “Patience, dear one. There's no need to fret. In short order all the pieces will be set.”

“You confront us now just when we gained that which we sought?” Daring Do speaks up. “I doubt that is a coincidence. For weeks we have traveled without a hint of your appearance and now you show up? We waited for you all this time to make a move but you didn't.” She flashes the creature a daring grin. “Or couldn't. This land isn't like Equestria, or rather it is but way more intense. I wonder how that influences the powers and abilities of a spirit of chaos and disharmony.”

The creature’s smile at Daring deepens as it says, “From hither and thither, to beyond and thence. Oh where is the fun in things making sense? Yet games that I play, and rules that there are. You must abide them before you will get far.”

“Is that a threat?!” Stern Wing menaces with a bristle of her fur.

“Challenge, I say, is what I bring unto you,” it says to Stern as it regards her with its mesmerizing and every shifting heterochromatic eyes. “Soon you'll discover that my words doth ring true.”

As if to prove the floating creature's point, yet another creature burrows its way to the surface then towards them from the back of this cave.

This new creature that arrives approaches them on four legs but the motion it makes is more like crawling rather than trotting. It is a little bigger than an average pony but that actually makes it smaller than Stern Wing. This new creature appears to have a gray hide and seems to have no head. Its general torso configuration is like an elongated teardrop shape. Spindly and very flexible arms and legs crawl on its side. There appears to be no bones in those limbs at all. Instead, the highly flexible limbs are more akin to tentacles except it ends in claw-like hands. It also has a long tail behind it and this, too, ends in a claw-like hand. There are spikes all over this creature which, for the moment, is curved back towards the tail end of this creature. It takes awhile for the ponies to notice that the forward end of this teardrop shaped creature is actually its mouth. When it opens, the mouth splits four ways like a nasty looking flower petals peeling back. The inside of its curved back lips is lined with many spikes that basically function like this creature's teeth. About three tentacles wiggle within its mouth that vaguely remind the pony onlookers of a tongue but that is only because of the location of these things.

“What, in Celestia's holy name, is that monstrosity?!” Stern Wing exclaims in horrified alarm.

“I'm glad Derpy isn't awake to witness this,” Feather Wind says in a low tone. “But that'll also make defending her a tad bit trickier.”

“Leave that to me,” Doctor Kelly requests calmly. “I am very precise with my force fields.” To demonstrate that her words are true, Derpy's unconscious body gets encased in a spherical force field which then lifts and hovers about four feet off the ground. “My drones should be fully rebooted soon, then after that, I should be able to use them to scan this creature. Once that data starts rolling in, I can give the rest of you better tactical advice.”

“In the meantime, the rest of us should be prepared to engage-” Stern Wing begins but Daring Do cuts Stern Wing off by lifting both of her beige wings as if to use them to block all the ponies behind her.

“No! All of you stay back behind me!” Daring Do insists as she regards the threat ahead of them in a very guarded stance. She then peers back at the rest of her companions over her right shoulder and raised wing with her right eye only. From there, they can see Daring Do's eye pupil is very small with a look of very focused fury. “This one is mine!” Daring again insists with acid in the last word of her sentence.

“Are you sure it's wise to face this thing by yourself?” Stern asks in a cautious tone. “We'd be safer if we all face this together.”

Feather Wind notices that the possible tiny draconequus regards this declaration with surprise as well which he personally finds noteworthy. Daring Do's intentions do not match the tiny creature's plan or expectation. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing, Feather Wind can't decide yet. Further observation is required for him.

“I've fought on my own plenty of times before,” Daring Do informs her companions as she regards the dangerous-looking creature ahead of her again. “I can hoofle this. I'll make sure the rest of you don't get hurt in the process. The Doctor trusted me to take care of you all and that is precisely what I'm going to do.”

Any mystery that the ponies behind Daring Do had as to why Daring is doing this is suddenly gone now. Even Stern Wing has figured out that Daring's habits and trust issues remain in the way for optimal teamwork to take place here.

“Let her do this, Stern,” Feather recommends to his large friend. “If she really can hoofle this then that is enough. The rest of us will be on standby just in case. Also, after the battle, if Daring suffers any injuries then Doctor Kelly can make short work of it even if she gets drained of magic. With harmonic energy this strong at this time and place, not only would her magic recover much faster, but her healing magic would likely be enhanced as well.”

“Even our body's natural healing rate seems to be accelerated here,” Doctor Kelly adds. “But that also might apply to Daring Do's opponent. This could end up a very long fight.” Doctor Kelly takes a deep breath, lets it out, then says, “In any case, I still plan to scan that creature even if Daring doesn't plan to listen to my advice. What I discover might still be valuable, perhaps even essential.” She looks at her drones as the two spherical mirrors start floating up. “And it looks like the two of them have successfully rebooted too. I'm going to give them a quick diagnostics check of their systems before sending them forth.”

“So even machines can get sick, huh?” Feather figures with a side grin at Doctor Kelly.

“In their own way, yes,” Doctor Kelly confirms. “I heard that the Doctor's sonic screwdriver is particularly good at manipulating, disabling, or even repairing such things so long as it isn't made of wood.”

“Check on Derpy's status too while you're at it,” Stern Wing advises Doctor Kelly. “I want to make sure she's fine too, or at least stable enough for the moment. That can be the drone's first test.”

“That's part of my plan,” Doctor Kelly replies.

While they were talking, Daring Do and the spiky gray creature had approached each other until they were about fifteen feet apart. From there, they moved in a circle while constantly facing each other. Each of them seems to size up their opponent in their own way. The spiky gray creature is much more twitchy while Daring remains steady, deadly serious, and focused.

Also during this time, the floating cat/lizard creature vanishes in a flash of light then simultaneously reappears near the other ponies and facing towards Daring Do and the spiky creature. Its hypnotic rainbow eyes regard this upcoming fight with devious delight mixed with curiosity. Its smile is creepy wide and its tail swishes playfully behind it.

“Forgive me if asking this question offends you, but if you'll indulge me, I'm curious about something,” Feather Wind says to the floating draconequus which immediately wins Feather Wind its attention. “What are you, exactly? What is your name, and are you male or female?”

While Feather Wind asked those questions, the creature momentarily had a more normal and vaguely curious expression on its face, but its wide smile returns upon the conclusion of Feather's questions.

“Mysteries abound where questions lie. I'm equally curious, by the by. Spirit I am, and Chaos I sow. It doesn't surprise me that there are things to know. What you see is what I am. Take that as you will, you handsome man.”

After saying that, the creature suddenly turns into disembodied, cherry-red lips that are the same size that the creature was. In that form, the disembodied lips suddenly fly at Feather Wind's face and smacks him with a giant kiss that covers the whole right side of his face. Cherry-red lipstick lingers there at the conclusion of that action. After that, the lips suddenly vanish and the creature reappears where it was before, laying on some invisible surface about six feet off the ground roughly between all the ponies back here.

After all that happened, the conscious ponies in the back line here suddenly decide that the gender of this creature might actually lean on female, but they still aren't totally sure yet. Feather Wind also starts blushing in a startled way while Stern Wing growls under her breath. She's actually surprised to find a sudden flare of jealousy within her system but she partially excused it because she still regards this creature as a potential, and even likely, threat. Any creature that espouses to be the pure embodiment of Chaos and Disharmony likely warrants at least a little caution in her playbook.

The spiky gray creature leaps at Daring Do. Daring dodges by tumbling under the creature then basically replaces the creature's original position. From there, she spins about, rises to her hooves and bites into a handle of a whip which she recovers from one of her saddlebags in mid tumble. This transfers that handle to a hoof then whips at the creature who also spins about to face her again, but it did so much more slowly compared to her. For a moment the creature leans from side to side to dodge the crack of her whip but both of their actions change when the crack finally connects. It is then that both of them learn that the whip has no effect on the thick hide of this creature.

After that, the creature leans back for a moment then leans forward as it splits its mouth open four ways and proceeds to give a screeching roar.

“You're one ugly mother sucker, ain't ya?” Daring asks as her eyes widen slightly at the creature. “But then again, maybe you don't have a mother. Perhaps your existence materialized from the demented imagination of another.”

As Daring Do said that, she flashes a brief glare back at the tiny draconequus. In reply, draconequus lifts one of her (?) paws with long claws and wiggles them in both a playful, and perhaps also taunting, gesture. Meanwhile that creepy wide smile remains plastered on her face.

The spiky creature crouches down then leaps at Daring Do again. Daring responds in a similar way except she drops her whip and pulls out her machete during her second tumble. This time, however, she manages to cause a wicked two foot long slash along the underside of the creature. It lands on the other side so injured and in pain that it collapses onto the ground.

“Diagnostics complete,” Doctor Kelly reports calmly. “Both drones appear to be in working order, and Derpy is stable enough for the moment based on these readings. Now for phase two.”

With that, Doctor Kelly sends both drones out towards the spiky gray creature and has them swirl around it while scanning it with green laser lines from each of them. Because they are working in coordination, Doctor Kelly is being fed new information twice as fast.

“You got this!” Stern Wing cheers at Daring Do.

Still holding her machete in her mouth, which is where she sliced the other creature in mid tumble, Daring Do pants a bit as she remains tense and gives a focused glare at the gray creature. She acknowledges that the machete indeed seems more effective than her whip, but she remains on her guard just in case. After all, it is not dead or unconscious yet.

Since there are several seconds pause from combat, Doctor Kelly eventually reports, “Scan complete. Now let's see. What are we dealing with here?”

Doctor Kelly sits down on a wedged sphere of a force field which floats her up. In the next moment, many dozens of holographic windows show up around her which captures the fascinated attention of the tiny draconequus for a moment. This doesn't seem expected or familiar to this creature.

“Uh . . . bad news,” Doctor Kelly eventually reports. “This creature is regenerating exceptionally fast. Faster still than any of us would be in this environment. If it is healing faster because of this place's influence, then it seems to have the natural ability to regenerate fast and faster still in this environment.”

Daring Do's shoulders slump when she sees that her opponent is rising again and that the wound she caused along its underside is indeed closing fast. Having learned that, she contemplates a new strategy to defeat it.

“Sizzling bile from the creature's maw,” the echo-y and multi-tonal voice of the draconequus creature says in a taunting voice. “A putrid glob that's worthy of awe. No time for rest. No time to cry. Stay ready for action or you will die.”

“She's right!” Doctor Kelly warns in a tone of alarm. “The creature's gullet is filled with powerful acid.”

“Oh goodie,” Daring Do groans seconds before the creature hacks out a green glob from its mouth towards Daring. Daring leaps to her left side and even uses her right wing to assist with that jump. Looking back at her original position, everyone here seems to notice that the green glob dissolves into the ground with black, putrid steam rising up and a strong sizzling sound.

Feather Wind regards the tiny draconequus with strong surprise because the last thing she said was somewhat phrased like a taunt, but it was also effectively a warning. The information she gave might have saved Daring Do's life. Why was that information really given, then?

“This creature has no eyes that I can detect,” Doctor Kelly further reports.

“Then how does it know where Daring Do is?” Stern Wing questions the doctor. “Keen sense of smell, perhaps?”

“Or tremorsense,” Doctor Kelly guesses as she continues to analyze the data she received. “I think this creature can detect others through sensing vibrations in the ground. It might have a keen sense of smell too, especially when it opens its mouth and wiggles those three tentacle-looking tongues.”

“Scent and tremorsense. Hmm.” This new revelation makes Daring Do briefly thoughtful, then she says. “Thank you for that report.”

“See? Having teammates can come in hoofy,” Stern Wing points out with the very deliberate intention to make that exceptionally clear.

Using a wing to reach into her saddlebags, Daring Do pulls out a small rock. She tosses it nine feet to her side while carefully observing her opponent. She notices how the creature's movements twitch in that direction but then slowly turns back to Daring Do. This makes it clear it did sense the thump over there where Daring tossed her rock, but still senses Daring in her true position somehow. Most likely scent.

Speaking of scent, the glob of acid that hit the ground starts to spread a noxious fume through the cave. Those who start to smell it not only have the problem of wafting in a very sickening scent, but it slightly burns their throats too and thus proving that even the fumes of the acid are acidic as well. Feather Wind decides to do something about it and has a breeze blow the fumes out of the cave.

Which gives Daring Do an idea!

“Wait! Feather Wind, are you causing that breeze over the fumes of the acid?” Daring Do checks with rising excitement.

“Uh . . . yes,” Feather replies. “Since even the fumes seem noxious and acidic, I figured I'd blow it out of the cave for the betterment of our health.”

The creature slowly crawls closer to Daring Do while they talk. As it approaches her, it seems just a little uncertain where Daring is precisely because she isn't moving yet. She even stills her breath somewhat.

“Okay. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to blow the fumes at me instead, or rather through me and further into the cave,” Daring Do requests.

“What? Are you crazy?” Stern Wing balks.

“No. I think I know what she's thinking,” Feather says with a cunning grin then warns, “Hold your breath, then. I'll blow the fumes in your direction when you nod that you're ready.”

Daring Do sucks in then holds her breath before nodding. She also closes her eyes for now since she's well aware that anything that can burn lungs can also burn eyeballs. Due to that signal, Feather reverses the flow of the breeze through Daring Do. When that happens, the creature entirely pauses its approach since it can no longer smell the Daring mare. Instead, it smells its own acidic glob tracing a line from where it fell to further in the cave. Her own scent gets swallowed up within that significantly stronger noxious fumes.

Knowing she has to act quick before she passes out, Daring Do pulls out a stick of dynamite from her left saddlebag and places it on the floor. She then spits out her machete to a hoof and whacks at the wick of the dynamite. Not only did she cut it short to explode in just a few seconds, but the sparks she caused by having her weapon connect with the solid stone cave floor also ignited the wick. With it, she tosses the stick away from her. When it lands, the spiky gray creature not only pounces on it, but uses its three tongues to snag it and pull it in its mouth. After that, the torso of this creature tilts to its side in curiosity since it now realizes its prey is not only much smaller than it expected, but it burns a tiny bit in its mouth.

Daring Do crouches down then leaps up with a flap of both of her wings. Since her wings cause a sudden downdraft, it pushes the noxious fumes flat on the floor for a brief moment. Because of that, she knows she's fully out of it now so it's therefore safe to breathe and open her eyes again. She keeps hovering in the air for a moment until the gullet of her opponent suddenly explodes. That launches the creature up about three feet before it collapses back onto the ground, temporarily unconscious again.

Daring Do then dives at her fallen opponent while reaching back and pulling yet another item from her saddlebags. This time she pulls out a long silk rope. When she lands carefully on top of the creature and making sure she maneuvers her hooves between the creature's spikes, she lasso's the rope around what she assumes is the creature's throat then pulls back as hard as she can. She's dealt with a few regenerating creatures before and knows they cannot be defeated by conventional wounds unless there is a specific method of attack that their bodies cannot heal from, but she has yet to meet such creatures that can function well without breathing. Even as this creature's belly and insides start regenerating, she chokes the life right back out of it while it is too wounded to defend itself.

Fifteen seconds later, it looks like she succeeds. The spasmodic jiggle of the creature suddenly halts. After that, Daring Do removes her hat and uses her other hoof to wipe her brow of sweat away while she regards her defeated opponent with relief. At the same time, the other ponies cheer except for the still unconscious gray mail delivery mare.

In stark contrast to the ponies cheer, though, the tiny draconequus yawns in boredom instead. It pats a paw repeatedly over its mouth during that action then gazes at Daring Do with a listless expression in its shifting, multi-color eyes.

“How boring. The Mare of Dares solos another foe. Her every opponent suffers another woe. A lesson, here, she could have learned; but, instead, her stubbornness spurred.

“Refresh the rules. The game anew. Mayhap, this time, she'll grow . . . this Daring Do.”

To the great alarm and even disgust of the other ponies here, a hand spews out of the mouth of the snake at the end of her tail. Using that tiny hand, it snaps its fingers which causes a bright flash both over the hand and around the creature Daring just defeated. As a result of this magic, it quickly grows to quadruple its former size and it regains consciousness. Its size expansion alone snaps the silken rope apart that Daring had tied around its neck.

Leaping off of the creature then spinning back to face it, Daring's shoulders slump as she groans, “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”

“Maybe this thing should be our next opponent!” Stern Wing snaps in anger as she uses her large left wing to snag the tiny draconequus out of thin air and drag it close to her muzzle. In return, the tiny creature licks Stern's muzzle with a suddenly oversized tongue. That action causes Stern to cringe and reflexively, and unintentionally, let the tiny creature go. When that happens, the creature fades away along with an echo-y fit of maniacal laughter.

“Blast that creature! I had it!” Stern complains in a furious, throaty growl. “If we don't deal with it next, it could just instantly heal and augment that creature again.”

“It keeps saying we need to play by the rules,” Feather Wind counters. “And it seems obviously unsatisfied with the fact Daring soloed that creature. As such,” he whips his head to gaze and Daring Do sharply. “I suggest you allow us to assist you this time.”

“Granted,” Daring Do reluctantly agrees while watching the vastly enlarged creature rise again. She really doesn't want to pull in and endanger her friends or rely on them, but even if she defeats this augmented creature on her own, the tiny draconequus would probably only augment it again.

At that moment, though, it does strike Doctor Kelly, Feather Wind, and Daring Do as odd that a creature of Disharmony would actually encourage teamwork.

“I'll scan the creature again. See what else might have changed,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “I'll do it from back here too while continuing to guard myself as well as Derpy.”

“Good idea,” Daring Do agrees. “Meanwhile I want you, Stern Wing, to flank this creature from the other side. Keep it confused which mare it should target. The moment it starts going after one of us, it'll create an opening for the other mare to attack.

“As for you, Feather Wind, I want you to hold a little further back. Try shooting it with your hornbeam and protect us with your bubble shields, especially if it seems like it is about to land a critical blow.”

Stern Wing leaps up then dives back down closer to the creature from the other side. She uses her wings to glide to that side. Along the way, she says in frustration, “I'll bet you anything that this creature's acid attack has been enhanced as well.”

When Stern Wing lands with a heroic hoof pound to the ground which notably gathers the creature's attention (as she intended), Doctor Kelly's drones fly past Stern and flank the other two sides of this creature. From there, they spin around it and project another set of green laser lines. Just like last time, this creature completely ignores the two drones. It is either unaware that they are there or completely disregards them with a lack of interest.

As the creature turns to engage Stern Wing, Daring Do charges at the creature by leaping up and diving at it. Once she arrives, she spins about and kicks at the creature's back side with both of her hind hooves. In doing so, it starts to turn to face her again and that is when Stern charges at it and slugs it with a strong right hook of her right fore hoof. She is so strong that she makes about as much impact with that one hit as both of Daring Do's hind legs combined.

Still, though, neither mare made much of a dent in the creature's even thicker hide. It noticed the impact, especially with its tremorsense, but the hits didn't hurt it. Even if they did, it would only regenerate from the blow faster than before. The amount it heals is proportionate to the percentage of its augmented health as a direct result to its larger size. More bulk means more flesh that has to be torn down to defeat it again. Furthermore the ponies' blows feel more minuscule to it now. It's like a sword would have no more a sting than a toothpick to it at this point.

“There is one new advantage for us considering its augmented size,” Feather Wind points out when he gallops then stops fifteen feet behind Stern Wing. “This creature nearly touches the cave ceiling now. To it, the size of this cave has effectively shrunk and therefore it limits the creature’s movements somewhat.”

“And this cave is full of pointy crystals!” Stern Wing adds in realization. “Maybe we can use its new bulk against it. If it charges at one of us, and one of the crystal spikes is jutting out of the cave walls, then we can use its own momentum against it.”

“I don't think that would stop this thing from regenerating, but that's still sharp thinking, Stern,” Daring Do compliments.

“The crystals do appear to be magical,” Stern observes as she dodges and weaves from the creature's various strikes. Just like Feather Wind pointed out earlier, the creature's new size limits its movements. It keeps on striking the cave walls and ceiling which then put a halt on the trajectory of each of its claw swings. “Maybe that magic could have some influence on its system?”

“I'm getting some new data now,” Doctor Kelly reports. “For the most part it seems exactly the same, only larger this time. That means more muscles, more weight behind each of its swings, longer reach, and more health to deal with. The acid in its stomach is indeed larger too. It probably could now launch a stream that would make even a larger dragon balk at this point.”

“And with its regenerating health, I doubt even an Ursa Minor could take it down despite having about the same bulk,” Feather Wind guesses before launching a large gust of wind at the creature to knock it off course from using its weight to crush Daring Do. That gust of wind also impales it into a chunky crystal spike on the cave wall.

Feather then launches a second blast of wind to curve the reflected wind of the first attack. After all, he has enough experience with controlling winds and the spatial awareness keen enough to realize how large gusts of winds would be affected in this confined environment. It had enough force to knock the creature off balance for a moment but the air had nowhere else to go in a cave that is a dead end. As a result, that blast would have reflected right back from the other end of the cave. Because he knew that, he uses a second blast of wind to curve the first towards the ceiling and therefore protect his own allies, in their current position lower to the cave floor, from the reflected attack. From there, both gusts of wind join together and end up shooting out of the exit/entrance of the cave.

“I forgot he could do that,” Daring Do admits as she recovers her balance on the cave floor. “That isn't a standard power or spell of any average unicorn.”

“Yeah, well, Feather Wind isn't any standard unicorn,” Stern Wing says as she uses her whole body to ram a stalactite hanging from the ceiling and therefore dislodges it from the cave roof. Armed with her new weapon, she uses it to dive down and impale into the giant creature. Once she does that, she adds, “And neither am I a standard pegasus.”

“I got it!” Daring Do cries in triumph. “Feather Wind, increase the air pressure inside the creature. Boil its blood while we keep it distracted.”

Feather Wind frowns and shudders. That strategy might work, but using the air as a weapon is antithetical to his nature. This makes him very uncomfortable with that plan.

On the other hand, he can't think of another strategy that would take down a creature this tough right now. The longer it endures, the greater the exposure to danger his friends will be, not to mention that the augmented quantity of acid in its stomach would probably now dissolve an elephant in seconds.

“Wait! I am detecting new motion approaching our vicinity,” Doctor Kelly reports. “It has bio heat signature and electrical conductivity. It must be another life form.”

“Where?” Daring asks as she ducks and tumbles forward just in time to dodge a claw attack that rips a chunk out of the cave wall.

Doctor Kelly analyzes the data she's receiving a few seconds longer then looks over her shoulder out of the cave as she reports, “Out there. It's coming at us from outside.”

“Is it friend or-” Stern Wing starts to ask but ends up getting whacked away by a whirling tentacle that has a claw attached to it. Fortunately the claw itself does not connect to her but she's instead launched away by the blunt force trauma. She ends up landing and scraping against the cave floor and slides close to Doctor Kelly and the still unconscious Derpy within a floating bubble force field. She lands on her back and leans a bit on her right side. Her face scrunches in tight pain after stopping.

“STERN WING!” Feather Wind hollers in horror.

“FOCUS, Feather Wind, or one of us will be next!” Daring Do warns firmly.

“I'll take care of Stern,” Doctor Kelly promises as she turns both her droids, and her own magic, to render Stern Wing some magical and technological assistance. “The new life form will arrive in six seconds at this rate, though. It is flying through the ice storm out there really fast.”

“How?” Daring wonders as she continues to dodge and weave through more of the creature's attacks. “No pony can fly with wind and ice storms out there. That's impossible! That's why we've been climbing this mountain this whole time, especially as we got closer to the top.

“Also, again, Feather Wind, BOIL IT'S BLOOD NOW WITH YOUR AIR PRESSURE!” Daring reminds him in a demanding tone.

Feather Wind whips his head to give an enraged glare at the creature for injuring Stern Wing. He is about to initiate that attack after all despite his earlier trepidation. It might not be a real creature anyway and instead the magical conjuring of a deranged creature of chaos.

Before he can fully commit to his plan, though, something else swiftly arrives into the cave that captures all of their attention and makes them halt, including the enlarged creature. What arrives looks like a hexagonal, flat and red glowing force field that a green unicorn mare is standing on. Ahead of is a dozen semi-transparent holographic windows. Three laser lines surround the platform she's standing on and seems to serve as some kind of unusual rail guard. She regards them all with strong surprise, but she seems mostly interested and alarmed at the sight of the large creature. When she notices that, her horn glows and various holographic buttons get pressed on her screen. She then calls aloud, “EVERYPONY, GET BACK! I'LL DEAL WITH THIS THING.”

“Be my guest,” the exhausted Daring Do invites as she flies away from the creature while panting. Feather Wind also gallops away and he even uses a smaller gust of wind to accelerate both his and Daring Do's movement.

The giant creature hesitates for a few seconds as if still trying to process this latest development. In the end, however, it defaults to its aggressive animalistic instincts and goes after the motion it can sense in the earth. In this case that is Feather Wind since he is galloping on the ground and Daring Do is flying through the air and therefore not touching the ground. With no ground contact, there is no tremor to sense.

However, after it takes just a few steps closer to Feather Wind, it pauses again when it feels a tingle all around its body. To everyone else, they notice this reddish cone of light beaming at the giant creature from the center of the hexagonal pattern. It is wide enough to completely envelope the creature within the reddish light.

Although this does make the creature hesitate, they also notice it does not hurt the creature and didn't even seem to have an effect at all for three seconds but then they notice it rapidly shrinking. It eventually ends up shrinking so small that it became the size of a tiny bug. The cone of red light narrowed as this process continues. In the end, the light pulls back and ends up dragging the bug-sized creature along with it. From there it seems to vanish somewhere in the center of the hexagonal pattern.

“What did you do to it?” Daring asks between panting breaths up at the green unicorn mare.

“Neutralized it and stowed it away,” the green mare answers as her hexagonal platform lowers to only three inches off the ground. From there, one side of the laser lines around her platform vanishes. She then gives a come hither gesture with a hoof and says, “Come on. Step on the platform. Maybe, along the way, you can debrief me on what happened here.”

Daring's shoulders sag as she looks around at the rest of her companions and says, “I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm too tired to argue right now.”

“Agreed. I say we go with her,” Stern Wing agrees as her body continues to glow with green light as a result of a combination of Doctor Kelly's magic along with the beams of light coming at the brown pegasus from both of the doctor's drones. “We got what we came for on this mountain anyway. While unexpected, I won't argue against our good fortune.”

With that, the TARDIS crew step on the floating red glowing platform together. Once they are all on, the laser lines that disappeared on one side of the pattern returns. The moment that happens, they notice this curious sense of environmental isolation as if they are in an encased shell that is separate and protected from the surrounding elements.

Part 8: Multi Conversations

The TARDIS crew, along with the newly acquainted mysterious green unicorn mare, are flying through the air at unbelievable speed, yet curiously they do not feel the momentum at all. All of the inertia of their flight seems curiously canceled for those standing on the disk. To them, it almost feels like they are beholding a virtual image of motion all around them but without any of the actual gravity thrust to prove it. The visual sight of motion alone, though, makes some who stand on the disk dizzy from vertigo.

Not long after they take off, Derpy starts to rise in consciousness but she's not fully there yet. Doctor Kelly Saddler is monitoring the walleye mare as she awakens.

So far, only Derpy is unaware how tightly Feather Wind is clinging to Stern Wing's right foreleg with all four of his legs plus his neck hugging around her. Since he is so small and she is so large, it makes it look like he's clinging on to something about the size of a medium tree trunk compared to him. As he does so, he whimpers due to the injury she suffered still fresh on his mind. This is intensified by this experience conjuring the thought of how he would feel at her permanent death which, in turn, adds more weight to his sorrows.

For Stern Wing, she understands why he feels this way in light of their recent experiences. In a way she's touched, too, because she knows the source of his sorrows now is a sign of how much he loves her.

But, in another way, this is a bit irritating to her too. She's thinking that he'll need to develop a thicker hide about this concept because she plans on being in the front lines as much as possible. Part of her is haunted by the notion that if anyone else in this party had been struck with the same force that she suffered through then, then that other pony probably would not have gotten back up as soon as she did. Perhaps not ever! She knows she's the toughest in this party and, to her, she was just doing her job. Something she got her cutie mark for. Something to be proud of.

That said, she's not masochistic either. If she can avoid getting hurt at all while still protecting everyone else then so much the better. That means she would be able to remain on the front lines longer.

Back when she first got hit, it frustrated her to remain down while Doctor Kelly was busy healing her. The doctor did a good job and it's good to know that Stern can rely upon such assistance later on too if necessary, but everything she recently went through makes her all the more desperate to someday get the martial arts training that Daring Do has both for defensive and offensive purposes. If she can dodge or block the blows then she can hold the front lines better, and if her offense is more refined than she can down her opponent faster so that they don't even get as much of a chance to damage her party.

Stern knows she's working with a lot of raw potential but the sheer idea it could be better is like a splinter in her mind. The untapped potential is so frustrating to her because of its potential importance on any future battles.

Stern also knows that her blue friend's emotional fragility really is one of the reasons he dropped out of the Wonderbolt Academy. They had a rigid structure that wasn't conducive to his flighty nature, but such things should have been expected in a military structure like that. The fact that their aim was also showmanship really is a poor fit for a pony who is naturally shy. Working with teams was important back then and it's all the more important while adventuring now.

She's well aware that he also comes from an aristocratic background that can handle certain types of pressure, particularly social ones of high society. Generally speaking, though, they don't otherwise tend to get their hooves dirty so she has to admire his willingness to come this far.

That said, there clearly is room for progress here and it is important for those traits and skills to be developed soon. Until then, he's somewhat of a security risk in addition to being a major potential asset. It's like he is really good raw iron, but it has yet to be fully refined into a more useful form.

She's well aware that applies to herself as well in different ways.

From a psychological standpoint, Doctor Kelly is musing much of the same about her fellow party members. She recently had an experience when she got to observe them relaxed and under pressure in a different time. In her estimation, she has a good grasp on their emotional baseline now, including Daring Do, which thus helps to tip her off when they are off kilter. Any observation she makes that informs her they need some psychological assistance becomes at least a “note to self” for her.

For the moment, though, she's also aware that there is a new observer here who, in turn, warrants further observation herself. Assistance with Feather Wind's personal trauma can wait just a little longer until they get a more opportune moment of privacy. He'll need to be in a more relaxed setting to discuss and decompress from this stress. Like Stern, Doctor Kelly also has a pretty good idea why this pain is there because she interviewed him earlier in which he discussed certain elements about his background.

“Can I talk now?” the new young adult green mare requests. She openly looks curious, to the point of being giddy with excitement, but she also looks confused and concerned. She raises her forelegs beside her and literally shakes with excitement as she asks, “You all actually fought with the creature? A class four chaos creature?! Oh wow! You all must be really, really strong.”

“There's certainly room for improvement,” Stern Wing replies a little bitterly while struggling not to look down at her crying friend who is desperately clinging to her right foreleg right now. “But that said, any battle we can trot away from I refuse to call a total loss.”

“Class four chaos creature?” Doctor Kelly reiterates. “You're familiar enough with these creatures to categorize them?”

“In a manner of speaking,” the green mare replies in a more subdued tone. “I was merely out on a scouting mission. I wasn't specifically looking for such a creature but such a thing is among those I was ordered to keep a note of. Normally this is something I'd report to The Authority by now but, this time, I didn't have enough time. Matter of fact, I still haven't,” she adds with a frown at a transparent, laser outlined and floating virtual computer panel. “I might get in trouble with that later for delaying this long with a subject this important.”

“The Authority?” Daring Do echoes to prompt for clarity. Doctor Kelly was almost about to ask the exact same thing but Daring beat her to it. This wins a flashing glance of Doctor Kelly to Daring for a moment but her gaze returns to the green mare as she answers.

“A recent military group that has risen to power, particularly over matters like this,” the green unicorn answers. “Only in the last fifty years was a group like this even necessary, but with the recent rise of chaos creatures like that, certain initiatives had to be made.”

“I beg your pardon, Feather Wind, but I require your attention now,” speaks a voice Feather Wind certainly did not expect to hear. In surprise, Feather Wind's head and ears perk up and his yellow eyes pop open. He views to his left and notices the very unexpected sight of Crystal Sage standing there beside him and looking down at him. Just like in the Crystal Mind Palace in the Red Crystal, the very dark gray stallion is wearing nothing other than a long red scarf.

“Wha-” Feather Wind almost speaks until Crystal Sage cuts him off. While the dark gray unicorn does that, Daring Do continues to interview the new green unicorn.

“Use your mind, Feather Wind,” Crystal Sage commands. “I'm communicating to you from the Red Crystal, of which you're attuned to enough to permit me this ability. I am projecting a virtual image of myself here so I can interact with you, but no pony else here can see or hear me.”

“Then you stand corrected,” Doctor Kelly mentally argues as she directly observes Crystal Sage. That action and telepathic words catches both stallions off guard.

“Who is running this new military faction?” Daring Do checks with the green mare while Feather, Crystal Sage and Doctor Kelly have their own secret conversation. “For that matter, who are you?”

“Oh! I'm sorry!” the green mare exclaims in sudden embarrassment. “Where are my manners?” She then gestures to herself. “My name is Margret Wessle and I'm what you might call a field research scientist, or more like an apprentice of one.”

“You do seem young,” Daring Do agrees to Margret.

“That's a strange name,” Stern Wing mentions. “But a type I've encountered before, and speaking of names,” Stern Wing uses a wing to gesture to her chest, “My name is Stern Wing, and this is my foalhood friend, Feather Wind.” When she introduces the latter, she transfers her gesture down to him.

“You can mentally communicate with us?!” Crystal Sage says aloud in shock. “That means you're still attuned to the crystal. Huh.” He rubs the bottom of his chin thoughtfully. “It is starting to look more and more likely you might be an extended relative of my family, for only those of my bloodline should be able to properly attune to this crystal.”

“It's either that, or the method I've employed,” Doctor Kelly mentally proposes as an alternative. “My species is very well adept at attuning to magic crystals. That said, though, I'm well aware there are some that can be more picky. I may have to take a closer look at Feather Wind's D-N-A sample and compare it to my own. That may help to calculate genetic comparability probability.”

Crystal Sage returns his virtual hoof down to the red force field floor as he says, “In any case, this is noteworthy since that also means you two can mentally communicate to each other through this Crystal, at least while the two of you are in close proximity to it.”

“I'm Daring Do,” Daring introduces to Margret. “And those two mares over there are Derpy Hooves and Doctor Kelly Saddler.”

“A pleasure to meet you all,” Margret says happily at first then her expression shifts to concern as she regards Derpy. “Um . . . is she alright?”

“I'm monitoring her condition. Don't worry,” Doctor Kelly quickly tells Margret then returns her attention to that which the rest can't see other than Feather Wind.

“She isn't like this because of the battle,” Daring Do clarifies to Margret. “This happened to her before when she danced with a bunch of kirin.”

“You all actually met the kirin?!” Margret asks in amazement.

“Indeed,” Daring confirms with a lift of an eyebrow. “Is that rare?”

“Usually,” Margret answers. “The kirin are an elusive and evasive species. They're very picky about who they choose to manifest in front of. Not long ago they used to be regarded as a myth and legend among my tribe. The Earth Bound below claimed to have closer association with them which we've only recently verified.”

Feather Wind looks amazed with Crystal Sage's recent declaration, but Doctor Kelly is indifferent because she is accustomed to this technology and ability. Nevertheless, she is well aware she can't do this with the majority of this party and the fact that she's now aware that she can do this with Feather Wind is noteworthy.

“This actually makes my job easier,” Crystal Sage expresses with delight. “I wanted to involve you anyway,” he says to Doctor Kelly.

Doctor Kelly quickly mentions to Margret that the maji doctor is monitoring Derpy's condition, then looks back at Crystal Sage as she mentally says, “I'd be happy to help in any way I can. How can I help you today?”

Crystal Sage lifts a hoof as he says, “Before I get to that, I have a question for you. Is anything about what you have all recently encountered familiar to you in any way? Namely the magical technology this new young mare here is employing.”

“Actually, yes. I have made that observation,” Doctor Kelly mentally answers. “And I was going to bring that up later when we have a better moment of privacy.”

“Really?!” Feather Wind mentally asks Doctor Kelly in astonishment. “So you think this mare here is a fellow maji?”

Doctor Kelly shakes her head slightly as she mentally says, “Nothing is confirmed yet. I just have a suspicion.”

“Could you interface with her technology using your magic?” Crystal Sage checks with Doctor Kelly.

“I suspect I can, but it might not be prudent or polite to try right now without permission,” Doctor Kelly replies. “And I'm not sure if I even want to ask because, if I do, that could tip her off that I might be able to do that. I don't see it as fully necessary for her to be aware of that at this time.”

“A wise precaution,” Crystal Sage agrees. “A better opportunity for that might come about later while you are less observed. Still, it may become vital that we get an answer to that question at some time.”

“Forgive me for asking this, but are any of you native to this time? Or even this entire world?” Margret asks her new passengers curiously.

“Do you get visitors from other worlds and times regularly?” Daring Do reflects.

“Regularly? No,” Margret answers as they all continue to fly through the air on the disk at very high speed. The whole landscape below them is quickly shifting whenever it is visible through the puffy and gorgeous-looking clouds. “But it has occurred enough to make me wonder. I've observed some of those travelers from a distance. Encounters are also recorded in our computers as well.”

“So you have one of those things too?” Stern Wing questions Margret with a wince of one eye.

“One of what?” Margret reflects questioningly. After all, she's so familiar with her own technology that it doesn't occur to her that it might be strange to another.

“Never mind that,” Daring says with a dismissive wave of a hoof. “I'd like to return our attention to a more critical issue. You said that we encountered a class four chaos creature and that you've encountered others of its ilk. Please tell me if you're familiar with the reason those creatures exist. Were they forged from a creature that can appear and disappear at will? A floating cat-like creature with the torso of an iguana and-”

“Do you mean to tell me that you actually met Trouble?!” Margret interrupts in horrified but also fascinated astonishment.

The others participating in this conversation are stunned silent for a brief moment.

Meanwhile . . .

“I think I see where you are going with this,” Doctor Kelly mentally mentions to Crystal Sage. “But I'd like to verify it if you don't mind. Why are you so interested in this technology?”

A cunning look sinks into Crystal Sage's virtual face as he tells Doctor Kelly, “It isn't just this technology that I'm interested in. I am also interested in yours.” He then looks down at Feather Wind. “I believe it is within my power to download a sample of each of Doctor Kelly's magical gemstones.” He looks back at her. “With your permission, of course.”

“You plan to scan the resonant frequency of each of these stones and download a copy of them into the Red Crystal,” comes Doctor Kelly's educated guess. “First of all, yes. You have my permission. Second of all, to what end? I'm intrigued where you might be going with this.”

“If I can download a copy of your magi gems, I might be able to duplicate their magical energy signature,” Crystal Sage says to Doctor Kelly then looks and speaks to Feather Wind. “If I have that, it might be possible to train you to use magi technology and to use the Red Crystal as a focus for it.”

Doctor Kelly nods as she mentally says, “That's what I figured. Your Red Crystal essentially acts in a very similar manner to my native tribe's Magi Crystal Computers. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that I'm aware you used to be a biological stallion, I would have otherwise called you an artificial intelligence much akin to many of those who operate on my homeworld. ”

“Crystal Sage isn't nearly that empty,” Feather Wind argues, feeling a little miffed by the comparison. Until he just spoke, he felt a little too shy to jump into the conversation between Crystal Sage and Doctor Kelly. He was, and still is, also fascinated to keep up.

“It's somewhat apt, actually,” Crystal Sage agrees with an impressed glance at Doctor Kelly. “I haven't been biological for a very long time now. I'm just a memory I've impressed upon this Crystal as a last ditch defense mechanism.”

“Wait. Time out here,” Stern Wing requests with a lift of a wing in a halting gesture. She says this only after recovering from Margret's recent question. “I take it you mean 'Trouble' as in the name of the draconequus we've encountered and not describing a problematic situation?”

“Draconequus?” Margret reflects questioningly then nods with a little uncertainty. “Um . . . yes. I think so. The creature you all seem to be describing identifies herself by the name Trouble.”

“So it is female!” Stern Wing declares triumphantly then smacks her right wing into her left. “I knew it.”

“More like a trans-dimensional entity,” Margret corrects. “Honestly, we're not even sure if it can be identified with labels like gender at all. It can become anything it wants in an instant and all of it is equally just as real and fake.”

“The important thing to note, here, is we have some verification on how these creatures were formed,” Daring Do brings up. “And it seems the purpose for this is pretty typical for its species; to bring chaos and disharmony wherever it goes.”

“That was my working theory a long time ago,” Stern says with a disgusted wince.

“Wait! Do you mean to tell me you've all encountered other members of this species before?!” Margret asks with rising excitement. “Ooo!” She squees with another shake of her forelegs. “You have to tell me all about it! I have to write all of this down and post it on my next scientific journal!”

Just then, the whole group notices Derpy stirring and starting to get up.

“Easy there,” Doctor Kelly says to Derpy in a soothing voice. “Easy does it.”

“What happened?” Derpy asks as she gets up and shakes her head which makes a rattling sound.

“What is the last thing you remember?” Daring Do checks with Derpy cautiously.

“Where are we?” Derpy asks with further bewilderment, seeming to either ignore or didn't hear Daring's question yet. “This place is strange.” Sweeping her gaze across what is here, she locks eyes on Margret and blinks. “Oh! Hello. My name is Ditsy Do, but most call me Derpy Hooves.” She closes her eyes and gives a bright smile. “Pleased to meet you!”

“She seems coherent enough,” Doctor Kelly professionally observes. “She knows her name at least and she's reacting in a manner consistent with her personality. That's a good sign.”

“Um,” Derpy regards Doctor Kelly with one eye in confusion. “Was there any reason to doubt that?”

“What's wrong with her eyes?” Margret asks with confusion.

“I, um . . . I've been this way for a long time now,” Derpy admits to the new stranger with bashfulness. She ends up idly swinging her left hoof back and forth unconsciously.

“Oh. Aren't you adorable!” Margret squees again.

“I am?” Derpy asks with a brief moment of confusion then says more brightly. “Oh. Of course! Of course I am.”

“What was the last thing you remember?” Stern Wing reiterates Daring's earlier question since she agrees that it might be important to know.

“Well, um . . . the last thing I remember is . . .” For a moment Derpy tries to think back, but she trails off when she notices Feather Wind tightly clinging to one of Stern Wing's legs as if terrified of something. That reaction is very familiar to Derpy, but not the root cause in this case. This prompts her to ask in concern, “Um . . . are you alright, Feather Wind?”

“Yeah,” agrees Margret as she looks at the small blue unicorn and still the only stallion of the bunch. “I've been wondering that as well. You haven't said much lately.”

“Sah . . . sorry,” Feather stutters with a shy blush. “I've had an intense day lately.”

“We all have,” Stern agrees, subconsciously stepping up in Feather's defense.

“That much I get,” Margret agrees with a nod. “Fighting a chaos creature is no laughing matter.”

“What chaos creature?” Derpy echoes in concern. “What fighting?”

“I'll fill you in on that in short order,” Daring Do promises the concerned and confused messy yellow maned mare. “But first tell us the last thing you remember.”

“Um . . . let's see.” Derpy takes a moment to think back then pops in, “Ooo! I know! We were all singing together in some kind of crystal cave.”

“You don't recall dancing and singing with a bunch of kirin?” Daring checks.

“Um . . . a what now?” Derpy reflects back in confusion.

“Oh boy,” Daring rolls her eyes. “I got a lot to fill you in on, so listen up. I'll give you the brief version.”

“Okay,” Derpy replies with a confused and cautious wince.

“While she does that, let me complete by saying what I came here to say,” Crystal Sage proposes during Daring's recap to Derpy. He then nods at Feather Wind. “Yes, Feather Wind. I'd like to download her magi stones by recording their resonance frequencies. After that you could learn to cast some of the spells she has equipped to her person. Imagine the possibilities if you were able to cast the scanning spell, healing spell, or even computer interface.” He briefly tilts his head towards the virtual computer panel before adding, “This is now the second time you've encountered this technology and that is starting to form a pattern. Someday it might become important for you to learn how to interface and interact with this kind of technology with the doctor's guidance, of course,” he adds with a brief and grateful nod to Doctor Kelly.

“Do you really think this can be done?” Feather Wind asks with rising excitement and awe.

“Not only is it possible, but it might become necessary,” Crystal Sage states to Feather Wind. “And with the scanning spell, you can download records of not just other creatures' biology. You can also scan a book or scroll, for example, and a virtual copy of it will appear somewhere within the Mind Palace of this Crystal.”

“In that case, you could probably also interface with the operating system of my drones as well,” Doctor Kelly proposes while she keeps a close eye on Derpy as the gray mare absorbs the confusing, fascinating, and scary information she is learning from Daring Do.

“Hold on,” Feather mentally says with a shake of his head. Stern Wing felt that gesture then looks down at her friend and wonders why he did that.

Looking back at Crystal Sage, Feather Wind asks him, “Is it also possible we can go the other way around with this too? Maybe we can do an exchange of information here. Doctor Kelly Saddler managed to get within the mind palace before and time runs differently there.” He then looks straight at Doctor Kelly. “If able, would you be willing to learn traditional unicorn magic too?”

“That's a good question,” Crystal Sage agrees as he looks over at Doctor Kelly as well. “You have a magical horn too. Theoretically you'd be equally capable of it like the rest of us unicorns.”

“Are you kidding me? I thought you two would never ask,” Doctor mentally replies excitedly as she gives a subtle glance back at the two of them. “Yes! By all the stars, please yes! It's knowledge like this that I was hoping to gather by traveling with the Doctor. Nothing would please me more than recovering lost knowledge. My species has been dormant for far too long. Such is the nature of complacency, I wager.

“But I'm not like that. That's why I am here. If you're able to help train me in traditional unicorn magic then count me in. I'm all for it. I'll gladly teach you two to cast magic magi style if the two of you teach me how to cast traditional unicorn magic. That way I have a backup option just in case my gems somehow become unavailable for any reason.”

“Once again, I approve,” Crystal Sage replies. “A worthy and wise endeavor. It also pleases me that you're so willing to learn and expand your horizons.”

“I didn't become a doctor and scientist to ignore new knowledge,” Doctor Kelly argues. “Many of my species are dismissive of any serious profession in favor of just constantly playing video games, but my mind hungers for knowledge.”

“T'would be my pleasure to aid you on thy quest then, Milady,” Crystal Sage says to her with a formal and courteous bow.

“Oh wow!” Derpy says with a stunned look on her face at Daring Do's conclusion. For the same reason she plops down into a sitting position unknowingly then says, “I didn't know any of that.”

“Well now you do,” Daring says with a satisfied nod to Derpy. “I'll fill you in on the rest of the details later. I'll answer any questions you have at that time too. For now,” she regards Margret again. “I have more questions for you. For example, just where are you taking us?”

“Well, uh . . .” Margret trails off as she looks at and reads the information on her virtual console. She smiles at the information she sees then looks back at Daring as she says, “I could tell you, but you'd be able to see it yourself in a few seconds.” She wipes a hoof at Daring. “It's nothing dangerous, though. I assure you. At least, not usually.”

After being told that, Daring looks past Margret in the direction they have been flying at this whole time. What she sees beyond the laser line barrier of the platform they are standing on is a pyramid-shaped structure starting to emerge from the clouds around it. Many other glowing balls of light swirl around it and travel in various different directions.

“Oh wow!” Stern Wing says in stunned awe as she observes this too. “Feather Wind, you might wish to get up and see this yourself.” She looks down at him. “You can hop on my back to help you see.”

“Your offer is appreciated and accepted,” Feather replies. When he does so, Stern notices he sounds much better than he was at the start of this journey. That makes her smile but she’s also confused why he recovered so fast from such a severely bad state not long ago.

True to his word, Feather floats up using his own magic on himself then stands on top of Stern's back while facing the direction they have all been flying to.

Daring Do reaches up her left wing to pull down her pith hat. With it, she presses it to her chest and bows her head, closes her eyes, and makes a quick and silent prayer before opening her eyes and looks back at the approaching city with a daring and excited focused look while returning her hat back on her head.

Part 9: Those Above

The TARDIS crew did not know what they expected to see once they got inside this giant floating pyramid in the sky that is the size of an entire city, and that is precisely what they got.

To their great alarm, Margret seemingly drives the floating disk thing they are standing on directly at one of the walls of the pyramid. She does not even slow down at all. Derpy, Stern, and even Daring Do keep silently glancing at Margret in alarm as they close in the wall, each wondering if it's possible that the green mare is actually overlooking a significant and seemingly very important detail, but nope! She ends up crashing the disk right up to the wall. The TARDIS crew barely have time to open their mouths to scream when they suddenly get surrounded by a flash of white.

Next thing they know, they are somewhere new. This location has a very open floor design. It even shows the sky above. It is nothing like they have ever seen before. Exotic is the most apt description, but perhaps “temple” also comes the closest. There are a lot of columns, hallways, and open rooms within the buildings around them that have no doors. Green grass in the open courtyard that is basking under the sun. A fountain at the center of that which is surrounded by several streams and bridges arcing over them.

Everywhere they look, this new area is busy with abundant activity and a lot of other ponies.

The very instant they appear here, the TARDIS crew each freeze in startled fear because they feel like they should be dead right now. Their nerves need a moment to calm down accordingly.

Margret, however, just immediately takes off the very instant they appear here. At first she does not even notice she isn't being followed until she's a few paces ahead of the rest.

Even then, it is another azure blue unicorn stallion wearing a tall blue hat who happens to be passing by, notices the TARDIS crew just freezing where they have appeared, then alerts Margret to this. It is only then that she turns around and notices she isn't being followed. During that moment, the blue unicorn asks her something which wins him a quick glance and a nod from her.

Observing this, Feather Wind quickly realizes that Margret Wessle is so accustomed to this place that it didn't even occur to her that it would be strange to her guests. In other words, this extraordinary place is ordinary to her. That makes him wonder how she would react to other times and places which typically seem far more mundane on average. Would that prospect excite her, he wondered? Or would it quickly bore her?

“I'm sorry I didn't warn you,” Margret apologizes as she returns a few paces closer in order to make it easier for her to be heard. “I figured you all would be used to places like this. After all, you all travel in a TARDIS! You must have seen many other more extraordinary times and worlds!”

Feather grins in amusement since Margret's words just directly contradicts his thoughts a few seconds ago. He then looks at Derpy when she speaks up.

“Actually, no. Most of us only recently traveled with the Doctor.” Derpy gestures to herself with a gray wing. “I've been with him the longest and even I-”

Daring Do cuts Derpy off by raising a beige wing in front of the gray pegasus's face. Daring actually wins the attention of the whole group because of that. Since Derpy gets silenced successfully, Daring refolds her wing to her side then addresses Margret by saying, “Actually, although we did confirm that we are time travelers, we never mentioned that we travel in the TARDIS.”

Margret's eyes suddenly grow wide with an “Oh shoot!” expression on her face then screws her eyes shut as she face-hooves herself for her blunder.

“Maybe there is more for you to explain to us,” Daring Do suggests to Margret in a slightly tight and insistent voice.

“I agree,” Margret verifies as she lowers her hoof back to the ground and opens her eyes to look back at the TARDIS crew and Daring in particular. “But not here. Mayhap you'll follow me to a more private location?” she asks with rising hope while gesturing with a forehoof back in the direction she was originally trotting.

Daring quickly flashes the rest of her crew a questioning glance with her reddish/purple eyes to see if everyone else here agrees with Margret's recent proposal. Getting a nod from each in turn, she eventually looks back at Margret and gives her own confirming nod. After that, they all proceed to follow the green mare.

As the TARDIS crew resumes their journey with Margret, their eyes keep wandering about and notice many fantastical wonders such as a group of foals playing with a hovering ball. They pass it back and forth among each other. None of them are able to touch the ball, though. It flies away from them as soon as it nears within a few inches of any parts of their body. The ball also issues a pleasant and playful humming sound and flashes a whole bunch of colors, particularly any area of the sphere that nearly collided with a living being.

Feather, Stern and Doctor Kelly also spot a lone teal unicorn stallion sitting on a bench near the water fountain. In his forehooves he is cradling a dark, shiny sphere that is open at one end which reveals something akin to a crystal geode inside the sphere. As he holds it, he rubs his left hoof in slow, rotating circles. For some reason doing that is causing humming music to emanate from the sphere, thus marking it as an exotic musical instrument. In addition, Feather and especially Doctor Kelly can detect soothing waves of magical energy being projected from the shiny black sphere.

Derpy is delighted to see another group of foals galloping about in what she, at first, assumes is a random pattern but they are all looking down. Derpy does not know why they are doing that at first until she gets closer. Only then does she notice there are moving geometric patterns on the ground and each of them in various different colors. The foals are either running from the patterns or chasing after them, and the colors of the patterns seem to be key to their game. Eventually one of them applies a hoof on one of the patterns which freezes under the hoof. Then the foal lifts her hoof up and the pattern that was flat on the ground becomes a holographic, 3-D laser outline of a geometric pattern.

Daring Do spots what seems to be a classroom in one of the open rooms along the hallway outside of the courtyard. Within, she spots a line of students apparently drawing something and they keep glancing up at some woven tapestry on the wall which depicts two marble columns woven with green flowers and vines. The scenery continues further into the background as a path leads to somewhere out into the horizon. In the distance is a line of wavy hills. Up above the tapestry shows the image that it is night time in this scenery. It takes Daring a moment to realize that there is some animation to this woven tapestry. Specifically in two places. One, the roses on the vines are each giving a pulsing glow. Two, the stars in the tapestry are twinkling.

While all of that is fascinating, there are many other things to see. Daring's attention almost moves on until she sees movement from the teacher in the lead. The gray elderly mare says something to the students then approaches the tapestry and presses a hoof to it. Amazingly her hoof passes right through the tapestry as if it is a portal. She then trots on through into it. When she arrives on the other side, she is an animated image of herself that also appears to be woven of silken cloth. From the other side, she ventures further on the path that is between the two white columns. As that happens, Daring can't help but wonder if that elderly mare is seeing the whole world within the tapestry as if it is made of woven cloth.

Stern Wing and Derpy both spot another wondrous sight. At the other end of the courtyard part of the stream flowing out of the center fountain is traveling up in direct defiance of normal gravity. Some foals and even a few adults leap into this upward streaming column of water and flow up with it. Up above, the column of water spirals then eventually arcs over this whole courtyard then proceeds somewhere out of sight from this angle.

Feather Wind spots a scholastic-looking young purple stallion who sits down on another bench and opens a book. For a brief moment Feather thinks he is looking at the first almost mundane sight here but then images pop above the book as if it is a holographic pop-up book. The scholar carefully examines a geometric pattern on one side of the book then reads text floating on the other side. The book also projects magical pulses which Feather soon recognizes as Magic Tongue language spoken by the Magi. Whatever that text and magic pulses say to him causes the scholastic stallion to examine the geometric patterns more carefully but with greater understanding this time. Concentrating, his horn glows blue as dots and blue lines start lighting up within the pattern he's staring at. It seems to be some kind of puzzle he needs to solve. Perhaps it is also a homework assignment.

Derpy gets very delighted and chirps with glee when she spots another group of foals playing with and blowing bubbles, but the magical twist here (which seems to be a common theme to everything here) is that there are animated images within each of the bubbles and they are different for each. Some have shapes, some have faces, some show a sun and another shows the spiral of a whole galaxy. Another shows the head of a clown pony who keeps looking across each of the foals around him, particularly any that pay attention to him. He keeps making silly and innocently playful faces at them in various different ways, including some ways that are impossible for a mundane pony such as ears expanding like a balloon or sucking in his mouth to an absurd degree like he tasted something overwhelmingly sour.

“I want one!” Derpy cries out excitedly as she continues to behold the foals playfully frolicking and prancing among the floating bubbles but they momentarily stop and gaze back at Derpy when she cries out aloud. If any of the bubbles have a face of some kind, some of them even look back at Derpy as well. “I WANT ONE!” Derpy cries out more insistently and excitedly.

With a light shrug, a mint green unicorn filly uses her magic to toss one of the bottles of magical soap closer to Derpy but the arc doesn't quite make it. A blue pegasus colt ends up kicking it in mid air just as it starts to curve down in the throwing arc. That ends up renewing its momentum and this time it is enough to deliver the bottle all the way to Derpy who catches it with both forehooves with glee. Since she catches it that way, though, she also ends up stumbling backwards then almost collapses to the ground but Stern Wing ends up saving her from that fall by extending a wing under Derpy. Feather then uses his magic to pull Derpy back to a more stable stance. To help her hold it, Derpy ends up transferring the soap bottle from her forehooves to her wings so that her hooves end up free and she can once again use them to stabilize her balance.

“Careful,” Stern Wing cautions.

“YAY!” Derpy cries out in glee as she rubs the soap bottle against her face. She's so ecstatic that she has her eyes closed during this process. Seeing that, the other foals who were/are playing with the bubbles glance at each other and give an innocent shrug since they have no idea why an adult mare would find their toy so interesting.

As their journey continues, the group continue to see many marvelous sights like this which seem perfectly ordinary to the natives here. The atmosphere is generally relaxed but also festive. Feather and Doctor Kelly cannot help but make comparisons to this and Doctor Kelly's native world. Both have extraordinary magic, but these ponies are way more social with each other. Even the few who are by themselves are doing whatever they are doing while being surrounded by a crowd and that doesn't seem to bother them. In fact that seems to be the overall purpose of this area they find themselves in.

“Please wait here,” Margret requests when they all arrive in a white room with sparse furniture and decorations. The only thing that seems to be in there is a few benches facing towards each other and a bookshelf full of books in the back corner. “There's somepony I need to fetch and report to while you all wait here, and if you need anything . . .” she trails off for a moment as she presses a hoof to a wall. Blue laser-like lines glow from the wall which has the pattern of a triangle within a circle and a bunch of runic symbols spiraling on the outside of that circle and another circle around them. Three chirping beeps accompanies the arrival of this image. “Ask this thing any questions you want or call somepony. This should be able to tide you over till I get back.”

“Thank you. I think we got it,” Doctor Kelly assures Margret confidently.

“We do?” Stern Wing asks with strong uncertainty and passes the doctor an “Are you sure about that?” kind of look. Doctor Kelly replies to that question with a confident nod.

“Great!” Margret cheers. “Then I'll see you all soon. Bye!”

Margret then steps back and the sliding door shuts itself soon after her abrupt departure.

“You seem quite familiar with this technology,” Daring Do announces to Doctor Kelly observantly. “I take it you had something like this back in your homeworld and time?”

“I do,” Doctor Kelly confirms. “In fact, I would call this eerily similar. They even speak Magic Tongue around here. That can't be a coincidence.”

“They do speak that language here?” Derpy asks as she presses her right hoof to her right cheek and tilts her head questioningly. “Funny. I didn't notice. Even if it's true, wasn't the TARDIS telepathic thingamabob supposed to help us translate unknown languages?”

Doctor Kelly shakes her head slightly as she says, “This isn't a spoken language, Derpy. It's entirely magic based. A pony needs the ability to sense it and project very specific magic signatures to even be capable of this language.”

“Doctor Kelly did mention something like this before shortly after we were dropped off at this time,” Daring confirms as she looks at Derpy.

Derpy returns her hoof from her cheek to the floor as she says in embarrassment, “Oops. I guess I goofed again. Derpy's feather brain strikes again,” she concludes with a sad sigh.

“You'll get it, Derpy. Don't worry,” Feather Wind assures Derpy kindly.

“Thanks,” she says as she smiles back at Feather a bit. “That's kind of you to say.”

“So you do think this society is somehow based off of yours?” Daring checks as she returns her attention to Doctor Kelly.

“Not everything is exactly the same. I've spotted plenty of differences too, including sociological ones,” Doctor Kelly informs Daring and the group at large. “But too much is similar to dismiss that theory either.”

“I remember you telling us that your species used to be conquered by the Time Lords,” Feather Wind reminds Doctor Kelly, but this is news to Daring. “Back then, the Time Lords were using you Maji to help them with the Time War until the Doctor saved you all somehow.”

“And Margret was familiar with the concept of time travelers,” Stern Wing chimes in with interest. “Moreover, she has also heard of the TARDIS.”

“Perhaps a TARDIS but not thee TARDIS,” Doctor Kelly counters. “The Time Lords once had more than one. It isn't just the Doctor's TARDIS that is out there until he, perhaps, became the last of the Time Lords.

“Here, however, the extinction of the rest of his race might not have occurred yet.”

“But that's odd though, isn't it?” Derpy objects questioningly. “Didn't you see the rest of those ponies out there? Did any of them seem oppressed to you?”

“That's a good point, and one I was about to make as well,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “I saw no signs of major psychological stress in any of those ponies out there. Not more than I would consider a normal baseline for a relaxed society.” She looks at one of the walls. “Plus there is the rest of this environment to consider. The magic of Harmony is unusually strong here. So strong that its chaos creatures, like the one we fought, that feels like the odd one out here.” She looks back at them. “It's as if they are the exception rather than the rule.”

“I read up on a lot of history in my time but your timeline is ahead of all the rest of us,” Feather reminds Doctor Kelly. “As such, you'd be the only pony here that has any idea what happened to your species during the time they were conquered by the other Time Lords.” He squints one eye at her. “So how detailed is the knowledge you have of that time?”

“Sketchy, I'll admit,” Doctor Kelly replies honestly. “And that's because those events occurred before my fellow ponies kept accurate records. The Time Lords had records of their own, but it was recorded in their own language and we weren't privy to them. That's why it took so long for us to reverse engineer their technology after we were freed.” She shrugs. “Maybe the Doctor himself has and will give us a few pointers, but it still took us a long time.” She shakes her head. “We don't even know how long it took.”

“Fair enough,” Daring accepts. “Be that as it may, we can't afford to ignore the possibility that there is some connection between your tribe,” she nods to indicate Doctor Kelly, “and these ponies here.”

“I concur,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “We might not know those details yet and perhaps not even these ponies do, but I'd stake both of my hind legs that there is some connection.”

Daring Do looks forward as she gives a sigh then gives a more focused look back and forth between Feather Wind and Doctor Kelly as she says, “There's another subject I wanted to bring up while we have this moment alone together.”

“Kind of,” Stern Wing says cautiously. “None of the natives seem to be here but it wouldn't surprise me if they were observing or even recording us while we wait. That might even be the point why Margret left us alone here for now then suspiciously rushed off.”

“Then let's not announce anything too sensitive,” Doctor Kelly suggests to Stern Wing then looks at and announces to Daring Do, “Now then. You were wondering why Feather and I were giving meaningful looks to each other while we rode on the red disk?”

Daring Do flashes Doctor Kelly a proud grin for reaching that accurate deductive reasoning before nodding in confirmation.

“Oh my Celestia, gals. That one was big news,” Feather Wind says excitedly. “While we rode on that floating disk, the spirit who dwells in this Crystal,” he gestures to the Tri-Tipped Red Crystal which is hanging on a chain on his neck, “partially manifested himself and made himself known to whomever is attuned to this Crystal. Initially he spoke only to me but it turns out Doctor Kelly could see and hear him too.”

“What spirit?” Daring asks Feather cautiously.

“He calls himself Crystal Sage,” Feather announces to Daring. “But his original name was Sombra. Not King Sombra, though. That was a corrupted copy of himself.”

“King Sombra?!” Daring asks in alarm as she raises an eyebrow at Feather questioningly.

“It's a long story,” Feather announces as he shrinks a little bit. His body language reveals he feels uncomfortable continuing this conversation now, especially the part where he's related to that family and perhaps Doctor Kelly is as well.

Daring Do notices his sudden discomfort and decides not to press it yet even though she grew very curious and concerned.

“Well, anyway,” Feather continues as he relaxes a bit again, “the important thing to mention here is-”

“Actually, you'd better wait on that,” Doctor Kelly interrupts as she lifts a hoof in objection. “Stern Wing just mentioned that we might be monitored here and that announcement could be considered sensitive information. Save the rest of the explanation for later when we get back to the TARDIS.”

Feather Wind looks around sheepishly then lowers his head in a bit of shame. He almost rushed into a full explanation in excitement without really thinking of the consequences.

“Fine,” Daring accepts again while passing a shrewd look back and forth between Feather and Doctor Kelly. “You can leave the rest of us in the dark about that issue for now, but if you make any plans based around it you might want to give the rest of us a subtle message about it.”

After Daring says that, she flashes a wink at Feather Wind with a, “You know what I mean,” kind of look. Seeing that, Feather privately considers what she meant by that for a moment then recalls his ability to silently convey messages to others through the wind. When he makes that connection, he winks back at her to signify he understood her message.

Just then the door opens with suspicious timing. Just when the group decides to be more quiet about sensitive information, a newcomer shows up. This individual is a dark gray stallion who shares an uncanny resemblance to Crystal Sage. He even has the same kind of sideburns.

There are obvious differences too, though. For one thing, this newcomer is an earth pony and notably the first one that the group has spotted since coming here. He is pretty sizable for an earth pony too though still only three quarters the size of Stern Wing. He privately reminds Derpy of Big Macantosh in terms of height, girth, and overall body shape.

One of the biggest things to stand out about this pony, though, is the fact he's obviously a cyborg. About a quarter of his torso is replaced with synthetic prosthetics. So is the left side of his face which includes his left eye which is white yet has a pearl-like prismatic shine to it. His left leg is entirely cybernetic and a little thicker than the rest of his limbs. It glows ominously red on some parts and seems like it might be a dangerous weapon in addition to being a limb. Lastly, and most curiously, is a synthetic horn on his head that looks obviously unnatural.

Beyond all of that, he has a powerful and cowing presence to him. He's obviously a leader and a rather militant and intimidating one at that. He is also, by far, the most battle-worn pony this group has ever seen among the natives here.

“Greetings to you all,” he greets while still standing beyond the threshold of the still open door. He speaks with a synthetic sounding voice box as if he’s speaking through a metallic tube. “My name is Commander Viraxis. May I join you all this evening?”

Despite the fact that his words are polite, they also felt cold and authoritative. The TARDIS crew gain the impression that he won't really take no for an answer.

“Please do come in,” Daring Do invites with a polite nod to him. “I assume you are the pony Margret mentioned she needed to report to.”

“Indeed,” Commander Viraxis says simply as he steps into the room. The door soon shuts behind them which leaves them all alone with this intimidating newcomer. “That report was . . . more delayed than I preferred but I understand there were some extenuating circumstances. I was hoping you'd help me verify some of the reports I received from her. For instance, the fact you faced off and held your own against a class four chaos creature? Not only that, you actually met Trouble and interacted with her?”

“More like she engaged us,” Stern Wing corrects with a cheeky frown since she did not forget how the chaos spirit flirted with her coltfriend a little. “Uninvited, I might add.”

“That sounds concise with what I heard, read, and observed about the creature,” the Commander says stiffly then cracks his neck from side to side. “Authority of any kind seems to annoy the creature so she loves to stick her nose up at it. That much I can tolerate. On the other hoof, her creating deadly monstrosities and sending them after those that I guard I cannot abide by.”

“Nor should you,” Stern Wing agrees sternly. “Bullies are my biggest pet peeve and what I cannot stand the most.”

Commander Viraxis’s one organic eye looks at Stern Wing in respect and says, “Then you and I see eye to eye on that one, Miss. For that, you have earned some respect from me.”

“Right back at'cha,” Stern Wing replies with a proud grin for a second but it drops a moment later as she continues, “Though I got to say, you're very different from the other ponies I have observed along our way here. You're not even close to them. I could almost mistake you for a member of a different species.”

“Indeed,” the Commander replies with a chilling cold voice. “You'll find I'm a lot more militant and pragmatic with my approach to solving problems.” He grunts in anger. “And, annoyingly, not many others share my sentiment in this society. You'll find a vast majority are like the others you saw instead.”

“You're in charge of the military up here?” Daring Do checks with the Commander.

“The only military up here,” the Commander confirms in a more specific way. “Recently formed, too, and still budding. Far too few in numbers and resources for my taste, but I can't seem to get most of the others behind my cause despite the recent threats and uprisings over the years.”

“How long has this been going on?” Daring Do probes further.

“About six decades,” the Commander answers. “Most of the attacks by the chaos creatures struck the Earthbound Below. We, who call ourselves Those Above, largely remain indifferent to the plights that the Earthbound are suffering despite the fact that our ancestors promised to watch after Those Below and protect them from external interference.”

Feather Wind, Stern Wing, Derpy and Doctor Kelly all pass each other a shocked look of recognition after the Commander mentioned that the duty of Those Above is to protect Those Below from external interference. Once again this bears an eerie resemblance to the sworn duty of the Maji to the earth ponies on Water World.

Daring Do notices her companions' apparent recognition with something the Commander said but, since she is not working with all of their information, she vows to privately ask them about it later.

Returning her attention to the commander, Daring asks him, “How long has this relationship been going on? This division you have with the Earthbound Below.”

“Ages,” the Commander replies. “Ages beyond counting, but that's not important right now.” He grunts again in frustration which still sounds a little weird with his synthetic voice box. “That's easy to say when nothing did interfere with the development of the society below, but now that something has and an actual sacrifice is required for us to fulfill our sacred duty, Those Above have been lax about it. 'Why should we care what happens to them?' seems to be the general attitude of most around here. In fact, watching the Earthbound Below struggle against the chaos creatures has devolved into a source of entertainment for some of Those Above.”

“Are you serious?” Stern Wing asks in a tone of disgust.

“Believe me, I wish I wasn't,” the Commander returns in equal measure. “As things stand, things are progressing slowly in terms of my forces accumulating the personnel and resources we need to combat this threat despite the fact that a few of these creatures have attacked us as well.”

“You lack the resources you need?” Stern Wing asks skeptically. “Margret easily hoofled the monster we faced and she was just one pony.”

“One civilian pony,” the Commander corrects. “She wasn't supposed to engage that creature at all. Her only true purpose there was to scout out the territory.

“That said, I'm well aware that the only reason she engaged this creature was because you all had already engaged it and seemed to have some trouble.”

“I hope you didn't discipline her too much for that,” Stern Wing requests. “She did it to save our lives. She should get a medal for her brave and heroic act.”

“I'm well aware of the circumstances involved here,” the Commander replies. “You aren't. There are reasons why I don't normally send untrained civilians to engage these creatures. It is because the forms and abilities of these creatures can vary greatly. She hoofled it well enough this time but, in my eyes, she simply got lucky.

“I'll give you an example. One of the few members of this species who successfully did some damage to Those Above had a very, very precise form of teleportation. It was good enough to teleport right through our force fields. None of that matters if it can skip the space in between. It also had great range and speed with this ability. At its fastest, it could rapidly blink back and forth between various spots ten times per second. We could barely even look at the creature let alone do anything else to fight it.

“But that was not its most frightening ability. That creature could also teleport others it touched too, and it had the ability to be very precise with that. Imagine it touching your head and teleport away with it, thus leaving the rest of your now essentially decapitated and temporarily spasmodically wiggling body to collapse on the floor and quickly spread a pool of blood. I even saw this creature able to teleport individual molecules of a person's body and scatter them at random. One second it touches a pony and the next the pony vanishes and a giant ball of blood appears in his or her place. Blood which promptly splashes gruesomely on the ground a second later. It took us years to figure out a way to even capture this creature.”

“Are you serious?” Feather Wind asks the commander in disbelief.

“Trust me, those were not battles any pony who witnessed it soon forgot,” the Commander assures confidently and grimly.

Feather Wind winces as he looks away. That is very strange information to him. Sure, the chaos creature they fought also seemed to play for keeps, but instant death moves like that seems way out of character for Trouble herself based on what little he's seen of her. She even warned Daring Do of the last creature's acidic ability even though it was kind of phrased like a taunt. She seems to be motivated primarily for entertainment so she'd want a potential conflict to last. She only augmented the last creature because Daring ended the fight too quickly and did it alone. Why would Trouble also make other creatures that are deadly enough to do instant kill moves? It doesn't add up to him.

“Given those facts, I can now understand your reluctance to allow her to engage such creatures without proper training,” Stern Wing admits. “But still . . . she saved our lives this time. Please go easy on her.”

“And if the form and abilities of these creatures are different each time, there's no telling what kind of preparation is required for each one,” Doctor Kelly realizes aloud. “That's quite the conundrum.” She focuses on the commander. “Has any efforts been made to contain Trouble herself? After all, until you contain her, she can just keep on making more of these things.”

“Believe me, we tried,” the Commander announces in frustration. “She has slipped our grasp in more ways than I can count and in a vast variety of ways. She's even managed to temporarily turn my own personnel against each other.

“The problem with her is she seems to primarily exist in some higher dimension and, from that vantage point, is able to more easily manipulate the dimension below her. We can't deal with her until we find a way to properly contain a higher dimensional being. We've done some R-D development on that front and we are making some progress but with the limited resources allocated to me, it's taking too long.

“And that's where you all come in.”

“Us?!” Daring asks sharply, taken aback.

“Let me get straight to the point,” Commander Viraxis announces bluntly. “I know you all are members of the Knights of the Hourglass and I know you at least distantly work for the only known remaining Time Lord, the Doctor.” He grunts in a little bit of disapproval as he adds, “He and I don't see eye to eye on many things, but I have to admit he can get the job done via unconventional means and those he recruits tend to have similar talent. I would very much appreciate it if you can devote some of that talent to me with a certain mission.”

Daring looks across her companions to gauge their reaction. What she finds is they are surprised, alarmed, and intrigued. She then looks back at the Commander and says, “We'll hear you out before we agree to anything. What mission did you have in mind for us, exactly?”

“Is it to fight more of those chaos creatures?” Stern guesses.

“No,” the Commander immediately answers Stern. “Not unless you have to. Not unless one engages you. Trouble seems interested in you all, and I mean that in every sense of the word, but the Knights tend to get results too and I'll not ignore a potential resource when I see one.”

“Again, what do you have in mind?” Daring reminds more insistently.

“My ability to recruit Those Above have been frustratingly slow,” Commander Viraxis announces. “And I can see why. These creatures are very little threat to them and they are largely, but not entirely, indifferent to the plights of Those Below. In all this time, though, I know another group of ponies who at least should be very interested in our assistance and therefore might be more receptive to my offer.”

“Those Below,” Feather Wind reasons aloud. “The Earthbound.” He lifts an eyebrow at the Commander. “But you said they should be interested. Why aren't they?”

“I don't know,” the Commander admits. “And that's where you all come in. I want you to find out why they've been reluctant to accept our assistance and convince them that it is in their best interests if we join forces. After all, if I can't convince my fellow Those Above to defend these ponies, or to even care about their plight in some cases, then I wish to defer to, fortify, and train Those Below so at least they can defend themselves.”

“But isn't that interfering with their culture?” Derpy wonders aloud. “I thought you said your ancestors considered that taboo.”

“Yes, but they are already being meddled with anyway,” Commander Viraxis argues. “I'm just trying to even the odds a little.”

“What sort of reception have you gotten recently from Those Below?” Doctor Kelly probes. “Also is it different from what you used to receive from them?”

“Both accounts are noteworthy,” the Commander announces. “The Earthbound used to revere us. They looked upon us as something akin to gods. We did nothing specific to encourage or discourage this perspective. The way we saw it, it was up to them to judge us for themselves and that was the path they used to take.

“Strangely, though, that attitude changed about two centuries ago and, around that same time, they became more independent and resourceful than they originally were. Previously they used to be nothing more than cave dwellers and primitive hunter/gatherers, but now some of them can use strange magic we can't identify. That includes some of their earth ponies, by the way, which accounts for the vast majority of their population. Pegasi account for roughly twenty percent and only two percent of their population are unicorns. Of them, we know for a fact that that genetic line started from us. A few of Those Above assimilated into their culture and now their current unicorn population is what has been passed on from generation to generation. Over time they are slowly thinning out and it's believed they'll eventually fade away because all of the unicorns down there have little other choice but to mate with non-unicorns. When that keeps happening from generation to generation then that genetic path line is expected to fade out at some point.

“So, while their current breed of unicorns originally came from us, their current numbers are almost entirely native tribe members now. They were born and raised there, so they are now native Earthbound.

“With all that said, their diminishing population of unicorns often take up some mystical role among their tribe such as shamans and the like.”

“That makes sense,” Daring says with a nod. “So . . . somewhere along the way they became more independent and mystical. At that point their relationship with Those Above evolved to . . .” She trails off as an invitation for the commander to finish.

“Slowly their reverence for our society faded,” the Commander announces. “Once it was reverence. Then it became more like distant respect. Then it became something akin to indifference, but now . . . it is almost like disgust. Weirdly they are almost snooty and dismissive of us now. They keep accusing us of not knowing, 'The Way' or some crap like that. They act like we are the little foals who didn't grow up and are too stubborn to do so, so they are dismissive instead and even a bit aggressive if we insist on dialog.”

“But we aren't native to Those Above,” Daring realizes. “I think I can see where this is going now.”

“All of you are an unexpected opportunity for me,” the Commander admits. “And things are not tenable as they are. Something has to change and all of you might be my best chance to get them to see reason. Develop a rapport with them and find out why they've been so reluctant to work with us now even during their dire need, and if there is one thing those trained by the Doctor are famous and infamous for, it is a talent for diplomacy.” He waves a hoof. “Those Below are not our enemy and, frankly, we do share a common one, so why do they stubbornly refuse to work with us? We need to pool our resources if we're ever to stand a good chance to beat these things.”

There is a moment of silence between them all and broken again by the commander as he asks, “So how about it? Will you help me to help them?”

Daring gives another assessing sweeping gaze among her companions before looking back at the commander and requesting, “Could you give us some time to discuss this in privacy, please? Twenty minutes ought to do it. Perhaps even ten.”

“I'll be back in ten, then,” the commander decides then turns to depart. The door seemingly opens on its own then shuts behind them, leaving them again in possible privacy.

“What do you all think?” Daring asks her companions. “I want all of your honest input, no matter how slight. After all, whatever we do, we'll do it together.”

“First of all, I'd like to express my appreciation for you including us in this decision,” Stern Wing says to the adventurer in approval. “Not long ago it seems you were determined to do everything on your own.”

Daring gives a shy blush as she admits, “For various reasons that I don't really want to get into at this time, I haven't had much practice with teamwork but I'm willing to give it a shot now.”

Stern Wing nods then says, “Secondly, wasn't our main objective is to secure the Blue Ice Lilly? We have a sample of that now so game over. We won.”

“That's not like you, Stern, to suggest moving on and ignoring those in need,” Feather Wind notes with surprise.

“I haven't really expressed my true opinion yet,” Stern replies. “I'm just outlining what our situation has been so far.”

“Then what is your true opinion?” Daring presses to Stern. “What do you want to do?”

“Me?” Stern reflects back to Daring then stands up straight and proud. “I am a guardian. My purpose is to protect those in need. To protect the weak.” She looks across them all. “That includes you all, by the way, though I hardly consider you weak. I have to consider your safety too so I'll ultimately defer to the judgment of the majority. With all that said,” she focuses back on Daring, “my personal vote is to stay and help these ponies, especially the Earthbound. Based on what the commander told us, they are the real victims here and if even Those Above, along with all their technology, occasionally struggle with the chaos creatures then the Earthbound might be in even greater trouble.

“Plus, I'm also interested in the Earthbound's side of the story. Why did their attitude to Those Above change? Maybe they know something important that we don't know. For now, I choose to withhold my full judgment over this situation until I gather all of the facts.”

“Thank you for sharing your opinion,” Daring expresses to Stern. “Anything further?”

Stern shakes her head and says, “I said my piece for now.”

Daring gives an accepting nod then looks at Doctor Kelly for her opinion. Upon doing so, the others regard her too.

“Speaking for myself, I love a good mystery,” Doctor Kelly announces. “But one thing I cannot stand, which is something that really bothers me, is discovering a mystery then doing nothing about it. Not even attempt to solve it.” She lifts a hoof. “I can tell you this so far, though. Commander Viraxis was not entirely forthcoming to us. With regards to what he has said, I deduce it as being sincere to a point but there is something more. A larger agenda behind everything that he has said.”

“Do you trust him?” Daring checks with the doctor who then shakes her head.

“Right now? No, but we haven't gathered all the facts yet either, just as Stern Wing pointed out. If you were to ask me now about my opinion about Those Below at this point then I can't say I trust them all that much either. I have missing information on my hooves right now and that bothers me. I will defer to the decision of the majority here and especially to you, Daring Do,” the doctor says with the nod to Daring. “I say that because the Doctor put you in charge of this mission and he must have a reason.”

“So you want to press on for the sake of scientific curiosity?” Daring figures.

“That and ponitarian reasons,” Doctor Kelly adds. “After all, I am not just a scientist, I am also a healer. My mission is to heal the sick and injured so if we're talking about my personal motivations alone, that is where I stand. I want to solve a good mystery and I want to help wherever and whenever I am needed.”

“Okay then,” Daring says with an accepting nod. “Thank you for your input.” She then looks at Derpy. “Derpy?”

“Me?” Derpy reflects. “I want to help!” she says simply. “Wherever I am and whatever I do, I follow my heart. My head is mostly air space anyway so my heart naturally speaks louder.”

Hearing Derpy put down her intelligence again causes a frown on Feather's face but he holds his silence this time.

“Alright then. Let me ask you this.” Daring lifts up a wing. “When you say, 'I want to help', what does that mean in this case? Because we came here on a mission, or at least I did. I came here to secure the Blue Ice Lilly in order to help other ponies in our time using a cure that is extinct where we came from. We have a preserved sample of that flower right now.”

“We do?!” Derpy asks with a gasp. “Since when?”

“Oh yeah!” Feather exclaims in a tone of realization. “When we got that flower before, Derpy was unconscious back then and we haven't mentioned it since.”

“That's an important detail too,” Stern says with a frown. “Shame on us for not bringing it up earlier.”

“Apparently it is a gift from the kirin,” Daring explains to Derpy. “It is even frosted with magic crystals to help preserve it. Perhaps they offered it in gratitude for you dancing and singing with them.”

“Aww!” Derpy says with a happy blush. “That's so sweet of them!” But then she grows confused. “But how would they even know we sought after it in the first place?”

“We were climbing that mountain for weeks and we mentioned, more than once, why we were doing it,” Stern mentions with a shrug. “Perhaps that's the reason.”

“I think we're overthinking it,” Feather proposes. “At least when it comes to them and their motivations. The kirin didn't seem to think at all, or if they did, they did so on a whole different level. They danced and sung in perfect sync with each other and, while you joined them, you did likewise.” He focuses his yellow eyes on Derpy. “You bonded with them on a whole new level, Derpy. One so overwhelmingly amazing that it's too much for a mortal mind to comprehend so you forgot it. Your brain is blocking it out almost like a defense mechanism. Sometimes an experience too positive can be a detriment too without something there to safeguard our sanity.” He shrugs. “For now, I say we just call it instinct. Compassionate and otherworldly intense instinct on their part.”

The group is silent for a moment until Daring shakes her head then goes on to say, “In any case, we have a sample of the lilly now. The longer we stay, the greater our chances of losing that which we already gained, so I ask you again . . . what do you personally mean by helping?”

“Well, um . . .” Derpy trails off for a moment as she shyly regards the rest of her group watching her. She swallows a lump in her throat then her face firms up as she announces, “Both. I say we do both. We help those in need here and then take the flower back to help those in our time.”

“That's your decision?” Daring double checks with Derpy.

“Yes,” Derpy confirms firmly.

“Okay then,” Daring replies with an accepting nod then simply looks at Feather to announce it is now his turn to announce his opinion and intent. She figures he's smart and perceptive enough to pick up on the subtle cues she's offering without the need to speak a word, and he did not disappoint.

“I agree that the Commander is not telling us the whole story,” Feather announces then winces. “Several things he says did not add up.” He lifts a hoof. “Just in case we are being observed right now, I'd prefer I keep the details to myself for now but consider this; what is Trouble's angle in all of this as well? It seems simple and straight forward at first glance but I think there is something more to this.”

“That chaos creature showed up just when she announced its arrival,” Stern Wing says bitterly. “Later on she also augmented it just because she was bored. Every version of these chaos beasts plaguing this world and time also presented themselves with random forms and abilities. Isn't that what a so-called Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony would do? These creatures just show up and they do so violently. That's antithetical to harmony; ergo, disharmony.”

“I know,” Feather agrees. “But there's something more to all of this. Something more . . . elusive.”

“Please be more specific,” Daring requests of Feather.

Feather Wind frowns as he gazes suspiciously at the walls surrounding them. He sighs then looks back at Daring as he says, “Not once did Trouble ever say something like, 'Behold my creation. It shall lead to your extinction.' Instead, she was willing to brag about its abilities but, in a way, it also served as a warning what it could do.” He shakes his head. “But she never took credit for creating it in the first place. Instead, she was willing to pretend that she did.”

“Her primary motivation is entertainment,” Doctor Kelly announces. “She announced that up front right away and I don't think she was lying about that. In her eyes, entertainment translates to, 'Causing a challenge for others to face. To present a game that has rules.' She may be a Spirit of Chaos, but she plays by the rules . . . at least the ones that she sets. Overall her objective is to extend the game so creatures with instant death moves really are out of character for her.” She regards Feather with respect. “Not that I didn't foresee this coming from you, Feather Wind, but well done in picking up on those subtle clues.”

“So you're saying Trouble is actually innocent?” Derpy checks with Feather curiously. “Maybe likes to pretend to be guilty, but she didn't actually create those creatures in the first place?”

“Just augment them?” Stern reminds the group bitterly.

“And warns us what they can do,” Feather adds poignantly to the group. “Not to mention warn us of its arrival in the first place. Even if she did create them, she didn't have to warn us of it's coming.”

“Anything to extend the length of the game,” Doctor Kelly puts in emphatically.

“If it turns out Trouble didn't create those creatures but they are designed as if she did, then somepony else is guilty,” Daring realizes. “Somepony else with a deeper agenda?” She then glances at Doctor Kelly as she recalls what the doctor said not long ago.

“Commander Viraxis probably spoke the truth about the Earthbound's plight,” announces Doctor Kelly. “I think we can all agree that the next set of the puzzle pieces is located there.”

Derpy gasps in realization then announces, “Maybe they know who really created the chaos creatures!”

“Which could also serve to explain why their attitude about Those Above have changed,” Feather adds. “Maybe they see their former guardians have changed into oppressors.”

“Probably not all of Those Above,” Daring theorizes. “Another thing that Viraxis said, which I believe, is that the population here is largely indifferent. It sickens me to think any of them find entertainment in the Earthbound's plight but it is possible. Nevertheless, I think the vast majority of those up here aren't even aware of the plight in the first place. They just frolic and play and do whatever they want to do.”

“Which is a lot like my culture,” Doctor Kelly mentions. “Except these ponies seem to be more social with each other and a lot less reliant on A.I. to fill in the gap. These ponies actually enjoy hanging out with each other and they do it in person instead of through a holographic window or through a full-body holographic avatar. These ponies really are together physically.”

“Which is an improvement if you ask me,” Feather mentions. “Once again, they are all similar yet different from your native world, including their relationship with Those Below.”

“Which all cycles back to the unsolved mystery I've been talking about,” Doctor Kelly reminds. “There is more going on here. Something important. Something we're missing.”

“I don't wish to face the Doctor again while knowing we didn't do everything in our power to help,” Stern Wing says to everyone here and Daring in particular. “What about you?” Stern Wing reflects. “Do you feel any different?”

Daring Do pauses for a moment as she considers that answer. During that time she pulls her hat down lower over her face as if hiding her eyes in the hat's shadow helps her to think better when it's really important. She holds that pose for fifteen seconds before she spreads a daring grin then lifts the edge of her hat back up again as she announces, “Another Day, Another Dungeon. This adventure is not over, my new friends, and we must see this story to the end.” Her grin deepens. “Let's do this!”

Author's Note

Here is a song that got stuck in my head even before I wrote this chapter. It mainly applies to the earlier part of this chapter where it describes the society and activity of Those Above.

Part 10: The Way of the Land

The TARDIS crew are standing on or near the edge of a massive platform which leads outside of the flying pyramid. Furthermore, if it were not for a force field which is only intermittently visible as a transparent and floating two-dimensional pattern of hexagons, nothing else would prevent them from stepping off the ledge and into a massive drop beyond. That isn't as much of a threat to this party since they can all float or fly in some fashion.

When they first arrived at this pyramid, they seemingly almost crashed into a wall then suddenly transported somewhere inside of it. Standing here now, some of them wonder why this didn't happen to them again in reverse. They had to trot to this edge this time and now they are standing behind a semi-transparent barrier which marks the outer edge of this giant structure. They were escorted here by Commander Viraxis himself who is also flanked by a pair of identical-looking brown unicorn stallions in battle armor that occasionally pulses with a glow in certain parts of the armor.

“I just realized something,” Daring Do announces while initially looking off the edge of the platform but then looks back at Commander Viraxis. “As we were rapidly flying here before, Margret mentioned that she needed to commune with somepony she called, 'The Authority'. I had wondered, ever since then, if we'd ever meet this 'Authority' too, except now it suddenly clicked with me that we might have already. She was referring to you, wasn't she, Sir?”

The reminder of that title causes Commander Viraxis to groan glumly. The TARDIS crew have yet to ever see this particular pony in a good mood. To that observation, he says, “I'm about the closest thing to that you'll ever encounter in this society which, in my opinion, is sad. Cooperation can be very important in a society and an authority figure can help keep them organized. This is particularly crucial when there is a crisis situation.”

“Stands to reason,” Stern Wing agrees with an accepting nod. “Except, in this case, this society seems so powerful and technologically advanced that it seems they can afford to be lax with authority and security. Why should the average citizen care when, apparently, nothing substantial can ever seemingly threaten them?”

“Which means they are all the more caught flat-hoofed when something finally does threaten them,” the Commander adds bitterly then shakes his head. “Something in this system needs to change eventually and I'm pushing for it. With all of your help, there might be an alternative avenue to tap as well.”

“I've always been a supporter of the policy of teaching a pony to fish rather than just hoofing them one,” announces Stern Wing. “It's just more practical. I will, of course, defend the defenseless when and if it ever becomes necessary, but it is a better tactic still to teach others to defend themselves so that they are less vulnerable from then on. After all, I can't be everywhere at once and I'll eventually have to move on.”

“Speaking of that, what's the next step?” Daring checks with the Commander. “If there were only a partial opening in this barrier, my teammates and I can make our own way to the land below.”

“Really?” the Commander asks with a curious and surprised look for the first time. “I only see some of you are pegasi. Can the rest of you teleport?”

“I can,” Doctor Kelly chimes in. “But I can also float slowly in a bubble force field. When I do, I can carry others too when necessary. That affords protection at the same time. It's actually much akin to something Margret employed earlier, but I can't go anywhere near that fast.”

“Maybe I can't either,” Feather Wind mumbles so quietly that only Stern Wing beside him managed to hear that. He then looks up at Stern Wing as he says to her in the same volume, “Remember when I quickly flew us to the temple where Vision and her mother was? That required me to blow us with wind force so fast and strong it would have torn up a building if we had also flown at a low enough elevation. Maybe I could have flown us a little faster if it weren't for the fact that the speed alone would rub off our hide due to the sheer friction traveling at that speed would cause. That's not a problem with Margret's spell or technology, though, because her barrier magic provided a buffet.”

“What if we wore a suit designed to withstand such friction?” Stern Wing quietly proposes to her short-stature friend. “I think that is the point of the Wonderbolt's various outfits aside from style. That's also why pegasi tend to wear goggles if they plan to travel anywhere near that kind of speed.”

“Maybe, but you remember how it was difficult to breathe while we traveled that fast,” Feather reminds his large friend while others around them continue to talk.

“Air is your specialty. Maybe you can create a globe of calm air around our heads?” Stern Wing checks.

“Perhaps but that should slow us down. My concentration was mostly focused on getting us to the temple as quickly as I could due to the informed emergency. As it was, I already had to create a bit of a windscreen ahead of us to protect our hides from being rubbed off. We really were traveling that fast. In fact, that is still the fastest I have ever flown to date on my own power.”

Stern Wing gives her friend an intrigued nod in acknowledgment then resumes paying attention to the others. Her eyes shift quickly back and forth to each pony talking in an effort to quickly catch back up to what they are saying again. Beside her, Feather Wind does much of the same except he isn't as lost due to the fact he had partially been paying attention while the others were talking.

“Well, fortunately for you, I've assigned you all an alternative,” Commander Viraxis replies to Doctor Kelly's last comment. “Margret Wessle should be showing up soon. She'll take you wherever you need to go.”

“Whoa! Hold it,” Daring Do objects with a lift of a wing then refolds it. “You said you didn't want untrained civilians out there. Why assign her to us now?”

“Is this your punishment for her for reporting to you late?” Derpy asks in concern. Daring Do flashes the gray fellow pegasus mare a look because that possibility didn't occur to Daring until Derpy said that. Daring looks back while thinking that possibility is unlikely from Commander Viraxis's point of view, but she listens to his response anyway just in case.

“Punishment? Ha!” Commander Viraxis scoffs. “If anything, she might consider this assignment a reward. Not that she necessarily deserves it, but still. This is her opinion.”

“Oh?” Derpy asks in a tone of delighted-surprise.

“Margret loves the concept of aliens and time travelers,” Commander Viraxis explains. “Some of you are both and all of you fit at least one of those categories. Believe me, she'd consider this assignment a privilege so you can all rest easy knowing this is most certainly not against her will.”

“Oh good!” Derpy says happily. “Then I'm one-hundred percent behind this plan then.”

“But I still need to be convinced,” Daring Do counters while still regarding the commander sharply. “The only thing you told us so far is why she'd be willing. You have failed to explain why you are assigning her to us, so level with us. What's the deal here? Do you simply want somepony among us so you can spy on us?”

“A spy would imply subterfuge, so the term isn't quite apt here,” the Commander replies to Daring's comments and questions. “Though it is true I do wish to have her among you so I can keep tabs on your progress. I'm making no effort to hide this fact. I want your cooperation and, for that, I need to have your respect and trust. To that end, I'm being transparent here with you all about my methods and tactics.

“Mind you, the same thing applies here in reverse. If need be, any of you can also communicate to me through Margret as long as she, and her resources, remains loyally beside you. So,” he shrugs, “if there is any urgent situation that comes up, you can use her to contact me and I'll send whatever resources I can spare to help alleviate your problem.”

“That's good to know,” Stern Wing says aloud when she partially caught up with the conversation at this point.

“There are other useful resources she has access to that'll remain at your disposal as well for as long as she travels with you all,” the Commander adds a bit more brightly. “For instance, she can safely transport you down from here and she has some means to help track down those you seek, or potentially many other kinds of lifeforms that lack some unusual means to hide from our scans. Otherwise, most other lifeforms can be detected which means she can give you the heads-up. Then there are also her forcefields and other such useful equipment.”

“I was already aware of some of her potential advantages in the party. I've seen it before,” Daring remarks. “But again, I repeat, why send an untrained civilian with us? Whatever she can do, a well-trained soldier could probably do as well and/or more.”

“I'm assigning her to you because A; she's more than willing. B; she's useful to this party during this particular mission. C; she can be a means to communicate back and forth between us which means further resources can be deployed as necessary. D; you've all already met her and developed a bit of a rapport with her. She's saved your life before, after all, so that likely means there's a higher chance of team cooperation. Socially you'd be starting from scratch if I assigned a stranger in her stead. E; she's a resource I can spare. Finally F,” he waves a hoof among them all, “I trust you all to keep her safe in return. Whatever training she lacks, you have. You faced off against a chaos creature for quite some time by yourselves. One of you even did it solo for a while there and won were it not for some interference,” he says with a respectful nod to Daring Do. “Believe me when I say I don't have many other personnel at my disposal that can hoofle these creatures with the ease that you did and with the resources you had. I've got a few well-trained ponies indeed but very few of them have had actual combat experience like you all have. Whatever shortcomings she has, the rest of you can make up for and you will commit whatever resource you have to keep her safe, right?”

“Absolutely,” Stern Wing instantly agrees. “Protecting others is my thing.”

“By the looks of you, which includes the confidence and determination you exude, I believe that it may be rare to find another pony who can do that job better than you,” the Commander says with a nod of respect to Stern Wing. “As such, I'm putting my faith in you all to protect her. Don't let me down.”

Daring Do squints at the Commander as she says, “Alright. You've convinced me on one condition.” When she says that, the Commander regards her very seriously. “You must firmly impress upon her that I am the leader of this party. While traveling with us, she must obey me instantly because, whatever order I give her, an expedient response might save her life, that of the party, and result in the success of this mission.”

“Naturally,” the Commander replies as if surprised that Daring even needed to make that point. “I've already apprised her of that situation.” He nods in respect to Daring. “She knows that you're in charge. The rest is up to you. Prove that you're in charge by being assertive about it. She'll fall in line if you continue to give off an air of authority like you're doing right now.”

“Very well, then,” Daring accepts as she relaxes her stance slightly. “In that case, if there is nothing further, we'll take off as soon as she arrives.”

Daring Do regards the quickly shifting landscape around them with discomfort as she, and her party, which now includes Margret Wessle, continue to rapidly travel through the air on the floating disk that somehow cancels inertia to those standing on it. As she continues to examine this, she can feel something is wrong in her gut. Since it is so persistent, she eventually shakes her head then announces aloud her decision.

“Margret, take us down to the land right now,” Daring Do orders.

“Uh . . . really?” Margret asks in confusion. “But we haven't arrived at the Earthbound's campsite yet, and I don't detect their life signatures anywhere near this vicinity. We probably have a long way to go from here.”

Daring Do gives a firm look at Margret over her right shoulder as she says, “I thought we've all agreed that you'd instantly obey my orders whenever I give them.”

“Ah . . . okay.” Blinking in confusion, her horn ignites with dim purple-ish energy. Something on the holographic console beeps in response. They are quickly angled downwards after that. Along the way down, she looks back at Daring as she says, “Okay. We're on our way down now. Care to explain what this is all about?”

“I'm curious too,” Derpy agrees. “I thought we wanted to do this quickly and Margret's resources can make that possible.”

“But this is the wrong approach,” Daring says to Derpy. “Remember, we're not just assigned to simply find the Earthbound but also win their cooperation and trust.” She turns around to face her teammates while also shaking her head. “And I don't think we can do that while flying at them on a laser disk like some arrogant and snobby gods from the sky. That kind of approach is most likely why Those Above have failed in their negotiation tactics before. This,” she gestures down to the disk they are standing on, “isn't relatable to them. If we want to win their cooperation, we have to develop a rapport with them first. To do that, I think we need to be respectful and approach them on their terms.”

“That makes a lot of sense to me,” Feather Wind agrees. “I mean that both in a logical but also instinctual sense. Something about our approach so far didn't sit right with me either.” He blushes as he looks down a bit. “But I was too shy to bring it up.” He looks back at Daring. “Now I wish I wasn’t.”

Daring nods in respect to Feather as she says to him, “Then you get it. I've traveled far and wide in my time and I met many kinds of other cultures along the way. Some of those I met in the past seem to be similar to the ones we're seeking. Unlike Those Above, the ponies we are seeking now are ponies of the Land. They are more grounded and connected to nature. Such tribes usually have more superstitions too. Symbols and signs tend to be more important to them, and we're already starting off on the wrong hoof if we present ourselves with the wrong symbolism. To correct this, we have to approach them on their level.”

Daring Do looks over her shoulder when she notices they have arrived to the land, or rather floating a few inches above it. Noticing this, she nods in satisfaction then looks back at Margret as she says to the green mare, “Okay then. Cancel this spell.” She gestures to the red disk they are standing on. “We proceed the rest of the way on hoof.”

“I have a better alternative,” Margret offers, then proceeds to drop the laser barrier around one side of the hexagon they are standing on. “That way is open now. All of you step off from there and then I'll cancel this spell; otherwise, we'll end up falling a few inches instead. That's probably not dangerous per se but might be a little startling if it's done abruptly.”

“Even better,” Daring agrees before they all proceed to step off the floating platform. As promised, Margret cancels her spell after that.

Margret then looks at Daring Do with uncertainty as she says to the older mare, “Are you sure about this? We might have to trot a very long way from here, during which time we'll be more exposed to the elements as we continue. That might potentially include danger.”

“Good,” Daring accepts with a firm nod to Margret. “Because all of those things are what the Earthbound have to deal with every day of their lives. If they see us approach them in that way then it will show them that we're willing to expose ourselves to the same challenges and risks that they face. That we're brave enough to approach them on their terms. That, in turn, will help us win their respect. To face them properly, we must show that we also know The Way. By doing so, they should consider it as a sign of respect.”

Margret looks taken aback by Daring's words as she repeats, “The Way? Wow. You sound just like they do.”

When Margret said that, she was unaware that a term like that was already presented to the TARDIS crew briefly from Commander Viraxis first. None of that changes Daring's primary point, though.

“Exactly. That's what we need to do. Be identifiable to them,” Daring presses. “To that end, from now on, we use none of our advanced technology, or at least nothing that they can't access themselves. That means no more drones.” Daring orders as she passes a firm look at Doctor Kelly. “I'm not saying for you to get rid of them, but keep them invisible and do not employ them any further. Especially not in their presence, and since we can't be certain when and how they might show up, it's best to keep them offline if you can.”

“Okay,” Doctor Kelly casually accepts. “I have a way to stow them.”

“And none of your weird stuff either,” Daring orders to Margret. “Am I clear?”

Margret nods as she says, “While I'm a bit reluctant to admit this, we probably do stand a better chance of succeeding in this mission if we don't repeat the tactics that probably caused us to fail before. In hindsight, I'm starting to realize how ludicrous it was to expect different results by repeating what doesn't work.

“But, ah . . .” Margret looks around her in some discomfort. “. . . if we keep all of that technology off, we won't benefit from it either.” She looks back at Daring. “Some of them are very useful. Maybe also occasionally essential? Just where do we draw the line here? I assume all bets are off in a life or death situation?”

“I'll let you know when and if we can turn them on again,” Daring informs Margret. “For now it's very important that we keep them off. The success of our mission depends on it.”

“But this also means we'll get there much more slowly,” Margret counters. “Is that important?”

“I don't think we're working with any vital time limit for now,” Feather Wind brings up. “We should be okay. For the moment I think it's more important that we go slower if it means success rather than rushing in and failing.”

“Several of us do have some decent wilderness survival experience too,” Stern Wing announces. “That's especially true of our leader here.”

“I'll keep you all safe and on course. Don't worry,” Daring assures. “From now on, we'll employ our own personal technology,” she says with a gesture to herself. “Just like the Earthbound do.”

“Personally, I hate to do anything that increases our security risk such as abandoning that which could have helped us remain safe,” Stern Wing comments. “But it also makes so much sense to me why our new tactic is more likely to result in success.”

“If we wanted to stay completely safe, we never would have stepped off the TARDIS,” Derpy brings up.

“Or set hoof on the TARDIS in the first place,” Feather counters. “Both you and the Doctor once warned us that joining him on that machine would lead to an adventurous lifestyle. I don't see the point of complaining about the risks now after making those kinds of informed choices awhile ago. We could have remained in Ponyville instead and we all saw how harmonious that town was.”

“Adventure is what I got my cutie mark for,” Daring Do announces. “It took me a while to fully realize that, but here I am.”

“And we're glad to have and to know you,” Feather Wind says to Daring happily. “Lead on, my friend.”

Part 11: The Tribe

The adventurers had never been in a single TARDIS timeline, world, or adventure more than this particular journey so far. It will be an additional three weeks before that which they seek will find them instead.

With all that time in a single adventure, it takes its toll on them in various ways eventually even if they travel in a paradise reality. For example, Derpy gradually started to miss Vision and part of her wishes the white young blind filly had the chance to enjoy this wonderful reality too apart from its occasional danger. She left Vision with those she trusts, though, and it helps to know that Vision likely won't realize how much time has passed for this crew. It's Derpy herself that has to endure this emotional burden. She also dearly misses the Doctor as well.

Of every pony that is traveling with the group this time, Margret Wessle is the most uncomfortable with this journey because they are avoiding the technology she grew up to depend upon her whole life. Without something technical there to help ensure that meeting, it puts this whole mission in doubt. There are also personal issues and concerns such as security, comfort, nutrition, or entertainment.

On the other hand, traveling with aliens and time travelers privately makes her squee in excitement. Unlike many she personally knows, she's also willing to try new skills and experiences just to ensure this privilege continues. It takes her some time to adjust outside her comfort zone but, once she does, there is some recognition of what value this experience can have for her. The company she keeps and the beauty of the places she travels through helps to not only console her, but to find new excitement and drive in life.

The other members of Doctor Kelly's team would expect for her to be equally uncomfortable without her technology, but the Maji is vastly more mature in her attitude and approach to life. She possesses innate scientific curiosity anyway so she only views a new challenge as a new opportunity for growth. There is also the recognition that sometimes she may be unable to rely upon her technology in the future so this is good practice.

To that end, she starts to learn traditional unicorn magic with the guidance of Feather Wind and Crystal Sage. Her initial efforts pay off about as much as ponies would expect for a unicorn who is first practicing a spell like basic telekinesis. However, her progress after the first day takes off way faster than her teammates would expect but there are several reasons for that.

First of all, she is a Maji and that means being a race who always grew up in an environment heavily saturated with magic. Because of that, they are in a league of their own above any standard unicorn in Equestria. What would be considered impotent to a Maji is merely standard for Equestria, and what is a genius to a Maji might seem like a demi-god to Equestria. Doctor Kelly actually falls in the latter category for her race but she makes no obvious effort to rub that in. She just naturally channels magic very well so of course the progress on basic magic lessons would seem accelerated even if she's using an approach she's not accustomed to.

Secondly, she isn't a foal. Not only does this mean her body is far more accustomed to channeling such magic, but her mind is equally capable. In fact, she's actually the oldest party member traveling among them unless they count Crystal Sage. She's been doing things like this for centuries so she still has an experience advantage trying something old in a new way.

Thirdly, most of the party isn't seeing the fact that Doctor Kelly is getting extra time to practice this in the Mind Palace of the Red Crystal. From there, time is subjective so she can spend as much time on it as she wants and nary a second has to pass outside the crystal if she chooses. Aside from that, that is the mental location she usually has to go to in order to get any private instruction with Crystal Sage.

Lastly, she has very good instructors. Both of her tutors are fully trained wizards. That is a standard above the vast majority of unicorn practitioners. In the case of Crystal Sage, he's actually more equivalent to an arch-mage who once was, himself, trained by the greatest arch mage of his ancient era.

As a result of all of this, there are enormous leaps of progress with each day she is practicing to a startling degree. It isn't long before she can wield telekinesis so well that she can do it strongly, swiftly, cleverly, and above all, very precisely. Over time she starts to relearn other spells she has access to as well, only this time she does it on her own rather than strictly relying upon her magi gems.

Feather Wind is practicing the same thing only in reverse. He's trying to learn new spells through traditional magi casting after having the Red Crystal download the resonance frequency of Doctor Kelly's other maji spells. It takes some time to figure out how to translate those spells into traditional unicorn casting. In the meantime he devotes some practice into maji casting except he uses the Red Crystal as the focus for all of those spells after it gained an imprint of the others.

Crystal Sage ends up a great mentor for Feather Wind in this practice too. In fact he's a better one for that than even Doctor Kelly because crystal science was already his cutie mark talent. Unlike their resident magi, though, he has very advanced practice with traditional unicorn magic on top of that so he knew best how to blend those two sciences. Now that Feather is getting more and more attuned to this Crystal, he can more fully utilize it for all that its worth.

Aside from all of that, Feather is the most content in this environment. The energy of this place has very high vibrations and he senses that keenly, but unlike Doctor Kelly, he more fully absorbs this emotionally. What he sees, feels, and experiences inspires him to write many passionate poems. There is also a lot of useful energy to absorb into the Crystal so he also has the satisfaction of progress to cheer him up.

Across these past several weeks since their arrival in this time, Daring Do and Stern Wing have both been sharing a more and more similar wavelength. So much so that they both unconsciously even started to develop the same menstrual cycle. The main difference between the two stems from Daring's experience and leadership role. As such, Stern has developed a trust and reliance on Daring, but they keep on seeing eye to eye with each other in so many ways, including really subtle ways. That bond develops so deep that the two of them begin to communicate to each other without the need for words. All it takes is just a “look” to each other since they think and feel so alike anyway.

Because of all of that, they are the first in this party to become aware that the Earthbound have already found them two weeks into their travels together, but for some reason chose to withhold revealing themselves so far.

Once again, both Daring and Stern think alike when it comes to their theory why the Earthbound are holding back for now. They agree that the Earthbound are observing something they are unfamiliar with so they wish to observe this party a little longer to determine how safe it is to eventually approach the party. When they do, that extra time observing the party will also inform the Earthbound exactly how they should approach the party, including this tribe's attitude with that meeting.

Their mutual instinct ends up dead on, too, when it comes to the mares’ conclusion that what the Earthbound is observing during that time about this party is not only unexpectedly impressive, but even downright sacred. As the party continues to travel through the land and respect it, that alone the Earthbound would likely be considered a big plus. However they would also notice that Feather Wind has an unusually intense connection to nature and one element of it in particular. Ponies like him might actually be religious icons to the Earthbound in Daring and Stern's instinct and estimation.

Noticing this doesn't change Daring or Stern's strategy in the least. They make no active effort to seek out and reveal that which doesn't feel ready to be revealed. Instead, they let the Earthbound approach the party on their own terms. Until then, they just continue to travel while synergizing well with the land. As long as they continue to do that, they'll win the Earthbound's favorable impression.

Their strategy and effort eventually pay off and pay off well. The first of the Earthbound to reveal themselves is a moderately sized red earth pony stallion wearing lots of tribal tattoos. If he has a cutie mark, it is disguised by his tribal tattoos. His mane and tail is black. It is pretty long too and tied up in several tribalistic-looking braids.

This earth pony doesn't approach the party so much as he stands in one spot and waits for the party to approach him in order to reveal he means the party no harm. From there, he makes no effort to hide himself. That role falls upon others of his tribe instead.

From the look in his eyes, though, it seems his tribe made a very firm conclusion about this party already. When they see him, he simply nods his head in one direction as an indication for them all to follow him. There is a strong look of respect and even some reverence in his eyes when they do make eye contact. Despite that, he acts very calmly. His every movement has grace and purpose to it. His stance conveys confidence and conviction too. Overall, his body language seems to say, “Welcome to our land. Please follow me.”

Daring Do and Stern Wing, who both are the first to spot this stallion since they are in the lead, have matching grins when they glance at each other, for each of them feel the elation of victory.

Margret had been a member of one team that had attempted to negotiate with the Earthbound before and she remembers the cold reception they got back then. As usual, Those Above flew to the Earthbound camp and used their instruments to detect and zero-in on the life signs of the Earthbound. Those Above knew that Those Below are nomadic and, as such, they do not build permanent structures.

However, when Those Above arrived before, only one member of Those Below was visible. The rest were somehow very well hidden and that included their structures or any other evidence that they were ever there. It was as if that one member they encountered was traveling solo. He only had one mission with her team too, and that was to tolerate this intrusion by listening to the reason for the visit and otherwise keep doing what the Earthbound have done before, and that was to turn away the unwelcome visitors.

But this time, however, is dramatically different. At first Margret thought it wouldn't be. Meeting one member of the tribe was par for the course as last time. Instead of turning them all away, though, he leads them all to the rest of his tribe. She has never seen them up close before. The closest thing she ever had to this encounter was holographic projections made by earlier recordings of this tribe.

As for the rest of the TARDIS crew, this is obviously their first encounter with this tribe as well. Despite that, Margret noticed how the rest of her party here innately seems to understand the Earthbound better. Certain members of it in particular.

Every member of this team hasn't been part of the TARDIS journey for long. Of them, Derpy has been the longest, but even she hasn't seen too many other foreign worlds. When she did, she had encountered fantastical, sometimes scary, and wholly different alien life forms. Ponies did seem to be the most common among them, though. That was a fact that didn't escape the Doctor's notice either. He once called them “The human replacements.”

But for Feather Wind and Stern Wing, Water World was the first foreign world they visited. It had ponies too but, compared to this tribe, there are some important differences. Unlike Water World, this tribe does have a few members of pegasi among them. They have yet to encounter any unicorns native to this tribe but it is said that a few do travel among the Earthbound. This tribe noticeably has a wider variety of fur colors to their hide compared to any in Water World. That is true for Those Above as well, but this tribe seems to have a higher variety of mane colors, including multiple colors and distinctive mane shapes.

Eventually, though, Feather Wind notices an amazing discovery, and that is the fact that this is the first time, ever since he joined the journey of the TARDIS, that he has encountered another pony tribe who actually do have their cutie marks. That fact was hidden for quite some time to him due to the fact that those cutie marks are disguised by tribal tattoos painted around it. Over time he starts to notice a pattern to that as well. It tends to be the older and more experienced members of this tribe that have the most tribal tattoos. That is especially true with the very senior members of this tribe.

Going in reverse, the younger the tribe member is, the fewer tattoos they have. The youngest foals, who don't even have their cutie marks at all yet, are also the same ponies who are devoid of any tribal tattoos.

Feather eventually realizes that this tribe openly wears each individual's history directly on their hide. For every important inner personal discovery they make or important accomplishment that they do, they gain a new tribal tattoo that somehow symbolically represents that discovery or accomplishment. It's as if they gradually expand their initial cutie mark and build around it. They are wearing living history in pictograph form.

Either that, or those tribal tattoos are natural extensions of their initial cutie marks that grow, like a plant, on their own. If that is the case then this tribe has even greater reliance and usage of cutie marks than any native Equestrian in the future.

This discovery is initially made by Feather when he noticed young but not fully foal members of this tribe. A teenager, approximately, who only has a cutie mark and not much is built around it yet. When Feather notices that and he has time to more fully process what this means, he passes a secret wind message to the rest of his team to alert them about this fact. When he does inform them, the majority of his party finds this information very interesting and noteworthy. The lone exception is Margret who is barely familiar with the concept of cutie marks, although she did ask some across these several weeks as they traveled.

This team isn't the only ones interested in this fact. This tribe is likewise fascinated by the fact that their new and unfamiliar visitors also have cutie marks with the exception of Margret and Doctor Kelly. They are not shy about their feelings either. Some of them, especially the young, approach to gaze closely at the visitors cutie marks and a few even touch it without permission because they are not accustomed to asking. They are raised by the mentality that all things are shared among the tribe equally.

The TARDIS crew, plus Margret, also hear the tribe gossip about what those cutie marks might represent. As the debate continues, their guesses both quickly and gradually get more accurate which suggests a great deal of practice interpreting symbology.

When Doctor Kelly notices this, she quietly reminds the party that the intense energy of harmony has enhanced life in this area of the world in every possible way, including maximum lifespan. Some of these ponies might be centuries old. That's probably not even regarded as unusual either since that same energy of harmony also makes them all very difficult to kill even by unnatural means.

This is also true for Those Above and, indeed, every single plant and animal in this area of the world and time. Probably even microscopic lifeforms live significantly longer unless they are harmful.

The reason Doctor Kelly points this out is because there might be some important psychological aspects at play here. Almost every individual in this tribe is probably old and wise enough to catch on to the fact that the majority of this party is far younger compared to them. As such, there is a possibility that the party might be regarded in a similar light as a foal with the lone exception of Margret and herself.

In reply, Daring Do gives a silent, neutral nod of appreciation to Doctor Kelly for sharing this information. She privately vows to keep that in mind while otherwise saying nothing further on the subject.

There are a lot of pony tribesmen living in very close quarters to each other here and they don't seem bothered by that fact even a tiny bit. In fact, that seems to be a source of delight and comfort to them. Because of that, they seem to have no sense of boundary in the physical sense. They are galloping around and climbing all over each other. They are even doing so to the visitors but to the least degree which is probably the only sign of caution from them aside from a few tribesmen who regard the party warily from a bit of a distance. They seem especially wary of Margret and Doctor Kelly.

The vast majority of the tribe is regarding the visitors with fascinated delight instead. There are a few who even try to offer cooked foods as if strongly curious how the visitors will react.

The visitors are led to the largest tent within the tribe. Once inside, they notice a spacious but also crowded interior except the exact center of the tent. There they see only three ponies and all of them are very elderly. The one on the visitor's right is a green mare and notably the first unicorn they encountered in this tribe. The one on their left is a white coated stallion earth pony. The one in the center is a faded violet color earth pony mare with a fancy headdress of coiled vines and feathers that marks this one as the most likely chieftain of this tribe. All three of them have white manes, although there are some hints it used to be another color.

One other trait that is very significant about the mare in the center is she has milky white eyes, signifying that she is blind, and she has an ever flowing mane. That last trait is rare among native Equestrians to a legendary degree. In fact, the only example of a pony known for that in Feather and Stern's time is Princess Celestia herself. In Derpy and Daring's time, the only other mare to have that trait is Princess Luna. This is the first time any of them is encountering another with that feature outside of an alicorn.

Those in the party with a more learned background, such as Feather, Daring and Doctor Kelly, all know there are a few other ponies in history with such a trait but they are very rarely born with it. There is much debate about why this ever occurs but a pattern that seems to keep repeating about them is they each share a significant destiny that shapes the world in some profound way, at least eventually.

So, not only are they encountering the first group of ponies with cutie marks, and perhaps an unusual extension of them, but also a single mare with an ever flowing mane. Those Above lack both of these traits.

These observations are really helping some of this party gain greater focus and understanding of what is going on around here and why the Earthbound is regarding Those Above so distant lately.

“Welcome to The Tribe,” greets the center mare. “I am Chieftain Ma'Heira and I've been expecting you.”

Daring Do is taken aback for a moment but then she looks across the other members of her party and gestures downward with a single wing, thus non-verbally indicating that they all need to sit down here respectfully. They do so, including her. Only then did Daring look back, nod in respect to the Chieftain, and say, “Your welcome is most appreciated. Please allow me to introduce ourselves.”

Chieftain Ma'Heira nods in confirmation.

“My name is Daring Do,” Daring introduces. “To my left here is Stern Wing.” Stern Wing nods. “To her side is Feather Wind.” Feather nods. “To my right is Derpy, Doctor Kelly Saddler, and finally Margret Wessle.”

“We are familiar with her,” Ma'Heira says in a carefully measured tone. “We also know why you are here.” Ma'Heira leans forward a bit and says to Daring emphatically, “And I know why you are really here.”

Daring's only visible reaction to that is her eyes widening slightly, but she carefully keeps her own reaction carefully measured as well.

Ma'Heira nods to Daring as she says, “In your heart, you know what our reply will be to your official request.”

“You refuse to work with Those Above,” Daring figures. She feels so certain of that that she doesn't even phrase that statement as a question. “I'm beginning to see why.”

“Do you now?” croaks the old white stallion. “Do you really see why?” He narrows his eyes at Daring. “I recognize your effort, but your eyes remain a bit clouded still. Permit me to enlighten you.”

He waits for Daring to nod in confirmation. When she does, he continues.

“Those Above would have us recruited into a military force to combat the threats of the Chaos Beasts, and indeed . . . they are an occasional threat to us,” the old stallion informs. “But did you also know that they invented the Chaos Beasts in the first place?”

Most of the TARDIS crew, plus Margret, gasp in astonishment upon this declaration. The only exception to that is Daring Do herself who instead narrows her eyes and gains a deeply thoughtful look.

“That can't be true!” Derpy argues. “They are the ones who want to fight the Chaos Beasts the most.”

“Or at least Commander Viraxis does,” Feather corrects. “The majority of Those Above are actually indifferent to this affair. Some of them might not even be aware of these beasts at all.”

“There is more to this situation than that,” Ma'Heira says as she directs her face briefly to the stallion to her side for a moment before turning to regard the party before her again. “The true origin of the Chaos Beasts does not come from this world at all.”

“But that's Trouble, right?” Stern Wing asks in confusion. “That little she-demon doesn't come from this world, right? Yet she is now an honorary member of Those Above too?” she asks with a curious tilt of her head.

“It is true that one does come from another dimension,” Ma'Heira informs. “But she still is more native than the one I speak of.”

“So somepony among Those Above isn't native to this world?” Feather Wind double checks.

“Nor even this time,” Ma'Heira adds poignantly to Feather in particular.

“Oh my Celestia!” Feather Wind gasps. “I know who it is now!”

“Well . . . don't leave the rest of us in the dark,” Derpy encourages.

“It's Commander Viraxis!” Feather announces in astonishment. “He's an alien from another world and time. Moreover, he's not even really a pony despite appearances.” He gazes forward at Ma'Heira in shock. “Commander Viraxis is a Time Lord, isn't he?”

The TARDIS crew, plus Margret but minus Feather Wind, all gasp in astonishment again.

“Are you serious?!” Stern Wing asks in shocked disbelief.

“Actually, I think I agree,” Doctor Kelly announces. “It's all starting to make sense now. I knew there was a strong link to Those Above and my own race. We had way too much in common with our technology and our outlook in life. Too many coincidences added up but now I finally see the connection. This is my race, but before the Doctor saved them from the Time Lords. In other words, Those Above are influenced by my ancestors somewhere in their history who were still embroiled in the Time War.”

“And Commander Viraxis is a warrior of that War,” Feather adds. “But I think he was telling the truth about his frustration over his lack of resources. That might indicate he comes from a time near the end of the Time War when the resources of his ponies are vastly depleted. He might even be the only resource they could spare aside from maybe a small hoofful of your ancestors,” he says with a nod to Doctor Kelly. “Because of this, he can't sweep conquer any of the ponies of this time period and force them to join his terrible war. Instead, he has to convince them to join him on their own accord. To help him do that, he creates these Chaos Beasts to scare ponies into joining his army. He also gave Trouble the blame for their creation. He deliberately designed them chaotically to make it seem like the tiny little draconequus was responsible. And Trouble, for her part, is innocent of this particular crime but doesn't mind accepting the blame.”

“All for the sake of entertainment and to spread chaos,” Doctor Kelly agrees with an accepting nod to Feather.

“If you're right, then his plan isn't working as well as he hoped,” Daring Do figures. “Those Above have ended up too aloof to care much about those threats and they probably deal with it too easily whenever they do encounter one. His fear tactics aren't working with them much so he's turned his attention to the Earthbound instead.”

“Not his first choice, obviously,” Feather adds. “Those Above have a lot of resources to work with that a desperate Time Lord would find enticing, but they are barely cooperating with him. Because of that, that forced him to reexamine his options more carefully.”

“Are you sure that Trouble is innocent?” Stern Wing asks her party very skeptically. “At least when it comes to the creation of the Chaos Beasts? Remember, she did augment them once.”

“We've been over this, Stern,” Feather groans. “That same individual also warned us about the approach of a chaos beast and its most critical abilities.” He shakes his head. “She doesn't care who blames her for this crime or not. Trouble is a reality bender so nothing really threatens her enough to worry her. Instead of that, her actions are guided by her personal motivations and her nature as a chaos spirit.”

“Prolong the game by any means necessary,” says Doctor Kelly.

“I don't think there really is an official deal between her and Commander Viraxis,” Feather figures. “He just got lucky that she willingly accepted the blame, but in the end, it still didn't do him much good.” He gestures to the tent around them. “Hence why he sent us to this village here. He knew these ponies kept spurning him and every individual he sent from Those Above. We are a resource he didn't expect but he's desperate enough to try to exploit.”

“That might also explain why he's so familiar with the Doctor,” Derpy realizes as she rubs her bottom chin with a hoof. “And also why those two individuals probably don't see eye to eye.” She lowers her hoof. “The Doctor often told me that he doesn't like war soldiers or basically anything designed for war and killing, so Commander Viraxis is the very embodiment of everything the Doctor despises.”

“And yet there is a little respect in the eyes, or eye that we can see, in Commander Viraxis when he speaks of the Doctor,” Feather puts in. “They may differ in their tactics and approach to life, but the Doctor is a fellow Time Lord which is also a species gradually growing closer to extinction in Viraxis's time period.”

“And eventually to a point where the Doctor seems to be the only one left,” Doctor Kelly adds.

“We will have no willing part in this War,” Chieftain Ma'Heira assures the group. “That is not our world. That is not the story we choose to be a part of. We will deal with and react to whatever comes our way in this case, such as the occasional Chaos Beast, but no further.”

“What about Trouble?” Stern Wing asks the chieftain curiously. “Has she bothered you as well?”

“Trouble is a part of the tides of fate in this world,” Ma'Heira informs Stern Wing calmly. “Her role is the Trickster. She is the Element of Chaos in this Game of Life designed for the express purpose of creating challenges for others to grow from. She knows and accepts that role, and in that way she is a natural part of life.” She waves a hoof. “Anything beyond that is a personal opinion to each pony. An antagonist need not be a bitter enemy. Such things are up to each individual to decide. Trouble will reflect whatever one projects to her.”

“I think I understand,” Daring says in a tone of realization. “I once encountered another individual like her and I did it of my own accord. In my time, a great disease was spreading and nothing there seemed to have any effect on it. I needed to find the cure fast or many pony lives could be lost. To get it, I took the risk of seeking out a dangerous individual known to ponykind as a Sphinx. She was also a cruel reality bender too, but at least she kept to the rules she set. I had to perform a series of challenges and answer some riddles before she gave me the answers I sought.”

“Which is what eventually led you to this time period, I take it?” Stern Wing checks with Daring.

“We need obstacles to grow,” Ma'Heira assures. “My tribe knows and embraces that. You're here because you know that too deep down.”

When she said that, for a moment she seemed to carefully regard Margret as much as an old blind mare can.

“And Those Above seem to thrive more on security, entertainment, and comfort,” says Derpy. “I think I'm beginning to understand one of the sources of division here.”

“Everypony has their place in the grand role of Life,” Ma'Heira says. “Knowing ourselves is the grand pursuit. There are many ways to do it. We have found our own.”

“But you were once taught it too, weren't you?” Daring asks with a sudden pressing interest. “Commander Viraxis says that Those Below once revered Those Above but something changed. I'm guessing your tribe developed cutie marks around the same time.”

Daring pauses when she notices confusion among every tribesman here except the chieftain.

“We call it something else,” Ma'Heira informs then nods at Daring. “Please continue.”

“Um . . . okay.” Daring rubs the back of her neck uncomfortably. “I don't know how else to ask this, so I'll just ask it.” She lowers her hoof back down and peers at the chieftain sharply. “Did you receive guidance by a Quetzalcoatl named Mezsizethelar?”

It was just as telling to Daring to notice her own party's confusion at that statement as the recognition among the tribesmen. All except one, though, gasped in surprise when Daring uttered that name. There is immediate gossip among them how Daring might have encountered that name.

“As you can see, yes,” Ma'Heira answers Daring. “We are quite familiar with that name. It is one we highly respect, for he is The Great Sage. A Divine Serpent who Teaches Knowledge to those who seek it with Eyes Unclouded.”

“That is what I seek!” Daring presses harder. “That is why I am here. My eyes may be clouded, but that is exactly what I wish to change. I seek Knowledge because it is sacred to me.” Daring spreads her fore hooves. “How may I prove myself worthy of your guidance to him?”

“That is among our most sacred knowledge,” the old stallion informs. “We do not share that one lightly, especially to non-tribe members. For those who are, we see it as a sacred Rite of Passage.”

“Some come to Him seeking Knowledge about the Marks of Destiny,” the old green unicorn speaks up for the first time. “Or come to Him seeking more Knowledge about the Marks already unlocked.”

“What is Written in the Stars gets Written on the Flesh,” the old stallion announces. “As Above, so Below. We are the Sacred Pioneers of Destiny.”

“As for worthiness, in the end, only you can really determine that,” Ma'Heira says then nods at Daring in respect. “You've taken many steps in that journey already, Young One. With Map in one wing and a compass in the other, you venture Daringly to lands uncharted. You live the fruits of your labor, and for that . . . you have earned our respect.”

The old white stallion gives a certain “look” to his chieftain for a moment before nodding to her then looking at Daring and says, “Destiny Marks your flank well too, Young One. For any of you who decide for yourselves that you are worthy, you may join our Tribe in a Celebration of Union. You already passed our tests in Our eyes.” He nods to the visitors. “The rest is up to you.”

“If we do that, then we may also partake of this Tribes Sacred Knowledge?” Daring checks.

“Indeed,” Ma'Heira confirms.

“Then I accept,” Daring declares boldly with no further hesitation.

Part 12: Cloudbag Talk

Feather Wind and Stern Wing rest peacefully up in the sky within an adjacent pair of makeshift cloud-sleeping bags that he forged. From there, they both gaze up at the sparkling night sky in what is, so far, a vain attempt to fall asleep.

“Um . . . Stern Wing?” Feather broaches trepidatiously.

“Yeah?” she answers slowly.

“Are you asleep yet?” Feather asks her timidly.

There is a noticeable pause before she answers sarcastically, “Why yes, Feather. Yes I am. I am talking to you right now in my sleep. How are you?”

Feather snorts in amusement but immediately tries to hide it. He covers his mouth with a hoof and giggles quietly. His strict father taught him restraint and reserved behavior ages ago. Snorting would definitely win him a stern frown of disapproval back when he was a foal.

“You don't have to hide anything from me,” Stern assures. “I won't judge you like your father did.”

“In a way, that's part of my point,” Feather expresses after he calms back down, lowers his hoof from his mouth, then pulls up the edge of his cloud-sleeping bag closer to the edge of his neck with both of his hooves. He gazes up at the stars as his yellow eyes sparkle with wonder. “I think I'm still not accustomed to having so much freedom. So much of my old habits still linger.”

“I left you alone in nature for eight moons straight, Feather,” Stern barks back a little forcefully. “That wasn't enough for you? You got away from anypony's judgment. More so than even I was comfortable with back then.”

“I know, and . . . that helped but . . .” He sighs. “Old habits die hard, especially the ones firmly pressed on me. Part of me still expects I'll wake up in my father's mansion tomorrow morning, especially compared to how incredibly ridiculous reality has been lately. I mean, look where we are, Stern,” he invites with a grand wave of a sky-blue hoof above him. “Floating up here in the sky above a remote village in the ancient past of our world. Traveling through time and the stars and-and . . .” He trails off with a sigh while pulling his cloud-bag up again. “I just . . . I don't know how to process all of this lately. Even if our circumstances are good, like they have been lately, I still find it difficult to accept sometimes.” After a short pause he asks, “You know how it is . . . don't you?”

“It has been pretty remarkable lately,” Stern Wing admits. “According to my habits, I like to stay grounded. Resolute. Certain of who I am and my surroundings . . . but lately I will admit that has been quite the challenge.”

“Thank you for joining me up here, Stern,” Feather tells her gratefully. “I know I can hoofle myself alone as I have done in nature in what now feels like a dozen moons ago. Still . . . I'm grateful to you for keeping me compony tonight.”

“Don't mention it,” Stern says with casual dismissal as she turns to her side, closes her eyes, and snuggles in her bag. “I know you're still not accustomed to hanging around thick crowds. You used to grow up in a mansion surrounded by iron gates and armed guards after all.” She chuckles a bit before teasing, “Sometimes I wonder if you'll ever taste anything else other than that silver spoon in your mouth.”

“I might have to eventually while traveling out here,” Feather argues seriously. “Tonight we have a reprieve but someday we might not have a choice, or at least I won't.”

“No. We won't. You were right the first time,” Stern argues back. “I go wherever you go. I'm not letting you far out of my sight again if I can help it.”

“Thanks, Stern. I mean it,” Feather tells her warmly. “I know you want to protect me because you care so much.”

Feeling a little uncomfortable for some reason she can't identify, Stern Wing decides to change the subject by asking, “Do you really think Commander Viraxis is a Time Lord too?”

“I don't know that for certain but I'd say the evidence is mounting,” Feather replies. “Think back, Stern. You saw the way those other ponies among Those Above acted. The Commander stuck out like a sore hoof up there. It's amazing how much he was different compared to them.”

“Is that your only evidence?” Stern asks cautiously.

Feather pauses for a moment before asking her in return, “Why are you so reluctant to believe he is?”

“Well . . . for one thing, I don't want to run the risk of accusing a pony of something he might be innocent of,” Stern answers as she returns to lying on her back and gazes up at the stars again. “And secondly, I just respect the guy. I do believe there is something noble about putting an emphasis on self-defense. About trying to be prepared for danger.”

“Even if that preparation involves creating monsters to fabricate an excuse to recruit ponies into his forces?” Feather checks.

Stern sighs irritably before replying, “No, Feather. That is where I draw the line. Training others to be prepared for danger is one thing, but actually creating that danger is something else. I hate bullies, Feather. You know that. I can't excuse him if he really is putting pony lives in danger just to make a point or to, more or less, scare others to join his army under false pretenses.

“I just . . . I . . .” She sighs. “I guess I'm hoping he is innocent because I think he's onto something that's important. The other ponies up there were so lackadaisy about their personal defense. It just bothers me that they don't care about something I regard as that important. To me, that's a recipe for disaster eventually. We can't rely upon technology to solve our problems all the time, but if we could, that bothers me too because there goes a major motivation for growth.”

They are silent for a moment in deep thought until Stern breaks it again.

“Let me ask you something, Feather. In your personal opinion, which of these two societies would you prefer to live in if you had to pick one?”

“Wow.” Feather crosses his forelegs behind his neck as he continues to gaze up at the stars. “That is a toughy, Stern, because both have their value.”

“How so?” Stern asks in confusion which heavily implies disagreement.

“I know there are reasons why you might be uncomfortable and feel out of place among Those Above, Stern, but I see a bigger picture than that.”

Feather Wind takes a deep breath as he gathers his thoughts before saying, “There's nothing wrong with a life of peace and happiness, Stern, but they take it several steps further. They look up at the stars, like we are doing tonight, and think to themselves, 'I wonder what's up there?' And then they resolve themselves to find out. They invent a great telescope or, heck, probably even a spaceship in order to fly on up there and find out for themselves. They're driven by curiosity and scientific pursuits. They have very advanced mathematics, sacred geometry, arcane sigils and the whole nine yards. All of it to help them answer some of the most important questions in our lives such as, 'Who am I and what's my place in this universe? What even is the universe? How does it work exactly?'

“The thing I find most admirable about them, Stern, is that merely asking those questions isn't enough for them. Instead, they are proactive in their effort to uncover those answers. When they do, they keep records of their discoveries so they can pass on that knowledge to the next generation. As such, any discovery they make doesn't just benefit the individual pony but the race as a whole ever onward. It's permanent progress for the entire species. They just keep moving forward. Keep reaching ever higher and forthright about their beliefs that they can do it.”

Feather Wind shakes his head before he goes on to say, “Many scholars I know sometimes put subconscious limits on themselves or even conscious ones. Just a dismissive wave of a hoof and say things like, 'It can't be done' or 'That's impossible!' or 'Even if it could be done, we are not worthy to learn it.' Those Above push all of that nonsense aside and simply commit to their goals without restraint. Without restricting beliefs to bog them down, and yet they have a good moral compass on them too for the most part. I don't see any active attempt to do anything heinous among any of those that I saw. Even Commander Viraxis did not seem totally morally dark.”

Stern silently smirks slightly with a, “That's true,” kind of casual look.

“They are explorers, Stern,” Feather goes on in continued reference about Those Above. “And I deeply admire that they can do it in a relaxed way. They take their time and ease themselves in their journey, but they are never content to totally sit idle. 'What is out there?' is an obsessive question to them on some level, and it's a delight for me to see them have so many options to pursue that dream.”

“And the Earthbound?” Stern asks to shift the subject in line with the faction she personally identifies and is more interested with.

Once again Feather is momentarily quiet as his mind shifts gears and gathers information in a new direction before saying, “The Earthbound is very . . . authentic. Very true to themselves and that is why they are the first society we've ever encountered, ever since setting hoof on the TARDIS, to have cutie mark awakenings. They might have even got many steps beyond that.

“I respect and identify with the fact that they are willing to live so close to nature. There is wisdom and strength they gather in that. They are rooted and strong. They stand tall both inwardly and outwardly. They face adversity with quiet dignity. They gaze ever outward into things like the rising and setting of the sun, the waves of the ocean, the crackle of firelight in the night, or the twinkle of stars in the sky and believe, wholeheartedly, that they are gazing at something sacred. Deep in their eyes, I see the most mature souls I've ever encountered. Somehow seeming ancient and wise enough to make me feel like a foal again when I gaze upon them. What they lack in technology they make up for in spirit and there really is something to that. They see depth in reality around them unlike anything else I've encountered before. I can't help but deeply admire that.

“That's the way my soul has ever been pulled, Stern Wing. That's the way I want to live my life. Authentically and deeply. Strong with unshakable moral integrity. To take simple truths and turn it into something amazing. To relish in the simple joys of things like playing and laughing together. Sharpening their spears for a hunt then gaze out into the horizon with a focused and steady gaze. They'll hold those spears close to them as they inwardly feel inside them, 'Today, this is who I am. Another Mark shall be drawn on my Flesh. Let the Hunt begin.'

“So, to finally answer your initial question, Stern, I think my honest answer would be both societies. If I were to live in this world and time permanently then I'd want the freedom to drift back and forth between them as I choose. I'd want to live life on my own terms. To gather the best strengths of both societies and use them to enhance the other, or at least the quality of my personal life. The Middle Path is always where I felt at my strongest. A place where I have equal reach to all possibilities. Even if I have to trot that path alone, it is the only answer I can give where I can still be me.”

Stern Wing's eyes glaze with tears as she listens to her friend. That also makes her eyes sparkle as she continues to gaze up into the night sky. When he's done with this speech, she feels compelled to crawl up out of her cloud-sleeping bag enough to kiss his forehead on the side of his horn then cuddle her head beside his.

“I love you, Feather,” Stern says in a deeply admiring tone. “I deeply admire the depth in which you see reality. For that same reason, I think you're a lot closer to that which you admire too.”

Part 14: Inner Dialogue

Medical Log: Psi C-6186

Goodness me! I haven’t made a log entry in this fashion since I was a foal, and that was centuries ago! Oh sure, I made plenty of log entries in the past but seldom through direct magical imprints straight to a crystal. Usually I go through another medium like my computer.

I say this now for the record because that won’t be clear later on. Data is still stored in this medium one way or another. When I call up this file with my computer, it won’t look any different then so I figured I’d give this mention now for the record.

Normally I don’t like to do this. It makes the filing system a little disorganized, at first, but it’s still nice to know that I still could use this method if I have to. Nothing is stopping me from doing this, but part of me feels like a cavewoman for my efforts here.

But that is an apt description, isn’t it? Using primitive methods seems to be a theme of my life lately, and not just my life. I respect Daring’s reasoning and instincts for her arguments, and so far we probably have gotten further with these ponies who simply call themselves; The Tribe. Part of me feels like scoffing at that naming convention. What? Was “The Ponies” already taken? Sheesh.

But I would like to state, for the record, I am having a blast out here. For centuries I have been an enthusiast in studying history. I didn’t just read about such texts. I sort of lived it in holographic simulations which are usually dubbed “Simulated Imaginings”. Basically it shows what ponies think olden times must have been like based on the records and evidence we found.

Personally, I find such musings to be amusing in the same way I might like a fictional story, but when it comes to true history then all I want is the facts. All I want to know is what actually happened in the past. I want authenticity and beyond. I want to know more than just the technical facts like the measurement of various structures. I also want to know what it was like to actually be there in that moment sociologically and psychologically. I want the full story. I want the complete package.

Yet time travel, up until my recent history, seemed like a pipe dream. Just a casual musing of, “Huh. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Sigh. “Oh well.”

But no. The Doctor made this actually possible, and he is a legendary figure in history too. My people were very much interested in him as well since he helped to rescue us from our former oppressors. Ever since then, we kept a sharp, vigilant eye out for any noteworthy facts and stories about him. Whole archives is dedicated to that one Time Lord alone. We even sent out expedition teams to go out there and gather more evidence about him. It’s funny to think that his mere shadow has helped to spawn some of the most adventurous careers my society has to offer.

In all that time, though, I didn’t think any of that would happen to me. He did sound fun and interesting and I did envy him for his ability to more directly visit and explore the past, but it always felt like he was way over there, and I’m here. Our paths are not likely to align. Why would they? Why would he be interested in me of all ponies?

But then I did start to notice patterns and evidence that I might come across him. Despite that, I denied that for the longest time, but now? Wow! Here I am! I am actually witnessing this! An ancient and forgotten ceremony of a primitive tribe from pre-history. If only I was allowed to record this, I could have used that data to update and correct some of the records of the Maji.

Now that I am witnessing this, I find myself envying yet another aspect of the Doctor. The entire reason my race has a limited lifespan, despite our ability to regress our physical age (and sometimes make other optional adjustments while we’re at it), our physical brain’s total capacity to store knowledge is still limited. By regressing our physical age but leaving our brains untouched, there is more of a point to the process. We can expand our life spans without giving up our valuable knowledge, but eventually we run into another problem. We can’t possibly store any further information without giving something up.

Centennial Psychosis is no joke. I have seen what happens to patients who go through it. That’s my purview as a trained psychologist. As such, I know very well the side effects from both a physical and psychological standpoint. Everything breaks down which also means there’s no further reason to qualify for another age regression. That’s the true end of the line.

I’ve been well aware that the patients who studied a lot and gathered a great deal of data are also the ones who tend to go through the Psychosis first. The brains only have so much plasticity. They can only be stretched so far. Every step I’ve taken in my journey has hastened that process. I remained aware of that through the vast majority of my life, but for me, quantity of life isn’t the only measurement of value. Quality is too, and I would even argue that is more important. What is likely to cause fewer regrets at the end of one’s life? A short one that is well lived, or a long one that feels wasted?

For me personally, the answer is obvious.

In most of my time, I have merely studied history from afar because that seemed all I could do. Most of my kind do not even go that far. That is why part of me felt irked that my fellow Maji hardly ever was interested in my personal opinion about history. Instead of that, they tend to rather trust a simulated holographic teacher that is controlled by an A-I. It’s as if the mere fact that we mortals are capable of flaws means we should automatically not trust ourselves, but it’s not as if A-I is perfect either. To be perfect, they’d have to be designed by perfect beings and where are we going to find that? Even when programs create other programs, they started their existence designed by imperfect beings. Any structure can only be as good and as flawed as its base foundation.

But now that I am here and personally witnessing this, I find the concept of the ever approaching Centennial Psychosis bothering me because it means I won’t have as much time to enjoy this. Now that my life has finally skyrocketed to astronomical value, it also stings to realize that this is all hastening my end.

I wish I could be more like the Time Lords, or Time Ladies as the case may be. They are of an entirely alien nature and their limitations are very different accordingly. They can store so much more information in their brain before meeting their final end. In fact, they seem to have no trouble storing potentially unlimited data in their brains. Instead of that, it is their regeneration cycles that limit them. However long or short each life is, that, in turn, accumulates to their total sum lifespan. If they really want to see the end of eternity, or get as close as possible to it as they can, then they have to make each of their limited number of extra lives last as long as possible.

Just like me, I think quality is just as important, if not more so, then quantity to the Doctor as well. For this reason I have an easy time considering him a kindred spirit. As his psychologist, I try to keep some professional detachment from him but I’m only a Maji. Feelings are a part of our existence and I can’t help but find him fascinating even before I met him.

In one of our previous counseling sessions, he once told me that he wasn’t what was considered a typical example of a Time Lord. In fact he was often regarded as a rebel. He defied the status quo by being bold and adventurous. He dared to go out there and fraternize with the ordinary mortals. He didn’t lord himself over them. He joined them instead.

That, in turn, made many of his kind squint in disgust, especially the upper echelon of his society. He once said that they said something like, “You are a highborn noble Time Lord. How dare you don’t act like it. Why are you trouncing out there in time and space among ordinary mortals? You’re making the rest of us look bad.”

It’s hard to say how I would have felt if I was born and raised in his society. Statistically speaking I likely would have sided with the majority. When one grows up constantly taught the values of a certain society it is hard to say if one would have conformed or be an outlier.

Speaking for my life personally, though, I think I am the latter. I was more willing to explore what is out there than most of my fellow Maji. The vast majority were too busy playing video games and other similar activities. Entertainment and leisure is the name of their game which is fine for them. I don’t judge them for it, but for me? I want something that feels more meaningful to me and that means doing something outside of a simulated environment. To do something real that has a true impact.

As it stands, if I was, or later become, a Time Lady somehow, I think I would have been, or would be, a rebel just like the Doctor. The reason I say that is because I want a more meaningful impact in life and that means digging into the trenches and getting into the nitty-gritty. To be willing to risk it all and suffer along with every other being in exchange for intense and impactful existence. I love the idea of not only being an explorer throughout time and space but helping others along the way. That, in turn, affirms I made a significant impact along the way as I go. Not just for myself, but for others too. To not just be a reader or witness of history but to be a participant in it too. To know that I mattered just as much as any other pony I come across in history.

The Time Lord race has more time to do that. That, in turn, means they could explore further if they wanted to. There can be a greater total sum to their experiences before they finally pass away for good. With the glimpse I’ve already gained, I already wish I had more time to explore a greater percentage of what’s out there. I’d be excited for that! I feel like a little foal again except now I’m lamenting that I’m actually near the end of my line.

What a taunt. My story was finally getting pretty good.

Anyway, the ceremony of The Tribe is remarkable to behold, but I’m not getting as close of a look at it as the other members of my team. Now that they have announced their intentions to join the ceremony, they have since been taken away to be fashioned with some kind of temporary and ceremonial tattoos. I’d be interested to know what their thought process is with that juncture, but it seems largely symbolic and unique to me. Based on what I’ve seen so far, which is later verified when I finally did see the rest of my team, each of them is given a unique tattoo which I can only compare to a cutie mark. It’s not as colorful but the same base principle seems to be there. There’s no “one size fits all” concept here. Instead, The Tribe seems to put greater emphasis on getting to know each pony individually, then giving a mark based on that information.

That’s so fascinating to witness!

I’m the only one of my team that chose to abstain from this ceremony and that largely has to do with the drug aspect of it. There’s also the fact that I know we’re about to leave soon. Only Daring has an actual further objective with these ponies. The rest seem to be just going along with the flow and having fun. It’s about being polite, strengthening bonds, and for Feather, he claims there is an inner exploration aspect to this as well.

I already know him well enough to know he’s telling the truth. There is a duality to him that I find fascinating. I’d love it if he became my personal guinea pig so I can study him more closely and get a better idea how his mind works.

To their credit, the rest of The Tribe seems largely polite to me regarding my decision but they also seem a tad stand offish as well. At the same time I note surprise in some of them that Margret chose to participate. She is among Those Above and the Tribe is accustomed to them being arrogant and ignorant, at least according to the opinion of the Tribe. They see Those Above as those who put more faith in their technology rather than the technology of their own bodies.

To The Tribe, inner exploration is just as important as outer exploration so they regard Margret’s decision as surprising in a good way. They seem to applaud her for being willing to step beyond the bounds of what is normal for her society which, to these ponies, means being bold and brave enough to break free from the restricting chains of the society of Those Above.

That seems to be a pattern to those that gather around the Doctor and those that he travels with. Even his companions seem to keep on attracting the outliers and rebels of society. Any society. Whoever they are and wherever they came from, a willingness to be different from the norm seems to be what is normal for this group. I, for one, feel honored to be part of that.

When the actual ceremony took place, which was at night, there was a roar of a giant campfire. I get the impression that this one was much bigger than was normal for the Tribe. Around that fire was a lot of dancing and chanting which seemed oddly synchronized with each other. This was especially impressive considering they were all impaired by the drug in their system. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, they were in sync with each other even without practice.

I read about such a phenomenon in ancient pony societies too. How whole towns full of ponies can just suddenly drop whatever they are doing and spontaneously sing and dance in sync with each other and without any prior practice for that event. A lot of scholars in my time call it “Herd mentality” which they think is a holdover of more ancient times like this one.

Out of all of them, which include the Tribe, I think two in particular stand out among this crowd. Derpy for her singing, which seems to reverberate to an almost ethereal quality during the ceremony, and Feather Wind who made nature itself dance along with them. I once looked up and was in awe of seeing a spiral in the clouds above which, at first, I thought was the beginnings of a whirling tornado. That I was looking straight up at it and saw what such a thing would look like from the center. A flashing storm cloud whirled in the outer border of this quasi-tornado too.

I still can’t believe how powerful that little blue stallion truly is. One wouldn’t tend to think so either when one first looks upon him. Between the way he looks and the way he acts, one typically wouldn’t get the impression that he really can cause the sky to crash down but I have enough training to see beyond the obvious and into the subtle. There is a depth to him that I don’t think even he fully realizes yet but he is trying to. He is exploring it even while part of him seems afraid of it. Judging based on what I have seen he can do to that sky, I don’t blame him for being a little nervous of his inner potential even while he’s simultaneously curious about it. If he’ll let me, I’ll help him to work on that. That might even be urgent.

I heard the term, “Sky Shaman” floating around the camp at times in reference to Feather Wind and The Tribe spoke of it with such reverence in their voice.

Then again, they seem to treat pretty much everything as sacred. If everything is held up to such lofty standards, then I have to wonder how they learn to differentiate between it. Saying that everything fits one category of description is equivalent to just saying, “It’s there.” I wonder what their basis of comparison is.

I need to study this further! I feel giddy with the chance for me to add this contribution to science!

It catches Daring off guard to be surrounded by dancing and singing ponies and they are gone in the next moment. She felt so lost in her own trance that she can’t even exactly be sure when it happened. All she knows is, when she finally came down from some kind of high, everypony is gone.

The village is still there. That includes the giant campfire, the drums they played, the decorated ceremonial spears that they spun with over their heads and occasionally jabbed it into the fire. Every physical object was there, but nothing living remained anymore.

Daring takes a deep breath and releases it before she takes in her surroundings further and notices other details that are off. The sky, for instance, can’t seem to make up its mind about whether it is day or night. There is night blue above which is mixed with hues of dawn pink in some areas of the sky. Between them is a hazy line like a desert mirage.

Taking things in further, she notices that everything around her local environment is hazy like a mirage. There seems to be some fluidity to the air too as if she’s under water, yet she isn’t drowning and she doesn’t feel the pressure of being under water. Waving her hooves about as a test, she finds she can wave them as fast as she normally would in typical air were it not for some kind of wiggling sensation around her that makes her a bit dizzy.

It is only then that it occurs to her that she still might be in a trance. This might even be an out of body experience. She’s had enough of those in a few adventures in her past to realize this experience is similar enough to those that it may serve as a plausible explanation. The point of this ceremony seems to encourage this anyway.

But . . . she already has her cutie mark, so . . . why is she really here?

Eventually she notices that the environment is brighter in a certain direction behind these tents. This draws her attention and makes her curious. Before venturing in that direction, she gives one final scan about her local area to check if anything else here seems to try to grab her attention. Not noting anything else especially noteworthy, she looks back at the direction of the tent, crouches down while spreading her wings upward in a V pattern above her back, then leaps up while flapping her wings down. This causes her to shoot upwards then flap her way above the rims of the tents.

Beyond that, she quickly spots a shift in the environment which she is certain wasn’t there before. This area of the village used to be pretty dry with a few sparse trees, but now the area behind the tents quickly shifts into a grassy area that is so sudden, it’s as if the tents had drawn an imaginary line across the plain.

Further ahead, there is a medium size pond and a waterfall feeding into it. A slight haze of a rainbow is in the mist around that waterfall. This area is as bright as daylight. That waterfall sails up a small rocky cliff about twenty feet high.

Cautiously, Daring Do lands at the edge of the pond then creeps up to view her reflection down in the water. She often heard it is dangerous, or at least unusual, to stare at one’s own reflection in a dream-like or spiritual-based environment because such realms don’t work like normal physical reality. What they show tends to reflect what is more inward rather than outward and that can be startling to the uninitiated.

Since Daring Do was aware of that, though, it is probably why she is more prepared to see the reflected image of her own filly self rather than the adult mare she knows she became. She marvels at the reflection for a moment before looking back at her own hoof and confirming the fact that her body is still that of an adult mare, but the image in the rippling water insists she’s still a filly. Her filly self is even wearing the same temporary tribal tattoos except it’s smaller to match the smaller proportion size.

As a test, Daring Do slaps her hoof into the water and causes her reflected image to ripple much further, temporarily beyond the point of recognition. She continued to watch as the waters calm back down. Eventually she notices the image has changed to reflect her adult self, yet she sees a tiny spark of youth twinkle in her eyes. It reminds her how she used to be. Curious what is out there to explore in the world and eager to find out.

The sound of flapping somewhere ahead of her draws her attention in that direction. There she gasps when she sees a noble phoenix descend down from the sky and perch on the tip of a crystal that juts out of the water near the center of the pond but also further back towards the waterfall. A pulsing white crystal she would have regarded as somewhat unusual in her native lands of Equestria, but here they seem par for the course.

Daring Do has encountered a flock of phoenixes twice before. Once in their native habitat, then later in the market after they were captured. They, in turn, didn’t see her at first because she spied them from a distance using her binoculars. It took her breath away then too.

The second time she encountered them, however, she rescued them from captivity. They definitely noticed her then. The father of the flock bestowed to her a single red feather in gratitude for saving his family. It had since become one of her most sacred treasures until it was later stolen by a supposedly jealous rival. Rival author, that is, not adventurer. That used to be one of her favorite quills to pen down some of her adventures up to that point.

Funny enough, though, the sales of that other author’s work tanked after that. Maybe he thought that her success had something to do with writing with a quill that came from a noble, majestic, and magical phoenix. Even if he’s right, the thing about magic is that sometimes it is just as selective of its user as the user is to the magic. Common superstition would have warned him of that but, in this case, he didn’t listen. Greed often makes one short-sighted.

Because Daring Do had encountered a flock of phoenixes in the past, though, it is also why she soon realizes that this bird is far more unusual than they normally are.

Encountering even one of these awe-inspiring creatures is a powerful omen. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. It depends on the context, but it often means something is going to die or be lost soon and something else will take its place. They are also a common omen for fertility.

But due to her previous experience with this species, as rare as that had been, it is still enough to tell her that this particular bird is far more unusual than he appears to be, and he already appeared unusual even at a casual glance. A deeper inspection revealed, however, that this bird is far higher in evolution than a typical phoenix is. He has the same size, shape, and color as an average phoenix, but something in his eyes and gravitas around him suggests he’s way, way more ancient and wise than these birds normally are, and they normally are way above an average bird already.

After the shock of this revelation sinks in, it eventually dawns on Daring that this powerful aura around this creature is also familiar. She had encountered it once before. It takes her a moment to think back to when she came across this.

When she realizes the answer, her eyes widened as she gasps, taken severely aback, when it occurs to her that this noble and powerful bird is none other than the very one she sought, The Great Sage Mezsizethelar, who is currently disguised as a phoenix for some reason.

“YOU!” Daring cries out in astonishment.

In response, the bird merely nods as the depths of wisdom of the ages sparkle in his prismatic, reflective eyes.

“You came to me? But I was going to seek you out!” Daring exclaims.

Almost comically, the noble bird just shrugs but otherwise says or does nothing else. A typical phoenix isn’t known for talking either, but this is Auzmeir. She knows that he’s highly telepathic. That is likely how she’s really encountering him right now.

In only half surprise, Daring asks him, “You know who I am?”

The bird nods again with a blink then fixes a compassionate stare right back at her.

“Right, because your perspective transcends linear time, doesn’t it?”

He just keeps staring at her.

“I remember you said that to me before. Past, present, future . . . none of it matters from your perspective. It’s all the same to you.”

He just keeps staring at her.

She almost asks him why he isn’t saying anything to her this time, or the equivalent of “saying” can possibly be in telepathy. He was decently chatty before, but this time he seems content to merely be in her presence.

Before she asks, though, she is startled to realize she forgot why she sought him out. She takes a moment to ponder over this carefully. What her memories eventually report to her is that, initially, she didn’t seek him out. Instead of that, she merely got excited when she learned he was also around this time period but likely not frozen in stone this time. This means she has this one chance to meet him in the flesh without a stone prison in the way. At that moment all other priorities in her life suddenly dropped. This was an opportunity she never thought she’d have again, especially not to this degree.

Now that she thinks on it, though, it occurs to her that all questions she thought she had eludes her. There are plenty of questions she had over the years. Many moments she had wished he was there so she could ask him a question back then, but time and time again she pulled through on her own. She swore off the company of others and vowed to pick up her skills on her own. Independence can be very self-empowering, but it gets lonely eventually.

Maybe that is it. Maybe it really is that simple. As she looks back at him, it dawns on her that maybe she simply missed his company. Maybe she wanted a reminder that he would be there for her in some shape or form.

As she thinks on this further, she realizes that she’s changed a lot since her last encounter with him. Back then he presented himself as a sagely hippogriff in her mind. Now he looks like a noble phoenix. Only now did it occur to her to ask herself why.

The Great Sage Mezsizethelar is a Quetzalcoatl. That is a highly powerful, magical, and telepathic being. He doesn’t need to say hi to others in the flesh. Sometimes that might be a wise idea too because he could overwhelm them, and not everyone has the best of intentions either. He has the advantage of seeing the inner self of others before he approaches them, and because of that, he can customize the form he presents to possibly reflect the one he is encountering. Right now he came at her in the form of a phoenix. Why? That was a choice on his part. He could have chosen any other form, probably even if she encountered him in the flesh. A Quetzalcoatl is said to be a powerful shapeshifter as well as one who can bend reality itself.

But he came at her as a phoenix this time. There must be an important message in there. A message for her alone. Nobody else is here so that further signifies that this encounter is custom designed for her alone.

So why a phoenix?

Daring dwelled on that point very carefully. She even closed her eyes and checked her inner compass just as he taught her to do in her last encounter with him. That compass, in turn, pointed to the symbolic meaning of a phoenix and further said, “That’s what he sees in you. That you are like that majestic bird. He’s merely reflecting who you are.”

The moment that thought occurs to her, everything else suddenly clicks into place. Her reason took over to explain and elaborate on the simple truths her instinct first pointed out. The last time she encountered this being, she was very young and on her very first adventure. An adventure that turned out to be a key hallmark of her destiny.

Since then, however, she has grown and changed a lot. She went through a lot of inner deaths and rebirths. It wasn’t just from that one adventure. Many others since then shaped her into the mare she had become. She wanted to become strong and confident. That happened, but over time she slowly lost sight of that because there was always higher progress to reach for. More she could become. More to strive for.

Only now, at this moment, she looks back upon her history and realizes how far she had come. She kept her gaze forward so often that she sometimes lost track of how far she had already come.

It probably took only an instant for the Doctor to quickly size her up and realize that she had the potential to be an awesome leader after everything she had been through, but that potential was largely untapped at the time. He saw that she was ready to grow in a way she did not consciously realize yet. That’s probably when he made his decision.

The Doctor was her guide too! Now it almost feels as if these two had been working together all along. Both of their goals and methods seem so closely aligned.

Long ago, before she even knew what she was capable of and who she fully was, the Doctor kept coaxing her and guiding her on her journey. He kept on giving words of encouragement and offering a hoof if she fell. Once that was done, he’d basically say something along the lines of, “You got this. You can do it.”

Daring Do closes her eyes as tears start to flood them. She is moved so much to realize that she had that kind of caring support a long time ago. Her grandfather counted long before that as well. Each stallion, or otherwise, kept smiling at her, giving words of encouragement, then pointing the way onward.

It is all too easy to take for granted all the reasons a stallion and/or mare eventually becomes so strong. She saved plenty of lives before herself by now. Indeed, whole societies at times. She was their words of encouragement. Their mentor. Their guide. Their reason for their own growth and self empowerment.

That’s one of the core reasons why she became an author. She likes to write, she likes to share her lessons, and she likes to inspire. She likes to pay her bills too, but that almost feels trivial compared to everything else.

That fortune occasionally came in handy during her adventures, and even her name as “A.K. Yearling” occasionally opened important doors for her. Her inner compass had always said, “There is always a way through this challenge. If you consult with me then I’ll show you the way.”

Teary-eyed, Daring Do cracks her eyes open a bit. Her vision of Auzmeir is blurry but he’s still there. It is then that it occurs to her that phoenix’s can’t talk so that’s also meant to symbolize that he never intended to do so during this encounter. She has grown a lot since her last encounter with him. Grown enough that words of wisdom and encouragement are no longer necessary. Instead of that, he settles for teaching her through actions instead. By his very presence he signifies, “I am here for you, and I’m very proud of the progress you made. So much so that it doesn’t even need to be said.”

A phoenix always rises from the ashes. When they do, they bring glorious light to all who behold them. To the hearts of the wicked, that light is scary and blinding. To the downtrodden, that same light offers comfort and hope. They look up to her and think something along the lines of, “Wow! She really is a hero. I guess they really do exist.”

Yeah. That is the way she kept living her life. No matter what kicks her down, she always finds a way to get back up more determined and pissed than ever. She gets up with a cunning glint in her eyes and a daring grin on her lips. Those who cross her had best beware, for Daring Do is Unstoppable. It is true because that is what she decided to be.

“Thank you,” Daring expresses to her old friend very gratefully. “I believe I finally understand now.”

Silently, the wise and noble bird nods once again before crouching down then leaps off into the air. A trail of fire follows after him during his one flap downward that soars him fifty feet into the air. From there he suspends himself without the need to flap. Instead of that, he spreads his wings and glorious light shines out from him that she had also seen once before, except this time it does not hurt her eyes to see. Instead, this time, she sees and feels something far more. Something wonderful. Something glorious beyond all mortal measure.

That light shines so brightly that at first she does not realize that he had shifted his form until it slowly fades and she finally sees the silhouette of his long, serpentine form. Surrounding that is a corona of rainbow light. Like a ghost, he fades into that light. That image and feelings that it evokes will settle into Daring’s soul forever.

Part 15: The Creature

As Daring's vision clears, she is surprised to discover that the “real world” leans closer to morning now. The sun has not risen yet, but the sky is bright gray. Not only that, but it turns out she really is outside of the main village and next to a pond with a waterfall pouring into it. That would mean that she wandered into this area during the ceremony. In essence, she sleep walked (or flew) into this area while she had a skewed perspective of reality. That seems really dangerous to her.

Amazingly, by the sounds of it, the music of the ceremony is still pressing on. It's only a guess, for her, that the activity level has dropped now compared to last night.

As a test, Daring Do lifts both of her wings in preparation to fly back into the village's center, but as she mostly expected, the muscles of her wings are sore, especially at the base. For that matter, many parts of her body are sore too, but honestly less than she expected.

After considering it further, she recalled that, in this time and place, everyone heals faster. What is left of the drug in her system might be masking some of the pain as well, or potentially even accelerating her healing faster still.

This isn't too much of a bother to her. She's accustomed to dealing with exhaustion, strain, frustration and pain in many of her past adventures. The good ones have a tendency to push her limits.

While that may be true for her, though, the rest of her party may not have as much endurance or tenacity. If they are achy too, it might be a greater hindrance for them today. She hopes that won't be a severe detriment this morning, but unfortunately, she doesn't see any nearby wood to knock on. Her past adventures occasionally have an uncanny knack for springing nasty surprises at the worst possible time. That's just how life goes sometimes, but at least it makes for a good story to write about later if she survives and there isn't a secret involved that is too sensitive.

Just before she springs off into the air, though, a glint of something reflective catches her eye. Curious, she looks down and notices a pair of red feathers on the ground that are about six inches long each. The edges of each of these feathers almost appear metallic considering its prismatic gleam.

Appropriately enough, she scoops them both up with her right wing then draws it near her muzzle for a closer look at it. In doing so, she soon identifies these two feathers as feathers from a phoenix. After all, she had something like this before but it wasn't as shiny back then.

Twisting the feathers back and forth a little, she notices that the prismatic colors at the edges of both of these items shift depending on their angle to the light.

While staring at them, Daring Do unknowingly falls into a bit of a trance while a message feels downloaded into her soul. She gains a “knowing” that both of these feathers are a gift for her and one other pony. They are enchanted too. If used as a quill, they will never run out of ink, nor blot on the page, and the ink will dry in seconds. Not only that, but the user can choose the color of the ink even while in mid-stroke of the quills. Finally, if these quills are ever lost or stolen from their chosen users, then fate will orchestrate their eventual return somehow.

Daring can almost feel the gratitude of the father of the phoenix who originally presented her a gift like this as well as some frustration that it was eventually stolen by an unworthy rival author. Because of that, these ones are enchanted to stubbornly return to their chosen users in time as long as both the items and users continue to long for each other. As for the colorful ink, buried within the enchantment of these quills is the hope that the users of these quills will receive awesome inspiration as brilliant as the most radiant rainbows. May such important potential ever be a bottomless well.

Daring Do cracks a smile as she gazes at the pair of feathers with so much gratitude welling in her that her eyes become misty. She closes her eyes, bows her head, hugs the gifts to her chest using both wings this time then thinks of a silent prayer to return her affection and gratitude for these gifts. After that, she opens her eyes, lifts her head, and tucks the gifts further into her wings where they end up getting a bit concealed.

There is no question, in her mind, to whom the second quill belongs to. “Feather” is literally in his name and he used to be known as Quill Scroll.

With that, Daring flies back to the center of camp.

Daring is surprised and alarmed to notice how most of the village is suddenly packing up and retreating from the center of camp around the time Daring arrives. For a brief moment she suspects that she is the cause for some reason.

However, the moment she lands, several empathic senses assail her. Chief among them is the feeling of approaching and imminent danger. From what or where she does not know, but it is soon and it feels severe enough to warrant strong caution. She also gets the feeling that the others here sense it too, particularly any pony who took the drug last night and participated in the ceremony. Apparently a lingering side effect of it is heightened psychic senses, at least temporarily.

Looking more carefully, Daring soon notices that there is a pattern to those who are fleeing and those who are staying. Without exception that she can see, those who are fleeing are the most defenseless and innocent members of the village. Conversely, those who are remaining feel some confidence in their ability to defend themselves or others somehow.

Daring notices Doctor Kelly approach her so Daring focuses her attention on that white coated mare.

“I swear I didn't use my magic, or technology, to sober you all up,” Doctor Kelly promises upon arrival. “Yet all of you seem suddenly alert and awake pretty much at the same time. Can you tell me anything about what's going on and how do you feel?”

“Achey, but that's to be expected after dancing all or most of the night,” Daring Do answers. “As for what is going on, I sense imminent danger soon approaching and I'm guessing everypony else who participated in the ceremony senses the same.”

“So it causes heightened intuition? How fascinating!” Doctor Kelly marvels.

Daring blinks at Doctor Kelly in surprise then asks, “That is what you're latching on to? I would have thought the approaching danger might nab your attention more.”

Doctor Kelly just shrugs. Then, while she speaks, Daring notices Stern Wing approaching the two of them. Doctor Kelly says, “Be that as it may, a heightened alert system of some kind certainly can provide an evolutionary advantage. After all, it is only the survivors that have the ability to pass on their genes.”

“The non-combatants seem to have cleared out,” Stern Wing announces very seriously to Daring upon arrival. “That'll make my job easier. Now all I have to do is defeat, or at least withhold, whatever threat it is that's approaching us.”

“So you sense it too?” Daring double checks with Stern Wing.

“Aye,” Stern Wing verifies with a nod. “Now I have some idea how Vision usually feels.”

Daring winces slightly as she asks, “That's the little blind filly you all left in Ponyville, right?”

In answer, Stern Wing simply nods again while giving a vigilant scan of her local vicinity. She does not spot the threat yet, but she does notice other warriors and hunters remaining here in a semi-circle and also scanning for danger. Stern catches the eye of a few of them who, in turn, nod back to her in acknowledgement and respect.

“Let's take to the air and do a brief perimeter sweep,” suggests Daring Do. “But keep the search pattern pretty tight. Whatever this thing is, it'll arrive soon so it must be close.”

Stern Wing asks with a glance at Daring Do, “You search the south and I'll search the north?”

“Nevermind that,” interjects Doctor Kelly who draws the attention of the other two mares beside her. With it, Doctor Kelly nods to the north-east side of the village. The other two follow her gaze and notice a black creature crawl up and over one of the larger and more sturdy tents of the village.

They are not the only ones to spot it either. Several other warriors and hunters also spot it and they, in turn, whistle then point the way for the others using a spear, tip of an arrow, or their own hoof.

This creature is a languid black fur creature which briefly reminds them of a panther, but the limbs of this creature are significantly longer. The limbs are about six foot long tentacles each except they end in claws that look dirty as if caked with tar. A piece of spiky bone juts back at the main bending point of each of its clawed fingers so it can slash with its claws when it swings either way. The neck and tail of this creature is also like a six foot long tentacle. The tail looks the most benign of all of its limbs. As for its head, it has a long bird-like beak on its face that bends down the last few inches and vaguely resembles a vulture. There are obviously no bones in any of its limbs so they can easily bend in any direction with liquid smooth motion. As for its torso, it is a round oval shape like a black, sideways jelly bean.

Cresting the top of the tent, the creature crouches a bit and does a scan of its own. It appears somewhat delighted upon noticing how many ponies chose to stand their ground and fight it.

It takes Daring a moment to realize that her perception of this creature goes beyond just a visual scan. She can sense the emotions of this creature too. Because of that, she soon realizes that this creature is not hungry yet it is hostile anyway. She senses vicious delight from this creature which means it actually is attacking merely for fun.

Beyond that, she notices how this creature analytically scans each of its potential opponents and sizes them up. Despite that, however, Daring senses it isn't really much more intelligent than an average beast. That means it can't talk, craft complex tools or wield them, but it is amazingly tactical for a beast, or “monster” might be a more fitting term.

Stern Wing boldly steps closer to the base of the tent and waves her wings about in order to purposefully cease its attention, and it works. The gaze of this creature instantly snaps at Stern Wing the moment it notices her approaching it. It then lowers its neck to have its beak almost directly in front of Stern Wing's face. While suspending its head at that level, it eerily keeps crawling the rest of its body down from the tent while holding its head perfectly steady at eye level with Stern Wing. Even as its body twists while lowering itself to the ground, its head remains perfectly steady.

Daring senses alarm, almost to the point of panic, from someone else here. That draws her attention to it. To her right, she notices Feather Wind gazing at Stern Wing and the monster very nervously.

When Daring sees that, several things occur to her. For one thing, she reminds herself that Feather is the youngest member of her party. For two, he was raised among the aristocracy so it makes sense why he wouldn't be used to stress like this yet. For three, he's very unnerved by this encounter because it strongly resembles the last chaos beast they encountered, and he remembers how Stern Wing got injured towards the end of that fight. Not only does he fear seeing her in pain again, but he also fears himself as well because the last time this happened, he snapped for a short while. He lost control of himself and almost threw in all of his effort without restraint, and if that happened, he might accidentally hurt his friends or other innocent bystanders here, not to mention he doesn't really want to hurt any creature. Not even the opponent.

Finally, he's also nervous that his friends might sense him nervous and thus think that maybe they can't depend on him.

A moment later, Daring grows startled to realize that Feather has sensed her empathic scan of him. Realizing that made him feel suddenly really exposed. After that he cringes and gives an apologetic look over the mere fact that he is afraid of this situation at all and got caught in it.

There is a brief flare of embarrassment from Daring Do because she feels like she accidentally peered into something very private. At the same time she's fascinated to realize how sensitive and accurate their empathic senses are right now. Their emotions are like a newspaper for everyone to read.

But then it occurs to her that, just as she can sense his emotions, he can do the same right now and she can use that to her advantage. When that realization fully sinks in, she digs up the wellspring of inner strength and confidence and purposefully projects it at Feather Wind. He should instantly be able to tell that these feelings are coming from her, but that still exposes him to it just as it would to feel the sun on his hide after stepping out of the shadows. She also wills for him to absorb these feelings and let them become a part of him. If he accepts, he'll start to gain some of her inner strength and it won't even cost her her own.

Daring can feel that Feather instantly realizes what she's trying to do. As such, he cooperates with her plan and willingly absorbs some of her courage. He smiles at her gratefully then projects an assurance that, even while he was afraid, he would not have run away. Not while his friends and other innocents here are in danger.

Daring smiles and nods at him proudly for that before focusing back on the present danger. When she does, she notices how the creature is slowly stalking closer to Stern Wing and sometimes screeches or gives snapping motion towards her. The creature wants Stern Wing to be afraid of it and it is growing frustrated, and a tad concerned, at how resistant to fear Stern Wing is. After all, her confidence might be an indication that she has a plan to defeat it.

That isn't true, though. Stern is merely stalling it, but she already considers that leaning towards victory for her. For every second she delays this creature, the non-combatants can fortify their positions and her combat allies can get more solidly into place.

Even while staring at Stern Wing, the creature remains aware of the other ponies around it. For some reason it wants the others to attack it. Noticing this causes Daring to squint in confusion. Why would this creature actually want to be attacked by the others?

Well, regardless of the creature's motives, it does eventually get its wish. A dozen arrows and javelins get chucked and shot at the creature. The timing of these attacks is very precise, too, because each attacker can sense his or her other allies and, as a result, they can perform wordless communication and instinctually seamless teamwork. What comes at the creature is more like an net of an attack. It just can't dodge all of those attacks because the area is too wide and the attack is too synchronized. Some of those attacks are just guaranteed to miss as some are guaranteed to hit unless this creature has some very unusual means of defense.

But lo and behold, that's exactly what happens. A brief spring of glee ignites the soul of this creature when it notices the projectiles coming. It makes no effort at all to dodge them. Instead of that, it just stands there and seemingly accepts the hits.

Alarmingly for Daring's allies, what ends up happening instead is the projectiles slow to an eventual stop when it approaches within about four feet of the creature. The closer the projectiles get, the slower they crawl.

Then, a moment later, something weird happens. It looks like after-shadow images of the projectiles continue their trajectory towards the creature and get harmlessly absorbed. No pony here who witnessed that consciously realizes what that could mean.

A moment later, though, an explosion of danger instinct ran through them all before the creature suddenly burst into explosive motion. It launches itself at Stern Wing who also seems to slow down in time when she is closer to the creature or vice versa. With Stern Wing slowed down and the creature suddenly moving super fast, Stern might as well have been frozen in time. That made her almost utterly defenseless against its attacks. Specifically, she could not dodge or parry any of its blows. If she was wearing heavy armor at that moment then that might have successfully defended her from its claws, but it was moving so fast, it had time to aim its blows with precision so that armor would have to cover literally every inch of her body to be effective and it also has to be durable.

Strangely enough, though, the creature only settled for one claw swipe at Stern Wing then it sprang away. It easily could have showered Stern with a rain of blows that she would have no way to defend herself against, but it feels confident that only one blow against her is necessary.

The creature sprints halfway towards the next combatant before it slows down back to normal speed. At that point the creature once again pauses and assesses the rest of its opponents.

Looking back at Stern Wing, Daring notices that Stern is still slowed in time until the creature leaves her vicinity and about further two seconds passes. Then, after that, Stern suddenly spins in the air then tumbles onto the ground. Just before that happens, the others could already see her leaning in that direction and about to get launched away but the majority of the kinetic force of the blow was delayed for two seconds. Then, all of the sudden, time resumes its normal flow and she's burst sailing away.

“Well. These are very interesting creatures,” Doctor Kelly muses as she tabs a hoof to her chin with a thoughtful pose. “Apparently every single one of them can have dramatically different abilities. That forces the rest of us to be highly analytical and adaptable.”

“Look after Stern Wing,” Daring Do commands Doctor Kelly. “Be especially careful of her wound. The creature feels oddly confident that one strike is sufficient to deal with her. Find out why, and fast.”

“On it,” Doctor Kelly accepts, then moves closer to Stern Wing but keeps a cautious eye on the creature during her approach. The creature, too, snaps its gaze at Doctor Kelly because she's the only one moving at the moment, but she isn't advancing directly towards it so it’s not assaulting her yet.

As for Stern Wing, at first she attempts to stand back up. She is wincing in pain but it isn't more than she can handle. A few seconds later, though, the pain of her one scratch starts to burn far more than it should. Her pain seems oddly heightened. Within seconds it feels severe enough to force her back down to the ground. During that time, black tar-like substance seems to visibly bubble and fester from her wound.

Alarm and sympathy is ignited in Derpy's soul when she sees this, but she reacts in an odd way. Instead of panicking or springing recklessly towards Stern Wing, Derpy closes her eyes and starts a soothing song. Moments after her song begins, a wave of calm descends upon them all and the pain of Stern's wound ebbs some.

Daring finds that very noteworthy and vows to inquire more about that later.

The creature notices that every pony around it starts to calm back down. That, in turn, unnerves the creature. It hears the music too but it isn't smart enough to realize that the song is the reason for the change in reaction of its targets. So, instead, it just ends up getting confused and nervous about this change.

While the warriors and hunters are calmer, they are still uncertain about how to deal with this creature. After all, they saw how their projectiles were not only nullified as they approached the creature, but it somehow seemed to absorb the kinetic energy the projectiles would have done. As a result, it may have been responsible for the creature’s brief and sudden burst of speed. It seems to have the ability to absorb, store, then use the speed that attempts to approach the creature. By the looks of things, that probably would include the kinetic motion of living creatures too.

So, in other words, there is no way to approach the creature without slowing down in time and also giving the creature the ability to briefly burst into a sudden explosion of speed.

“Feather Wind, fire a hornbeam at it,” Daring Do commands him without looking away from this dangerous creature.

“I will not kill it,” Feather Wind insists. “But I can fire a stun beam at it. That costs me less energy anyway.”

“Fine then. Do it,” Daring accepts.

Daring watches the results carefully to see if pure energy has a different effect if it travels towards and through this creature's protective temporal aura. When she observes the results, she frowns when, sure enough, the laser beam slows to a crawl near the creature. Just like before, after-shadows of the energy beam get absorbed into the creature. In fact, a great deal of it. After all, a hornbeam travels at the speed of light. That's much faster than arrows and javelins.

The creature is gleeful at the opportunity to absorb this energy, but it is also confused because it does not recognize this type of attack. Apparently it is not accustomed to spell casters or any kind of technology that can emit an equivalent kind of attack.

“Oh Sweet Celestia!” Daring exclaims under her breath.

Just like before, the creature suddenly bursts into an explosion of speed but this time it zips through the battlefield faster than the eye can see. Since the hornbeam was much faster, absorbing its kinetic energy made it much faster in turn.

Every pony barely has any time to realize what happened until some observe seven ponies seem nearly frozen in time before bursting away in a spin. They all land on the ground with exactly one claw scratch for each victim.

“Caution. The wounds are infected with some kind of disease,” Doctor Kelly warns after examining Stern Wing for a while. “A pretty nasty one too.”

“Can you cure it?” Daring Do checks with Doctor Kelly without tearing her eyes away from the creature for even a second.

“I think I can slow and ease its effects with my magic right now,” Doctor Kelly answers. “I'll need more time to analyze it before I can fully remove it effectively. The good news is I only need to do that once, though, if it's the same disease for each victim.”

All of a sudden Daring can feel the eyes and attention of Margret on her. Along with that look is a question. A dilemma, really. Margret does have some advanced technology with her which she might be able to use against this creature, but she is surrounded by ponies who consider that taboo and she just participated in a ceremony to join this tribe. If she uses that tech now, it might cost at least her, if not them all, the trust and bond they've accumulated so far.

To answer that question, Daring flashes Margret a sharp-eyed look and gives a calming wave of a wing towards Margret and thus non-verbally indicating, “Hold off on that option for now. Let me see if I can deal with it some other way. I promise you, however, I won't forget your offer.”

Margret nods in acceptance then gives a worried look back at the creature.

“Somepony fetch me my bags,” Daring orders as she peers sharply back at the creature. While she does that, she's almost startled by how fast she got a useful response. It's as if some pony was already on standby and waiting for her to make that specific request. The moment she did, her saddlebags end up getting tossed at her by a foal with not nearly enough strength to sail an object that awkward and heavy all the way to Daring Do.

Where the foal failed, however, Feather Wind catches it with his magic and even causes a brief gust of wind to sail her bags all the rest of the way to her.

Meanwhile everyone else is on pause as if waiting for someone else to react, including the creature. It doesn't seem to like taking the initiative itself, but it probably could if it wanted to. By all observations made so far, any object, spell, or creature traveling towards it or it traveling to others causes them to not only slow down in time, but it absorbs the target's speed as well. The faster they move, though, the more speed it can absorb. That's probably why it tends to have a more reactionary response in combat. Anyone or any object that is not moving is the least enticing target for this creature.

“HEY!” Daring Do cries out boldly to the creature. In the process she waves a forehoof and both of her wings to gather its attention, which she does. It seems to be super sensitive and alert for any motion around it. Daring has been learning this across the duration of this battle and now she finally feels ready to act.

Having successfully gathered its attention, she turns around, flicks a tail tauntingly at it, then cries out, “COME AND GET ME!” before sprinting away as fast as she can gallop on sand. Seeing that seems to cause an irresistible urge for this creature to give chase.

“There you go. That's the best I can do for you for now,” Doctor Kelly says to Stern Wing as the doctor stands up and offers a hoof down to Stern. “Can you stand up?”

“I believe I can,” Stern replies with much greater ease, but she still accepts the Doctor's offered hoof who almost isn't strong enough to help lift the large mare. Doctor Kelly had to lean away from Stern and use her magic to help Stern Wing rise.

The creature notices this motion too which briefly nabs its attention. It is also confused, but delighted, that Stern Wing is back on her hooves again. That means it can enjoy tearing her right back down.

It also gains an instinct that Doctor Kelly is somehow responsible for this miracle. Because of that, the Doctor has suddenly become the creature's last priority target. After all, it wants her to heal the others as much as she can so it can enjoy their suffering longer.

Every pony here who participated in the ceremony senses that from the creature. The majority of their reaction is a mixture of surprise and disgust.

“Why isn't Trouble here to taunt us again?” Stern Wing asks with a sneer of disgust.

“Maybe she feels we don't need the warning,” Feather Wind suggests. “We got a lot of extra assistance this time.” He then focuses on Stern Wing as he asks her in concern, “You alright, Stern?”

“Yeah. I'll live,” Stern assures then looks at Daring questioningly. “What is she up to?”

Stern's question seems answered a moment later when Daring pulls out a stick of dynamite and simultaneously ignites it by scraping the cap off the wick. Meanwhile she does her best to stay ahead of the creature, at least by four feet. Until then, the creature is moving at its normal speed. That's still fast enough for Daring to struggle to keep ahead, but unlike the creature, she can fly. Sometimes she double backs and arcs right over the creature in order to retreat in the other direction. This strategy is especially common if she was running in a direction that was about to run out of room to maintain her maximum speed.

While staying ahead of the creature, she keeps swiveling an ear back behind her to gauge just how far the creature is from her. She's also paying close attention to her own sizzling wick. After all, she knows she needs to time this just right.

“I know what she's planning,” Feather announces in realization.

“Care to fill the rest of us in?” Stern Wing prompts.

Feather shakes his head then nods towards Daring as he proposes, “Just watch. She'll do it soon.”

Sure enough, Daring changes her strategy by simply dropping the dynamite on the ground and running past it. Since the creature is still following directly behind her, it catches up to the dynamite of its own accord. Since the dynamite isn't being tossed at the creature this time, there isn't as much motion for it to absorb or even detect.

The plan seems to go great at first but then the creature does something that Daring did not expect, and that is to stop chasing Daring and focus all of its attention on the dropped dynamite instead. It drew close enough for the dynamite to be in the magical aura of the creature too. At that point the wick starts to slow down its sizzle, but by then it was nearly at the dynamite itself. Every pony here can suddenly feel strong curiosity from this creature towards the very unfamiliar, sizzling object on the ground.

“NO! CHASE ME, BIRD BRAIN!” Daring Do complains at the creature, but it actually ignores her this time. That sizzling stick of dynamite is just so much more fascinating to it right now. It nears its beak towards it and takes a curious sniff.

Then, all of a sudden, something unusual happens. The portion of the explosion that escapes the creature’s slow aura field resumes its normal speed two seconds later, but the portion of the explosion that remained within the aura slows down even further. The closer it gets, the more that explosion slows. Every pony there, plus the creature, can visibly see the spinning shrapnel that is part of the dynamite spinning in the air. For the first time, they can even see the shockwave of the explosion eventually slowed to a near stop. It kind of resembles a desert mirage. Wiggling air that gets suspended in mid-motion.

Daring Do growls spitefully at the creature then widens her eyes in alarm when she notices after-shadows of the explosion itself getting absorbed into the creature. Maybe it won't use it right away, but it has now stored the kinetic energy of the explosion, or about sixty-percent of it, anyway. Watching that feels akin to knowing that a spring is pulled back and ready to burst forward.

“Okay. Plan B,” Daring decides then trots closer to Doctor Kelly. She doesn't make sudden moves this time because she doesn't feel ready to gather this creature's attention yet. For the moment, it is fortunately still too distracted watching this explosion in slow motion. Once Daring arrives near Doctor Kelly, she pulls out another stick of dynamite and, this time, offers it to the Doctor.

“What are you-” Doctor Kelly begins to ask but gets interrupted by Daring.

“This is getting stupid,” Daring complains. “So let's nullify some of the physics factors here.” Daring narrows her eyes in rage as she orders, “I want you to use your magic to teleport this stick of dynamite directly inside the creature's body after I ignite it.”

“What?!” Feather exclaims. “But she can't! No pony would have line-of-sight inside a creature unless they have x-ray vision. Failing that, there is no way to visualize the target destination for the teleported object.”

“Actually, I can do it,” Doctor Kelly corrects Feather Wind as she looks back at him.

“What?!” Feather Wind exclaims questioningly again.

Meanwhile, the creature playfully bats a claw at the edges of the near frozen explosion to test what it feels like.

“Line of sight isn't my only option,” Doctor Kelly announces to Feather Wind. “I can also calculate the course a teleported object can go. As long as I get my mathematical figures correct, I can decide where and when in space an object, or creature, shall appear.”

“Just like the Doctor does with the TARDIS?” Feather Wind guesses with fascination and curiosity.

“Something like that, I suspect,” Doctor Kelly replies then looks at Daring. “But there is one other problem with your request, and that is the vow I have taken. As a Doctor, I shall not willingly and knowingly take a life, nor shall I inflict harm.”

“I urge you to make an exception here,” Daring urges. “If you do not, that creature will willingly harm all the rest of us. Please do this for us. I'm running out of options with this frustratingly unique opponent of mine.”

Doctor Kelly reaches forward with her right hoof. At first Daring, and a few others, thought that meant she would accept the offered dynamite after all, but instead Doctor Kelly uses that touch to thrust the dynamite further away from her as she insists, “The answer is no.”

Daring Do widens her eyes in horror at that declaration.

“Besides, I have another option,” Doctor Kelly continues, then nods towards the creature. “Keep it busy for just a little longer. If you do, I'll finish it off in a way that bends, but does not break, my vows.”

Still confused, Daring waves the dynamite one more time as she asks, “Are you sure?”

“Just keep it busy,” Doctor Kelly reminds again before teleporting away somewhere.

Daring Do sighs then tucks the dynamite away somewhere within her right wing. She looks back at the creature and notices that its fascination with the frozen explosion is beginning to ebb. After that, Daring looks at Feather Wind and orders, “In that case, Feather, encase the creature within a large ball of mist.”

“You got it,” Feather complies then relays that request to invisible air elementals all around them.

“Trying to blind it?” Stern Wing guesses.

“I'm trying to distract and delay it,” Daring says. “Mist slowed down in time still conceals everything beyond it,” Daring announces. “It won't give this creature that much motion to absorb either.”

“Maybe we should enter the mist too,” Stern Wing proposes.

“Stern Wing, no!” Feather complains. “I won't let you.”

Because of that insistent demand, Stern silently admonishes Feather with a sudden and sharp snapping look of disapproval to him that causes him to shrivel. There is just no way his will can survive her onslaught yet.

“Choose your words more carefully next time,” Stern Wing chasties. “I don't deny you your freedom, so don't you dare ever try to impinge mine again.”

Her “look” cooling off, she redirects it at Daring as she goes on to say, “The important thing here is to keep the creature in the mist. If the cat has a mouse to toy with, it might be more inclined to remain there. Doctor Kelly could always just heal us later.”

The creature springs out of the mist after hopping out of it from a sprung hop, but Feather Wind simply expands the mist to include its new position. Now the others here can feel the creature's confusion and disorientation. It has no idea how to tackle a challenge like this.

“If I may, I got a better idea, I think,” Feather Wind announces then uses his magic to create a force field bubble around the mist with the creature within it. Daring Do and Stern Wing both lift their eyebrows at this, both equally impressed. Feather goes on to say, “I think a force field slowed down in time remains just as solid. Even if it absorbs some of the kinetic energy of the force field somehow, it is still trapped inside.”

“You really think you can hold it?” Stern checks with Feather. “That is an awfully big force field you have there.”

“I only have to delay it till Doctor Kelly is ready,” Feather reminds. “I think I got this.”

Daring Do gives a shrewd look at the forcefield before announcing, “Feather Wind, suck out the oxygen in that force field. Let's let this thing suffocate slowly within that bubble.”

“Oh! Um . . .” Feather Wind pauses and hesitates. Stern, Daring, and many others can feel Feather's discomfort in being openly hostile with his powers. He didn't give a vow of pacifism like Doctor Kelly did, but he's still uncomfortable with this option.

The only one who did not sense this is Derpy because she's too busy concentrating on her song and thus reducing the pain of every other pony who got inflicted with a viciously diseased scratch from the creature earlier.

“Okay. You can drop the forcefield and mist now,” Doctor Kelly announces casually as she trots back into the area while sucking on a lollipop. “The creature is defeated.”

“Really?” Stern asks in disbelief.

“No! She's right!” Daring announces in surprise. “I don't feel the creature anymore.” She looks back at Feather. “Do as she says. Drop the forcefield and disperse the mist.”

“Ah . . . okay,” Feather says with a blink of surprise then cooperates. The white forcefield drops and the mist disperses. When that happens, they can gradually see the creature sleeping on the ground.

“What did you do?!” Stern Wing asks in shock.

“Probably giving the creature a royal high right now,” Doctor Kelly announces casually. “I just teleported a great deal of the drug inside its system that you all ingested earlier, only it received a much higher dosage.”

Stunned silence lingers in the camp for nine seconds before broken by Daring Do's giggle which soon erupts into roaring laughter. Several other ponies soon join in because they don't have to ask why this is so funny.

“Now I'll need some time to more closely analyze the infected wounds,” Doctor Kelly announces calmly then points at herself. “I guess I'll be the M-V-P of this encounter, but I thank you all anyway. You all chipped in.”

Almost suddenly, this encounter is interrupted by another. A ship made of force fields quickly zooms in from beyond the horizon then suddenly stops above the village. A red beam shoots down from it which envelopes the creature. As a result, this shrinks to a pinprick size while floating up to the ship.

Daring snaps her gaze at Margret and complains, “You said you didn't contact the Commander!”

“I didn't!” Margret insists. Normally Daring might be more doubtful, but the lingering effects of last night's drug helps her to sense that Margret is telling the truth.

After drawing up the creature, a portal opens nearby the group and Commander Viraxis steps out.
“We need to talk . . . now,” the Commander announces insistently.

Part 16: The Offer

There is stunned silence following the Commander’s demand. The TARDIS crew just stands there blinking for a moment until their minds are thawed back awake by the movement of the rest of The Tribe. When they move, they move to intercept and block the way for the Commander. They face him and make it clear that they are in his way. Even the young members of The Tribe take this defiant stance.

Commander Viraxis’s reaction to this is also interesting because both Margret and the TARDIS crew know how easily the Commander, and his crew, could bully their way towards what they want using their advanced magical technology, but the Commander is facing a dilemma because he does not want to remove the possibility of an alliance with this Tribe. Those who view him can see the conflicted look on his face as he ponders the best solution for this latest impasse.

Daring Do grows a warm smile since she’s touched by the display of the Tribe, but starting a conflict here isn’t her objective and there are other objectives she needs to accomplish elsewhere. Things she needs to do and further questions that need answering.

Because of all that, she takes a bold step forward and places a hoof on the shoulder of the lead tribespony here in a nonverbal communication that he needs to relax his guard here. Everything is fine, and she reached a decision. Because of the recent ceremony they all performed together, they are still empathically attuned to each other. He can feel Daring Do’s resolve that she’ll take care of this issue in the place of the rest of the Tribe. In return, he gives her a look that seems to indicate, “Are you sure? We don’t wish to force you to do anything against your will and we won’t tolerate anypony else violating that right either.”

Daring nods confidently to that tribespony to show that she is confident in her decision. To further cement that, and to finally include the Commander in this “conversation” so far, she turns to address the rest of the Tribe and calls aloud, “It’s okay, everypony. My . . .”

Daring hesitates for a moment as she realizes she needs to make a decision what label to give the rest of her friends here. She does a quick scan among the rest of the TARDIS crew. She almost said “friends” and it is an apt description, but she suddenly realizes she didn’t want to use that label as if to imply that excludes the rest of the Tribe now. She considers her role among the TARDIS crew and comes to the quick conclusion that a label that has been thrust upon her needs to more comfortably be embraced.

She looks back and once again addresses the rest of the Tribe as she resumes announcing, “My crew and I have other objectives we need to accomplish elsewhere. In other worlds and other times. There are also questions we have for the Commander, and finally . . . none of us wish to bring harm and conflict to this Tribe. Our found family.”

The rest of the TARDIS crew, plus Margret, nod in agreement. This nod is especially firm from Stern Wing.

The Chieftain, Ma'Heira, steps forward from behind a wall of ponies. This action seizes everyone’s attention, including the Commander’s, for he also recognizes her. His red-glowing prosthetic eye gets smaller when he has it zoom up to her.

“We, of course, are aware that you all come from another place and time,” Ma'Heira announces in a sagely tone. “We are also well aware that you’ll need to return there someday. When you do, remember us. Wherever you go and whatever you do from now on, you carry the strength, wisdom, and the spirit of The Tribe with you. Always remember that.”

“Definitely,” Stern Wing firmly agrees.

“Absolutely,” comes Feather Wind’s follow up agreement.

“I will always remember and cherish you,” Derpy announces emotionally.

“This certainly has been interesting. One worthy of being recorded in history,” Doctor Kelly chimes in.

Margret is the only one who holds her silence because she isn’t certain what to say. This experience is certainly important to her, but she most likely isn’t going where the rest of the TARDIS crew will go. She might even come back here soon.

Scanning among her crew once again, Daring’s eyes settle back on Ma'Heira as she announces, “As you can see, there is a firm consensus among my crew here. It is a sentiment I share as well, and I have a special way of sharing experiences, like this, with others back in my native time.”

“So do I,” Feather Wind says quietly under his breath.

“May you always feel welcome to do as you must,” Chieftain Ma'Heira announces calmly. “We’re always with you, even as your mortal vessels carry you elsewhere. The bond we established and shared together last night cannot be broken. The winds ever be at your backs ere you carry forth with your journey.”

“Count on it,” Feather Wind assures with a bit of a grin. As a pony embodiment of the Wind spirits, he can personally assure that prophecy will come to pass, just as it already has.

“Thank you all for your cooperation,” announces Commander Viraxis gratefully in his echo-y, robotic-sounding prosthetic voice. “It was never my intention to bring conflict to this Tribe. In fact, it has always been my hope to help prepare you all for it. In the meantime I am grateful that we’ve at least established dialogue and . . .” He trails off when he notices the rest of the Tribe entirely ignoring him, including their youngest foals. Almost all at once, they turn to leave back into their huts. After all, they said their goodbyes to the newest member of their Tribe. Nothing else here really matters to them. Noticing this causes the Commander to sigh sadly.

In short order the rest of their stuff is quietly passed on to the visitors as well.

Doctor Kelly almost moves to tend to the wounds, and infection, of those of the Tribe who did suffer damage from the newest Chaos Beast. Sensing her intentions, though, Daring objects by lifting a hoof up in Doctor Kelly’s direction and says, “No. Leave them be. They’ll hoofle this.”

Doctor Kelly frowns then counter objects by saying, “It is no ordinary affliction they are suffering from. Maybe I should at least take a look.”

“You swore to do no harm,” Daring reminds Doctor Kelly. “That includes respecting the patient's will, does it not?”

Doctor Kelly passes that frowning look over at the rest of The Tribe as she watches them continue to retreat away. They probably can still hear this conversation and yet none of them are turning back and asking her for help. This includes those who suffered the affliction. They are either assisted or outright carried out by others here in The Tribe. None of them even glance back at her. That is a very strong indication that they value their independence and self-reliance.

Doctor Kelly releases a long breath as the stem of her lollipop switches sides in her mouth. She knows she won’t insist for them to get treated by her if they don’t want it, and they seem confident that they can handle this on their own somehow. From a socio-cultural perspective, she finds this attitude noteworthy and worth recording. What is it like to really be standing here among ancestors of her ancient history? She’s finding out first hand right now and simply accepts what it is showing her.

The TARDIS crew, plus Margret, look back to Commander Viraxis as he, in turn, gestures back through the portal as a reminder of his request.

This ship is quite different from the one Margret used. While hers was transparent, this one looks opaque and synthetic. It is like stepping into another room as soon as they all cross the portal threshold. Beyond is a white room with no apparent doors, windows, and just a few sparse furnishings.

“Huh. Reminds me of the holographic rooms from my homeworld,” Doctor Kelly remarks offhandedly as soon as they all step into the new room. “Anyhoo,” she turns to look at Stern Wing. “While the rest of the village objected to me treating them with my ‘evil’ modern tech, I assume you don’t have any such objections if I inspect and operate on your wound?”

“Not only am I okay with it, but I would take it as a kindness if you operated immediately,” Stern Wing replied. “You told me earlier this wound could be infected and I don’t want to run the risk of it contaminating the rest of you.” She looks about as she adds, “Especially in an enclosed environment.” She then passes a grateful look to Derpy. “But, I have to say, after your performance, it doesn't hurt nearly as bad.”

“Yeah, I . . .” Derpy pauses as she rubs a hoof on the back of her neck and wears a bewildered look on her face. “. . . can’t exactly explain how that happened. Something just welled up inside me and I just went for it.”

Feather Wind was about to say something but shifts his eyes to look at Commander Viraxis when he speaks up.

“Well you all nary have to concern yourself with contagious infection here because this place is quite sterilized,” the Commander assures.

“I was going to mention that too,” Margret agrees. “It’s pretty standard practice on our ships.”

“Really?” Feather Wind asks in surprise. “This era and area has so much harmonic energy that part of me is surprised you have a system built in place to counter a threat that hardly ever happens.”

Margret gestures to Stern Wing as she says to Feather Wind, “And yet it does happen on occasion so we like to be prepared for it.”

“Not only that, I’d like your permission to clean up the wound myself,” Commander Viraxis requests of Stern Wing then looks at and points to Doctor Kelly. “And I want you to watch. Maybe even scan the wound during the healing process. The reason for this is I’m trying to make a specific point with this demonstration.”

“Really?” Doctor Kelly asks in surprise as she widens her eyes slightly behind her floating holographic glasses.

Stern Wing grunts then complains, “Well I don’t care which pony does it so long as somepony does it! Right now would be most preferable.”

“Does it hurt?” Feather Wind asks his large friend in concern.

“Well, put it this way. It doesn’t feel good,” Stern Wing assures but then her expression softens. “It hurts less ever since Derpy’s song, but I’d still prefer to get rid of it a-s-a-p.”

“Oh. About that,” Feather Wind brings up then pauses when he notices Commander Viraxis pull out a white device that is bent in an angle. At the end of it, above his hoof, he aims the device over Stern Wing’s wound. Before he does anything with it, he deliberately waits for Doctor Kelly’s drones to de-cloak then scan Stern Wing’s wound. At that point the Commander pulls some kind of trigger which causes the end of the device to emit a bunch of random and spinning colors. It’s a bit hypnotic to look at, but Feather manages to shake himself out of that trance and continue his point. “About what Derpy did earlier, that was magic.” He looks at Derpy. “Which, in a way, operates similar to the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver except way less technical.”

Derpy looks a bit surprised to hear that but not very much. She even nods in acceptance as she says, “It’s hard to explain how I did that but I did feel energy travel through my body as I sang and before I sank into a bit of a trance.”

“Regardless how you did it, that’s a useful skill to have,” Daring Do expresses to Derpy in approval.

“Aww! Thank you!” Derpy says in a grateful bliss.

Those who pay attention notice Stern Wing’s wound vanishes completely in seconds after being treated by the Commander’s device. Not even traces of the wound, such as dried blood or a scar, is left of it.

“I don’t believe it!” Doctor Kelly exclaims in surprise then shakes her head. “But this can’t be a coincidence. I’ve seen too much other evidence of this effect.” She looks at the Commander who returns her gaze with a shrewd look of his own.

“What is it?” Daring asks Doctor Kelly.

“I recognize this tech,” Doctor Kelly explains while still giving a surprised look at the Commander. “My own race uses these things back where I am from, and we’ve been using them for ages.” She narrows her eyes at the Commander as she has a shrewd look of her own. “Except we weren’t the first beings to use this kind of tech. There was another who used it before us and it is from them we assimilated most of our best tech from.

“Oh wow!” Doctor Kelly widens her eyes at the Commander a bit. “You really are a Time Lord.”

Every pony in the room is suddenly quiet. They are stunned silent except the Commander is silently composed. Every pony also notices how he makes no effort to correct Doctor Kelly’s newest statement.

“Moreover, you really are a War Commander of the Time War,” Doctor Kelly goes on. “You came to this time period to recruit more followers for your war.” She narrows one eye at him. “Except your tactics are a bit different than what you all did to my race. Back then you just ponynapped us and put us to work, but you are trying to get others to choose to join you.” Her eyes return to normal as she broaches a theory. “I think that means you are a war soldier near the end of the Time War. By then the Time Lord’s got desperate and they did not have too many resources to spare for each of their objectives. Am I correct?”

“Astute as always, doctor,” Commander Viraxis commends. “I can see why the Doctor was so interested in you.”

Feather Wind’s face flushes in a bit of anger as he guesses, “So you came to this world and this time to try to recruit peace-loving ponies into your intergalactic war?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” the Commander replies. “That certainly is and was a measure of a challenge for me to even explain or convince any of the ponies in this time why war and conflict are even necessary. Certain . . . motivations had to come into place before I could even begin to convince them to see things my way.”

“Wait a second!” Stern Wing exclaims in surprised outrage. “So it was you who engineered the Chaos Beasts? You created the problem for them to solve just so that you had an excuse to recruit ponies into your stupid little war?”

“No,” the Commander replies to Stern Wing immediately. “I most certainly did not create the Chaos Beasts.”

“But you are having us capture some of them,” Margret reminds the Commander. “I even delivered a few of them to you personally, and you shrank and stored the one we fought today as well.”

“We’re having them contained to keep them from being a threat and so that we can study them closely,” the Commander announces to Margret. “I think you can all agree that is a better alternative then to allow them all to continue their prowl.”

“Hold on a second,” Feather requests as he lifts a hoof and gives a confused squint at the Commander. “If you didn’t invent the Chaos Beasts, then who did?” Moments later Feather’s eyes widen in horrified shock as he exclaims, “No! It can’t be!”

“So it was Trouble after all. I knew it!” Stern Wing exclaims aggressively. “That sour little imp.”

Feather looks at Stern with confusion and surprise as he says, “No. It wasn’t her.” His eyes shift back to the Commander. “If I haven’t missed my guess, I’d say the true architects of the Chaos Beasts are actually the Daleks.”

“Bingo,” Commander Viraxis confirms right away. “Except employing tactics like that isn’t typical for Daleks either. Instead, they are normally in their comfort zone when they can conquer, and exterminate, all of their enemies with sheer, overwhelming numbers and firepower. They like to use raw force to epic degrees, especially when it comes to their major campaigns.”

Commander Viraxis paces past them for a moment. He now faces a white wall with his back to the rest of them. Then he half turns his head to his left and says to the others over his left shoulder, which is also the side that has his prosthetic eye, “I’m going to be honest with you all for a moment. The reason I am here, at this time, and attempting to recruit these peace-loving ponies by myself is because the Time War has nearly ended, and it is not going well.” He looks forward again. “Although we’re not losing by a large degree. The resources of the Daleks are almost as depleted. So much so that they’ve been driven to use some tactics that they are not normally comfortable with.”

Commander Viraxis pauses for a moment before he spins about to face them all again.

“In many ways, the common tactics of the Daleks are the exact opposite of the Doctor’s. While they tend to invade in massive numbers, the Doctor tends to fight with only a small hoofful of companions and sometimes he does his work solo. While they like to use overwhelming firepower, the Doctor almost always abstains from using guns, war soldiers, and the like. Instead of that, he normally likes to employ his creativity and clever tactics which, again, is the opposite of the Daleks.” The Commander lifts a hoof. His organic hoof in this case. “In fact, and in truth, the Daleks didn’t create and deploy the Chaos Beasts. Instead, some other race did that which the Daleks had conquered and forced to get creative for the Daleks because the Daleks can’t be.”

“Why is that?” Feather asks the Commander curiously. “By that, I mean, why can’t the Daleks come up with something like that themselves?”

“The Daleks are a bio-engineered race themselves,” the Commander explains. “They are created by a mad scientist who has a grudge against . . .” He trails off with a sigh then says, “. . . well, pretty much everything as far as I have gathered. Daleks are designed to be the ultimate xeno-phobes, and as such, their only objective is to exterminate all life that isn’t another Dalek. They are bioengineered weapons designed for one purpose only; mass genocide of all other life.”

“Why?!” Stern Wing asks in astonishment.

Commander Viraxis shrugs as he says, “I don’t know, but when I use the term ‘mad’ scientist to describe the Dalek’s creator, I mean it in every sense of the word.”

Stern Wing frowns and looks down for a second but then looks back at the Commander as he resumes speaking.

“As for the Daleks themselves, while they can be hyper intelligent and computate mass calculations that could leave any average computer baffled, they are also designed with highly rigid thinking. Even the syntax of their spoken language tends to revolve around just a small hoofful of words. They are not meant to be creative because a creative being can question one’s own existence and purpose in life. By design, the Dalek’s don’t and truly can’t do that. Instead, they fulfill their instinctual purpose without question.”

“So, in essence, they really don’t have free will,” Feather figures mournfully. “In a way, they are victims too.”

“Basically, yes,” the Commander confirms to Feather. “But before you go shedding a tear for them, I’d encourage you to wait and see all the victims that the Daleks eradicated on their massive campaign sweeps. Maybe, by then, you might find it a bit more challenging to be sympathetic with these engines of mass genocide.”

“Well I am not a Dalek,” Feather replies firmly. “I do have creativity, and I do have a heart. I don’t think it is a weakness to care for others.”

The Commander can’t help but scoff at that reply. After all, his hearts have been hardened so many times over after so many years of one weary battle after another.

“Hold on. Hold on,” Stern Wing requests as she wipes a hoof in the air to gather attention, which she succeeded to do. “So Trouble didn’t create the Chaos Beasts? But . . . that seems so far up her alley. They all have random forms and abilities. Also, if Trouble is innocent of their creation then why did you blame her in the first place?”

“I gave her the blame for the Chaos Beasts because she is the closest thing to a threat that the natives of this timeline can understand,” the Commander explains. “Plus, like you said, the style and motif of these creatures is kind of similar to a Spirit of Chaos. When I gave that explanation, no pony even questioned it. It was so much easier for them to understand rather than explaining that I, the Daleks, and the Chaos Beasts came from another world and time period. Understanding the mere concept of war, by itself, is already a struggle for these ponies, let alone adding all the extra layers attached to this story.” He stomps his metallic, prosthetic hoof. “I told them this because most of these ponies are not ready for the truth. All this time, I’ve been trying to prepare them to be ready for that truth.” He points across this group. “With you all, however, you already come from a different time and have seen other worlds so you all are ready for the truth.”

“And why are you telling us this now?” Feather Wind asks the Commander with a suspicious squint. “You had a chance to tell us this earlier before you sent us on a mission to help recruit The Tribe. What changed between now and then? What was the deciding factor to convince you that we were ready for this truth now?”

“Honestly, I didn't really expect you all to succeed in your mission completely,” the Commander mentions. “In fact, you actually accomplished more than I expected you would. It is for that reason that I’m giving you a promotion,” he says with a nod at Margret. “Because at least you got your hoof in the door. The Tribe actually listens to you. As such, I could use your help being a liaison between our two tribes.”

Margret thinks about that for a second before shrugging and saying, “That sounds fine as long as you don’t expect or want me to accomplish anything that would be against their will. They are firm in their ways for a reason. If I were to try to convince them otherwise then they’d no longer listen to me either.”

“No. Definitely don’t push them too far,” the Commander agrees with Margret. “At least you got them talking to us. That alone is a strategic victory. With dialogue open between us, other important possibilities might open up later.”

“Hold on,” Daring says in an objecting tone as she lifts a wing in a halting gesture. “So let me get this straight.” She refolds her wing. “If you didn’t expect us to successfully recruit these ponies into your little war then why did you send us?”

“Bottom line is it was a test,” the Commander explains. “Honestly, the Doctor and I really don’t see eye to eye on many issues. I think he’s a dangerous pacifist while he sees me as a savage warmonger.” He lifts a hoof as he adds, “On the other hoof, I can’t deny that he can get results done in highly creative and unexpected ways. He keeps charging into conflicts and battles with nary a weapon to defend himself, or his friends, which I personally regard as careless and highly reckless, and yet I can’t argue with otherwise effective results. Somehow he keeps getting the job done one way or another, but even he doesn’t have a perfect track record.”

Commander Viraxis pauses a moment as he scans each of them visually one by one before he goes on to say, “There seems to be a distinctive pattern to those he tends to recruit for his little journeys as well. Like-minded individuals who share many important traits with him. While many of them don’t seem so impressive at first,” he says with a small nod to the tiniest pony of this bunch, “they usually have a way to be impressive that is easily overlooked at first glance.

“Time and time again, The Knights of the Hourglass gets the job done. Like their great ally and mentor, the Doctor, their results tend to be imperfect but also too successful to casually dismiss.” He shakes his head. “I can’t tell you how many times my forces have been on the brink of defeat and either the Doctor and his TARDIS shows up, along with whatever companions he happened to recruit by that time, or one of the Knights shows up to swoop in and save the day at the last hour. When it happened once, I considered myself lucky. Twice? I considered that an interesting coincidence. After the third time, however, I was forced to acknowledge that this is a pattern. Somehow both he, and his allies, keep engineering a recipe for success in highly unconventional ways. There’s nothing about the way they do it that I can train other recruits to do in some standard boot camp. They fly off the seat of their pants and I begrudgingly am forced to admit it keeps working too often for me to continue to ignore, so I have a proposal for you all.”

“We are the ones you’re really interested in,” Feather Wind realizes with a small gasp. “Not The Tribe.”

“I was interested in them too,” the Commander assures. “I sent you all in on a mission I thought was impossible to succeed in just to see how you hoofle it. After all, I have seen this pattern before. Other times the Knights showed up and accomplished what I thought was impossible and they did it in highly innovative ways. For once, I wanted this chance to study your methods up close.”

“So you had one or more of us bugged,” Margret realizes. “That’s how you knew the Chaos Beast showed up in their camp and you swooped in at the last minute.”

“And it also means you were eavesdropping on our conversations,” Stern Wing adds in annoyance.

The Commander grins as he says, “I must admit, you all took longer to get to The Tribe than I thought you would but I can see your reasoning for approaching them on hoof rather than flying there on our technology.”

Margret shakes her head as she says, “They were right. There was no reason to repeat our previous pattern of failures and expect success this time. To accomplish what we did, we had to change our approach and do it on their terms.”

“It’s just that kind of outside-the-box thinking that causes me to be so interested in the Knights,” the Commander assures. “It’s what the Daleks can’t do. They literally have to force some other race, usually at gunpoint, to be creative for them. It’s also why the Doctor and his friends just keep hitting success after success at an imperfect but otherwise phenomenal rate. For that reason, I am interested in recruiting all of you so that you all can train the rest of my soldiers into being as creative and as successful as all of you.” He lifts a hoof. “Because if there’s one thing that is more important than personal success, it is the training they can offer so that this talent spreads to others.”

“Everything we learned, we learned from the Doctor,” Derpy finally chimes in to the Commander. “And we haven’t been with him that very long either. You might begrudge and look down upon the Doctor for his ways, but it seems you can’t help but respect him as well. Well, if that is the case, then why don’t you join him and he’ll personally show you how he does things.”

Commander Viraxis frowns and shakes his head then says, “There are many reasons why that is a tactical error. He has issues with me, and my kind, and I with him. I won’t say either one of us is completely inflexible on this point but, for some reason, the Doctor seems uncomfortable around fellow immortals or anyone that leans close to it. He’s especially uncomfortable around fellow Time Lords and there are many reasons for that. I probably know only half of those reasons . . . if that.

“No.” The Commander shakes his head again. “Working through his former companions is the only way to go. Besides, I need them to work closer to my resources as well. I do things in valuable ways too. I’ve also beaten objectives that the Doctor had struggled with. All because he refuses to pick up a gun or anything akin to it. Meanwhile I am wearing mine.” He lifts his prosthetic hoof for a moment to illustrate it before putting it back down. “Well I say there is nothing wrong with having and using instruments that helps one to defend themselves or their loved ones, and many times we can come across a situation where the opponent doesn’t give us much of a choice. When they are willing to use overwhelming firepower against us, I say it’s unwise to make no attempt to even the playing field. Contrary to what the Doctor says, soldiers do have a valuable place in society even if a war isn’t currently in place. Sometimes a show of force alone is enough of a deterrent to defend and promote peace.”

Stern Wing frowns as she looks down thoughtfully.

“And how many innocents have you destroyed in your war efforts?” Feather Wind counters to the Commander. “Or are you going to stand there and say that your enemy is the only reason that injustice exists in your conflict?”

A somber expression claims the Commander’s face as he freely admits, “No. This is war and war is ugly. War never changes no matter who is fighting in it. At least I will admit that I’ve been forced to make some tough decisions and some hard calls. That is what it takes to be any leader during a conflict. I’ve made mistakes too and I have many regrets. There are many things that I’d gladly try to atone for after the war.”

The Commander jabs a point hard to his right as he says, “But if the Daleks have their way, there isn’t going to be a future for anyone other than a fellow Dalek. In other words, if they win, it doesn’t matter how determined I’d be to atone for what I did. I’d be dead, and so would you. So would the Doctor. So would your family. So would your loved ones!” He cuts a hoof across the air hard. “Think of anyone and everything you ever loved and imagine them dead!” He lifts a hoof. “Extermination. By the stars, the Dalek’s know that word so well and they prove it. They will never, ever stop until every last living thing is exterminated with maximum prejudice.”

The hoof that the Commander had lifted transfers to his chest instead as he invites, “So judge and condemn me all you wish. I can take it. I’ve been through and survived plenty worse, but I warn you that my race, and our resources, are on our last legs. The very thing that is trying to protect you all from annihilation is about to fall. If we do, you’ll have to either face all the rest of the Daleks on your own or give up and surrender, but that is the same as committing suicide because I can guarantee that the Daleks can only conceive one possible fate for your race, or any other for that matter, besides fellow Daleks, so pick your poison. It’s your choice, but at least I am giving you a choice.”

Without looking at them again, the Commander trots past them and approaches another barren wall. Only when he nears it does a door slide open. A door which had no seams so it was invisible till then. At the exit, he pauses there as he says back to them without looking, “I may be the lesser of two evils, and I’ll freely admit that, but I am not exaggerating when I say that the fate of the very universe may rest on your decision to my offer. After all, the Doctor has limits that he won’t cross while I will do whatever it takes for the greater good, so think about my offer very carefully.”

With that, he steps out of the room. The door shuts behind him and leaves the rest of those in the room to contemplate his offer.

Part 17: A Devil's Bargain

Those left behind in the white room after Commander Viraxis departed are silent for almost half a minute but their minds thaw when they notice Daring Do trot forward and search the walls for something very carefully.

“What are you searching for?” Margret checks while strongly suspecting what the answer is.

“A seam to a door or any kind of mechanism I can operate,” Daring Do answers.

“You’re not going to find one,” Doctor Kelly confidently assures. “This room isn’t like any of the dungeons you explored in the past . . . or I suppose the future from the perspective of this era. These walls are made of holographic energy and force fields. They don't need a seam to them until the right user wills them to open. To do that, you have to access the system that governs this room digitally.”

Daring sighs in frustration then looks over her right shoulder at Doctor Kelly before saying, “I figured that was the case. I just wanted to check to be sure.”

“Do you want to go out?” Margret inquires.

“I wanted to check if we have the ability to do so,” Daring replies then knocks on the wall. “Because if we can’t, it means we’re prisoners for the moment.” She grins. “Now there is something I am accustomed to. Lots of dungeon masters tried to do that to me, and some of them temporarily succeeded sometimes.” She looks back at the wall. “Usually, when I explore some ancient ruins, there is always a way through, even if there wasn’t by original design. Time erodes everything, you see, so new passageways can grow where there weren’t any before. Conversely, old passageways can collapse over time too.”

Daring sighs again then spins about to face the rest of her companions as she asks, “In that case, I have to ask; do any of you have a way through this?”

“I can teleport myself and the rest of you,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “But, other than that, I’m afraid not, and I’d rather not resort to the teleport option either if I have no line of sight where we are going. While I can do it technically, our next destination might be inside a solid wall or outside of this ship where we might be in for a very long fall.”

“But all of us can fly,” Derpy reminds gently. “Or glide with style at least.”

“This ship can even ascend into space,” Margret adds. “So yeah. I would not recommend blind teleportation.”

Daring nods in acknowledgement then decides, “Then we’ll consider that an emergency option. This room would have to be filling with snakes, poisonous gas, lava or the like to really make us consider that option. In the meantime, do we have any other method at our disposal?” When she finished her latest question, she looks at Margret in particular since she is a native of this society.

“Wow!” Margret exclaims at Daring with wide eyes. “You must have a pretty interesting life to have come up with all of those examples off the top of your head.”

Daring smiles slightly as she says, “Oh yeah! You have no idea. I encounter nasty traps like that in various dungeons all the time.”

“And you survived all of them so far? Then wow! You really are a credit to your name, Miss,” Margret commends.

Daring’s smile drops as she repeats at Margret, “I repeat, do we have any reliable and safe method to open these doors/walls? Some way through?”

“I do not, or at least I don’t think I do,” Margret answers then checks something. A holographic window suddenly materializes in front of her that has a bunch of text that none here other than Doctor Kelly can read. Feather, for his part, suspects there might be an additional layer to the message since some of it might be buried in the equivalent of magic tongue.

After a while, Margret shakes her head no, the transparent screen vanishes, and she focuses her gaze back at Daring as she says, “As I suspected, I don’t have clearance to access this system. I lack the right passwords and such. I figured that was the case since I don’t have military clearance. Even if I was such personnel, I might need to be of the right rank.”

“Which means we are prisoners here for the moment,” Feather concludes then regards Daring. “What is the plan now? I assume you had one before you entered this trap.”

Daring blushes in embarrassment and rubs the back of her neck as she confesses, “Maybe if I was the Doctor, but I must confess, a lot of my plans are flown off the seat of my pants.” The hoof that originally rubbed the back of her neck returns to the floor. “And that is because many of my adventures require me to improvise from moment to moment, and usually there is always something or someone I can access to bypass every trap. Some creature I can fight, some hidden lever I can pull, or some hidden entrance I can crawl through. Since every situation varies so widely, there isn’t much of a point making multi-layered plans in advance. I have to be there and investigate what is currently relevant to each situation before it becomes worth making plans and seeking a bypass. With this place, though,” she gestures around her, “I’m way out of my element because operating my way through this situation requires me to have abilities and equipment that I completely lack.” She gestures back and forth between Doctor Kelly and Margret. “You two were, and still are, my greatest hope to come up with a bypass.”

Derpy frowns as she says, “If the Doctor were here, I’m sure he could come up with a bypass method using his cunning wits, universal knowledge, and his sonic screwdriver. Even if he was unfamiliar with the tech he is hacking, he’s usually brilliant enough to figure it out eventually. For example,” she regards Doctor Kelly, “such a thing happened in your world none too long ago. He was unfamiliar with the energy signature of that planet but he eventually figured it out enough to hack into your digital system to do some snooping and manipulating.”

“Yeah? Well the Doctor isn’t here right now so we need to come up with another strategy relative to the resources we do have,” Daring reminds. “Any ideas?”

Doctor Kelly sighs as she creates a wedged sphere behind her, using her magic, to act as a seat then proceeds to sit on it. When she does, she leans back into it as it floats slightly further off the ground. She taps her right forehoof on the right edge of the wedge thoughtfully before declaring, “I had considered deploying a warp stone along the outer border of The Tribe’s village before we entered the Commander’s ship. It had occurred to me, back then, that such an emergency option might come in hoofy.”

“But I take it you didn’t because you figured The Tribe would consider that rude if they discovered it?” Stern Wing figures.

Doctor Kelly collects her forehooves in the front of her muzzle and peers over them sharply as she says, “That honestly is the only reason I hesitated, and ultimately rejected, that option. I almost went with it anyway because I could use the other warp stones to recall any of the ones I deployed just in case I didn’t need it, but it is so taboo to their culture that I went against that idea in the end.” She shrugs. “Aside from that, I was being observed by the Commander at the time, and if not by him, there could have been others watching us too at that moment.”

“Very likely,” Margret agrees. “If there is one thing I do know about the Commander, it is he likes to be thorough whenever he can.”

“And now we know why,” Stern Wing adds. “He’s a pony bucking Time Lord!”

“Not just that, but a War Commander of his race during a desperate time of the Time War,” Feather adds further. “So we’re not talking about an average citizen here but a straight up war veteran. One who has likely been through so much conflict and trauma that his sanity might be questionable now.” When he says that, he looks at Doctor Kelly to see if she confirms or denies that theory.

Noticing Feather’s look to her, Doctor Kelly says, “Based on what I can tell from my limited encounters with him, he seems to be of relatively sound mind and makes reasonable judgements under the circumstances. Perhaps Time Lord’s psychology can hoofle more stress than the average pony, or especially the leaders of their society.” She shakes her head. “I have no doubt that he’s endured some severely stressful battles by this point of the war, but he’s likely been very well trained for that and actual combat can harden a pony’s heart, or hearts in this case, when necessary. There are many possible options one can resort to during stressful situations and not all of them are cataclysmic. Sometimes they can even build one’s character instead.” She nods. “That said, I would have recommended a vacation for him if I was his doctor while fully realizing that is not always an option during war time.”

“Especially in a war he considers himself on the losing side,” Feather adds grimly. “That is if he was telling us the truth.”

When Feather gave that last statement, he also gave a meaningful look to every pony here that was part of The Tribe’s ceremony. Because of that, they have been empowered with empathic abilities, albeit likely temporarily. Even now it is slowly fading. As a result, they are more psychically attuned to those around them and that includes the Commander. That ability has informed them that the Commander seemed mostly honest but he is still holding something back. Just like before, it seems as if the Commander doesn’t consider this group ready for all of his secrets yet but he was willing to reveal more compared to before. That same empathic sense also revealed that he is desperate and very much interested to get this group on his side after everything else he has seen.

Beneath all that, he is very much an emotionally weary and wounded war soldier who feels burdened with many regrets that he honestly does wish to atone for, but now isn’t the right time for it because more critical priorities are taking its place instead. “For the greater good” is very likely the main theme of his life lately. That alone is likely enough for him to temporarily feel justified in making any atrocity that he deems is a necessary evil.

Stern Wing taps her right forehoof on the ground then brings up, “While we’re on that subject, I’d like to ask you all what do you honestly think of his offer?” She shrugs. “After all, we don’t have many other options to resort to for the moment so we might as well tackle this. Besides that, I really am curious what you all think.”

Those in the room can feel Derpy immediately firming up after that statement, including Doctor Kelly in her own way.

“Let me make myself perfectly clear right here and now,” Derpy says far more firmly and sternly than this group is accustomed to seeing her. “And that is the fact that I will never, ever, betray the Doctor. Wherever he goes, I will follow.” She covers her front chest with her right wing as she says, “I love him and I trust him explicitly. If he says for me to cooperate with Commander Viraxis then I shall do so, and if he says otherwise then I’ll do that instead.” She refolds her wing and shakes her head. “After everything I’ve seen and all that I have seen him go through, I know in the deepest recesses of my soul that the Doctor truly cares for all of us.” She shakes her head. “His plans might not always be perfect but I still know he makes them with the best of intentions. I’ve seen him taking severe risks before in an attempt to save others, sometimes at great personal cost to himself.” She stomps her hoof firmly. “So let me make it perfectly clear that I will be there for him and do my best to support him no matter what. That is my personal choice and I’m sticking to it.”

“And we well respect that, Derpy,” Stern Wing says back to the gray pegasus. “Thank you for making that clear.”

Derpy’s response softens a bit as she replies, “You’re welcome, and hey! You asked so I wanted to be clear.”

“How about the rest of you?” Stern Wing checks with the others.

The group is silent for a moment as each of them looks at the others present to see which one of them would like to speak first. In the end, Doctor Kelly decides to take her turn.

“Well, for my part, I am a very logical and scientific mare,” announces Doctor Kelly. “To that end, I prefer to base my decisions on concrete evidence. I like to gather all the facts first before I make any big and permanent decisions in my life so I will not be blindly swayed by one passionate speech from one of these two Time Lords.

“I will admit, though, he did bring up a lot of valid points, but the Doctor might have reasonable counters to every single one of them and I’d like the chance to hear him out first before I make any firm decisions.

“For the moment, I lean on and support the Doctor by default. He and I seem to have quite the destiny together and, for some reason, I feel like it isn’t only in the future. He’s already familiar to me in a way I can’t explain. In a way that transcends beyond logic and reason for the moment. I’m hoping that will change sometime in the future and I eventually get an explanation for all of my inner feelings towards him.

“But in the meantime, with this particular issue, I’d feel unbalanced until I hear all sides of the argument. After everything I have and probably will be through with the Doctor, I feel I owe him that much at least, plus that would be my personal decision in any case.”

“I respect the sentiment,” Daring Do declares before she shakes her head. “But life isn’t always that clear cut. It can get messy and confusing sometimes. You can’t always gather concrete evidence for everything all the time.”

“True and I’m well aware of that,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “But that is no excuse to block me from trying to gather that evidence. Right now I don’t have evidence that I won’t be able to gather it later on either so I’ll always default to trying to gather it until I either have it or I learn why I can’t gather any more.” She shrugs. “Situations can change in other ways over time, too. By the time I gather all the evidence that I originally sought, it could be over an issue that is no longer relevant for one reason or another. I’ll keep an eye on that, too. That, in turn, will inform me whether further effort to gather that evidence is still worth it or not.”

Daring thinks about that then nods in agreement. That, to her, sounds like a very reasonable decision.

Both Daring, Feather, and Doctor Kelly find it interesting how Derpy and Doctor Kelly’s decision on this issue is prioritized from opposite standpoints. One is highly and almost blindly emotional and the other is logical, but both of them have small ingredients of the other side too.

“For my part, my decision is similar to Doctor Kelly’s,” Feather Wind announces. “I’d prefer to hear all sides of the argument before I make a firm decision, but that said, I emotionally side with the Doctor for the most part because I trust him, his methods, and his motives.” He winces and shakes his head as he adds, “For some reason I grow uncomfortable with others who lean on the adage, ‘For the greater good’ all the time. To me, it sounds like giving up all hope that there is a noble option to solve any particular situation.” He stomps his little blue hoof on the ground. “The Doctor wouldn’t do that. He would never do that.”

“Here-here!” Derpy cheers in agreement.

Feather Wind points at the wall that the Commander stepped through as he says, “And the Commander straight up admitted that he is, and I quote, ‘The lesser of two evils’.” Feather returns his hoof to the ground then goes on to say, “Well the Doctor would call that horse dung. He would never be willing to settle in being the ‘evil’ of any sort. He always tries to solve his problems in a way that benefits all, even his potential opponents. That, to me, aligns and resonates with my heart because if we keep doing that then I don’t have to deal with as much guilt about having to hurt my would-be opponents later. They generally have feelings too and I, for one, care deeply about that. I’d rather turn them into friends if at all possible.” He lifts a hoof. “And I know that is not always reasonable in every situation but I still always default to the sentiment.”

Feather shakes his head. “It is never worth automatically giving up all hope to seek a higher and better solution. One that does take the moral high ground. I say it is always worth at least an attempt, and to me . . . that is the Doctor’s primary strategy.” He shakes his head briefly as he adds, “I have never met another pony that I have agreed with more from a moral standpoint and that is why I trust the Doctor so much. He may not always win the day and perhaps we both are a touch naive to think we can save everypony all the time, but I’d rather try and lose with the Doctor rather than win but live with permanent regrets like the Commander.”

Feather scans among each of his friends present as he asks them, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I sensed that the Commander really does have deep regrets and he truly wants to be redeemed, but what does it ultimately say about his character when he keeps on inventing excuses to do it later? If we follow him, someday he might abandon or betray us, ‘For The Greater Good’.” He squints. “But could you imagine the Doctor even thinking something like that? He’d sooner lay down his own life rather than sacrifice anypony else.”

“And you think that is a good thing?” Doctor Kelly counters. “Say he keeps doing that strategy and, someday, he eventually does it. He dies to save others. He might even succeed with that sacrifice but he’d still be dead. We’d be stuck with the Commander by default in that case because he was more cautious and reasonable in each situation he faces. He’s smart enough to realize that there are smarter sacrifices he could make that might cost him a battle but preserve the chance to win the war.”

Feather Wind sighs then says to Doctor Kelly, “Maybe, but that is why I can definitely say that I am not a warrior. I don’t think in ‘war’ terms. Instead, I’d rather heal and promote the well-being of all. As a doctor yourself who is sworn to do no harm, you should say the same.”

“When it comes to my personal actions then I absolutely agree with that,” Doctor Kelly replies. “But I’m also willing to look at the big picture. That includes weighing everything that is at stake with the situations I face. For the most part, I do lean on and support the Doctor’s decisions, but if he dies or makes some grossly unreasonable decision, all so he could at least claim that he tried to maintain the moral high ground in the end, then it would be stupid of me to refuse, to at least consider, the other options on the table.

“After all, what would the Dalek’s say in each situation? When weighing in every factor of what we face, let’s not forget about the greater of two evils as well.

“In this case, I could be convinced of the possibility that it could be important to win this war at truly any cost, even if some sacrifices have to be made along the way. After all, if the Dalek’s leave no other recourse other than for us all to be exterminated with maximum impunity and prejudice if they win, then I have to take that into consideration too.”

Feather Wind relents a bit as he says, “Well, I see your point, but that is another issue to consider. We are not seeing the Dalek’s side of the story either. What if they are more innocent than these Time Lords’ claim? They could be lying to us on purpose for the sake of personal prejudice. Conversely, they might really believe what they say but ultimately be wrong anyway.”

“I object!” cries out Derpy. “Sure, it might be possible that they are wrong about the Daleks. I don’t know that for sure. I have never met them, but one thing I do know is that the Doctor would never lie to me and he makes very similar claims that the Commander does.” She squints as she asks Feather Wind, “Do you really think that they are both lying or are flat out wrong about the Daleks?”

“I admit, that is a very, very remote possibility,” Feather Wind confesses. “Both of these stallions likely have very firm reasons why they make the claims that they do, and if these two stallions, who can’t see eye to eye on most things but they do agree on this one point, it lends further credit to their story.” Feather Wind shakes his head. “Nevertheless, I haven’t met a Dalek, that I know of, either, so I don’t think it is fair to judge them yet. There’s always a chance that there is more to this story than either one of these Time Lords are aware of.” He taps his hoof on the ground. “Even if they are completely correct about the Daleks, though, that doesn't mean there is no possibility for a peaceful solution with them. Again, I might be totally naive on this point and I’m willing to fully acknowledge that, but we’re working with a time machine on our hooves. That could potentially rewrite all of reality.

“For example, what if we went back in time and tried to befriend the scientists who originally invented the Daleks in the first place? If we redeem him then it's possible we could undo any of the damage the Daleks ever did before this conflict even started.”

“You don’t think the Time Lords already tried that?” Daring Do asks with a suspicious squint. “If the Commander was telling the truth, his side is losing this war. I would think a race as intelligent and resourceful as his would consider an option like that long ago. They have time machines and the Time Lords knew that long before this war even started.

“The Daleks, and probably this scientist as well, were also aware of that too. My guess is, for this war to have expanded as far as it did, both sides are probably trying to outdo the other using the same or similar kind of technology. Each side is trying to attack and defend various points of history in an attempt to erase or modify all of reality.”

Daring squints and shakes her head in disgust as she says, “Which I personally find this whole prospect to be distasteful. In my eyes, there should only be one version of a timeline and that needs to be protected and preserved. What’s the point in trying to learn from our past if it keeps changing on us?

“As such, I’m gladly willing to align myself with the Knights of the Hourglass as long as they fight to preserve history from being tampered with. That’s why I am here. Exploiting history to recover an extinct cure is about as far as I’m willing to go with this because taking that one flower isn’t as likely to rewrite all of reality. I limit my tampering to small things if I can help it and I fiercely oppose anypony who tries to severely abuse and rewrite history on purpose.”

“Taking one flower, which can be a miracle cure for pretty much anything, might have a more far reaching effect than you might think,” Doctor Kelly warns. “After all, if we hadn’t taken it, it could have been available for somepony else and that, too, could have a ripple effect in history.”

“I’m aware of that,” Daring says with a slight frown. “And I know that might make me sound a bit of a hypocrite but I honestly try not to think about that too much. I’m here now and I’m making the best of things as I would in any situation.” Daring Do shakes her head. “That’s one of the reasons why I hadn’t traveled with the Doctor in his TARDIS before even though I so deeply respect him. I don’t like to meddle with history but the issue I was facing was gravely important, and I couldn’t verify if the cure existed in the future instead. From my time period, I don’t have access to that kind of information so I did the best I could.”

Doctor Kelly lifts a placating hoof as she reassures, “I know. Believe me, I’m not judging you and I’m well aware of the situation you faced. I’m simply pointing out that the situation we face isn’t so cut and dry. There are pros and cons to pretty much everything.”

“What about you, Stern Wing?” Feather Wind broaches with his foalhood friend. “What do you think of the Commander’s offer?”

Stern Wing sighs as she looks down. She even closes her eyes and has a guilty look on her face as she says, “I hate to admit it, but I think the Commander did bring up a lot of valid points.” She opens her eyes and looks back at Feather. “I deeply respect, trust, and admire the Doctor for so many reasons, but in the end, I do question whether he could make the tough calls if it becomes necessary. Sometimes the situation, or the opponents we face, could leave us with no more morally high choices. Sometimes those opponents might push for that on purpose, too. Maybe they’d try to isolate every possible option until only the evil ones are left.

“If it really came down to that then I think only the Commander has the conviction and courage to do what he feels is necessary even if it also personally wounds him. To me, that is the true mark of a good leader and I might even be willing to call that heroic. A pony who is willing to weigh all sides of a situation and strong enough to make those tough calls.

“I hate bullies, Feather. You know that, but these Daleks sound so much worse than that. A bully might abuse you physically, emotionally and mentally in order to exploit you for something. As long as you're alive, they can bully you again for some selfish gain.” She raises a large brown wing in objection as she goes on to say, “But these Daleks sound very different. They straight up exterminate everything they see indiscriminately aside from themselves. To them, they don’t care what resources you have or what they might personally gain from you. To them, your death is their only objective and it sounds like no amount of begging or pleading would cause them to hesitate. If they truly are incapable of breaking their own programming then there is only one result we can count on in every situation when we face them.”

Stern refolds her wing.

“It bothers me to face a race that is so closed off with every other possible option,” Stern goes on. “To me, they actually do sound absolutely and completely irredeemable.

“That is, of course, if the information we’ve been given so far is accurate.” She shakes her head. “And there has got to be a reason why both Time Lords we know are so firm on this one issue even though they don’t see eye to eye on much else. They must have gathered some very strong evidence indeed to convince them to this degree.”

Stern Wing frowns at Feather Wind sadly as she says, “Fairy-tale happy endings are not always possible in every situation. I admire and deeply love you for the fact you’re willing to fight so hard to try to achieve those ends, but as we all know here, your head is up in the clouds while mine is solidly planted on the ground metaphorically, even when I’m in the air. As such, I have to be willing to take a realistic approach and perspective in life. Previous challenges I faced have also taught me that sometimes there are no morally high choices, so one has to be willing to carefully weigh all the options that are left.”

She again raises a wing in objection as she says, “Now don’t get me wrong. I’m quite loyal to the Doctor too and, from a moral as well as trustworthy standpoint, I side with the Doctor far more.” She refolds her wings. “But I also realize sometimes conflict and war is inevitable. In that case, a deeper examination of these two stallions is very important. One is a hero and a healer and the other is a warrior in a very grim and important war. In the end, which of these two really would lead to the greater good?”

Stern Wing squints in discomfort as she admits, “I hate to admit it, but the Commander might be the best option in the end. He’d be willing to kill and thus permanently put an end to whatever threat we face while the other Time Lord might simply put the threat in jail or feel pity for the opponent and try to give them a chance to redeem themselves, but that opponent might use that opportunity to cause more harm instead. Another life dies because he made the mistake of being merciful to the wrong target.” She shakes her head. “And sometimes a mistake like that one can’t recover from. My personal priority is the protection of the innocent. That is always the goal I will have in mind, but in this case, I’m forced to question which of these two could be more successful with that. I love the Doctor, but he might actually be too noble for his own good.”

“I’ve had similar concerns as well,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “And if the rest of you are truly honest with yourselves then you’ll admit that you have those concerns too.”

“Certainly,” Derpy agrees. “I’ve had those concerns many times over, but that is why I chose to travel with him. When he tries to push himself too far, I’m there for him to help pull him back. His priority is and was the protection of the innocent too but he sometimes goes too far with that. That’s why he needs his companions to save him just as he would do for us.” She looks among those gathered here with her wall eyes. “I’m not the only one to feel that way, right?”

“Right,” Feather also agrees. “If we do face a dangerous situation solo we can have very restricted options sometimes. If one is determined to save others at all costs then it can cost you everything to do that.

“If, however, one isn’t alone . . .” here he pauses for a moment to give a very emphatic look to Daring Do then continues while addressing them all again “. . . then it can expand our options considerably. There is a risk to everything, but if a pony has others there to watch their backs and honestly care for their partners, then that can be enough to pull the threatened pony back from the brink while still resulting in the success of their mission. With friends at our sides, we can achieve the best of both worlds.”

“Here-here!” Derpy enthusiastically cheers with a thrusted raise of a hoof.

“What about you, Miss Do?” Feather checks with Daring.

“Me?” Daring reflects then goes on to say, “I, for the most part, will be glad to wash my hooves of this whole affair as soon as this mission is done. What I do and the way I do it fills a very important niche in my time and society, and frankly, I consider issues like the Great Time War way above my pay grade. I’m certainly no fan of the Dalek’s objectives if they truly are as brutal as others who encountered them say they are, but I prefer to keep my focus on relatively more simple matters because there is already a lot to hoofle with those issues alone. I consider myself just a guest in the Doctor’s adventures.

“With all of that said, I have very deep respect and affection for the Doctor considering all that he has done for me. For all that he has shown me and awakened me to. I truly wouldn’t be the mare I am today without his help. For that reason, I shall always consider him a very dear friend and I will do whatever I can to support him should the need arise, and I already know for a fact that applies the other way around too.

“In many ways, this adventure has opened my eyes too in addition to a few others I had in my recent past. Because of it, I am willing to reevaluate my stance with some issues. I have to admit that a partner can come in hoofy and sometimes that is exactly what it takes to achieve the best mission results.

“Still, other lessons I have learned in my further past reveals that it would be wise to consider the details of one's partner carefully. For one reason or another, not every pony is fit for an adventurous lifestyle. Even if they are, would they use their talents for the greater good or some selfish end? That is why we have to be careful.”

“Well said,” Stern Wing agrees. “Some might have the ability but no motive to do good in an adventure and others could be the other way around. Either way is very dangerous.”

“I learned that the hard way,” Daring Do warns. “Pray to Celestia that you all don’t have to.”

“I heard that name before,” Margret remarks. “Celestia, I mean. Is she some kind of important political figure in your time?”

“You could say that,” Derpy concurs. “She’s only the sole Princess of Equestria and the one and only alicorn who can raise and lower the sun and the moon until her banished sister returned.”

“Riiiiiiiiight,” Margret replies dryly as she gives Derpy a strange look with an up raised eyebrow.

“There is a lot about our world that can seem strange to you and vice versa,” Feather Wind consoles Margret. “What’s important here, I think, is to learn from our differences. If we do that, we can be more varied and talented. More prepared to face any situation.”

“Five little ponies chart where their loyalties lie,” suddenly comes the echo of a very unexpected but also familiar voice. To their surprise, Trouble fades in between them and seems to lay on an invisible platform again. The snake-headed tail of the creature swishes wistfully behind it. She seems to not have a care in the world, yet the giant creepy grin she has spread across her lips suggest amusement in a way that is highly unsettling. “All, in their own way, strive to maintain their own moral high.”

“You again?!” Stern Wing exclaims in intense surprise and almost outrage.

“Did you all miss me?” Trouble asks in a teasing voice. She also stops her question there. This is a rare example of not giving a follow-up rhyme.

Daring Do brightens and says, “Actually, your arrival here is quite fortuitous. Can you help us get out of here? If you do so then our story, and conflict, can continue. You’ll see more of the game to amuse you.”

Trouble’s gaze snaps back to look at Daring Do over her right shoulder. When she does that, her shifting prismatic, mismatched eyes actually flash for a second. She gives Daring Do a mischievous and cunning grin.

“The pony of adventures considers herself sly. She’s always scheming for a bigger slice of the pie.”

“Of course I am,” Daring agrees as her face firms up. “Are you going to help us or not? If we’re forced to stay here then it’ll be Commander Viraxis guiding our course, and something tells me you’re not fond of that fuddy-duddy.”

“Weeeeeeeeellllll . . .” Trouble pretends to mull it over and rolls her eyes as she tilts her cat-like head back and forth as if that might help weigh her decision. Meanwhile everypony else in the room isn’t as easily fooled. Even Derpy catches on thanks to her new empathic augments. They know that Trouble has an agenda of her own, but she can be random and whimsical about its implementation. That is why Daring dared to give a more specific course of action but leaving the Spirit to decide exactly how to do it.

Daring is actually alarmed when Stern Wing lifts a wing in objection and says, “Actually, before that, I have a question I’d like to ask you.”

Daring gives Stern Wing a wide and very hard, eyes suddenly cracked stare that seems to ask, “What are you doing?!”

“Oh?” Trouble asks as she regards Stern Wing with a languid and bemused expression, both of which seems to be a very common reaction from this creature. What isn’t so common is the fact Trouble actually purrs as she continues to regard Stern Wing.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask you . . . are you actually innocent of the creation of the Chaos Beasts?” Stern Wing checks with the languidly floating little imp. “You bragged about them before but you also warned us about their arrival and abilities.” While still staring at the creature, Stern also gestures to her small blue friend with a wing as she goes on to say, “And my boyfriend has a point that you did not specifically say that you created those creatures. Now I heard a story that another species might be responsible for them. A species who might be less dangerous than you are but also far more aggressive.”

Trouble’s smile deepens as she answers in her usual enigmatic way, “Stories are as stories go. What you decide is for you to know. There are many sides that one can view. The only way to know is to continue on through.”

“Ah . . . so . . . What you’re saying is just keep going forward and decide for myself?” Stern Wing checks with Trouble.

Trouble’s smile deepens again as she replies, “You are so adorable, my dear. The answers you seek are drawing near.”

Trouble then regards Daring as she offers, “Indeed, I can show you a way, but a devil’s bargain is yours to pay. With every choice, there comes a price. Are you daring enough to roll the dice?”

Daring Do grows a daring grin as she slaps on her hat and asks, “My name is Daring Do. Is it even necessary to ask?” She then gives a softer look to the rest of her companions as she checks, “I assume the rest of you are in as well? The alternative is to remain here at the Commander's mercy, and he has a devil’s bargain of his own.”

“The Doctor taught me to be open and mindful of every opportunity that presents itself,” Derpy announces. “Past experience has also taught me that it can come from highly unexpected sources.” She shakes her head. “I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into when I first joined him on the TARDIS, but now I do. I take risks all the time as I remain by his side. That, alone, doesn’t scare me anymore.” Her expression grows a bit more sheepish as she admits more honestly, “Well, at least as much as it used to.”

“As for me,” Feather chimes in, “I sensed that the Commander was more honest with us in this encounter with him but he’s still holding something back. I have a feeling he’s waiting for a deeper commitment from us before revealing the rest of his hoof but I, for one, don’t wish to agree to anything blindly.” He looks at then nods at Doctor Kelly as he tells her, “Like you said, I think we need to gather more evidence before we can make a firm and definitive decision. Until then, all we really seem to be settling on is our personal and emotional opinions.”

“That’s enough for me to decide,” Derpy reminds firmly. “I will always stay loyal to the Doctor. Always.”

“Mystery is a mist that fades in the dark,” announces Trouble whimsically. “What is discovered therein is good for a lark.”

“Is that supposed to entice us?” Stern Wing asks Trouble in a tone that borders on disgust.

“Make of that as you will,” Trouble invites as she passes Stern a snarky expression. “It’s ever my job to be a pill. With Spirits of Chaos, there’s always a double deal; for anarchy and disorder is ever my meal. While you are busy deciding how you should feel, my zest for your confusion shall be my zeal.”

In other words, Trouble openly admits that she likes keeping ponies off balance. This causes Stern to growl in anger. She suddenly decides that she still doesn’t like this creature. Earlier she felt a bit guilty that Trouble got accused for a crime she might have been innocent of, but something about this creature rubs Stern the wrong way and she just can’t shake it. To know that kind of anger and anguish is provoked on purpose just seals the deal for Stern even further.

Trouble stands up straight on some invisible platform and spreads her claws over her head in an arc. Between those claws, a rainbow is spread which crackles with fireworks around it. Shortly later, that rainbow seems to burst into flames.

“Merry, is our band, as we press on this day. Follow me and I shall show you the way. Where destiny lies is a fate unknown. By pressing on is it ever shown. Of what you’ll see, thy reaction is yours to make. Be brave and wise, for goodness sake.”

With that, Trouble floats to a wall then does a cat-scratch down it with a single long claw. As a result, the wall of a force field peels apart as if it is a zipper that gets unzipped. After that, Trouble backs off to the side and graciously gestures to the new threshold while maintaining an ever impish smile.

Part 18: Ominous Prisoners

What is beyond the egress that Trouble created is a reality none of the ponies who entered it could have imagined in advance. It appears to be akin to a hallway that is black and lightless if it isn’t for the many specs of stars visible in it. The “floor” and “walls” of this hallway seem to be transparent but also translucent. They glow with a moonlight like glow yet they can see beyond them, too, to the vast open outer space.

Another thing that is odd about this hallway, which also severely messes with their vertigo, is the fact that the walls and floor of this hallway shifts as if it is being blown by the wind. The floor and walls ripples and wiggles back and forth. Each step they take here feels oddly firm yet the ripple and wiggling threatens their balance a bit. Despite the motion in this hallway akin to wind ripples, though, they don’t hear or feel actual wind on their hides.

As they travel through this space hallway, there occasionally seems to be random gaps in the curtain-like walls that the “winds” created. It is like this hallway is composed of many separate segments of curtains and the “winds” occasionally cause a gap between them. Whenever that happens, they get a glimpse at a random reality beyond it. Some that are so strange that their minds do not know how to process it.

For instance, in some of them there exists colors that don’t exist in their normal reality, or at least their bodies can’t normally see them. The same goes for sounds and scent. They get glimpses into realities that are, in some random way, entirely foreign to their experience. This is why their minds will have trouble storing this information later. All they will be able to remember is the emotion of encountering something very strange and occasionally shocking, but what it is exactly is like the memory of a faded dream.

Not only do those gaps lead to random realities, but the same area leads to a different reality whenever the flapping motion causes it to close then open again. Every single time they can perceive beyond these gaps by any of their senses for even a split second, it always leads to a different and often very strange reality. For the most part, though, what they see is the shifting moonlight glowing and transparent window-to-the-stars hallway.

“I almost dread to ask this, but where are we going?” Stern Wing asks cautiously from the rear of this group. There she remains to make certain no stragglers fall behind her.

“The answer you seek might make you meek,” Trouble’s echo-y multi-voice warns her. “Continue the way is all that I’ll say.”

Stern Wing growls in annoyance before complaining, “My experience with you has been nothing but humbling and I’m getting a little sick and tired of you giving me more reasons to feel insecure.”

“Is this your home reality of sorts?” Feather Wind checks with Trouble. “It sort of has a dream-like quality to it.”

“Dreamers dream of realities awake,” Trouble responds. “A dash of imagination is all it will take. When a dreamer realizes a dream is a dream, potentially awakens to the greater of schemes. This way and that,” she says as she points in opposite directions using her forepaws. Her left forelimb pointing right and her right forelimb pointing left. “says the talking cat. Endeavors abound when the truth is found.”

“Is she talking in riddles?” Derpy wonders as she continues in the middle of the group with a pretty frightened look to her. She’s visibily trembling yet keeps trotting on. Oddly enough, she actually is continuing at the most steady pace of the group. The wall-eyed gray pegasus, who often trips over her own hooves everywhere else, finds a natural rhythm to her motion here for some reason.

“If so, she isn’t the first of her kind to do so,” Daring mentions near the front as she continues cautiously and highly observantly.

“You speak of the Sphinx with a hide like a lynx,” Trouble mentions with an interested tone and apparent recognition. “The one who schools by creating the rules. She who mistreats those that she cheats, yet ever repeats a pattern of defeat.” Trouble gives a very troll’ish smile. “She who is lame who doth breaks her own game. Wherever she dwells, it is always the same.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Daring agrees with a roll of her eyes then widens them as she says in alarm, “On second thought, nevermind. Don’t do that.”

“So you know others like you? You’re not alone?” Feather asks Trouble in concern.

“There’s no social reward from a race of discord,” Trouble expresses rather casually and almost indifferently. “Each Spirit of Wrath tends to walk their own path. Knowledge of one is still a relationship of none.”

“So, in other words, you tend to have no friends,” Feather expresses sadly. “That must get pretty lonely.”

Stern Wing suddenly grows alarmed where this conversation is leading, especially when she sees sudden interest alight in Trouble’s eyes towards her coltfriend.

“Darest I see one who invites me?” Trouble asks with amazed delight.

“No pony, or creature, should be entirely alone,” Feather Wind expresses kindly. “If you need a friend or just somepony to talk to then I’m game.”

Stern Wing slaps her left wing on her face. It’s hard for her to believe that her coltfriend would invite the spirit of trouble itself just because he feels sympathetic. Sometimes the very thing she loves so dearly about him can also be troubling and annoying.

Stern rubs her face down with that wing then refolds it as she realizes that this is why her coltfriend needs a guardian friend. For such a highly educated pony, he can be shockingly naive sometimes.

“A pledge is made, doth speakest thou,” Trouble proudly declares. “I formally accept this humble vow.”

An angry vein pulses on the side of Stern Wing’s head but she keeps her mouth shut for the moment. She inwardly makes a vow of her own that her friend needs a stern lecture about stranger-danger later on.

As a change of pace, the exit of the other side of this starry hallway is stairs leading up. At first it seems to lead to nowhere, which honestly wouldn’t surprise the ponies too much at this point, but Trouble lifts what was an invisible door at first and she does it upwardly. It’s like being inside a chest and lifting the lid skyward. When she does, it reveals a new environment beyond, but not much of one at first. It is all dark.

“Allow me,” Feather requests as he takes the lead. He trots up the stairs then ignites his horn into a radiant silvery color. He projects the light outward then grows surprised when the light does expand, but all it does is illuminate more floor. Whatever room they are now in, it’s too big for his own light to illuminate everything.

“What is this place?” Daring asks as she steps up beside Feather and looks around in an exploratory way. She narrows her eyes some in an attempt to pierce the gloom, but it’s no use. Feather’s light has lit about a forty foot range and it’s not far enough to notice anything distinctive yet.

“I’ll check something,” Margret says as she steps up beside those who exited the previous realm. Secretly she’s quite grateful to be out of that last place. When her horn lights up, a holographic screen materializes in front of her. While she explores the options on it carefully, the others emerge beside her which includes the floating impish Spirit Trouble.

Once they are all out of that last place, the upwards swinging door, which is only visible on the inside, closes by lowering back to the floor. At that point it is just a solid gray floor now.

“See anything helpful there?” Doctor Kelly asks Margret as she reads over the shorter yellow pony’s shoulder.

“Hmm,” Margret says thoughtfully. “There’s a bunch of weird options in here that I don’t understand, but it seems I can’t access most of these controls.”

“Can you try activating the lights of this place?” Daring checks as she looks back at Margret over her right shoulder.

“That, I think I can do,” Margret reports then flips a digital switch on the screen she is regarding. Once that happens, the screen vanishes as she looks around. She notices, along with everyone else around her, as the new place they are standing in ignites with new light. When that happens, it becomes apparent that they are standing in some kind of giant warehouse that is so big, they can’t see the ceiling. It really is too far away. That almost makes it look like they are standing outside. What they can see, however, is some walls, cubby holes, and large square shaped boxes within them that are covered in curtains.

“Whoa!” Derpy gasps in awe. “It’s like Princess Celestia suddenly rose the sun in here!”

“We seem to be in some kind of warehouse,” Stern Wing notes observantly as her eyes continue to scan about. “I wonder what is in those crates.”

“Wherever this place is, it has a digital system,” Doctor Kelly notes. “So my best guess is we’re back inside the floating city of Those Above somewhere. You’ll note the curious lack of other ponies here and the system had more restricted access, so whatever is in those boxes is probably a classified military secret.”

“It’s probably the rest of the secrets that the Commander didn’t trust us enough to reveal yet,” Margret guesses as she rubs her bottom jaw thoughtfully.

“He might’ve been willing to tell us if we accepted his offer, but that’s just a guess,” proposes Stern Wing.

“I’m not fond of Cloak and Dagger tactics,” Feather Wind says with a frown. “Let’s see what the Commander was so afraid of telling us.”

For a moment, he begins to trot beyond the group, but when he notices that the others are not following him yet, not even Trouble. He pauses and looks back at the group to see if they are willing to follow him. They take a moment to look at each other and silently debate something before nodding at each other then follows Feather with more resolve.

The lone exception to this is Trouble. She remains in place and grows a wicked smile before she fades away for the moment. What they are about to discover is no mystery to her.

Feather notices Trouble’s reaction and feels just a little bothered by it, but he reminds himself that she led the whole group here in the first place. Whatever they will discover furthers her mysterious agenda somehow.

Turning back to face the boxes, Feather trots on and this time all the rest of the ponies follow. Soon they arrive at the foot of one of the giant boxes. Up close, they discover that whatever is inside is concealed by a black curtain. The curtain itself isn’t locked. Feather makes the first crack at moving the curtain aside but it is surprisingly heavy. He does budge it slightly which proves it is not immune to his efforts. What he is attempting to do can be done, but it’ll take more power than he has on his own.

Noticing this, Margret and Doctor Kelly ignite their horns and join his efforts. Together, they manage to peel back the curtain further but it is still a struggle. Shortly later Stern Wing takes off towards the edge of the curtain, bites on it, then flies backwards as she flaps her powerful wings. Once again, their combined efforts are clearly helping but it is still not enough.

After observing the results of their efforts for about fifteen seconds and their lack of total success, Daring advises, “Feather, try using some of your wind magic to blow the curtain aside.”

“Um . . . okay, but it could be too successful,” Feather figures, then he looks up at his pegasus friend. “Stern, come back here, or at least get out of the way. The wind could affect you too.”

Stern Wing spits out the curtain and nods at her friend. She then returns to the ground alongside the other then spins about to face the curtain box again as she says, “You did precision flying with other potential Wonderbolt cadets. That training refined your wind control so I trust you with that power. You could have still done it safely with me up there, but I want to see this too.”

“Alright, everypony,” Feather announces, then licks his lips as he concentrates. “Here we go.”

Before he can do anything, Trouble fades back into view beside them. She lifts a cat paw and snaps her fingers. As a result, the black curtain before them is instantly transformed after a brief brilliant flash of white. What it becomes is rainbow paint which then splashes and spreads across the floor.

Feather releases a breath he’s been holding and grows a surprised look as he says, “Or that works too.”

“You could have done that for us earlier,” Derpy notes to Trouble with a frown.

“And deprive herself of the satisfaction of watching us struggle first only to taunt us by doing it for us?” Daring guesses. “Perish the thought.”

“Oh MY!” Margret gasps when she finally realizes what was behind that curtain. They all observe it is some kind of cage which has an insectoid-like creature inside of it which strongly resembles a giant praying mantis.

“You recognize this thing?” Daring asks Margret then realizes something. Next she asks, “It’s one of the chaos beasts, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Margret confirms. “One of the captured specimens, at least.”

“You captured one too on the day we first met,” Feather reminds Margret.

“True, but until now, I did not know what happened to them afterwards,” Margret says back as she narrows her eyes as she studies this creature. Five seconds later she shifts her focus to a holographic screen she materializes and studies more information on it.

“So the Commander has been collecting these things?” Stern asks as she sweeps her gaze to look at the rest of the concealed boxes in this warehouse. “I wonder why.”

“Has any other pony here noticed that this thing hasn’t moved a muscle at all?” Doctor Kelly asks observantly. “Not even slightly.”

Derpy cocks her head curiously as she asks, “Is this thing frozen as a statue?”

Whatever information Margret learns from her screen causes her to gasp before she announces, “No. This creature is frozen in time!” she announces in awe. “Not even the atoms are spinning inside that cage!”

Derpy blinks then looks at Margret in confusion as she asks her, “What are atoms?”

“Some of the tiniest forms of matter,” Doctor Kelly informs. “It is the structure that the universe is built from and based on.”

“Have you heard anything like that, Feather?” Stern Wing checks with her short stallion friend.

“Only rumors and theories about such things,” Feather reports.

“I’m not surprised to hear you say that,” says Doctor Kelly. “The means to study such a phenomenon did exist in your history a few times but got later lost in history. Another means to study it again wasn’t invented for another two-hundred and thirty six years according to our records.”

“I still find it strange to hear you speak of our future in past tense,” Daring remarks to Doctor Kelly.

“It is what it is,” Doctor Kelly replies with a casual shrug.

“I have read some written records that made the claim that Starswirl the Bearded was doing some academic research into such things,” Feather Wind reports. “He might have even found something conclusive but then he disappeared at some point.”

“Like I said, there were some discoveries on it earlier in your history but then it gets lost, largely forgotten, then eventually rediscovered in brand new research,” Doctor Kelly informs.

“Soooo,” Derpy looks back into the cage, “the smallest form of matter isn’t moving inside that cage? Is that a big deal?”

“I’d normally call that impossible and almost an affront to science,” Doctor Kelly responds. “But I do know of one society who was very good with time manipulation.”

“The Time Lords,” Daring says aloud. “This is just further proof that at least one member of their society is involved with this scenario. The question is, why?”

“He claimed that it was the Daleks, or one of their enslaved captives at least, who invented these creatures in the first place,” Stern Wing reminds. “Maybe he was just trying to study them under safer conditions, and you have to admit . . . it’s pretty hard for these creatures to resume being a threat when they are frozen in time. If the time stop stasis ever ceased for these creatures, it would seem, to them, that they were instantly transported into the future. That’s if they have any way to tell at all.”

“One of these cages is not like the uh-thers,” Trouble unexpectedly sings like it is a nursery rhyme. “One of these cages is not like its bruh-thers.”

Daring winces as she looks at Trouble then asks, “Is that your not-so-subtle way to encourage us to keep exploring?”

Trouble just shrugs as she grows a snide grin. Judging from her expression, the others can tell that she certainly knows what they will find if they keep exploring even if she feigns ignorance.

“Wait a second. I think I see what she’s talking about,” Feather announces as he looks off to their right side. To further illustrate his point, he ignites his horn with a globe of silvery light again except this time he launches it away. It shoots off into the distance until it stops at the base of another giant box-thing, only this one isn’t concealed with a black curtain this time. It isn’t a bar cage either. Instead, it is just a solid black box which, from a distance, looks only slightly shiny with Feather’s silvery globe shining beside it.

“Let’s take a closer look,” Daring advises then trots closer to the only box in this warehouse that looks different from the others. As she proceeds, the others follow her. The closer the group gets to this different cage, the more foreboding feeling assails their hearts.

“Does anypony else feel that?” Derpy asks with a nervous voice after they arrive at the base of this new cage. “Whatever is inside this thing is giving me the willies.”

“This one does feel very ominous,” Stern Wing agrees. “It is likely that, whatever is inside this thing, it is among the Commander’s greatest military secrets.”

Feather passes a snide look of his own at Trouble as he asks her, “Are you going to open it for us this time?”

Trouble’s eyes shift to Feather while her face remains directed at this new box. She says, “Only if the rest of you fail. I do not wish for this story to grow stale.” With that, she blows him a kiss. Actual pink lip-gloss floats like a butterfly after she blows the kiss then smacks into the left side of Feather’s cheek which stuns him for a second and irritates Stern Wing to observe.

“Whatever is inside this thing, this is the point of why she brought us here,” Daring Do figures. “She brought us to this warehouse, of all places, then encouraged us to keep looking while we were busy examining some other cage. I must admit,” she pauses as she rubs her lips with the edge of her right wing, “whatever is inside this thing has got my curiosity piqued. A secret the Commander didn’t want us to know yet and Trouble does. Whatever is inside, it likely isn’t good . . . but it probably is important. Likely the key and crux of this whole adventure.”

“We didn’t come to this time period at random, though,” Stern Wing reminds. “It wasn’t some random course set by the Doctor or the choice of the TARDIS. Instead, it was you who brought us to this time.”

“I had some help, though,” Daring announces as she turns to face the group. “Shortly after I got some advice from the Sphinx that . . .” Daring pauses a moment as she notices Trouble’s irritated sigh and dismissive roll of her eyes at the mention of that name. Daring decides to file that observation for later and resumes. “. . . the cure that I seek rests somewhere in the annals of history, I used a symbol of the Knights of the Hourglass that was bequeathed to me by another member of the Order who prefers to remain anonymous, but I doubt it would be a problem with fellow members.”

“She isn’t a member,” Stern Wing reminds as she continues to look at Daring but tilts her head at Trouble.

“Nor I,” Margret adds with a slight regretful sigh. This suggests that she probably wants to be a member.

“Duly noted,” Daring agrees. “This isn’t the main point I’m trying to make anyway. As I said, I used the symbol to contact another member of the Order. One responded and shortly showed up. At first I thought I was going to hitch a ride on that TARDIS, but instead its captain hoofed me an envelope and told me to deliver this to the Doctor, and that it was he who would ultimately acquiesce to my request.”

“Oh yeah!” Feather brightly recalls. “I almost forgot about that small rectangle shaped object that you hoofed to the Doctor. He made the claim that information is somehow stored on it.” He tilts his head curiously as he goes on to ask, “I hope you don’t mind if I ask, but do you happen to know what information was in that thing?”

Daring briefly closes her eyes, shakes her head, opens her eyes again then says, “I do not, but the captain of that other TARDIS was adamant that I deliver that package to the Doctor.”

“Was the captain male or female?” Derpy asks curiously. “For that matter, was it a pony at all?”

“Pony shaped to be sure but I couldn’t tell the rest of the details,” Daring answers. “She was wearing a spacesuit so it hid all of her details, including her cutie mark . . . if any.”

“Not all ponies have those,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “I, myself, do not.” She focuses more sharply at Daring as she goes on to say, “And if you couldn’t tell any of the details of this mysterious mare then we can’t rule out much based on that encounter. It might have even been a future incarnation of the Doctor for all we know.”

“How did you know it was even a mare if the details were hidden?” Derpy checks with Daring.

“Her voice,” Daring answers, “but I suppose even that is a guess. I have heard female-sounding stallions before and vice versa. In addition, ‘she’ spoke over some kind of intercom. That modulated her voice slightly, or perhaps even severely. Maybe the purpose of that voice box was to specifically hide her true voice.” Daring waves a hoof dismissively. “So ultimately I don’t know much about this pony, but I’m still going to go with it was a mare since I lack evidence to the contrary.”

“And you have evidence for it, however slight it might be,” Feather figures.

“My point is that our presence here, in this time, was somewhat orchestrated by that mysterious mare in the other TARDIS too,” Daring points out then spins about to face the giant black box again. “All of which culminated in this moment. What we face before us right now.”

“The Prime Minister of the Magi, my race, mentioned that he had a whole fleet of TARDIS’s that he couldn’t access yet,” Doctor Kelly mentions. “That’s why he wanted the Doctor’s help. He hoped that the Doctor would help him open one or all of them. It may be that you, Daring, encountered one of those ships which was eventually given to some future companion of the Doctor, or perhaps it was the Doctor him . . . or in this case her . . . self.”

“The Doctor as a mare?” Derpy marvels then shakes her head. “No. I really can’t picture it.”

“Or likely you don’t want to,” Feather guesses quietly.

“Be that as it may, we are still confronted by this locked thing,” Doctor Kelly reminds the group then looks at Daring Do. “With your permission, I could try using my computer and see if I can hack access to this thing. That is if we have any intention to find out what is inside.”

Daring sighs as she looks down then says, “I must admit, part of me doesn’t want to. I get a foreboding feeling of whatever is inside this box as well.” She looks back up at this box. “But we came all this way so we might as well try. I’d rather at least attempt to put this mystery to rest before we move on.”

Daring Do looks back at Doctor Kelly then gives a firm nod. Doctor Kelly acknowledges that nod with a one of her own then ignites her own holographic screen. She proceeds to interact with it.

“Do you really think you can crack this thing open?” Margret asks Doctor Kelly curiously and anxiously.

“There’s one way to find out,” Doctor Kelly replies. “Now I beg your pardon by requesting a moment of silence, please, as I concentrate on this task. I’m not as proficient in hacking into digital structures as the Doctor is.”

“You can do this,” Feather encourages.

Doctor Kelly gives a shushing sound as a reminder for the others to be quiet. This time they do comply. Strangely enough, even Trouble is patient with this. More than half of the group expected her to intervene out of sheer boredom despite being an immortal.

“Alright. I think I cracked this one,” Doctor Kelly announces two minutes later.

“Already?” Derpy asks in surprise. “Wow. You are good.”

“Well, I am a genius,” Doctor Kelly announces in what doesn’t sound like a brag. More like she’s stating a fact. “Not to the same level as the Doctor, but still . . . I believe I can access this thing now.” She gives a meaningful look at Daring Do as she checks one final time, “Shall I?”

Daring winces in one final moment of hesitation but then looks back at the box as she decides, “Do it.”

Doctor Kelly glances at her own holographic screen one last time. When that happens, it makes a beep sound effect then fades away. Moments later, they hear a very large clicking then some hissing sounds before the door, which none of them could spot until this moment, lowers down to the ground. Upon noticing that, the group takes several steps backwards, or floats backwards in Trouble’s case, to avoid being squished by the slowly lowering and very ominous thick black door. When it finally touches the ground at a bit of an angle, it creates a platform from which they could ascend or others inside can descend.

“You know what? You should talk to the Doctor and see if he can teach you how to use his sonic screwdriver,” Derpy recommends to Doctor Kelly. “Because you are right. You are a genius. So much, in fact, that you might actually be able to master that complicated thing too.”

“I’ll admit, I have considered it,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “Especially now.”

“You might even be able to pilot one of the TARDIS’S,” Feather mentions and commends. “Because you did say you were able to do multi-spatial calculations for your teleports. As such, you can choose a destination without line of sight. All you have to do is be able to calculate a temporal course as well then bingo. You’d probably get it.”

“It’s probably more complicated than that, but I suspect that I’d at least be able to hoofle the basics,” Doctor Kelly mentions back. “It even occurred to me that it might be a future version of me that spoke to Daring Do and hoofled that note to hoof to the Doctor.”

“Enough stalling,” Daring insists. “Let the future take care of itself. Until then, all we have is useless speculation.” She focuses hard on what is ahead of them. “In the meantime, we have this. Whatever this is.”

Stern Wing approaches to stand beside Daring as she recommends, “I recommend you and I take point.”

“Good idea,” Daring agrees. “You and I will take point. Derpy, you stand behind us. Feather, Doctor Kelly and Margret, you take up the rear. If you can, be prepared to defend us with force shields. And Miss Saddler, keep scanning what is ahead of us with your drones, please. I want as much feedback as we can get.”

“And I will be here, playing it by ear,” Trouble announces as she flashes and transforms into a giant, disembodied floating cat-like ear for a second.

Daring grunts, rolls her eyes, then decides to ignore that as she presses on.

“You’re all ears, huh?” Feather says with a smirk back at Trouble. Both Stern and Daring groans over that pun while Derpy giggles a little bit. “Or ear, I should say.”

Trouble flashes back to her “normal” form which, again, seems to lie on some invisible surface. In that form, she says, “The better to hear you, my dear.” She gives a dismissive “go on” gesture with one paw as she adds, “Go on while I cover the rear. I’ll be near to give great cheer while you press on despite your fear.”

“No kidding,” Feather agrees seriously as he turns back and presses on.

“I may not be your father, Feather, but you and I are going to have a little chat soon about conversing with dangerous strangers,” Stern promises in a grouchy way.

“Be quiet and stay alert,” Daring orders seriously. “Doctor Saddler, are you picking up anything with your instruments?”

“Something metallic is registering up ahead,” Doctor Kelly reports. “Half a dozen of them, to be more precise.” She squints at the information she is receiving before adding, “I can’t tell what kind of alloy it is.”

“Metallic?” Daring echoes. “So they are not living creatures?”

“Um . . . actually, I am detecting lifesigns too but they are pretty small and within the metallic structures,” Doctor Kelly further reports. “My guess is they are either in some kind of vehicles or smaller prisons within this prison.”

“Time doesn’t seem stopped in here,” Feather Wind notes.

“Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be,” Doctor Kelly concurs. “I think I disabled that too.”

“You did?!” Daring asks in alarm as she whips her head back at the white unicorn mare behind her.

“I had to in order to disable the rest of the systems here,” Doctor Kelly explains. “If I had more precise control, I could have been more selective. As it stands, however, this was an all or nothing deal.”

“In that case, is anything holding them back anymore?!” Daring asks in alarm as she whips her head in the forward direction again.

“Perhaps those metallic things I detected earlier,” Doctor Kelly guesses.

“Wait!” Stern Wing exclaims as she lifts both her giant wings to block further advancement for the rest of her party, which works, although her coltfriend easily could have ducked under her wings if he wanted to. Once they stop, she tells them, “I see something ahead. Some kind of blue light has lit up.”

“I see it too,” Daring concurs.

“We . . . are . . . alive,” says some mysterious entity up ahead in what sounds like a very synthetic voice, and a pretty bad one too. The voice is scratchy and filled with static. To add to this mystery, two more pairs of lights, though white this time, light up with each word this mysterious entity speaks. Those lights are perpendicular to each other but also at a bit of an angle each as if perched on top of something round that they can’t see.

“Where . . . are . . . we?” the same entity probes.

“You understand us?” Derpy asks in surprise. “You speak our language?”

“Of course it does,” Daring says quietly to Derpy. “Those who traveled in the TARDIS receive telepathic translations.”

“Even if the TARDIS isn’t here?” Margret asks in surprise.

Daring shrugs as she answers, “Apparently so.”

“TAR . . . DIS? You all fly in the TAR . . .DIS?” the entity ahead checks with that same scratchy, robotic sounding voice. As before, two lights briefly glow in the darkness with each syllable the creature says.

The group hesitates, momentarily caught off guard by this creature's apparent recognition of the TARDIS. Eventually Daring Do cautiously replies, “Yes. Most of us have, at any rate.”

“Do . . . you . . . know . . . of . . . the . . . Doc-tor?” the creature slowly asks as if maybe it is groggy.

“You know of the Doctor?” Daring reflects in surprise.

“Answer . . . the question,” the creature insists. “You . . . will . . . oh-bay.”

Once again the group hesitates. During that time, Daring flashes a look to Doctor Kelly to see if the white mare has any further information to report. Daring grows very alarmed to notice how frightened Doctor Kelly now looks. Up until now, that magi mare has never displayed any emotion anywhere near this degree.

“Yes,” Derpy eventually answers. “We know the Doctor.” She tilts her head. “And how is it that you come to know him?”

“Doc . . . tor?” the creature reflects as if pondering that response. “Doc . . . tor,” the creature repeats, although this time it sounds more like a statement, kind of as if the creature is mulling this information over. “Doc-tor. Doc-tor. Doc-tor! Doc-tor!! DOC-TOR!!” the creature repeats over and over again with apparent rising fury.

“Was it something I said?” Derpy asks in alarm as she takes a frightened step backwards. “If I offended you, I’m sorry.”

Doctor Kelly mumbles something but it is too quiet for the others to hear.

“Everypony, back off,” Daring Do orders. “I got a bad feeling about this.”

“Me too,” Stern Wing agrees.

Ahead of them, five more blue lights ignite steadily. When they repeat the words “Doc-tor” as well in a rising chant of fury, they also have two white lights flash above the blue lights too.

The ponies' souls chill, though, when these creatures suddenly stop their chant and, for a moment, there is dead silence. Extreme tension hangs in the air during that time. So much so that all the ponies are afraid to move.

“Ex . . . ter . . . min . . . ate,” the one that first spoke eventually says. “Ex . . . ter . . . min . . .ate. Ex-ter-min-ate. Ex-terminate. Ex-terminate! Ex-terminate!! EX-TERMINATE!!!!”

Within moments, all of these creatures end up repeating that word over and over again, once again with synchronized and rising fury.

“Everypony, run!” Doctor Kelly cries out in alarm, finally finding her voice enough to do so. “These are Daleks!”

“What?!” Feather Wind exclaims in astonishment.

“RUUUUUUN!!!” Doctor Kelly screams hysterically and insistently before she rushes out herself. The others quickly turn about and follow her out. Behind them, the creatures keep repeating the words “exterminate” while the ponies rush past the still floating and very amused diminutive Spirit of Chaos.

Part 19: Tactical Assessment

The ponies gallop on like the jaws of Tartarus is chasing after them. Very few look back because of it. Only Feather Wind does because he is not galloping but rather on the back of Stern Wing, at her insistence, because she can gallop much faster than him. In return, Feather blows the winds upon all of their backs to accelerate their pace.

When Feather does look back, he notices that the creatures they interacted with have not emerged from the large box prison yet. This, in turn, gives him an idea. Concentrating and communing with the air, he summons forth a large cloud of mist then has it blow outward and upward in order to spread it out to create a giant wall of concealment. He holds his concentration on this power until he’s convinced the wall of mist is tall, broad, and thick enough to completely conceal where his friends are going.

“My friends, this way,” Feather calls to the rest of his friends as he quickly puts on his Mist Cloak then sails his way to an upper ledge of a second story cubicle cubby hole. Along his way up, he calls back to Stern, “Stern, please carry Doctor Kelly here. She’s too frantic right now to concentrate on any spell even if she wanted to.”

“On it,” Stern complies before leaping forward with a large flap and landing on top of Doctor Kelly. Doing that momentarily freaks her out a little further, but Stern Wing quickly consoles, “It’s me. Stern Wing. Don’t struggle and I’ll carry you aloft. Understand?”

It seems to take a moment for Doctor Kelly to register, but she eventually nods in acknowledgement. With that, Stern Wing proceeds to carry the white maji aloft to follow her friend.

“In that case, Derpy, help me carry Margret,” Daring Do requests as she takes off into the air then proceeds to flap closer to Margret. Before arriving, though, she sees Margret create some kind of floating disk of force then hops onto that.

“I can carry myself, thank-you-very-much,” Margret disputes. “In fact, I can make this big enough for all of us. We’d travel much faster too.”

“No need for the moment. Just follow us,” Daring instructs as she flaps upwards and curves her course to follow after Feather Wind. Derpy does the same, though not as quickly. Each pegasus picks up some speed, though, when Feather blows wind behind them to accelerate their flight.

Together, they soon land at the edge of the cubby hole. From there, Feather crouches down and waves for the rest of his companions to follow suit. Quickly getting the idea, they proceed to do so.

“I created a wall of mist back there to conceal which way we went,” Feather quietly informs his companions. “We should be safe up here for the moment.”

“I’ll take it one step further to help ensure that,” Margret decides as she concentrates on one of her spells. The result is a holographic shell materializing around them. From the inside, it looks like a bunch of transparent grid lines and a white glow between them, but they know, from past experience with this spell, that the outside of this holographic shell can look like whatever Margret wants.

“The hologram looks like an empty cage?” Daring guesses at Margret. Judging from the shape and size of it as she can see from the inside, this is an educated guess.

“Exactly,” Margret confirms. “I don’t know for sure if this will fool them, though.”

“We’re about to find out soon, I suppose,” Daring figures as she crawls closer to the ledge and peers beyond it. Once she does, she requests, “Feather, disperse the fog wall over there. It may have successfully concealed us, but that applies both ways. With this holographic shell in place plus this ledge-”

“Say no more,” Feather interrupts. “I’m on it.”

True to his word, he has the fog wall quickly deteriorate. Once that happens, Daring reaches into one of her saddlebags, pulls out her binoculars, then holds them to her eyes.

“Doc, how did you know that those were Daleks?” Feather Wind asks Doctor Kelly anxiously. “Have you ever encountered them before?”

Doctor Kelly does not answer him. Truthfully she seems momentarily incapable of noticing. Her eyes are cracked with red lines, some tears pouring down her eyes, mucus down her muzzle, and she is hyperventilating.

Despite all of that, she seems mildly fascinated about something. Her horn flicks to brief life and a holographic window materializes near her face. On it, there seems to be an outline of her body if her hide is invisible. A lot of data scrolls on the image of her body in the window but especially outside of it. The border of this holographic window is also flashing red to indicate there is some kind of emergency with her.

“Fascinating!” Doctor Kelly marvels despite her crippling fear. “So this is what a panic attack feels like! In all of my centuries of life, I have never experienced this. Especially not to this degree.”

“You treated others who had these symptoms before, I take it?” Feather offers as a change of subject to coax her to engage with him. “You are a psychologist, after all.”

Doctor Kelly finally looks back at Feather Wind then nods. The holographic window beside her also fades away as she answers, “Yes. I’ve had some cases like that. Not too many since my race is raised in a synthetic environment where the only thing we encounter tends to be what we choose to create, but still. Only a society that is completely devoid and incapable of any degree of emotions will totally lack the need for a psychologist on occasion.”

“They’re finally emerging from that prison box,” Daring Do quietly reports to her friends as she continues to peer over the edge of the ledge they are on while she is still using her binoculars. “They don’t seem to be in any hurry for the moment. I think they are even debating something judging by the flashes of light things on top of their domed heads.”

“Once again, how did you know those were Daleks?” Feather repeats his query to Doctor Kelly now that she seems a little more focused. “Have you ever encountered them before?”

Doctor Kelly shakes her head as she says, “No. I only heard and read about them. I haven’t even encountered a holographic file on them. The only images I have ever seen of them are in text and pictographs made by other races.” She shakes her head. “This is going to sound strange and even I can’t explain this, but I still feel totally certain that they are Daleks.”

“I didn’t get a good look at them, but they match every description the Doctor has ever told me about them,” Derpy chips in. “He told me they ride in tiny metal vehicles of sorts and they keep insisting that they are going to exterminate every lifeform they encounter with maximum prejudice.”

“Commander Viraxis said the same thing,” Margret reminds the group. “So it seems both Time Lords agree on that.”

Daring winces in confusion and crawls back from the ledge. She allows her binoculars to rest on its strap on her neck while the device itself rests on the ground since she’s that close to it. From there, she asks, “Why would Commander Viraxis keep a group of Daleks as prisoners? His race has been at war with these creatures and supposedly have been for quite some time during the Time War. One would think he’d do some exterminating of his own with them, so why keep them as prisoners here instead? That just gives them a chance to escape later.”

“To be fair, I don’t think he anticipated, or could even prepare for the possibility, that visitors from another time and/or world would arrive here and be led by a Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony,” Feather Wind figures.

“Based on what I have seen, if he could contain Trouble somehow then I really do think he would have already,” Stern Wing reasons. Stern sighs then shakes her head as she asks, “More importantly, the million-bit question we’re facing right now is what are we going to do now that they have been unleashed?”

“That’s what we need to figure out,” Daring replies. “Fortunately and unfortunately, no pony else is here. That means there aren't any other innocent ponies to be threatened by them here, but that also means no pony else can help us either.”

“And we’re just as trapped with them as they are with us,” Derpy adds fearfully. “Everything I have ever seen and heard of them indicates they won’t be a friendly or even reasonable bunch.”

“They haven’t noticed us for the moment,” Daring says as she crawls back to the ledge. “This gives us a chance to study them in order to figure out how to better deal with them later.”

“What if we try to talk to them?” Feather Wind proposes. “After all, there is a slim chance everything we’ve been told about them could be wrong in one way or another.”

“They kept chanting for us to be exterminated as we ran away from them,” Stern Wing reminds her friend sternly. “I, for one, think that those words, and intentions, have cost them the benefit of the doubt.”

“Worse, both Time Lords insist they are very capable of delivering on that threat,” Derpy says with a shudder.

“Do you have any idea why he would be keeping them here alive, Margret?” Feather checks with Margret.

“I’m not him or a mind reader,” Margret replies. “I’m only guessing when I say I think he was containing them here in order to study them, just like the rest of these chaos beasts here. If I’m right, and he succeeded in that goal, that could win him a tactical advantage in his war against them. Imagine if he had discovered, or created, a new weakness for this race. In terms of motivation, that should certainly be enough for him in his perspective.”

“I agree,” Doctor Kelly chimes in.

“They are on the move now,” Daring reports to the rest of her friends. “They seem to have gathered in front of one of the chaos beast’s cages.”

“I should take a look too,” Doctor Kelly decides as she crawls up close to the ledge.

“Please don’t panic again,” Daring requests to the doctor. “Also I’m still using my binoculars.”

“I think I got a better hoofle on my emotions now that I’m more prepared for it,” Doctor Kelly assures. “They just caught me off guard for a moment. As for your binoculars, keep them. I have something better.”

Igniting her horn, Doctor Kelly creates a holographic window in front of her and a bunch of holographic, disk shaped things ahead of that. Each one is a different size and has variable distance from each other. They also rotate and change their distance from each other after she creates this spell. The result of that is a magnification of anything she’s aiming the disks at. Digital information of some kind is also displayed along the border of this window.

“That is neat!” Feather Wind says with fascination as he observes this spell. “Do you think you can teach me this?”

“Perhaps later,” Doctor Kelly answers. “And I’d have to translate it too if you plan to cast it with traditional unicorn magic. Right now it is a magi gem. Either you’d need to craft your own and attune to it, or translate the magic later on.”

“Later, then,” Feather Wind agrees. “But I’m not going to let you forget about that one. I often fly in the sky or park myself on a cloud. A spell like that would be fantastic in my repertoire considering the perspective I’m frequently able to cast it in.”

“Duly noted,” Doctor Kelly replies. “And agreed.”

“It would certainly make a good scouting spell,” Stern says enthusiastically. “If I could cast magic, I wouldn’t mind being prepared with that myself.”

“There are alternatives,” Daring says as she shakes her own binoculars for emphasis. “And I agree that these especially come in hoofy for adventures, particularly if they are pegasi or able to often take the high ground somehow.”

“Can’t your drones do this too?” Feather recalls as he looks back at Doctor Kelly.

“Yes, but I won’t dare to send them out now and alert them to our presence again,” Doctor Kelly insists.

Suddenly they all hear a collective cacophony of high pitched buzzing sounds. It sounds very similar to the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver except there are many of them this time. Those who can see the Daleks, either through Daring’s binoculars or by studying Doctor Kelly’s magnified holographic screen, have a chance to notice a new device arose on top of these creature’s metallic domed heads. It emerged from a new hole that slid out of the way at the top and this device lifted up. Once again, it appears to be a device that is very similar to the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, although these ones are thicker, shorter, and less streamlined-looking.

“What are they doing?” Daring quietly wonders aloud.

“By Celestia! Those are sonic screwdrivers, aren’t they?!” Feather realizes in astonishment. “And they parked themselves right in front of one of the cages of the chaos beasts. Commander Viraxis did say they have some way to control these creatures so I can see their incentive to release them.”

“What? But the Doctor never told me that they have a built-in device like that,” Derpy mentions.

“But he doesn’t come from the pony universe,” Feather recalls as he looks back at Derpy. “Maybe the Daleks are a little different here.”

“He doesn’t come from the pony universe?” Margret echoes questioningly. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a long story,” Feather answers dismissively. “And I’m pretty sure I’m lacking some of the details. For some reason the Doctor prefers to remain mysterious with his history. I have a hunch that he thinks it would be too risky for others to know too much about him.”

“My stars! Feather is right!” Doctor Kelly exclaims in shock. “They are releasing the chaos beasts. The one in front of them has resumed the normal flow of time.”

Stern Wing growls and quietly pounds the ground with her right forehoof as she says, “Then this situation is growing untenable. If we don’t stop these Daleks now, they are going to unleash the rest of the chaos beasts. If they do that, they’ll be that much harder to deal with later.”

“No! Stay where you are,” Daring orders insistently. “I think they can easily take us out already. Protecting ourselves and observing them is our best recourse for the moment.” She shakes her head. “We just don’t have enough information on them to take them out now.” She nods ahead. “Each of those metal things you see is just their outer shell. It’s like miniature carriages. The real creature is somewhere inside. Something tells me their outer shells will be hard for us to pierce which gives them plenty of shooting opportunities while we try. One of those stick arms they have in front of them, the one that curiously does not look like a plunger for some reason, is an energy weapon designed to kill others in one shot.”

“That is consistent with the historical records I have read,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “Daring is right. We are not prepared to engage them yet.”

“Teleport a stick of lit dynamite inside their tin cans,” Stern Wing suggests. “Simple as that.”

“I don’t have enough for them all,” Daring replies. “I have three left last I checked. At most, that will only take out half of their forces and that isn’t counting the chaos beasts.”

“Besides, I refuse to kill,” Doctor Kelly reminds insistently.

“Then . . . can we teleport some kind of gaseous drug in those tin cans?” Stern counter proposes but with much less confidence this time. At this point she is clearly reaching.

“Maybe if we had any,” Doctor Kelly answers.

“And what if they don’t need to breathe?” Feather adds.

“Um . . . some gasses can be disabling just from physical contact,” Stern proposes but it sounds clear that her argument is losing steam at this point and even she has noticed that.

“We’ve already learned a few important things by safely observing them,” Doctor Kelly mentions. “They are interested to free at least that chaos beast and they have sonic screwdriver’ish devices to pull that off, and each of them is equipped with such a device.”

“If that is true, then they can hack their way out of anything that isn’t made of wood,” Derpy says in a frightened voice.

“Including out of this warehouse?” Feather asks with growing alarm.

Hearing that theory chills the blood and silences the group for a moment. A moment that is first broken by Daring Do.

“Well, in that case, that would provide us a means of escape as well,” Daring proposes. “And they might be easier to challenge outside because we’d have more room to maneuver. There might also be other resources out there that could make that job easier.”

“And harder,” Stern argues. “Because there are a lot more innocent civilians out there.”

“Maybe, but Those Above are pretty powerful as a society,” Feather mentions though he still sounds nervous when he says that.

The group sees the Daleks shoot the bars of the cage with their little arm cannons. The result of that blast of energy disintegrates the bars. As a result, the mantis-like creature crawls out of the cage and seems to bow in deference to the Daleks. One of the Daleks seems to say something, judging from the lightbulb flashes on its head. Shortly later the Daleks all split up. They fly towards separate cubby holes. What is in common with each of their destinations is it leads to another imprisoned chaos beast. From there, they repeat a pattern of emitting some kind of sonic noise followed by shooting and disintegrating at least some of the bars of the cage. They shoot enough for the beast within to squeeze out of. The group notices that the Daleks need much less time to sonically hack each of the cages to disable them.

“That’s because they found the sonic frequency they needed to disable the cages,” Doctor Kelly proposes once Derpy mentions that they are disabling the rest of the cages faster after the first one. “They just memorized that pattern and repeated what works.”

“And now they are unleashing all the chaos beasts contained here,” Stern says very nervously. “This situation is getting worse and worse while we wait up here.”

“Can you contact the Commander from here?” Daring asks as she looks back at Margret.

Margret shakes her head as she answers, “No. I’ve already tried, or rather I attempted to do something similar earlier. Wherever we are, I can’t get a signal out of here. That makes sense if you think about it. We’re at someplace the Commander would consider very secure.”

“Draconequi notwithstanding,” Stern reminds bitterly. “And that reminds me, where is our little trouble maker?”

“Laughing it up most likely,” Daring guesses with the same mood as Stern Wing.

Just for mentioning her, the group actually expects Trouble to show up, but this time she does not.

The group remains at a bit of a loss on what to do while the danger continues to escalate.

All of this changes, however, when they hear a curious beeping sound. The ponies look about in confusion and alarm to see who in the group might be able to identify that sound while simultaneously concerned that it is loud enough to alert the Daleks to their presence.

When they look about, they notice that Margret seems to be the only one in the group who can identify the sound. Her cheeks flush in embarrassment at this interruption while her eyes are also very wide, for she is equally concerned that the sound may attract the attention of the Daleks.

To rectify this quickly, she creates a holographic window and looks at it. What she sees widens her eyes slightly further. Then she looks at the rest of her party as she informs them, “We’re getting a call . . . from Commander Viraxis!”

At first the group is caught off guard by that announcement, then Feather Wind realizes something before quietly announcing, “Actually, that makes sense. We probably tripped some kind of alarm system here in this . . . wherever we are . . . the moment Doctor Kelly hacked into the security system for the Daleks.”

“That’s the thing with imprecise control over a system,” Doctor Kelly reminds. “Shutting it off was an all-or-nothing deal.”

“I know. None of us blame you,” Feather assures to Doctor Kelly. “If anypony does deserve the blame, it’s all of us equally.”

“Or a creature whose literal name is Trouble,” Stern offers as an alternative then bonks her head while giving a “duh” expression as she says sarcastically, “Hello, ponies!”

“Well . . . should I answer it or just mute the beep?” Margret offers to the group.

“Answer it,” Daring decides as she looks at Margret with conviction. “At this point he’ll more likely be an asset to us. We’re trapped in here and we also need some critical information. He’ll probably have questions for us, too, and it might be important for us to cooperate with each other, at least for now.”

Each in their own way, the group gulps nervously as Margret looks at the holographic window then uses her magic to activate a digital button which, in turn, answers the call. The result of this is the image of a transparent window that is centered on Commander Viraxis’s head and shoulders. He is looking at the “camera” with a dull expression as he says dryly, “Why am I not surprised to find all of you in the thick of another troublesome situation? I just hope your reputation for getting back out of trouble is just as potent as getting in it. Such is the reputation of the Knights of the Hourglass.”

“Keep your voice down!” Margret encourages urgently in a hushed tone. “The Daleks are loose and so are some of the chaos beasts. They might hear us.”

“I’m well aware of that,” the Commander assures in a tone of light annoyance, but he also seems so accustomed to this that he seems almost bored. “I would appreciate a further tactical assessment of your situation. Please report.”

“Well this time we’ve had additional help getting into Trouble with a capital T,” Stern Wing reports irritably.

“I’m aware of that too,” the Commander assures. “Margret was right. I do have the group of you bugged so I was aware of your conversation with that troublesome spirit in my ship, but by then I was unable to respond. My computer system was not responding to me. Apparently my authorization codes got scrambled. It took us quite some time to straighten that out.” He shakes his head then asks sarcastically, “Oh gee, I wonder who is responsible for that?”

“In that case, you’ve heard our whole conversation since we arrived at this place too?” Daring asks the Commander through the holo communicator hopefully.

“Some of it, I think,” the Commander answers. “The bugs stopped working after you all entered through Trouble’s portal. What little I do know comes from the security feeds of the storage facility you are in which, by the way, that whole facility is stored in its own pocket dimension. Technically you are not even on this planet anymore or any other for that matter. That place is effectively its own tiny universe.”

“You call this tiny?!” Derpy asks incredulously as her eyes almost bulge out of her eye sockets when she says the word, “this”.

“All time, space, and dimensions is relative to my people,” the Commander explains then orders again, “Now report!”

“Before we do that, I would like to propose an alliance,” Daring Do offers. “At least for now. We’ll give you some information if you give us some information. Then, after we all decide what to do about this together, we cooperate for the mutual benefit of all.”

“Agreed,” the Commander replies instantly. “That’s what I wanted in the first place. I take it that it's a temporary alliance that you are proposing and I still agree to it. That way I can reveal to you all how much we can benefit together.

“Now, for the third time, report!”

“The Daleks have been freed in our attempt to discover what was in the one ominous box that stood out from the rest,” Daring reports. “Trouble sort of nudged us to discover that one too.”

“Of course she did,” the Commander says in a flat tone.

“They asked us if we knew the Doctor. When we mentioned that we did, that seemed to trigger them. They grew suddenly very aggressive at the mention of that name. At first they kept chanting his name in anger, but then they switched to chanting what I assume is their favorite catch-phrase.”

“Say no more about that,” the Commander bids as he lifts a hoof. “I get the point.” He lowers his hoof back down as he asks, “Then what happened?”

“We ran at Doctor Kelly’s urging,” Daring resumes. “For some reason she seems to recognize them, even on an emotional level, despite never meeting them before.”

“Really?” the Commander asks in an intrigued way as he rubs the bottom of his jaw. “That is interesting.”

“I plan to psychologically dissect myself on that one later on,” Doctor Kelly mentions on that topic. “But for now, I think we have more urgent issues to discuss.”

“The Daleks haven’t detected us yet,” Daring goes on. “In truth, they don’t even seem interested in looking for us at the moment. Instead, their efforts are focused more on freeing the rest of the chaos beasts. To do it, they are using some kind of sonic device much akin to the one the Doctor uses.”

“That’s no coincidence,” the Commander assures. “The Doctor really is the reason the Daleks eventually decided to equip all of their drones with such a device.

“That said, they aren’t nearly as proficient with its use as the Doctor. To be fair, though, I don’t know of anypony else who is. Not even his fellow Time Lords.”

The Commander lifts a hoof again, but this time it is his metallic, prosthetic gun-hoof. When he does so, he also adds, “Be warned, though. While the Daleks aren’t as proficient with its use as the Doctor, they are very good at calculations and they are surprisingly good at cooperating with each other on a project if they deem it tactically necessary. Furthermore, unlike the Doctor, the Daleks are fully willing to use the sonic device for offensive purposes too.” He then returns his prosthetic hoof back down.

“Such as?” Daring asks as she widens her eyes a bit in alarm. Whatever he says about this next, she may consider this very noteworthy and could alter her approach against them later.

“If the Daleks feel threatened, I’ve known them to emit a high-frequency pulse that overloads the brain's synapsis of other biological lifeforms within approximately fifty meter range. It can be wider and stronger when they use this tactic simultaneously as a group. Likewise, they can use this to overload circuitry. I’ve also seen them use it precisely enough to target as few as one individual within that range and knock just that person out instead. If they succeed with that attack, that individual, or individuals, will be unconscious and defenseless. If that happens, you need to know that, for a race that often likes to request ‘mercy’ whenever they are at a disadvantage, they are also very stingy in granting it themselves. If they ever spare you from extermination in one moment, they likely have something else sinister planned instead like using you as bait against a higher priority target such as the Doctor, especially considering that has never failed to work before. Not even once that I can recall.” The Commander nods in respect. “And I do have to give the Doctor credit for that one. If nothing else, I cannot question his loyalty to his companions, even if it sometimes provokes him into a situation that is not always tactically prudent.”

“Loyalty is a critical Element of Friendship!” Derpy chirps proudly. “Just ask Rainbow Dash.”

“As you’ve said,” the Commander agrees in a sudden careless and dismissive way. “Anyway, on to other matters. I think I know why the Daleks are freeing the other chaos beasts. It isn’t just the fact that they plan to use them as pawns in their efforts to exterminate all other life other than themselves. There is one in particular they are searching for most likely, and that is the one that can teleport. If they get a hold of that beast, then they will use it as an indirect method to escape this pocket dimension, and I will add that it is also a method that will not likely work for you as well. If you tried, that beast is more likely to kill you instead.”

“Then how do we escape?” Daring asks the Commander. “And, mind you, if we do, we can help you against these other troublesome louts.”

“I’ll provide you with more than just that,” the Commander decides as his eyes, including his one prosthetic and red-glowing eye, shift slightly to the right as if either reading or interacting with information off to the side of the “camera”. “I’m sending you the access codes and instructions on how to escape that pocket dimension. Furthermore, I am also sending you any relevant information I have collected on those particular Daleks and the chaos beasts.”

“Thank you, Commander,” Daring says gratefully. “That will be immensely helpful.”

“Why did you keep those Daleks in storage?” Feather asks the Commander.

“To gather more information about them and their mission,” the Commander quickly answers. “Later on, I had also planned to use them as test dummies for any pony who agreed to join my army and I deem ready to learn about more classified information.

“I’m recruiting for a War, as you all may recall, but the peace-loving ponies here in th era, while powerful in some regards, were largely far from psychologically ready for such ideals. I was trying to prepare them to be ready for that information then eventually train them to be an asset for the larger War. A most important War to win.”

“Do you have any access to any other security system in this warehouse that could hinder these creatures?” Margret checks with the Commander.

“I wish I did, but the resources I was able to bring in from my own kind is very limited,” the Commander answers. “Gathering resources from this world and era was the point of me coming here. The knowledge and technology of Those Above is decently advanced, but they are sadly lacking in any security or military departments and they are so naive and arrogant that they think they don’t even need such things. A lot of what I later came up with I had to invent from scratch with some limited help from the few I did manage to recruit.”

The Commander shakes his head in pity before he says, “So, all told, I had to be far more selective in my approach than I preferred to be.” He shrugs. “I had hoped that being frozen in time and stored in a pocket dimension would be enough to contain them, but it is exceedingly difficult to keep anything secure around a reality-bender who messes with things for fun or a group of meddlesome time travelers who frequently suffer from delusions of grandeur. Under the circumstances, I did the best I could.” He straightens his head with dignity. “And I can die with some peace, if I had to, knowing that.”

“Um . . . Daring,” Stern Wing says in alarm. “The Daleks. They’re gone now! So are most of the chaos beasts.”

Daring grunts in frustration then says, “Then they must have found the teleporting chaos beast while we weren’t looking. That same creature probably teleported the rest of its companions while under orders from its master.”

“Then we can waste no further time,” the Commander in the holo-screen urges. “I know where they are most likely going. Those Above have access to something the Daleks could use as a transmission tower. Fortunately they don’t know precisely where it is, but if they get their grubby little plungers on it, they’ll hack that system and use it to contact the rest of the Daleks. If that happens, they’ll invade this world en masse.

“That was their original plan. These ones are technically scouts, and they were sent here basically for the same reason I was. They are here to gather resources for their war effort except they are far less concerned about collateral damage along the way. So much the better, in fact, to their hate-filled eye cameras.”

Once again the adventurers are stunned silent which is broken by Feather when he asks unexpectedly, “Those plunger-arm things that they have really are plungers?”

“Not really, no,” the Commander answers more calmly. “They only look like plungers.” He shakes his head. “It’s complicated to explain and we don’t have time for that right now. That kind of info is among that which I sent to Margret’s data system so you can look it up later if you wish.

“For now, suffice it to say, those things are the Dalek’s very peculiar way to interact with the rest of the world if they are not busy shooting at things. It oddly still is their preferred method to interact with the world even after they got equipped with sonic devices.”

“We’ll take a quick look at that information soon,” Daring Do promises. “In the meantime, Margret, access any information the Commander has sent to us to get us out of here. We need to get back to the floating city of Those Above quickly. We cannot allow these things to call in more of their kind or this world will be doomed.”

“And we need to warn and defend any innocent civilians in danger,” Stern Wing adds.

“That’s the plan,” Daring Do agrees, then looks at the Commander in the holo-screen. “Can we count on your support too?”

“My ship will arrive very soon,” the Commander promises. “When it does, I’ll do whatever I can to help. This ship is equipped with some weapons, defense shields, and a short-range portal emitter. I can use it to transport troops and civilians back and forth as needed, but remember . . . preventing the Daleks from accessing the Transmission Tower must take priority. If they get a hold of that, nothing else we can do here will matter. This world will be swarmed with enough Daleks to easily overwhelm this place despite the fact that the Daleks are starving for resources in this exhausting war too.” He shakes his head. “I know how they fight and how they tend to approach a would-be battle, or more like a slaughter. The more they can absolutely overkill their enemies, the better in their eye cameras.”

“Thanks for the input. We’ll keep that in mind,” Daring says with as much professional calm as years of adventuring can muster. “For now, it’s time we move.”

Part 20: Invasion of the Daleks

When the adventurers emerge from a portal out of the prison/storage pocket dimension, they behold trouble in paradise. They are near a ledge leading off into the sky. There is a roof above them that is angled away from this corner of the floating pyramid shaped city and thus accounting for the overall shape of this place. The immediate area looks like a garden which has a bunch of ponies who should be enjoying themselves, but are instead sprinting about in panic. Looking about further, the adventurers can eventually spot why. There are some pony corpses nearby. Some look dead for no reason and others have suffered more obvious and gruesome deaths.

“Welcome to the Jungle,” Daring says under her breath then asks more aloud, “Where are the Daleks and their pets?”

“Spread out,” the Commander answers, still on Margret’s holo-screen. “The Daleks have . . . You know what? It would be easier just to show you.”

A new virtual button flashes on Margret’s holo-window screen. When she activates it, it shows a simplified and transparent layout of the city they are in. Bright red dots are visible on it along with many other much dimmer blue dots. There are also some figures on the display that actually look like Daleks. Notably there are two groups of three of those and they are diverging in different directions. One such group is actually flying outside of the city. Some of the red dots are traveling with them and others are scattering. One of them vanishes from one spot and maybe appears in another.

“Pony feathers! What do we do?!” Derpy asks in fright. “There are so many innocent ponies up here and the baddies are spreading apart!”

“To more efficiently search for the Transmission Tower is my guess,” Doctor Kelly proposes. “Or, at least, the Daleks are. The chaos beasts don’t seem intelligent enough to follow orders like that, so I think they are being scattered to go on a killing spree.”

“Which is the other priority of the Daleks,” Stern Wing concludes grimly.

“The ponies up here aren’t accustomed to threats of any kind,” the Commander warns on the holo-screen. “When they first engaged the Daleks and chaos beasts here, they did so curiously until the Daleks started shooting and the beasts ripped the ponies apart. After that, it still took the ponies a few more seconds to fully register the danger then panic.”

“I have a few things I can try,” Margret brings up.

“You, my military personnel, and every scout I sent out in the past has some idea how to hoofle this,” the Commander points out. “Everypony else here does not.”

“We have to quickly figure out the best way to utilize our resources,” says Stern Wing then she looks at Daring. “Daring . . . what do we do?”

Daring’s eyes glitter with emotion as she maintains a deeply troubled and thoughtful expression. She briefly glances at Stern when the large brown pegasus addresses the dungeon-delving pony directly. After that Daring looks forward again at nothing as she continues to think before finally asking, “Well . . . I think we need to know a few things first.” She looks at Margret’s holo-window. “Commander, just where is the Transmission Tower exactly?”

“Basically near the heart of the pyramid structure,” the Commander answers, then has a portion of the city flash on Margret’s screen. As promised, it is near but below the center of the city. “There are other parts of this structure that are attached to this system, but the location I’ve pointed out is where one can directly interact with it. Plenty of systems we have up here can access it remotely, but only in the location I specified can anypony use it directly.”

“Then we go there,” Stern decides as she points at it. “Since we know that that is where they are going, we can intercept them and-”

“No. Bad idea,” Daring rejects as she shakes her head. “The Daleks don’t know where the Transmission Tower is right now. The longer they stay ignorant of that fact, the better.”

“I agree,” mentions the Commander in the virtual window. “If the Daleks see us all consolidate our forces to one spot and they know that we know what they are seeking, then they’ll assume we’re trying to guard that which they are seeking.”

“Then what do we do?” Stern asks impatiently and urgently. “We have to help these ponies out, and fast!”

Daring Do looks behind her at the portal that is still open which leads into the prison/warehouse. She nods at that then looks forward again as she announces, “We keep monitoring the progress of the Daleks just in case they start getting closer to their target. If we do, we’ll eventually consolidate our efforts against them.

“But, until then, we spread out and do whatever we can to lead other innocent ponies here,” she taps her right forehoof on the ground she’s standing on, “then through the portal behind us. If they go there, the ponies will be trapped but also safer inside because we have the means to close that portal at any time we want.”

“But if we do that, we can’t send anypony else through it,” Margret reminds.

“We’ll have to take out the nearby chaos beast, or beasts, first,” Daring announces. “Once we do that, we can re-open the portal and keep sending more in.”

Stern Wing lifts a hoof in objection as she asks, “Spread out? Are you serious? The first time we engaged a chaos beast-”

“I soloed and defeated it,” Daring reminds. “I’ll admit, I did have some help, but it proves that it's still possible. We only needed a group to defeat it after Trouble augmented it.”

“Right,” Stern recalls as she thinks back on the incident.

“We have to do this,” Daring insists. “The alternative is for all of us to consolidate to one area and rescue the ponies there while abandoning the rest. Those Above would suffer far more casualties that way.”

“In that case, before you split up, I have something to offer you all,” Doctor Kelly mentions then lifts a purple crystal. It flashes for a second. After that, light sinks into it that at first isn’t visible, but then light spreads from it again in various cracks that spread across the crystal. Moments later it falls apart in many various shards. Doctor Kelly picks up some of those shards with her magic and spreads it apart. Each of her friends receive one shard per pony.

“Keep that,” Doctor Kelly instructs. “If you do, I’ll be able to monitor your health status, and location, from a distance as well as being able to communicate with you all. I can even create a holo-window near you.”

“Perfect!” Daring cries triumphantly. “In that case, I want you to stay here and guard the portal,” she says directly to Doctor Kelly. “Keep your hoof on the shut-off button for the portal. Also monitor our status, the chaos beasts, and the Daleks. From here, you can give us all tactical advice.”

“I’ll also quickly read up on more information about the chaos beasts and the Daleks,” Doctor Kelly adds. “In addition, I’ll heal anypony here who suffers an injury. I can also teleport you or others.”

“Right, but stay away from the Daleks,” Daring instructs the doctor. “I don’t want you suffering another panic attack near them. You’ll be more useful far away from the front lines anyway.”

“Again, agreed,” says the Commander. “The last pony we should send to the front lines is our primary healer. For as long as she remains uninjured, she can eventually restore the health of the rest of us.”

“Should I go too?” Derpy asks with worry. “I’m not much of a fighter of any sort.”

“Yes, because we can cover more ground that way,” Daring answers. “The threats have spread out so we have to do that too, and remember . . . actually fighting the chaos beasts isn’t our priority here. The rescue of the innocent ponies is. You can distract the chaos beasts while telling everypony else where to flee.

“Use your best judgment, though. Not every fight is worth jumping into.” Daring applies a hoof to Derpy’s shoulder as she adds, “You stepped into the TARDIS and are well aware of what that entails by now. Don’t let your courage fail now. These ponies need us.”

“I’ll help too but I’ll do it from a different position,” the Commander announces in the holo-window. “With this ship, I can participate in rescue ops while going on the offense against the chaos beasts at the same time. I’ll primarily focus wherever the rest of you aren’t unless we get information that one of you critically needs some backup. In that case, I’ll send whatever I can spare.”

“Here, Margret. Take this,” Doctor Kelly offers something extra to the yellow unicorn. It is some kind of stone with runic symbols on it.

“What’s this?” Margret asks as she examines it.

“A warp stone,” Doctor Kelly answers. “With it, you can create a teleportation circle on a flat surface beneath you. Once it is created, the Circle will need some magic from you. If it receives it, any object or creature within the circle at that moment will teleport to another Circle as long as you visualize the unique runes that another Circle has. I’ll provide that information to you too later remotely.”

“Oh. Neat,” Margret says in a tone of acceptance. “I think I can hoofle that. I’ve used something like this before.”

“More important than that is precisely where you set it,” Doctor Kelly adds. “I want you to set it near, but not at, the Transmission Tower. Don’t be obvious about your path towards it too unless you are sure you’re not being monitored or followed by any of the antagonistic forces here.” She nods once. “In the meantime, I’ll set up another teleportation circle near here. That way, if and when the Daleks do start getting closer to the Transmission Tower, we have a short cut to cut them off.”

“And Margret here can get there the fastest with her flying disk thing-y,” Stern adds in approval.

“Better than that,” Margret chimes in. “Thanks to that, I can make other kinds of short cuts along the way.”

“Just make sure you leave no trace of it along your path,” Doctor Kelly presses.

Margret thinks about that for a moment then nods confidently as she says, “Sure. I can do that.”

“Guide Derpy to an area with the thinnest enemy forces,” Daring instructs Doctor Kelly. “Or an area that has none at all yet but soon will. She can warn the ponies there to evacuate here before they get attacked.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Doctor Kelly agrees with Daring Do.

“Good,” Stern says with a firm nod. “Then the rest of us will concentrate on more dangerous zones.”

“In that case, send me to one of the areas with the thickest amount of danger,” Feather Wind nervously but also bravely requests. “I think I have the most resources to bear against the enemy forces, especially considering the fact that my magic regenerates especially fast in this era. I can also bring the weather against them and also defend the ponies, and if need be . . . I can also get away the fastest. As a matter of fact, send me to one of the two groups of Daleks directly.”

“The lot of you keeps on proposing strategically sound moves,” the Commander compliments, “Because Feather can also create an energy barrier. Mind you, however, the firepower of the Daleks is pretty strong. Don’t count on your energy shields to block more than one shot at a time. You’ll have to re-cast the spell again to either recreate a shield that shattered or reinforce a shield you created before if it got struck even once. Since our magic replenishes much faster here anyway, you can spare that energy and that’s much better than being hit by those blasts since they are designed to be fatal. Sometimes those blasts can even explode with the force of an average grenade. In many battles I’ve seen against the Daleks before, they sweeped a stream of explosions across the battlefield as if each blast was like a raindrop in a harsh thunderstorm.”

Hearing this causes Feather and Derpy to gulp nervously.

“You should probably focus more on evasive maneuvers,” Stern recommends to her small blue friend. “You trained as a Wonderbolt cadet so I know you have it in you. Rely on your energy shields only as a backup or to protect other ponies who can’t dodge fast enough.”

Feather nods at Stern.

“Well, they can fly, obviously,” Feather mentions to the image of Doctor Kelly off to the right side of his head while he flies toward the group of three Daleks who are flying outside the city and seem to be assessing it. Feather is in no hurry to intercept them since they aren’t doing anything too hostile yet. Instead of that, he figures it is better to wait while he listens to more tactical information from his friend. “My question is how fast. Can they keep up with me if I go full out?”

“You once crossed a large portion of your world in . . . what? A few minutes?” Doctor Kelly asks on the other side of the holo-window. “Based on the information I am seeing here, the answer is no. No by a long shot.

“I’ll tell you what they can do, though. Those things they are riding in are not just miniature tanks, they are environmental suits. Those suits are so good, they can survive in the vacuum of space.

“According to what I am reading here, the ability to fly wasn’t always a thing for them either, though. Hilariously it says here that it actually used to be a thing to escape the Daleks simply by trotting up some stairs.

“Oh!”

Whatever the doctor read next, it spooks her.

“What?” Feather asks in rising alarm.

“The exterior shell of those things are pretty tough, but it says here that, ever since somewhere in the middle of the Time War, they started getting equipped with energy shields too, and they do regenerate as well,” Doctor Kelly reports.

“Perfect,” Feather says sarcastically as he floats to a stop and creates a small cloud beneath his hooves as a platform to stand on and hide behind while he continues to observe the trio of Daleks ahead. “How strong are those shields?”

Doctor Kelly shakes her head as she answers, “Probably unknown exactly. I’m reading some conflicting information here. Maybe the strength of it changed over time. Perhaps not all of them are equipped with the latest and greatest either, but these guys are the late survivors of the exhausting war. Chances are it might be towards the upper end.

“The advice I am reading here to penetrate their shields is either to hit them with a single overwhelming blast, or a continuous barrage of shots that batter away their defenses faster than it can regenerate. If that limit can be broken, their shields will remain down for a while to recover and reboot.

“Additional notes I am reading here is that, since their shields are entirely technology based, it does not benefit from the enhanced harmonic energy of this place and era. Nor is it hindered.”

“That’s good to know,” Feather says with a slight cheer.

“Additional information I am reading is the rate of fire of their arm cannons. It seems each one needs a few seconds to recharge between each shot, but the exact time it takes depends how much energy they devote to each shot. It says here that the energy can be weak enough to stun the target, but they don’t often do that. The far more observed setting evokes a lethal system shock to the target. If, however, they pump even more energy into it, their shots can be downright explosive. The Commander already mentioned how strong.”

“Right,” Feather recalls.

“Their vision can zoom and gives a number of logistical data,” Doctor Kelly reads on.

“Will mist block it?” Feather checks.

“Um . . .” She pauses a moment as she reads on then eventually shakes her head. “It doesn’t say here, at least not directly, but based on what I am seeing here, my guess is yes, except . . . they have been able to locate targets around barriers like walls on occasion. It might be that they can switch to infrared or something equivalent.”

“Mist has moisture, though. Even if they switch to infrared, the cool clouds might be able to obscure whatever is behind it,” Feather guesses. “Can they be electrocuted?”

Doctor Kelly is quiet for a moment until she answers ten seconds later, “Not only can they be, but they seem almost vulnerable to it,” she answers. “Their shields, however, will block that while they are up.” She shrugs. “I guess they faced that problem often enough to build some kind of compensation for that weakness.”

“Anything else I need to know before I engage them?” Feather checks one more time.

“Probably a lot more,” Doctor Kelly answers. “I have loads of data here, but they’ll probably attack somepony long before I can read it all even though I can read very fast with high comprehension.”

“Keep reading whatever you can,” Feather invites. “In the meantime, shut off this window but keep recording anything you hear. I don’t want it obvious, to them, that I’m communicating with anypony else.”

“Will do,” Doctor Kelly replies and the window shuts off the next second.

Feather Wind takes a deep breath, holds it, then releases it slowly before he dives on towards the Daleks. They seem to notice him shortly before he arrives even though they weren’t initially looking in his direction. That indicates they have some kind of alert system for them other than sight. It might be sound, but Feather was pretty quiet with his approach. Maybe a motion sensor instead?

As Feather nears them, they turn in mid-air to Feather. When he nears them, Feather floats to a halt as his tactics shift from wind power to telekinetically holding up his body by his hooves (his least ticklish spots unless they are rubbed the wrong way) and keeping his body weight very light. Using his forehooves, he lifts them up in a gesture of surrender while wondering if they will understand or respect the gesture even if they do understand. Just in case they don’t understand the gesture, he also says upon arrival, “Hold your fire. I’m not here to fight you. I just want to talk.”

“Pony wishes to communicate with us?” one of the Daleks asks him. “Then you will cooperate with us or be ex-terminated.”

“Ex-terminated,” the other two repeat in apparent agreement. Feather is quickly gathering that might be their favorite phrase.

“Yes. I do wish to talk,” Feather replies as he keeps his hooves up. “Your race is obviously very powerful and dangerous, so I think it would be in our best interests if we became friends rather than enemies.”

“You are not a Dalek so you must be ex-terminated,” speaks the leader with that ever crackling voice box.

“Ex-terminated,” the other two repeat again.

“If you wish to delay this fate, then you must oh-bay us.”

“You must oh-bay,” the lackeys agree as they simultaneously nod their nose-cameras.

Feather’s yellow eyes look across them as he assesses them very carefully during this pause in action. He notices that they all look, sound, and act the same. If it weren’t for the fact that one of them was designated as the primary speaker in this conversation then he would have no way to tell them apart. He is glad that Doctor Kelly is listening to this conversation as well because this encounter can give her a psychological base-line to help her understand these creatures' thinking even further.

In the meantime, just in case, Feather keeps his energy ready to raise a magic shield at any moment. In addition, he is creating a vacuum in the air between them but closer to the front. Within that vacuum, he continues to suck the air out of a tight spot approximately the size of a beach ball. The more he does so, the more pressure builds in that one area.

While Feather is giving this attempt at peaceful negotiation a chance, he’s still aware that he is clearly dealing with a group of dangerous creatures that have already indiscriminately started killing the very moment they escaped their earlier prison. The fact they keep on repeating words like “extermination” before or assisted in the creation of deadly, even downright sinister, creatures before speaks volumes about their general mindset. As a result, while he is trying to keep an open mind and give them a serious chance for peace, he isn’t dumb enough to do so without preparing a backup plan.

Aside from that, even if these negotiations completely fail, he can at least delay them for a short time and gather more information on them at the same time.

“That would seem to be the case. Obeying you all seems to be the most prudent course of action if I wish to avert, or at least delay, extermination,” Feather pretends to agree. “In that case, tell me what you want. What service can I do for you to help me avoid extermination?”

“Pony will guide us to the Transmission Tower,” the lead Dalek demands. “You will oh-bay or be ex-terminated.”

“Ex-terminated!”

“I can do that,” Feather agrees honestly with a nod. “And if I do, what will you do with it?”

“That is irrelevant for you,” the lead Dalek immediately insists. “You will oh-bay or be ex-terminated.”

“Ex-terminated!”

Feather droops his eyes halfway as he realizes this conversation is starting to get repetitive, but it is not useless yet.

“The reason I need to know what you will do with the Transmission Tower is because I might be able to help you access it faster and more efficiently,” Feather downright lies at this point. “Depending on what your purpose is, I might be able to smooth things out for you in advance.”

“IRRELEVANT! IRRELEVANT!” the leader complains in outrage. “Do not stall us, you inferior, non-Dalek species! You will oh-bay us immediately or be ex-terminated!”

“Ex-terminated!”

“Hold your fire, please!” Feather requests urgently while he continues to build a pressure bomb between them. “I certainly don’t want to be exterminated. Rather, I had rather hoped we could settle things between us peacefully. That way we can all-”

“IRRELEVANT! IRRELEVANT!” the leader chants again. “Inferior, de-scusting pony has delayed us long enough! Since you have not guided us to the Transmission Tower, you must be ex-terminated!”

“Ex-ter-”

Feather did not wait for the lackeys to finish repeating their favorite rhetoric again because he can already tell that they are serious about carrying forward with their threat this time. They already lifted and aimed their arm cannons and were about to fire. Telegraphing their attack, which seems to be a psychological tick for them right now, is the only reason they haven’t fired already.

Before that happens, Feather releases his hold on his pressure bomb that he was building between them. Doing so allows air to rush back into the intense pressure vacuum he created. That, in turn, causes a sonic-boom explosion. Feather also spreads his own Mist Cloak in order to catch that shockwave which propels him to burst away from them at a sudden high speed.

Because of the Dalek’s energy shields, however, they are not even slightly nudged. Their shields simply cancel the entire inertia against them from that explosion, but the shields are momentarily damaged for a moment by taking the brunt. By itself, it isn’t enough to overwhelm their shields and it quickly starts to regenerate seconds later.

One of the things that Feather did manage to accomplish, though, is momentarily confuse the Daleks. One moment they were talking with a mysterious small blue pony and the next that pony shoots away like a speeding bullet. They have no idea what happened and that catches them off guard. They even glance at each other with their nose cameras to see if any of them figures this out first. All in all, this momentary confusion delays them for a few extra seconds.

The other thing Feather manages to accomplish with that explosion is to propel himself away at high speed, albeit very painfully. If he had been concentrating on any spell at that moment then the odds are high he would have lost that concentration. Fortunately his air and weather influence does not strictly rely upon that. Instead it is more about communion and intention.

“So much for peaceful negotiation,” Doctor Kelly says on her end of the line. “At least you managed to delay them for a few moments and gathered some useful intel. For instance, we have verified the fact that they are seeking the Transmission Tower.”

“I’m not stupid. I knew engaging them like that was risky,” Feather mentions back. “But I had to give them an honest chance. I’m not just going to blindly accept the words of potentially prejudiced Time Lords who claim that all chances of peace with them is impossible. Instead, in good conscience, I had to verify that fact for myself.”

“And?” Doctor Kelly checks with interest.

Feather shakes his head as he says, “I have never met another species, or individuals, as inflexible as them. They absolutely do have very rigid thinking and that likely is by design. In so many ways, they are the exact opposite of me. I find that dark reflection to be very unsettling.”

“I can well imagine,” Doctor Kelly agrees. “Well, even if they can’t adapt that well, you can. That’s among the traits you have that is the opposite of them. Accordingly, learn from this lesson well.”

“I haven’t given up all hope that I might find an exception among their kind,” Feather confesses. “But that said, it appears there is a very good reason why an exception among them would be exceptionally rare. Something would have to go wrong with the equipment that created them or they get damaged or something that frees them from the very strict, inside-the-box thinking that they are trapped in.

“Even then, it is likely they’d keep on blasting out of sheer habit. They’d need to suffer amnesia or something really out of the ordinary for any of them to be different. Until then, I noticed how their behavior was identical and, again, probably by design.

“I also get a strong feeling none of them have personal names. They are removed from absolutely everything that would give them a personal identity aside from their own individual experience, and even then I get the feeling their experiences are filtered and limited somehow.”

“Whoever designed them had a very specific purpose in mind and a great deal of time to perfect it,” Doctor Kelly assures on her end. “With that in mind, please don’t do that again anytime soon.”

Doctor Kelly takes and releases a deep breath then says, “Be that as it may, we’ve established a few important things about them as well as delayed them a bit. More importantly, they are not even attempting to give chase. My guess is they have already determined they have no way to keep up with you and they have higher priorities besides.”

“Are they on the move?” Feather checks.

“Yes,” Doctor Kelly answers. “They have resumed their course. By the looks of it, they are resuming their grid-like search pattern. As I expect from them, based on the feedback I’ve gained on them so far, they are being very logical and systematic. They might as well be robots.

“On the plus side, Margret has reached her destination without incident and she’s even established the teleportation circle on her end, so that’s ready.”

“Good,” Feather says with relief. “How are the others doing?”

“Welllll . . .”

“THAT WAY, EVERYPONY! GO THAT WAY!” Daring Do frantically calls to a large crowd of panicked ponies who are, for the most part, not cooperating. The reason why that is true is well understandable to her, for even now she is currently engaging with two chaos beasts.

One of them looks a lot like a prehistoric armadillo. It is as large as a cow and stands on four clawed limbs. Its head is a bit small and its tail ends with a hammer-like bulge. She already knows it is very hard to penetrate its hide. It might as well have a brick wall on its back.

Most terrifying and disturbing of all is the swarm of insects that occasionally crawls out of its back then zips this way and that. Each insect has four wings flapping on both sides and the wings are razor sharp. It doesn’t seem like the insects eat or drink anything. Their only purpose is to fly past anything organic and cause tiny cuts as they pass. Each cut is painful but hardly deadly on their own unless it leads to excessive blood loss, but with a whole swarm of those little buggers, it is literally death by a thousand cuts.

In fact, she has already seen the horrific sight of an entire pony herds being shredded to the bone in seconds by those little buggers. Worse yet is they can fly and hone in on their prey. Dodging them once doesn’t matter for long because they keep on chasing their victim and curving about in mid-air if that’s what it takes.

If that isn’t enough, Daring is having to dodge a second chaos beast that sort of looks like a lizard with a hard brown shell on its back, but nowhere near as thick as its companion. This creature often stands up on two legs, but if it does, it doesn’t move from that spot much. This creature seems to have highly stretchable and morphic qualities. The forelimbs it throws not only stretch an impressive distance from its body, but grows to immense size mid-swing. All by itself, this creature is punching large holes through entire buildings which eventually collapses due to too much loss of structural integrity.

Then, to top it all off, there is the chaos of a bunch of panicked ponies galloping about every which way. Everywhere Daring turns, she sees criss-cross of fleeing ponies and some of them get crushed by falling debris thanks to the enlarging and stretching lizard-creature thing.

All of this makes her situation super hard to think calmly and rationally. Even for a veteran like her, this is pushing her limits. She’s not a heartless pony and every injury and death she is observing is a blow to her conscience.

On top of all that, they are not listening to her. She can barely hear herself among the crowd, and even if they did hear her, why should they trust her? They don’t know her and they barely recognize authority of any kind.

She has multiple problems right now and she struggles to organize and prioritize them in her head. She leaps down and slides along the ground to avoid a giant fist that punches through a large wall she was standing beside. A dust and cracked bits rain upon her which causes her to sneeze. Outside she can hear the haunting buzzings of probably millions of clustered insects flying every which way. Wherever they go, they quickly silence a group of screams after sickening cracks and splashing sounds.

Due to her adrenaline, time briefly slows down for Daring Do. She looks over her shoulder as she sees the large fist that punched through the wall slowly withdraw and shrink along its way back. By now she knows that this creature has to pull that limb all the way back before it can “reload” for another swing. That’s one of its weaknesses.

Also, while it does have a hard shell back, its white belly-side looks far easier to penetrate. On the other hand, when she made an attempt to strike that side earlier, it curled up like a rolly polly. In that form, it can also roll itself wherever it wants and temporarily grow in size. In that form, it might as well be a giant steamroller. Somehow it knows where it is going and can even hop over some obstacles if need be.

By now she knows pleading with the crowd to guide them to safety is useless. There’s no way they’ll be able to hear her over all these screams, buzzing, and sounds of destruction. Even if they did, there’s no reason they should trust her. They are in a panicked state, too, so that again weakens their comprehension.

To win their trust and make things quieter, she’ll need to take out the local threats. Both of these creatures are super hard for different reasons. The armadillo creature is slow but it has tough armor and can call upon a very deadly swarm of insects that can be remarkably persistent once they lock onto a target.

The other threat is far more mobile except when it swings its forarms and fists. Every trick and tool in her arsenal doesn’t seem effective against these creatures except maybe her dynamite. She can’t rely on that trick too often, though. She doesn’t have that many left.

Then it occurred to her to use one threat against the other. Maybe she can’t take them out, but they can.

Getting an idea, she scoops up a piece of broken rubble around her with her left wing then zips through the hole that was recently made. With it, she chucks it at the large lizard creature which bounces off its armored back but also seizes its attention. She tries to call out, “HEY! OVER HERE, LIZARD BRAIN!” to it but, once again, her voice is lost in the crowd. She resorts to waving her forelimbs and wings instead again. In response, she sees it gives a sinister smile and stands up straight.

Realizing she has its focus again, Daring Do leaps up and flies over the rest of the crowd. She knows she can’t fly too high because the swarm of razor insects is up there. For now, they are primarily targeting any local other pegasi and unicorns zooming about on floating disks.

Daring keeps an eye at the lizard creature as it turns to face her new trajectory. It seems to hold back its own attacks until it doesn’t need to turn anymore. So, not only is it rooted to one spot during its attacks, it can’t even turn to face a new direction either. It has to lock on to some target pretty much straight ahead of it before it attacks.

Daring holds her course and even slows down some to encourage the lizard to attack her, which it finally does. When it does, Daring zips ahead then curves to her right to dodge behind the armadillo-like creature. The stretching and enlarging fist of the lizard course corrects its swing a bit in mid-flight in an attempt to hit Daring. In the end, though, it hits the armadillo thing instead and it does it hard enough to actually crack its thick back shell.

“Why are you hitting yourselves?” Daring taunts under her breath as she’s otherwise breathing raggedly.

Then she notices the panicked noise of the ponies around her lowers a few decibels as they notice this new turn of events with surprise. They never expected anypony to attempt to stand up to these creatures let alone do so with any degree of success.

Enraged, the injured armadillo creature gets back up and notices its partner snickering a bit without a hint of remorse. The armadillo lifts up its head and roars. In response, the swarm of insects above suddenly change their course and fly down to attack the other lizard creature. Noticing that approach, the lizard predictably rolls up into a ball again.

“EVERYPONY, THIS WAY!” Daring calls out to the crowd again during the momentary pause of silence. This is so hard to do when she can barely catch her breath. “SAFETY IS OVER-”

“Actually, it’s not,” Doctor Kelly interrupts and corrects. “Several more chaos beasts are between here and where I am located. Too many to say the path in between is safe. Stern Wing is currently engaging one of them. Some octopus-like creature that can swing on a web that it shoots and has electrical tentacle limbs.”

“Oh sweet Celestia!” Daring exclaims. “Give me a break! How many of these things are there? And what about the Daleks themselves?”

“You don’t want to know,” Doctor Kelly replies cautiously.

Daring lands and balances herself on a broken pillar. From there, she gazes out and notices the two local chaos beasts are still engaging each other. If their Dalek masters were here they might have been able to break up this fight and redirect their target, but without them, they are really aggressive and stupid beasts. She’s beginning to see why these chaos beasts often hunt alone. That’s exactly how most of them were captured.

“Oh no!” Doctor Kelly groans on her end.

“What now?” Daring asks wearily.

“I think another chaos beast has arrived at your position,” Doctor Kelly grimly reports. “It’s the teleporting one.”

“Blast it!” Daring groans as she looks about more carefully. On top of everything else she is going through right now, this new obstacle threatens to overwhelm her.

On the other hand, that target would be very useful to remove. That was how the Dalek’s initially escaped their prison. If she can take this one out, they can’t use that trick again.

“Where is it?” Daring asks as she keeps searching.

“Hard to say,” Doctor Kelly reports honestly. “It just keeps popping in and out of various positions. For now it seems focused in your general vicinity. You must have a lot of innocent civilians in your area.”

“I do,” Daring confirms.

“Yeah. I can see that,” Doctor Kelly agrees from her end.

“In that case, I’m going to take to the air,” Daring decides as she lifts her wings. “If I can get an aerial reconnaissance, I’m more likely to spot this thing. Besides, the two other chaos beasts I got engaging each other here both can’t fly. The insects one of them summons can, but they tend to stay close to their mother-hive.”

“You got them to fight each other?” Doctor Kelly asks in an impressed tone. “You must be a descendant of Clover the Clever.”

Daring Do grins as she takes off into the air. That compliment honestly does tickle her giddy inwardly. That’s just the kind of levity she needed to help focus her too in this moment.

Ascending to about five hundred feet into the air, Daring looks down to see if she can find her newest threat. As she keeps scanning, she occasionally spots it but only briefly. Each time she spots it, it isn’t there for even a full second. It appears then blinks away so fast she almost has to question if it was her imagination. The only evidence she tends to see that it was, indeed, once there is the fact it leaves behind a pony corpse in its wake.

For instance she spots only the back torso and hind legs of a stallion as it collapses onto the ground and quickly spreads a pool of blood on the ground. The forward half of him seemed to have just disappeared along with the chaos beast when it appeared, touched him, then teleported away along with the upper half of his body.

“Confirmed. The little bugger is around here,” Daring assures in a voice that is far more unsteady than she expected. “I can’t lock eyes on it, though. It just keeps appearing and disappearing so fast. I don’t know of a way to lure its attention either, and even if I did, this thing could probably kill me in an instant.”

There are other fliers in the air too, she eventually notices. By whatever means is at their disposal (whether it is natural to their body or not), the reason they are here seems clear to her. They are avoiding the ground because that is where the other two chaos beasts are tussling. They can’t stay up here forever but, for now, they don’t know what else to do.

Then Daring Do blinks, startled, when she notices some deaths are occuring up here too. For the first time, she catches sight of the teleporting chaos beast because it didn’t blink away as fast this time. Because of that, she notices the fact that it looks like a giant flying squirrel. Emphasis on the flying part, too. Like a flying squirrel, this creature can stretch its limbs and the skin in between stretches with it. As a result, it can glide through the air in a very similar way that Feather Wind does with his Mist Cloak except this creature can glide naturally and it can teleport to artificially and suddenly gain more altitude. As a result, it can stay in the air for as long as it wants.

Based on Daring’s assessment of this new creature, the reason it did not immediately go into another raid of attacks is it got busy doing some assessment of its own. She can imagine what it is like for the creature to teleport back and forth so quickly all the time. That causes sudden shifts in its environment and if it does it quickly, it barely has any time to scan for more targets itself. That’s why it teleported into the air then visually scanned below it to select more targets. In the process, it notices there are a few up in the air with it as well. There is a wicked gleam in its beady little eye for a second before it vanishes and Daring starts to hear screams of terror up here as well, but not from this creature's direct victims. They didn’t have enough time to scream.

Daring’s shoulders sag. This is so daunting to her. This new threat appears and disappears so fast. There is no warning for its victims. One moment they might be screaming in terror and, in the next, they are suddenly dead as some critical part of their body is missing.

At that moment, her mind flashes back to something Feather Wind once said about the chaos beasts. He once hypothesized that Trouble was innocent of the creation of these creatures because she wouldn’t go for instant kills like this. This really is more of the Dalek’s style except the one that attacked The Village breaks this pattern. That one wanted its victims to suffer longer. It even selected Doctor Kelly as its last victim just because she had the ability to heal the others and thus preserve its targets longer.

Then her mind strays to another topic. When she first emerged from the cave where the TARDIS took off, she saw the scenery of paradise beyond anything she could imagine. There are some areas she has explored in the past that approach that level of magnificence in various ways, but that was the first time she saw it all come together like that.

If she could travel back in time and tell her past self of the horror she would face on this day despite being in such overwhelmingly hospitable territory, her past self likely would be slow to believe her future self. At the very least, past Daring would probably demand some kind of evidence.

Daring shakes her head to clear it but she’s still at a loss. She can’t think of an adequate strategy to counter a threat this great. Even if she could dive into a swimming pool full of jello, it would slow her down too just as much as the other creature, and unlike her, it can teleport back out of the trap whenever it wanted.

Until that day, she never realized how scary teleportation can be when it is used offensively. Even without that, it can be a scary tool in the possession of a stalker.

The best thing she can think of to counter this threat is to use magic of some kind, but that is not her speciality. If only she could lure it into some kind of zone that negates dimensional travel.

Maybe . . . ?

Daring was about to ask Doctor Kelly to relay a message to Commander Viraxis on suggestions on how to handle this beast. After all, dimensional travel is something the Time Lords specialize in. Add to that, he had captured it before and that gave him a prolonged chance to study it too.

Before she has a chance to ask, she gets startled when another pegasus collapses into her. At first Daring thought that was an accident, but this pegasus clings to Daring’s body so tightly that she doesn’t have a chance to flap her wings.

“Hey! What gives?” Daring asks as the both of them end up diving back into the ground of the flying city. “Do you mind?”

“Shh. Just let it happen,” the other pegasus says with a voice that sounds somewhat artificial, like it is spoken through an intercom. Despite that, she can at least tell that this other voice sounds feminine.

During their fall, Daring peers over her shoulder. Doing so causes her to notice that this other pegasus, probably a mare, is wearing what Daring can only assume is some kind of spacesuit. It covers this other mare from the top of her head to the tip of her hind hooves. Even the wings and tail are covered which is really strange to look at. This means the other pegasus has to flap with a suit that conforms to the shape of her wings, but that also means the feathers of the wings can’t contact the air directly.

There are no gaps in this suit whatsoever. If it is, indeed, a spacesuit then that actually makes sense. Having any holes in it would defeat the purpose that it was designed for.

Why would such a pony be here, though? Especially at this moment? This kind of innovation is not beyond the means of Those Above, but this is still a very unexpected encounter right now nonetheless.

Daring struggles to free herself, particularly when they get close to crashing. She opens her mouth to give a scream but then she feels a lunge back. The other pegasus spreads her wings and slows their descent despite the fact that the wings are covered too. Only after they land does the other pegasus release Daring.

“What’s your problem?” Daring asks in confusion as she stands back up.

“I’m trying to save your life, so you’re welcome,” the other pegasus says.

All of the sudden Daring realizes that this new mare is a bit familiar. She’s encountered her sometime before, but where? When?

“Good. We finally caught up with you,” announces another mare nearby and, again, her voice sounds artificial too over the spacesuit’s helmet intercom. Daring turns her head enough to notice that, not just one, but two other ponies are approaching her. Like the first, they are all wearing spacesuits. What really catches Daring’s eyes a moment later is an Hourglass symbol fade into view on the left upper part of one of the pony’s forelegs near the shoulder.

“Wait. Your whole spacesuit is made of psychic paper?” Daring realizes questioningly with a start.

“That comes in hoofy when we want to disguise ourselves,” one of the two ponies says to her. The female one. Maybe they all are.

“All three of you are Knights of the Hourglass!” Daring realizes with another start.

For some reason the third pony scoffs at that, but that pony doesn’t otherwise reject that proposal. Instead, that pony finds the prospect true but distasteful.

“Indeed,” says one of the ponies who looks like an earth pony. Come to think of it, both of those who approach Daring now appear to be earth ponies. The one that speaks is the shortest of the three and she sounds relatively young.

Daring widens her eyes as she suddenly recalls when she last encountered these three, and the shortest earth pony mare in particular. Back then she didn’t engage much with the other two but she was aware that they were there. They wore spacesuits back then too. It seems to be a way to hide their true identities on purpose because now both of these encounters didn’t occur in outer space.

“It’s you!” Daring cries with recognition. “You’re back!”

“Aye,” the short earth pony agrees.

“I delivered your letter,” Daring assures the short earth pony. “I don’t know what it is, but the Doctor has received it. He said something about a flash drive?” she asks with a questioning tilt to her head.

The short earth pony lifts a hoof as she says assuringly, “I know he received it. That’s not why we are here right now. Instead, we have come to assist you with your current predicament.”

“Speak for yourself,” scoffs the last earth pony in a tone of disgust. “I’ll help with this, but I’ll do it my way and for my own reasons.” She turns about. “Excuse me.”

“Why you . . .!” the pegasus mare in the spacesuit cries in outrage and almost lunges at the one who is about to take off. Based on the words and actions Daring is observing, it seems to her that this isn’t the first time the tall mare gave this dismissive attitude and the pegasus seems tired of it. Daring also notices how the tall mare pauses and turns her helmeted head about to look back at the pegasus. Although Daring cannot see any of their faces, she can feel this daring grin on the face of the tall mare as if welcoming the pegasus to cause some trouble.

It takes Daring a moment to realize that the small mare holds up a hoof to the chest of the pegasus and this blocks that mare's further advancement. In turn, the helmeted head of that pegasus looks down at the smaller mare and Daring gets a, “Are you sure about this?” kind of feeling.

“Yes. Let her go,” the smaller mare answers the pegasus’s unspoken question. Then she looks at the tall mare as she says to her, “If you’re going to go, then go. We’ll meet you later.”

At first the other tall mare remains still and quiet for a second before turning her head forward again and resumes her pace away.

“You can’t let her keep doing this,” the pegasus urges the smaller mare who seems to be the leader of the three based on Daring’s observation.

“It’s wise to pick my battles carefully, and I have bigger daisies to fry,” the leader assures. “Let her go. She’ll come in hoofy in her own way, and remember . . . only I have the key to my TARDIS.”

The spacesuited pegasus grunts in frustration then says, “Fine! But I’m still getting sick of her attitude.”

“That’s your prerogative,” the leader accepts nonchalantly as she finally lowers her hoof from the other mare’s chest. “In the meantime, let's take care of these other problems here. For that, I want you to create a crystal sanctuary nearby then lure as many innocent ponies there.

“As for you,” the leader goes on to Daring presumably. “I want you to take a look at this.” The small mare lifts a tiny scroll. “Open it and look at it. Moreover, call Doctor Kelly on your holo-window and make sure she takes a look at it.”

“What is it?” Daring asks as she accepts the note with a wing then uses her other wing to pull it open. What she sees is a runic circle with a bunch of other arcane runes along the two most outer layers. She widens her eyes in recognition of this. These are the codes for a teleportation circle. A unique teleportation circle.

“Oh wow!” Daring marvels then looks at the leader. “You have one of these too?”

“Indeed,” the leader confirms. “And when Doctor Kelly sees and takes a picture of it, she’ll be able to teleport to that circle too.”

“I guess this becomes more of a thing with the Doctor’s future companions?” Daring asks as she taps the crystal shard on a string around her neck as a signal to communicate with Doctor Kelly.

“No need to signal for me,” announces the voice of Doctor Kelly. “I’ve been monitoring your progress all along, and I have taken a picture of those teleportation runes. I can already tell you that it is a set I didn’t have before now.”

“Now you do. At least the codes for one of our warp stones,” the leader announces. “With that, you can teleport other ponies to the shelter my other pegasus friend is about to create. You don’t have to warp any pony there but you can. I figured we can give these ponies a third option for safety around here. That way they don’t have to travel on hoof towards either of you two. They can just go to whichever sanctuary happens to be the closest, and we only need to localize these shelters in the areas that are attacked today.

“And speaking of attacks, let’s take care of your teleporting beast problem. With that beast out of the way, the Daleks will lose a substantial tactical advantage. Likely one far more useful than even they realize.”

“How?” Daring asks in bewilderment. “That beast can teleport so fast, there is no warning where or when it’s going to strike.”

“Leave that to me,” the leader assures confidently. “In the meantime, come with me. We need to act as bait to lure the creature. For now, the best place for that is where there is a thick number of other ponies. That is where the beast itself will focus its efforts.”

Doctor Kelly Saddler sits in an invisible tunnel full of holographic window screens while sitting on a wedged force sphere. She props her right elbow up on the arm of her wedged sphere and uses her right hoof to lift up her head as she gazes at one of the windows which displays the visual information as well as digital information from the crystal shard Daring is wearing. She lifts her eyebrows curiously as she watches this new mysterious spacesuited companion deal with the warp chaos beast with curious ease. Part of the doctor already expected these results, though. That spacesuited mare sounded way too confident in herself, but not overconfident either. It’s as if she knew she would win in advance. Like she could see the future.

And speaking of which, that seemed to be how she handled the beast too. The mysterious mare stood in a ready battle stance with the poise of a very well trained martial artist. From there, she only moved when it was the perfect moment to do so. Doctor Kelly actually froze one image of the small mare punching at the chaos beast just as it appeared then rewound the footage then played it forward again frame by frame. She soon comes to the conclusion that this mare punched out towards empty air and the warping chaos beast just happened to materialize there in time to get punched in that direction. Creeping the images forward and zooming in, the doctor soon realizes it is more than just a mere punch. This small mare aimed at a very precise point of the chaos beast’s body and twisted her punch just when it connected.

Doctor Kelly then leans forward and collects her hooves in front of her muzzle when she realizes that what she is seeing is a pressure point technique. A pressure point to, as far as she can tell, a totally unique creature. How could the mare in the image even get the chance to study the anatomy of a creature that might truly be one of a kind?

The doctor settles back in her seat as she realizes this information is very strange and noteworthy. Just who is this mysterious mare?

“Excuse me? Um . . . Miss?” calls a stallion beyond and through her holographic windows. Doctor Kelly focuses her vision through her windows to behold a green unicorn stallion with a frazzled mane. By the looks of him, he is struggling to keep things together and doing a decent job under the circumstances, but clearly with a lot of effort. She continues to watch him as he asks, “Are you sure we’ll be safe on the other side of that portal? And just where does it lead to?”

“A place your attackers cannot follow, especially now,” Doctor Kelly assures him and anyone else who happens to be listening nearby. “Just proceed through and you’ll be safe. If any of those creatures make it out here, I have the means to delay them and close the portal if necessary. Furthermore, I have a pair of drones beyond who can scan and then heal the most critically injured here, so have no fears and please proceed.”

“Thank you!” the stallion expresses with great relief. Even his mane sinks down as if he was holding a breath before that moment and seems to greatly relax during the exhale. Feeling reassured, he waves for the rest of his nearby family to follow and they soon proceed through the portal.

“Just what are those awful things?” a fairly young pink unicorn filly asks Doctor Kelly but a filly old enough to pronounce her sentences clearly.

“Those questions shall be answered shortly,” Doctor Kelly assures the young filly then her eyes flick in alarm towards a window which displays Feather Wind’s health status. The red flashing screen gives strong indication that he is no longer in sound health. She needs to do something about this immediately.

“What is it?” the pink filly asks in rising alarm.

“Something I need to take care of,” Doctor Kelly answers as her “chair” floats back down to the ground. Along the way down, she reads more details about Feather Wind’s status. What she takes especially close note of is his exact coordinates. As long as she has that, she has the means to teleport to him.

She focuses back at the filly and gives a reassuring smile as she says soothingly, “Don’t worry. I’ll hoofle this problem. In the meantime, continue your way through the portal. I shall be back shortly.”

With that, Doctor Kelly channels magic to one of her maji stones worn on her white labcoat. When that spell activates, she visualizes the coordinates she saw on her window screen. With that done, she teleports away to Feather’s new position. Since other spells she had cast earlier caused all the holo-windows around her, they teleport to her new position too.

Feather Wind screams as he tumbles out of the sky in pain. His condition gets somewhat worse when he hits the ground. His body weight is still pretty low, and that helps, but he came to the ground with tremendous speed then tumbled further upon impact.

All of that pales in comparison to the wound that he got inflicted with up in the sky which is a large gash from his upper left shoulder to across the barrel of his abdomen. As a matter of fact, he has never been injured like this before. Not even close. He might have felt like a prisoner in his father’s mansion at times, but they had guards there and plenty of other forms of security, including magical security. His family has been trained wizards for many generations, after all.

Because of all of that, injury of this kind has never happened to him before. As a result, its effects are greatly magnified for him. His brain simply doesn’t know how to process all of this. All he does know is it’s impossible for him to concentrate on his spells now and he can barely keep in touch with any of his surroundings.

While still tumbling on the ground and screaming in sheer agony, Feather thought back to many of the puffball games he watched his filly friend play as they grew up. Despite the fact that the entire sport takes place in the air, it can get rough sometimes. Collisions happen. That’s not the point of the sport. The point is to toss the cloud ball through the cloud rings in a certain sequence. Because it is a cloud ball, it is very hard to toss far. It’s like trying to toss a ball underwater.

Many times, he remembered Stern Wing gritting and baring the agony of her injuries with quiet dignity. Sometimes she would wince or request her doctors not to touch her wings that hard, or wherever she happened to feel her pain at the time.

But then she’d look up at her coldfriend then twist her wings to the side and lift a single feather as a signal to assure him that she will be fine. She can endure this pain and she felt confident it won’t keep her down for long.

That is not idle boasting either. Very often she got back on her hooves as quickly as she promised. Many times he recalled marveling at her and wondered how she did it. It seems especially at odds with his own standards. Even the tiniest cuts could cause him to scream in agony.

In the early days of their foalhood, one of the greatest injuries she had suffered, and indeed ones great enough to keep her in the hospital for many days, is also the day she got her cutie mark awakening. On that day she defended a farm full of ponies from rampaging goblins. That was a true attack that was meant to inflict great injury and potentially even death, but she spread her wings and insisted that the goblins can not pass her. Indeed, she did everything she could to keep the others out of harm's way.

Everything . . . and that determination had cost her.

To this very day, it hurts Feather’s heart to recall how injured and bandaged she was in the hospital, but there was a radiant proud smile on her face. There she was, facing the greatest injuries of her life yet she smiled like she was on cloud nine. When he asked why, she explained that she got her cutie mark while not realizing her parents already told him before he had a chance to see her. She went on to describe how inwardly fulfilling it was to finally know who she truly was. She could lift her head with pride knowing that she successfully defended the lives of those ponies on the farm that day. Because she did that, every day they lived since was a gift she gave them. She overflowed with pride and joy to know that they had received such a precious gift. That act would echo on to every future generation of that family too. They wouldn’t be there, or even exist in the first place, if it wasn’t for her heroic sacrifice.

Feather’s pain starts to ebb as he reflects on the irony over the fact that that is exactly what happened to him now. Up in the sky, he was doing a decent job hindering any antagonistic forces that he could observe. He even handled multiple of them at once and did a good job of it. He took out seven of them so far which is far better than he initially expected, especially considering he did all of this solo. They are not even dead either. Just unconscious so they are no threat to anyone else right now and he doesn’t have to deal with the guilt of their deaths either.

The problem was he wasn’t the only one in the sky. In a curious twist of fate, a young and brash blue pegasus, (which curiously reminds Feather of a younger version of Sky Dancer, which is Stern Wing’s cousin and one of Feather’s earliest flying mentors) flew up at him with the intention to help. No pony else in this society did that. This is a society not accustomed to any threats whatsoever. Psychologically they couldn’t possibly be less prepared for this, yet along comes this brave young soul who had an unusual determination to help. Because he did that, he was there to be a target to one of the other chaos beasts in the sky and, unfortunately, the young stallion did not see this one coming.

Feather Wind did see it coming, though. When that moment came, Feather acted without thinking. He dove down and pushed the other stallion away using his own body and the wind.

In retrospect, using the wind was far more effective. Feather’s body weight was nearly that of a feather at the time so pushing the other stallion personally was like being pushed by a feather. Since that stallion needed the wind to remain aloft, however, trying to remain up in the sky during that moment was like trying to swim up a waterfall. That pretty much forced the other pony down and, more importantly, got him out of the way of the chaos beast's razor sharp edges of its wings. Unfortunately, that blow connected with Feather Wind instead.

Feather marvels and smiles when he thinks back to Stern Wing’s smile in the hospital shortly after she got her cutie mark. Finally, after all these years, he realizes what she must have felt on that day. In a curious way, this moment seems to solidify the fact that he and Stern definitely have an entwined destiny together, for both of them are naturally heroes regardless of their social backgrounds. What he had just done wasn’t his smartest move, but it still felt right. It felt good to his soul.

He smiles, despite his pain, because he, too, more fully realizes who he is at the core of his being.

Nearby cries of alarm shakes him out of his reverie and quickly reminds him of two very important things. One; he’s still in danger as well as others around him. Two; he’s still injured and that pain came back with a vengeance.

This time, however, he struggles to contain his pain as he searches around to locate the source of the nearby cries. He soon spots it behind his hind hooves. The chaos beast that had successfully hit him had landed but the eagle/lion-like creature, kind of similar to a griffon actually, crawls down from the roof of a pagoda and faces towards what appears to be a mother and two foals. They shrivel in fear within the pagoda as they cower away from the creature as far as the structure around them will allow. Here, however, they are also trapped because the chaos beast is approaching them from the only exit of this structure. That, in turn, provides it with very easy targets.

“Hey!” Feather Wind cries out with as much force as he can muster. He tries to focus his magic near his horn and blast it with a hornbeam but it turns out the pain of his current injury is too strong to concentrate on any other spell.

Feeling desperate, Feather searches around him for any object he can throw. Nearby he does locate a bed of stones in a tight little square. It isn’t in immediate reach but he manages, with extreme effort because of his pain, to crawl over to it, touch one of the stones, then toss it at the back of this chaos beast. Along the way, he also smears a trail of blood along the ground and probably also dirties the wound.

With the stone in hoof, he tosses it at the chaos beast. It bounces off the creature’s back near its spiky spines which is the one feature about it that’s very different from a standard griffon. That attack didn’t hurt it at all, but it did lure its attention away from the other trapped ponies.

“Over here, you bucking monster!” Feather cries out desperately using language that likely both of his parents would have frowned upon, but they might give him a pass this time considering the extenuating circumstances.

The creature growls at Feather hatefully then continues to crawl down to the ground towards Feather Wind. Aside from the fact that Feather is only one target, he’s about as easy, or possibly easier to get at, than the trapped ponies in the pagoda because Feather is injured and this creature can smell it. There is also no cover or structure, like the pagoda, to protect Feather Wind from this creature.

Feather Wind looks past this creature and notices the fact the other ponies crawl out of the pagoda while the beast is distracted, but then he also sees them hesitate to flee because now Feather is in danger.

“Just go!” Feather whispers then sends the message through the wind to their ears. “Go!” he repeats and sends that more forceful message.

The method by which they received the message surprised them but they received it nonetheless. They nod then make their way off.

With great effort, Feather tries to crawl away from this creature and into a small hallway nearby. Since he still has his body weight light, that helps. He made tiny, almost anti-gravity jumps towards his destination using gentle nudges along the ground.

Noticing this, the creature pauses because what it is observing is very odd. It has never seen another creature move in such a weird way. Fifteen seconds later it gets over its surprise and decides that its course hasn’t changed. Every instinct it has insists that all life forms must be exterminated.

Despite being as gentle as he could be, the pain of Feather’s injury momentarily drives him out of his mind. He has to struggle through the intense haze of pain and focus back at the threat below him. He sees the moment the creature crawls into the hallway with him. A line of shadow crawls down the creature's face then eventually the rest of its body.

“That’s it,” Feather invites as he narrows his eyes at the creature. “A free meal, here. Come and get me!”

The creature screeches in a very eagle-like fashion as it crouches down before launching forward with a burst of speed. Along its way, Feather fights through his haze of pain enough to concentrate on his magic. This time he succeeds and he uses it to create a force shield, but he uses it in an unconventional way. He creates it on the floor where the creature eventually steps on it. When it does, Feather telekinetically lifts the shield both forward and upward. Since one of its eagle talons was still on that shield, it forced that left hind leg upward and forward. That, in turn, flipsthe creature so that its backside was facing towards the floor.

Before it could fully fall to the ground, Feather uses the wind to strongly smash it against the wall to his left side then he reversed the current to smash it to the wall to his right. After that he keeps the creature dizzy by spinning it in a whirling cyclone. He concentrates on his magic again and telekinetically crushes its throat closed. That alone could eventually kill it, but he finishes it off as a strong gust of wind shoots it straight up where it snaps its neck against the ceiling. From there he finally relents as he releases his hold on his powers. The creature collapses to the ground in a heap.

In a sudden moment of silence that follows afterward, he wonders to himself if that is his first kill ever.

Feather Wind jolts, startled, and gives a horse whinny when Doctor Kelly suddenly teleports nearby him just beyond the hallway he is in.

“Oh good! You’re still conscious,” Doctor Kelly expresses with relief then regards the corpse of the chaos beast wearily. “Um, is it . . .?”

“It won’t trouble you any more, doctor,” Feather assures her with a hint of a haunted and guilty expression.

“Oh? Well . . . good. Let me take care of you, then,” Doctor Kelly decides. “I’ll get you back on your hooves in no time.”

“Please do,” Feather welcomes with a haggard breath and many beads of sweat pouring down him. “I need to get back into the fight quickly. The others still need me.”

“Report,” Daring Do requests on the holographic screen on Doctor Kelly’s end. “What’s the situation so far? How is everypony doing?”

“A little busy at the moment,” Doctor Kelly answers with strained calmness as she concentrates on a spell that keeps a wall of force stable ahead of her in order to block what seems to be a crossbreed between a dog and a dragon from clawing through. The vast majority of this creature has the shape of a dog except it has about three times the average size and girth of a full grown pony. As for its dragon aspect, that is mainly noticeable as its head, ridged scales along its spine, and sharp bony claws. So far, the most notable trick and feature of this creature is its fiery breath weapon, of which the Doctor is also restraining with her force field.

All around her, the ponies that are in her vicinity either rush through the still open portal or flee further away depending how close they initially were when this attack showed up.

“What?!” Daring asks in alarm on her end.

Suddenly a new transparent, holographic window ignites near Doctor Kelly while she’s busy concentrating on her spell. The image and voice from this window announces himself as, “This is Commander Viraxis. I have detected a chaos beast near your vicinity.”

“Really?” Doctor Kelly asks sarcastically as she struggles to keep her focus. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“Do you need assistance?” the Commander offers urgently and ultra seriously. “Repeat; do you need assistance?”

“Yes. Do you?” Daring reflects with equal concern to her friend. “I can rush there in a hot minute if necessary.”

“Nah, you two. I got this,” Doctor Kelly assures as she changes the shape of the force field ahead of her to wrap around the dragon/dog chaos beast. In turn, it doesn’t notice this until it is too late. By then it looks around and notices it is now encased in a white glowing spherical force field. Shortly later she has that glowing ball lift and hover three feet off the ground.

After the initial shock of this discovery settles, the chaos beast snaps its gaze at Doctor Kelly with a renewed flare of anger then opens its mouth to blast a jet of fire forward. Unfortunately for the creature, the fire does not penetrate the spherical force field and, in fact, its own attack literally backfires on itself. Noticing this with alarm, the creature quickly cuts off its own attack. Besides being slightly singed, and that only because of its quasi-draconic fire resistance, it had just burned up about forty percent of the oxygen it is trapped with and the air within the bubble has jumped up over two-hundred degrees within just four seconds.

“Chill out, dude,” Doctor Kelly encourages the creature. “And don’t worry. I’ll let you out.” When she looks up at the creature, the rim of her floating holographic glasses gleams with a sinister edge as she says with a slightly wicked tone, “When I do, it won’t hurt a bit.”

In fury and desperation, the creature tries clawing at its spherical prison but only ends up slipping and sliding back and forth in the attempt since the force field is about as smooth as slick glass.

In the next moment, Doctor Kelly concentrates on a new spell then both she and the creature teleport someplace else. The force field, which she originally used to trap the creature, is left behind which pops out of existence after its creator leaves.

At their new location, the doctor is in front of one of the barred cages inside the dimensional warehouse again and the creature is once again inside one. It blinks as it looks around, startled by the sudden transition, and soon realizes this new location is a bit familiar.

The creature takes a moment to crouch down then leaps forward at the doctor despite the fact that the bars are still in the way, and the bars on this cage haven’t been damaged by the Daleks before because no chaos beast was in here before.

In mid-air, though, it suddenly freezes in time when she activates the function of this prison, of which she had the access codes for ever since Commander Viraxis gave them to her earlier. As a result, she does have more precise control of this place this time.

“Stay. Staaaaaaaay,” Doctor Kelly encourages the time frozen chaos beast as if it were a mere pet dog. She grows satisfied to note that it remains suspended in mid-air. Not even the tiniest molecules within the cage are moving now. “Good boy,” she declares in satisfaction then teleports herself back to the surface near the portal on Those Above’s floating home city.

“Nicely done,” the Commander commends the doctor over the holo-vid. “As for the rest, we’re starting to root them out.”

“I know. That’s why I called,” Daring Do confirms. “I have no more chaos beasts near my vicinity that I can tell so I grew concerned if they got diverted someplace else. If that is the case, maybe the best location to direct these ponies to sanctuary has changed too so I wanted to check on that, or should I keep them here? There doesn’t seem to be a problem here for the moment other than the understandably frantic ponies nearby.”

“I’m actually closing in closer to the position of the rest of you,” the Commander reports, “because I ran out of targets in my vicinity.”

“Did you capture them again, or . . .?” Daring Do leaves that question hanging.

“I wasn’t so merciful this time due to the urgency of the situation,” the Commander answers. “I have captured a few. After all, that is another resource I can utilize from here, but I have deployed and used the ship's more lethal armaments too. Basically I was doing anything I could to thin their numbers as fast as possible. Point being I have succeeded somewhat so I’m closing in on the position of the rest of you to finish off other remaining targets and rescue injured or trapped ponies too. I do have a medical facility on my ship as well, after all. It has a limited capacity, but still. That’s better than nothing.”

“Good to know,” Doctor Kelly says with approval.

“What about the Daleks?” Daring checks.

“Now that is the bad news,” the Commander answers. “They have consolidated their forces within the city and they seem to be on their way to the Transmission Tower. I don’t know how, but it seems like they might have learned of the Tower’s location and they are on their way to it.”

“Then we need to intercept them,” Daring decides firmly and grimly. “In that case, I’ll make my way over to you, doctor, in order to utilize your teleportation circle to get a shortcut to Margret’s position.”

“Actually, you might want to re-think that,” Doctor Kelly discourages. “Whoever those other Knights of the Hourglass agents are, they set up another base, and a more secure one I might add, that’s actually closer to your current position, and they have a warp stone located there as well . . . or so they claim at least.”

“Would it do them any good?” Daring asks with doubt. “Those agents didn’t have one unicorn among them so how can they charge the teleportation circle?”

“The warp stones have at least one charge in them if they are anything like mine,” Doctor Kelly answers. “After all, they’d need that charge to function at all. Plus, I know they are surrounded by Those Above within their sanctuary and the vast majority of them are basically unicorns.” She shrugs. “If push comes to shove, I can make my way over to them and help you all to get to Margret. Don’t forget, I have a teleportation circle here too and they recently gave me the runic codes for theirs. Failing all of that, I can just teleport myself to them on my own since I also have their coordinates.”

“It never fails to impress me how useful the Doctor’s companions and former companions can be,” the Commander commends again. “It goes to show there is something useful about his unconventional tactics after all.”

“Well, in any case, I guess I’ll make my way to their base, then,” Daring decides. “I could use some guidance, though.”

They are all silenced when something very unexpected happens. A sonic buzzing sound initiates seemingly everywhere within the city. It sounds very much like the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, or perhaps the devices that the Daleks are similarly equipped with.

“What was that?!” Daring asks in confusion and alarm.

“A sonic device,” the Commander answers. “Probably more like a signal. That transmission occurred from the Transmission Tower itself of all places. From there, somepony or something hacked their way into our system and used our own city’s intercom to transmit that signal.”

“Was it the Daleks?!” Daring asks with rising horror.

“Maybe because it is having an effect on the remaining chaos beasts,” the Commander reports. “It seems they are abandoning whatever they were doing before and now they are all consolidating somewhere. Most likely they are making their way to their Dalek masters,”

“Now hold on,” Doctor Kelly prompts. “This doesn’t add up. If the Daleks sent that signal then they wouldn’t need to make their way to the Transmission Tower anymore. If they hacked into the system of this city sufficiently enough to send that signal then doesn’t it mean they could also send a signal to the rest of their kind too?”

“Possibly,” the Commander admits in confusion. “You’re right. That is odd. If that was the case, why are they still trying to make their way to the Transmission Tower right now?”

“Is there something else of strategic value to them along the way?” Doctor Kelly checks.

“Not that I can think of,” the Commander muses. “Unless they are trying to make their way to the city’s main power station. If they succeeded in contacting the rest of their brethren then I suppose their next objective would be to create a shortcut for their reinforcements. I don’t know exactly how they can do it on their own, but utilizing the main power of the city could theoretically certainly help with that objective.”

“I guess, even after all these years of your conflict with them, a race as predictable as the Daleks can still surprise you,” Doctor Kelly figures to the Commander.

The Commander grunts in irritation then says, “Be that as it may, we may have a bigger problem on our hooves now. If they successfully sent the signal to the rest of their kind then a bigger invasion will soon be on its way. If they create a portal for them then they’ll be able to storm this world as early as today. From their perspective, I can see why they’d want to call upon their remaining chaos beasts to help them out.”

“There is one advantage I can think of for us,” Doctor Kelly brings up. “In a way it's a good thing for all the Daleks and chaos beasts to consolidate to one spot. That might combine their strength but it also means we have only one target now. If we can think of a way to take them out then we have the chance to sweep them all off the board all at once.”

“Then all we’d have to do is do something about the potential signal they already sent,” Daring adds. “Maybe we can send another signal that is something equivalent to, ‘Nope. Nevermind. False alarm. My bad.’”

Doctor Kelly grins as she says, “As amusing as that sounds, that might actually be our best bet.”

“In that case, let’s consolidate our forces too,” the Commander decides. “Daring, make your way to the other Knight’s base after all, and Doctor Saddler, send a signal to the rest of your friends and tell them to meet us there as well. When we’re all gathered together, we’ll compare notes then come up with the best strategy with our combined resources.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Daring agrees. “Then I’ll make my way over there now. Over and out.”

Stern Wing sits panting on a small cloud. Her forehooves are between her hind legs as she sits on her haunches. In addition to being winded, she is beat up in multiple ways. Despite it all, she is looking down below her very proudly.

“STERN WING! THERE YOU ARE!” Feather cries out to her as he flies towards her. He then speaks in a more normal volume as he draws closer. “C’mon! I’ll give you a boost as we regroup with the rest of our friends.”

“Hold on a minute,” Stern bids. “Here.” She pats the cloud beside her. “Pull up a cloud. I want to show you something.”

“But . . . they told us we need to reconvene right now!” Feather reminds. “The Daleks are already making their way to the Transmission Tower as we speak, and the chaos beasts are regrouping with them most likely.”

Stern Wing pats the cloud beside her again as she insists, “C’mon! It’ll just take a few seconds.”

“Gah. Fine,” Feather accepts as he swoops in. When he nears the cloud, he quickly shifts from being wind-blown to his telekinetic magic to help avoid blowing wind into the cloud she is sitting on. Instead, he uses his communion to expand the shape of the cloud so there is more room for him to sit on. As a result, the cloud changes from being thick to thin but more spread out. He lands beside her and peers down a bit anxiously as he asks, “Now then, what is it you wanted me to see?”

“Do you remember the first chaos beast we encountered? The worm-like one with the fierce regeneration?” Stern asks her friend in an almost giddy way.

“Uh . . yeah,” Feather answers as he keeps searching down below to see if he can spot her point. Before she speaks next, he does spot it. That creature is down there and pinned under a collapsed column.

“Well I recently soloed it!” Stern brags proudly as she sits up straight enough to apply her forehooves to her hips in a bold, heroic stance. “I did it all by myself.”

“Still alive, I see,” Feather notes as he regards it.

“Well, it is pretty darn difficult to kill,” Stern reminds. “Maybe it would be more accurate to say I defeated and/or neutralized it from being a continued threat. That wasn’t easy, but I did it.”

“Congratulations,” Feather expresses with a warm and proud look to his friend beside him.

“And I also took out four . . . Count it . . . four other chaos beasts and, again, I did it by myself!” Stern brags proudly again.

Hearing that, Feather decides to remain quiet about how many he took out to avoid belittling his friend’s accomplishment. He also is actually very proud and fond of her. Considering all that she did using only her own strengths and under these circumstances, he thinks she really does have a lot to be proud of.

“I’m very proud of you,” Feather expresses again warmly. “You definitely found your calling out here.”

“So did you, I think,” Stern expresses as she shares a smile right back at her friend.

The two of them get lost in each other’s eyes for a moment until more activity sparks down below them which nabs their attention. With alarm, they notice another chaos beast has entered the area. This one looks like a giant spider. Curiously, the first thing it does is attack the pinned worm with what looks like an acidic web.

“What the . . .?!” Stern exclaims in shock.

Then yet another chaos beast enters the area. This one looks like a giant praying mantis. It flings its own scythe-like claws at the spider which spins in the air like a whirling boomerang. It slices off a few legs of the spider before returning to the one who initially threw it. Again, just like a boomerang. The spider responds by shooting web back at the mantis who dodges by ducking behind some rubble in front of it.

“What is going on here?!” Stern asks in astonishment.

To their great bewilderment, more and more chaos beasts gather in this one area then do nothing else but attack each other until each of them dies.

“This is unreal!” Feather exclaims in astonishment as he beholds this with a puzzled and deeply analytical expression.

“Well . . . at least they are only attacking each other,” Stern expresses more softly.

“Exactly,” Feather agrees. “Right now that seems to be the point.”

“Should we, um . . . do anything about this?” Stern wonders.

Feather is silent for another thoughtful moment then shakes his head as he declares, “We need to regroup with the others, as planned, only now we have something extra to add to our report.”

“Should one of us stay and continue to monitor the situation?” Stern offers.

Feather shakes his head as he stands up on the cloud, then says, “No. We both go. C’mon.” He hops in the air and tucks his legs into the four corners of his Mist Cloak again. “I’ll give you a boost as we speed our way to our friends.”

This time Stern does stand up. She leaps off the edge of the cloud and simply spreads her wide and large wings in time to catch Feather’s summoned wind draft which quickly accelerates their pace in the sky.

It looks to Stern and Feather that they are the last to arrive. Daring Do and Doctor Kelly are already there. Commander Viraxis is standing among them as well, and this time in the flesh instead of through a holo-screen. In addition, two more mysterious mares wearing silver spacesuits are standing among the group.

Even from a distance, something else that they spot that is very notable about this area is a giant structure that is made of crisscross ruby crystal spikes. So many of them are crossed at the top that there is no opening above. Down below, there appears to be one entrance and exit.

“Holy cloud!” Stern exclaims in shock. “What is that?!”

“The makeshift, newly created shelter, I assume,” Feather guesses as he beholds this in awe.

“Are you sure King Sombra didn’t create it instead?” Stern teases as she nudges her friend’s right rib cage with the wrist of her left forehoof. “Or Crystal Sage or whatever else he calls himself these days.”

Feather Wind looks off to his right at Stern Wing with bewilderment mixed with realized awe as it dawns on him that what she meant as a joke seriously does look correct. Quickly erecting crystalline structure like this really is up that pony’s alley. In this case it’s more likely to be Crystal Sage rather than King Sombra. If Sombra had done this then that crystal palace would more likely be made of corrupted black crystal.

Noticing his look, Stern’s mood shifts to bewildered as she asks, “What? Is it something I said?”

“Um . . . nevermind. It’s nothing,” Feather dismisses while shaking his head as he decides to file this mystery for later. They have enough on their plate right now. “C’mon. Let’s rejoin the others.”

“Uh . . . sure,” Stern agrees in a bit of a spooked manner. She wonders what her boyfriend might have realized.

“There you are,” announces Daring when the two land nearby the rest of them. “I was wondering where you two were.”

Feather Wind opens his mouth to explain the situation but shifts his focus to Stern when she beats him to the punch. When she does, it becomes clear to him that her priorities are a little different for the moment.

“Before we say anything about that, who are these two?” Stern asks cautiously while regarding the two new spacesuited mares.

“Fellow Knights of the Hourglass, apparently,” Daring announces. “And very useful ponies, I might add. They were a lot of help around here.”

“Okay, but . . . why are they wearing spacesuits down here?” Stern wonders aloud with a curious lift of an eyebrow.

“To hide our identities,” the shorter mare admits that Daring, who personally labeled as the leader between the two, speaks up through her helmet's intercom. “And we’re doing that to avoid corruption to the timeline, as you might otherwise recognize us as present or future companions of the Doctor.”

“That makes sense,” Doctor Kelly accepts with a casual shrug. “In that case, I’d offer you two a lollipop but there doesn’t seem to be a point with those helmets in the way.”

“I think we can move on to more critical matters right now,” Commander Viraxis broaches. “We need to decide what we’re going to do next.”

Feather Wind lifts a hoof as he announces, “Before we get into that, I have something important to announce. Before Stern and I got here, we actually encountered a gathering of the rest of the chaos beasts.”

The Commander’s eyes, which includes his red glowing prosthetic one, widens in surprise as he asks Feather, “Where? What were your coordinates at the time?”

“Hold on,” Feather bids as he lowers his hoof back down. “There’s more. What I need to tell you all is that the chaos beasts unexpectedly started attacking each other when they arrived back there. They seem to be their only targets, too. They utterly ignored everything else.”

“What?!” Daring exclaims in shock. “They attacked each other?! Are you sure?”

Feather nods as he says, “I’m positive, but I’m not sure why they did that.”

“Maybe that was the orders the Daleks gave them earlier,” Doctor Kelly muses aloud. “Because, to the Daleks, even the chaos beasts are an abomination simply because they aren’t fellow Daleks. If I’m right, that means the Daleks are using the chaos beasts only until they deem their usefulness is at an end.”

“That’s cruel,” Stern says with a wince of disapproval but then shrugs as she adds, “But I suppose it isn’t out of character for the Daleks based on what I have heard of them so far.”

“That may also indicate they feel even more confident that the beasts are no longer needed,” Feather figures. “Because they are about to summon a whole fleet of other Daleks.” He looks at the Commander. “Right?”

“That’s their usual modus operandi,” the Commander partially agrees. “But remember, I told you that they have been starving for resources too. Whatever reinforcements they will send to this planet will only be what they deem necessary to succeed and what they can spare. They’d prefer to overkill the situation but lately that’s been harder on them. If they devoted all of their forces to blitzkrieging one planet then that means abandoning their efforts on fifteen other planets in as much as fifteen separate timelines.”

“I don’t envy you for the war you had to endure,” Stern expresses sympathetically to the Commander.

“Neither do I,” he agrees with Stern. “But I do what must be done. All life in existence may very well be at stake.”

“Given this new information, does this alter any of our plans?” Daring asks aloud to put the conversation back on track.

“Hold on,” Doctor Kelly objects as she lifts a hoof. “Before we get into any of that, I want to know what you two have to say,” she says directly to the two new mares in the spacesuits. “When Feather announced that the chaos beasts were attacking each other, you two suddenly gave each other meaningful looks. It’s harder to tell because your faces are concealed by your helmets, but I still picked up on your subtle body language.” The same hoof she lifted up earlier in objection now lowers to point back and forth between both mares. “That tells me that you two know something about that situation.”

“Very astute of you, doctor,” the leader commends. “You’re a credit to your profession.”

“So the answer is yes?” the Commander checks as he asks with his robotic, prosthetic voice box. “You two do know something?”

“If we do, and I’m not saying for sure that we do,” announces the pegasus, “we can’t elaborate on it because it involves future stuff. Stuff that is ahead of your timelines.”

“But I will say this,” the leader resumes where her companion left off. “If we’re right about what we suspect, the Daleks won’t trouble you for much longer. Instead of that, I think you should focus your efforts more on your one missing companion.”

“What?!” Feather exclaims as the entire group grows suddenly alarmed at that comment. They then look about to identify who is missing. Feather even asks, “Who is . . . ?” He widens his eyes in greater alarm as he exclaims, “Derpy! Derpy is missing!” He then focuses on Doctor Kelly as he asks her, “You did say you successfully contacted us all to get us to meet here, correct? That included Derpy?”

“Correct. I had successfully contacted you all,” Doctor Kelly confirms as she ignites a holo-window screen and reads the information on it. While doing that, she goes on to say, “That was seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds ago. Derpy answered and told us she would rendezvous with us here.”

“Was she far?” Daring checks. “Or was her local situation especially complicated?”

“No,” Doctor Kelly denies as she shakes her head. “And right now that is troubling. She wasn’t dealing with any chaos beasts. I sent her to the safest but also important spot as you requested. She didn’t seem to have too much trouble there either until the path between me and her occasionally got hairy. I eventually had to . . .”

Doctor Kelly trails off and grows suddenly silent while her eyes widen in alarm at her window screen. Seeing that horrified the others.

“What?” Stern Wing asks Doctor Kelly in growing dread.

“I can’t detect her life signs,” Doctor Kelly reports as she rubs the bottom of her chin and gives her holo-screen a piercing, deeply thoughtful, and disturbed look. “Nor can I contact her.” The window screen vanishes and she looks across the others. “That either means she’s either in a location that can’t transmit her information to me, or somepony has stolen the crystal shard I gave her.”

“Maybe I can come up with something then,” the Commander announces as he ignites a holo-window screen of his own. “What were her last known coordinates?”

“I’ll digitally transmit them to you,” Doctor Kelly replies then proceeds to do so.

“Got it,” the Commander confirms as he studies the information he has on his screen. While he does that, he asks the two new mares without looking at them, “In the meantime, I’d like you two to tell me whatever you can about why you’re so convinced that the Daleks soon won’t be a problem.”

The leader shakes her head as she replies, “If I’m right, I don’t have to. You’ll soon find out for yourselves,” she answers mysteriously. “For now, stay on the course of tracking down Derpy. That will lead to some partial answers at least.”

“Rodger. I’ll be there,” announced Derpy eight minutes ago as she gave a cute salute to the holo-window screen displaying the image of Doctor Kelly. At first her expression was firm but then she realized something which then shifted her expression to embarrassment then she shyly asked, “Um . . . which way is it again?”

Doctor Kelly sighed in exasperation but there was also a fond grin on her face as she shook her head at Derpy. Then she said, “You know what? I’ll do you one better.”

Something changed on Derpy’s holo-window. The image of Doctor Kelly shrank and a new window within the window showed up. This one was simply a 3-D arrow. Numbers were also displayed off to the side of it which indicated the distance Derpy would have to travel.

“Just follow the arrow,” Doctor Kelly instructs the gray wall eyed mare. “It will lead you to the others, myself included.”

“Couldn’t you just teleport to me and take me there that way?” Derpy wondered aloud as she looked cornerwise up and tapped her bottom lip with her right hoof.

“Yes, I could, but you’re the closest to the coordinates I gave you aside from Daring Do,” Doctor Kelly counters. “There are no chaos beasts or Daleks along the way either, and you can fly, for goodness sake.”

“Okay-okay-okay!” Derpy accepted as she waved her hoof in front of her face back and forth. “I got it. I’m going. I'll meet you there.”

“Good,” Doctor Kelly accepted with a satisfied nod. “See you there soon, then.”

With that, Doctor Kelly closed the image of herself on Derpy’s window screen. This, in turn, allowed the virtual arrow on Derpy’s window to take up even more space.

Derpy looked down with a sigh as she privately berated herself. She felt so stupid and childish to request a direct teleportation to the destination. She could easily fly herself there. It was not that far and she was blessed to be a pegasus besides. Not every race could do what she could do.

After she reflected on it, she soon realized that the only reason she had asked for a dimensional transport was because she was scared. In fact, this mission bothered her a long time ago when the party first decided they wanted to split up in order to cover more ground. Superficially, she understood and agreed with the reason from a moral and logical front but, deep down, her heart complained ever since then.

Derpy then closed her eyes and bonked her head with her left hoof three times. During that time she privately berated herself again that she needed to just grow up and do as ordered. Besides, she liked the idea of what would result if she followed the orders this time. After all, the point of these orders was for everyone to get back together again. For that at least, Derpy privately cheered.

Before she took off, she looked to her left and right. The coast was clear. Every pony who was there she guided to safety quite a while ago. She was just checking one last time to make sure there was no danger in sight or another pony in hiding who would need help, but nope.

Feeling satisfied, she crouched down and spread her wings in preparation to take off.

“Derrrrrrrrrpy!” announced a spooky, echo-y, but also strangely familiar voice. “Derrrrrrrrrpy! Come to me, my faithful companion!”

“What?!” exclaimed the startled mare as she frantically looked about. “Who's there?”

“Come,” the mysterious voice said.

Looking about, she tilted her head quizzically at the shadow of a very mysterious figure. Whoever it was, that person was pretty tall, though the shadow distorted that image quite a bit further. According to the shadow, it was someone wearing a thick coat. What was more mysterious was this person walked upright on two legs. He gave a come hither gesture using the shadow then retreated off somewhere.

“Wait!” Derpy exclaimed. “WAAAAAAIT!”

Derpy flew off to chase down this mysterious man. In the process, she was ignoring her virtual arrow Doctor Kelly provided for her. If she had been paying attention, she would have noticed she was definitely going the wrong way. Alas for the poor mare, overlooking important details was very often a theme of her life.

Mysteriously and eerily, she had a hard time keeping up with this mysterious man who walked upright. Every time she rounded a new corner, somehow he would end up at the end of the hall. From there, he either laughed at her merrily (which also gave that same eerie echo) or gestured for her to continue to follow him from up ahead.

While she traveled, Derpy could not explain why she felt so determined to follow him but there was something about him that felt familiar and important to her. Despite that, she eventually started to grow frustrated at this chase and wondered if she’d ever catch up.

Strangely enough, that’s precisely when she had run into the mysterious man.

“Ooof!” Derpy exclaimed as she bounced backward and was about to fall down, but whomever this suave man was, managed to catch her by the hoof before she could fall down.

“Well careful there, Derpy,” said the man to her while he grasped her hoof with his . . . was that a hand, she wondered?

Derpy then more carefully assessed this new stranger. It looks like he towered about two additional feet above her if she was standing up straight. He had soft brown hair that curved up a bit at the front with a cowlick. He wore a brown coat that trailed as low as his ankles. Beneath that he wore what looked like another coat but it was blue this time, and beneath that was a white color shirt with a red tie. His skin was white, his eyes were brown, and his face was a bit angular. When he spoke, he had an accent to him that she couldn’t quite put her hoof down on.

Despite all of that, he still seemed strangely familiar. It was more by instinct than anything else when she asked him, “Doctor? Is that you?”

The mysterious man, probably a human according to what she had heard, smiled fondly down at her as he verified, “Indeed, my little muffin-mare. I am the Doctor.” He bowed to her and applied his other hand to his stomach while his first continued to hold her from fully falling down. “At your service.”

“It . . . it really is you?” Derpy asks with rising delight.

“Indeed, my marshmallow sugar-muffin,” he confirmed again with a smirk. “Now then. Fancy this! Are you just going to continue to stand there at this odd angle or am I going to have to-”

The mysterious man jolted, startled, when Derpy suddenly launched into his chest and hugged him tightly with both forehooves and wings. She soon soaked his white shirt with tears.

“It’s you!” Derpy cried out in ecstatic delight but it was also edged with pain. “It’s really-really you!”

“‘ang on? What’s this on abou’, love?” asked the suddenly bewildered man.

“I . . . I missed you so badly,” Derpy cried into the man's chest. “It’s been such a long time for me since I last saw you. Too long, if you ask me.”

“Oh go on!” the man said in playful dismissiveness. “Enough of that, love. We got a job to do.”

Derpy sniffed and tried to compose herself before looking up at the man with tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes as she asked, “A job? You need me for something?”

“Right!” the man confirmed with a bright smile at her. “‘ow about juz you and me like the good ol’ days, eh love? Come on! Where are those Bright Eyes? Let me see that bright smile?”

Despite the fact that she was still choking up on severe emotion, Derpy cooperated. She gave him a bright smile because he requested it and it was such a delight for her to see her beloved Doctor again.

“There we go! That’s the spirit!” the man cheered. “Now come along,” he bids as he pulls her away.

“Where are we going?” Derpy asked as she stumbled along. “What are we going to do now, Doctor?”

“What we always do together!” the man cried out cheerfully. “Save the day, of course!” He flashes a cunning smile back to her. “An’ I got just the plan to do it, but I’m going to need your help. Can I count on you, my sweet little pony?”

Derpy closes her eyes as she cries out cheerfully, “Of course! Anything for you, Doctor!”

“That’s the spirit!” the man cheers again. “Adventure awaits us, my faithful companion. Tally-ho and all that.”

“Yay!” Derpy cried out in heartfelt glee.

As the mysterious man continued to pull her along, he deftly concealed the crystal shard Doctor Kelly had given her earlier. That was why the holo-window had disappeared during her conversation with him, unbeknownst to the unobservant walleye mare.

The pace of Derpy and the mysterious human man got greatly accelerated when they stepped on and used a force floating platform much akin to the one Margret has. Ever since then, they zoomed through a dizzying array of turns and sometimes flew right through some apparently solid walls.

All of this was interesting to Derpy but she didn’t question it much because she was with her beloved Doctor. He requested for her to join him personally and that flared her heart with more joy than he would likely ever know. The fears and insecurity she once had that he was losing interest in her melted away in that moment like taking a fresh breath of air. He chose her! Her for this mission, whatever it was. No matter what he requested of her, she vowed she would do it gladly just to prove to him she was worth keeping around.

Never once did she question him until they came to a sudden stop in a tunnel-like hallway and not far ahead of them were six Daleks.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” cried out one of the apparently startled Daleks. “Identify yourself! Identify yourself or be ex-terminated!”

“Ex-terminated,” agrees the other five as they nod their little nose cameras.

“Oh, little ol’ me?” the man brashly asked as he spread his arms apart in a grand gesture. “Oh, nothing much. Just the Oncoming Storm!” He lowered one arm but used the other to straighten up his necktie as he added, “But perhaps you might be more familiar with another quaint little name of mine. There are many in my travels who call me . . .” He pauses as he narrows his eyes at them then finally said, “. . . the Doctor.”

“Doc . . . tar?” the lead Dalek asked in apparent disbelief, but it was a bit hard to tell with that scratchy synthetic voice box they use. “Doc . . . tar.”

“That’s right,” the man agrees. “Pleased to meet ‘cha, ye ol’ rust buckets. Out busy exterminating more species I take it, yes? Oh but of course you are!” he teases with a dismissive wave.

“Doc . . . tar. Doc . . . tar. DOC . . . tar! Doc-tar! DOC-TAR!” the lead Dalek chanted with rising fury and soon the others joined in that same chant.

“Yes-yes, and all that jazz,” the man said with another dismissive wave. “That’s my name. Don’t wear it out.

“Oh, speaking of which, have you met my little companion here?”

“Doctor!” Derpy complained behind him as she shuddered in fear. She still trusted him, but these were Daleks and six of them at that. They were among the most feared race the Doctor had ever encountered and, at that point, he wanted to draw their attention to her? For the first time since her happy reunion with him, she finally found herself questioning his judgment.

But what else was new? This was exactly how many of her past adventures went with him, too. First he’d do something apparently stupid and it always turned out to be a genius strategy in the end. Over time, she eventually gave up trying to figure him out and instead decided to blindly trust him instead. It always worked out in the past when she did that while simultaneously making her journey a bit less scary.

“Have courage, my faithful companion. I am with you,” the man reassures the mare.

Derpy closed her eyes and swallowed hard. When she next opened her eyes, it was filled with as much resolve and determination as she could muster. With that, she asked him as bravely as she could, “What do you want me to do, Doctor? Tell me anything and I’ll do it.”

The man smiled at her when she said that which, in turn, lit up her own innocent soul.

“I want you to sing, my adorable little pony,” the man coaxed as he gently brushed a hand through her mane which almost made her swoon on the spot. Then she looked into his eyes and got transfixed by them. There was an intensity to the way he stared into her eyes that was unlike anything she had ever seen from him before. It actually appeared a tad predatory but also very attractive and more than a little enchanting. She found herself lost in those eyes.

“Sing!” the man commands her as a devilish gleam sunk deeper into his eyes. “Sing, my Angel of Music.”

Derpy was beyond all thought at that point. The angry chants of the Daleks melted away. There was nothing left in her universe except her and him, and he was everything to her! He asked her to sing, so there was only one thing her mind could think about anymore.

She must sing for him! Sing her shining heart out.

“What is this? What is this noise?” complained the lead Dalek. “Desist. Desist! You shall oh-bay or be ex-terminated!”

“Oh, exterminated, you say?” the man who claimed to be the Doctor asked as he looked back at the group of Daleks with very wicked glee. Now that Derpy’s mind was lost in his trance, he saw no further point pretending anymore. He could drop the act in front of them with no further relevant consequences. So much the better to reveal his true sinister intentions against them. “Oh, I think you got it all backwards.” He spread his arms dramatically. “Behold my medicine, you rusty buckets of bolts.” He then slamshis hands down hard on the virtual computer console in front of him that is only made real because of force field energy. From there, he leans hard forward which raises his shoulders in a deeply predatory fashion. His eyes blaze with sinister cunning and explosive fury. Fury that could only be born from a person who had suffered very deep personal injury by their hands, or plungers in this case.

“Fry, you miserable pile of bolts!” the man cried out to them in very heated emotion. “Fry in hell and taste my revenge! I’ll gladly piss on your rotted, rusty corpses till the end of days!”

“Desist! DESIST!” the Daleks cried out together and they spun about chaotically and started shooting in random directions. During that time, their minds got bombarded with music too pure, sweet and innocent for their minds to process. In fact they had a built-in system that specifically prevented them from being influenced by experiences like this. The problem with that system was it was being overworked at that moment and that, in turn, was overloading their minds and frying their circuitry.

The man knew this would happen and he orchestrated this event intentionally. He savored their pain as he continued to watch.

“MERCY!” the Daleks all pleaded out simultaneously. “MERRRRRRRRCYYYYYYY!!!!”

“Sorry,” the man said with a snide expression as he stood up straight and straightened his tie one more time, then he shook his head as he said without a shred of pity, “All out of mercy.”

The Daleks screamed in pain one last time until explosions started rocking their tank bodies back and forth. Sparks burst from them and rained down in twinkling sparkles. This continued on for ten solid seconds as they gave off their last agonizing cry then finally they all grew still and silent.

The man grew a satisfied, sinister smirk then shifted his attention back to his singing mare as he proclaimed, “Now then. Let’s move on and deal with you, my sweet little poppet.”

He reached a hand forward and snapped his fingers beside her head. In doing so, it snapped her out of her trance. When that happened, her song suddenly stopped too. She blinked as she looked around, bewildered, and asked, “Huh? What happened?”

“You did it, my faithful companion!” the man cheered at Derpy. “These Daleks shall not threaten you or your friends again.”

“Um . . . what happened to them?” she asked as she blinked at their still forms.

“Oh don’t worry about them,” he said to her as he gave them a dismissive wave but kept his gaze fixed on her. “They’ll be fine. You just knocked them unconscious,” the man outright lied to Derpy.

“Oh! Well, um . . . I suppose that’s okay then,” Derpy said with uncertain acceptance.

“And now for your reward!” the man said gleefully as he took a bold step into her personal space. This, in turn, provoked her to attempt to take a step backwards but her butt collided with the force back rail of the disk they were on.

“Doctor!” Derpy exclaimed, feeling startled. “You-you-”

“Shhh.” The man applied a finger to Derpy’s lips to shush her. She gazed up at him, still feeling a little threatened, but she still trusted him deeply so she kept watching him to see what he ordered her to do next.

The man leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “You did well, my faithful companion. Your Master is proud of you.”

Derpy suddenly blushed very deep crimson as she stuttered, “Mah-mah-master?”

“Shh.” he repeated to her. “That’s right. Your Master is proud of you. You did well, my precious little thing!”

“D-d-d-doctor, I . . . I . . .” Derpy continued to stutter while her consciousness started to fade away. All of this recent craziness has started to overwhelm her.

To shut her up once and for all, the man leaned in to deeply and pretty invasively kiss her. That pushed her mind and emotions over the brink. Her wings actually straightened so much that they became stiff. Seconds later she fainted in his arms. Once that happened, as he had planned, he gently lowered her unconscious body to the force field ground. From there, he gently stroked her cheeks.

Now that she was unconscious, and now that the Daleks were dead as well, there was nobody left for the psychic paper that the mare wore on her silver spacesuit to fool anymore. As a result, she seemed to have returned to her original form which, in actuality, she never left.

“Good night, Sweet-Cheeks,” the mare in the silver spacesuit cooed gently. Her voice sounded a bit synthetic because of her helmet’s intercom. “You really are a useful little tool. I can see, now, why the Doctor keeps you around. We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

With that, she stands up straight then daintily hopped over Derpy’s unconscious legs. From there, she made her way to the front virtual console and pushed a few buttons. As she did so, she whistled a song casually that, as far as she could tell, doesn’t exist in this pony universe. A song known where she came from as, “Time Is On My Side.”

With that, the floating disk lifted upwards then quickly zoomed down the tunnel hallway. As they sped away, the haunting tune that the mare whistled echoed and faded away. This left behind the smoking husks of dead Daleks.

Author's Note

Yeah. This is a long chapter and there is plenty of opportunities I could have broken it up into separate chapters. There is a lot of scene breaks here where it switches to a different pony, after all.

But this chapter is the primary climax of the entire arc so I decided to push this one longer. As a result, it ended up the longest chapter of the entire story so far. That's still true.

Also, just in case it wasn't clear from my description, here is an example of the form the mare in the silver suit pretended to be. Basically what Derpy thought she heard and saw.

Part 21: Charades and Revelations

“Excuuuuuuuse meeeeee,” whimsically calls the taller mare in the silver spacesuit as she lands among the others that are still gathered near the impromptu, criss-cross red crystal palace. She floats her platform down between them then points down at the still unconscious Derpy on the force field floor. “I assume you all lost this? Please say no. I want to keep her.”

“Derpy!” Feather Wind and Stern Wing call simultaneously in relief. Feather also lifts her up and out of the platform using his magic. Initially he was going to draw her in for a hug but hesitates when he notices that she’s unconscious. Only at that point he is taken aback and asks, “What happened to her?”

“Allow me to examine her,” Doctor Kelly requests as she approaches the still unconscious gray mare. “Set her gently on the ground, please.”

“Sure,” Feather accepts in an empty and slightly spooked tone.

“Where did you find her?” Daring asks the taller earth pony mare.

“In some kind of long tunnel system within the city,” the mare answers. “And you’re not going to believe this, but in the same location that I found her, I also found all six of the Daleks, and they are . . . um . . . not doing so well anymore, to put it mildly.”

“What?!” Daring asks in shock as she widens her eyes. “The Daleks are defeated?”

“A tunnel system, you say?” the Commander double checks. “I think I know which one.” He looks at his floating, transparent digital window that’s near his face. “I’ll need to confirm something.”

“Well . . . if the Daleks are down then that simply leaves the chaos beasts as our priority targets,” the silver-suited mare figures. “How are they doing?”

“Surprisingly, they took care of each other,” Stern Wing reports to the mysterious mare. “It happened shortly after the whole city heard some kind of sonic noise.”

“Oh yeah! I remember that!” the mare recalls. “But I thought the Daleks did that because, shortly after that, they started making their way to the Transmission Tower.”

“That’s odd,” says the Commander as he gives his window screen a scrutinizing look while a moving picture on his window shows nothing but static. “It seems the security feeds in those tunnels got erased within a seven minute time frame.”

“So you found both Derpy and the defeated Daleks together?” Feather checks as he looks back at the mare while crouched down near the still unconscious Derpy.

“Yeah. That’s the way I found her,” the mare lies. “I was hoping she could answer some questions about what happened.

“Is she stable, Doc?” the mare asks next to whom everyone assumes she is now addressing Doctor Kelly.

“Very stable from what I can tell,” Doctor Kelly answers. “I don’t see anything physiologically wrong with her.”

“In that case, wake her up,” the mare requests to her leader. “That way we can find out more about what happened.”

The leader and the pegasus both give each other a meaningful look again. They know this is a charade, but eventually decide to play along for the moment.

“Here. Let me take care of this,” the leader offers as she bends down near Derpy and uncorks a potion vial along the way. Instead of making Derpy drink it, though, she merely passes the bottle near Derpy’s muzzle. This quickly causes Derpy to wince, shake her head, then cough as she sits up.

“DERPY!” Feather exclaims in delight. “I’m so glad you are better now.” His look shifts to questioning as he asks, “What happened to you?”

Derpy keeps coughing for a moment then looks around in bewilderment before she asks, “What . . . what happened to me? How did I get here?”

“We were hoping you’d tell us,” Daring responds as she looms nearby. “What is the last thing you remember?”

“Oh? Um,” Derpy scrunches her face as she thinks back on that for a moment then straightens her face again as she answers, “I remember Doctor Kelly’s call.” She blushes in embarrassment as she admits, “I’ll admit, I had some concerns on where to find our meeting point and . . . OH MY CELESTIA! What is that back there!” she exclaims in shock when she finally notices the giant red crystal palace.

“That?” the silver-suited pegasus asks as she looks up at it. “Just something I whipped up in a jiff.”

“You did that?” Feather asks her in disbelief.

“Uh . . . yeah. Sure,” the pegasus answers in a suddenly timid way.

“But you’re a pegasus. How can you cast magic like this?” Feather asks in continued confusion.

“Yeah, well . . . you’re just a unicorn. How can you fly through the sky like that?” the pegasus asks back evenly.

“She’s got you there,” Stern admits with an amused grin. “I guess you both have something in common in a way. Just in opposite ways.”

Ignoring that comment, Feather continues to study the silver-suited pegasus carefully. Doing so seems to make her really bashful. It’s harder to tell while she continues to hide her face in her helmet, but her movements and tilt of her head still seem to indicate that.

Then Feather looks back at the crystal palace very thoughtfully.

Doctor Kelly applies a hoof to Derpy’s left shoulder as she asks, “And that really is the last thing you recall?”

“Well . . . the only other thing I recall is you creating some kind of floating arrow for me,” Derpy elaborates. “After that I’m drawing a blank.”

“Are you sure?” the silver-suited mare who delivered Derpy presses. “Think about this very carefully because it may be important.”

“I’d rather not stress her too much right now,” Doctor Kelly requests to the others calmly. “I’ll work with her and calm her down. Her memory might come back over time.”

“By then it’ll be too late!” the mare complains. “The three of us,” she gestures between each mare that is wearing a silver spacesuit, “will be taking off soon in our own TARDIS and I hate the idea of leaving behind something unfinished and important.”

“But that is exactly what we shall do,” the leader insists with a hint of a hard edge to her synthesized voice. “The poor girl has been through enough stress right now. Quite frankly, I think it is true for all of us. If, at some later time, her memories do come back then Doctor Saddler here is well qualified to hoofle it. She’s a trained psychologist, after all.”

“Gah . . . fine!” the mare spat. “But that also means that the mystery of what happened to the Daleks will remain unknown. For that matter, whatever happened to the Daleks might have taken care of the chaos beasts as well.” She shrugs. “Now I know the current results seem to be in our favor, but don’t any of you find it unsettling that we haven’t discovered who, how or why this happened? Whoever did this might have his or her own agenda and there is no guarantee that any of us is going to like it.”

“Not every mystery can be solved right away,” the pegasus says with a defeated but also accepting shrug. “Sometimes these things take time. We can only do the best we can from moment to moment.” She seems to look at the rest of the ponies gathered here. “Besides, I trust this group to hoofle this well. They are trained and personally selected by the Doctor, and that’s a big deal.”

First Feather swivels one of his ears to that pegasus followed by his head as he gazes back at her in wonder because he realizes that, when she said that, there is genuine depth of warmth in her voice. That tells him that not only does she know him and his friends, but knows them especially fondly. That is true love from her.

A new alert notice pops up on the Commander’s window. He reads it for a moment then nods in acceptance as he reports, “Well, we may not know who, how or why any of this happened but we do know approximately when and we do know where this occurred.” He looks across the others. “The agents I sent into that tunnel confirmed the findings of the defeated Daleks.” He looks at the silver-suited mare. “And like you said, there is strong evidence there that they will not threaten us again.”

“That’s a good thing, I suppose,” the mare replies. “I don’t think they made it to the Transmission Tower either.”

“I have personnel staffed and reporting to me from the Tower,” the Commander returns then gives another look to the group. “That includes Margret Wessle. They all confirm that the Daleks never showed up there.”

“Well then . . . crisis averted, I suppose,” Daring says with uncertain acceptance as she rubs a beige hoof on the back of her neck. “All’s well that ends well. We may not have all the answers we seek but some of my adventures in the past ended far more tragically than this. I’ll take this as a partial win and move on.”

“Except for all the ponies here in this city that got killed,” Stern adds with regret. She shakes her head as she says, “I fought as hard as I could to protect as many as I could, and I did partially succeed, but there were still many that were killed anyway.”

“You can’t save everypony,” Commander Viraxis assures grimly but also sympathetically. “That’s a lesson the Doctor always struggled to learn. If you’re all going to continue to travel with him, then it’s something you need to learn as well. Focus on the mission,” he advises and he gives a chop-down motion with his good hoof as a gesture of decisiveness. “Do the best you can then move on. Let go of your grief as soon as you can because you’ll need to be ready for the next battle.”

“I wouldn’t consider that entirely sound advice,” Doctor Kelly argues. “Instead, I think it depends on the moment and what we’re facing. There is a time for action and a time for grieving. Both are important in their own moments.” She shakes her head. “If nothing is done to eventually release the grief in a proper way, that weight will just keep adding on top of us until we’re barely functional at anything.”

“You haven’t seen War like I have,” the Commander disputes with a hard tone and look to the doctor. “Grief is a luxury we cannot always afford. Sometimes all we can do is keep being strong and press onward.”

Doctor Kelly almost disputes that by saying something else, but then waves it off as she decides there are more important things to concentrate on right now. She knows there are reasons why the Commander is locked on his current attitude and he’s not ready to let go or fully see reason yet.

“Well then . . . I guess this is goodbye for now,” the silver-suited tall mare says with casual indifference. She even pretends to yawn then says, “Onto the next adventure I suppose.”

“True,” the leader agrees with a much more truly neutral voice. “We’ve done what we came for and it’s time to move on.”

“To where or when, if I may ask?” Feather suddenly presses which surprises even himself.

“To wherever the Stars and Fates take us,” the pegasus says rather sweetly. “There’s so much adventure for us to explore out there and I, for one, am looking forward to it.”

“So you are enjoying your journey so far?” Feather asks that pegasus mare specifically.

“Um, yeah dah . . . Um . . . Feather Wind,” the pegasus mare answers as she course corrects in mid sentence but Feather still caught that because he is paying very close attention to her right now. Her body language immediately shows her to be squeamish as if she realizes that he still caught that. She backs off a few steps and rubs the back of her neck with a suited wing as she says shyly, “Um . . . goodbye for now. It was great meeting you all.”

“You too, young lady,” Stern replies casually. “Thank you for your help today and goodbye for now. I’ll approve if we ever work together again because you’ve all proven yourselves quite capable.”

Feather Wind says nothing else to the retreating mare which is against Stern Wing’s expectations. After all, he grew up in a very civilized environment that is a whole lot more prim and proper than her own background. She gives him a questioning look which soon shifts to wonder when she notices his look of . . . Well, it’s very hard to describe. A deep and thoughtful look. One that seems to have some recognition, realization, and maybe even love in it. Love for a stranger that they had just met.

Stern Wing looks back at the silver-suited pegasus mare and notices that she froze too while staring back at Feather Wind’s look. Her body language seems to suggest strong reluctance to go and maybe something more. Like maybe there is more she wants to tell them but can’t for some reason.

Stern then lifts an eyebrow back at her boyfriend while privately telling herself that she’ll need to ask him about this later.

The pegasus does eventually turn away. She quickly picks up her pace from a trot to a canter in order to catch up with the other two.

While Doctor Kelly closely monitors and attends to Derpy and Daring approaches and asks Commander Viraxis a few last questions, Feather Wind regards the crystal palace with stunned realization. He approaches it then touches it. He closes his eyes and feels for the vibrational energy of the crystal just like Crystal Sage taught him to do. When he does, he verifies a theory of his. This crystal truly is constructed using the same magic that is in the Red Crystal.

Feather opens his eyes as he rubs the surface of the crystal he is touching fondly.

He knows that the Red Crystal he has needs to gather a lot of positive energy. Enough to bring back the Crystal Empire sometime in the future. More than likely it will take so long to do that that it will likely be a multi-generational project. That means he’ll one day have to pass the Crystal onto somepony else who, in turn, must use it to gather more positive energy. It also has to be someone in his family with perhaps the curious exception of Doctor Kelly, and that only because of her race's natural affinity for all magic crystals.

When he adds this all up, he comes to one very shocking conclusion, and that is he just met the grown-up version of his unborn daughter!

That revelation alone almost numbs his soul but his rational side quickly comes back and says, “Well, if that is true then it reinforces another concept that we’ve already gathered, and that is the fact that we’ll need to retire from the Doctor’s journey at some point. Not only is it important to eventually devote more time and attention to our unfinished and unpublished poetry but now it seems we’re going to have a foal on the way at some point. If the Doctor was really reluctant to allow a blind, prone-to-sickness filly into his ship then he will really put his hoof down when it comes to a yearling . . . and yeah. He’s right. It’s absurd to think maintaining this hectic lifestyle is also conducive and safe with raising a family.”

“Feather?” Stern asks in concern as she approaches and tenderly touches his back. “You alright?”

At her touch and reminder of her presence in addition to the revelation he just reached, Feather’s heart floods with loving emotion for her. So much so that tears rise to his eyes.

“Stern Wing,” he says as he turns his head enough to peer back at her with his right eye over his right shoulder. She is caught off guard upon seeing the glisten of tears in his eyes. “I need to tell you right now that I love you. I love you so deeply for being such an enormous blessing in my life.”

His every word and sentence continues to keep her off balance for a moment but then her own flood of loving emotion rushes to claim her. She’s not sure why he’s acting this way all of a sudden but there doesn’t seem to be anything here worth complaining about. Finally she returns his smile with a bright, loving smile of her own.

It still amuses Star Breeze to no end to watch her captain, Vision, unpack her “TARDIS” from inside a dimensional saddlebag which is also bigger on the inside. Once it is removed, it quickly unfolds itself as it is planted on the ground.

Part of her still feels like giggling when she thinks back to the first moment she witnessed something like this, except back then it was in reverse. Vision had folded up the “tent” and packed it up in her saddlebag. After that she spun about back then and was about to trot off, but she paused when she sensed Star Breeze's surprised emotion and perhaps also a similar reaction from their other companion, Missy.

Since Vision was born blind, there was no point for her to even pretend to look at others when they gathered her attention. Instead, she has her own way to signal that she is focusing on others and that is to swivel her ears on top of her head towards whomever she is particularly interested in from moment to moment. At that particular moment she swiveled each ear to both mares. Whatever she sensed from each of them caused her to grin a bit then she gave a witty quip that still cracks Star Breeze up to this day, and that comment is, “Everypony, try to remember where we parked.”

With that, Vision trotted on casually without cracking up even slightly.

While that memory still amuses Star Breeze, she has since come to realize that those words had even more emphatic meaning than she first realized. After all, she wasn’t the only one Vision spoke to on that day. The pegasus had since come to realize that Vision was driving a point to Missy in particular. A veiled message that basically said, “Don’t forget, not only am I the only one with the keys to my ship, not only am I the only one who can pilot it because of its unique configuration, but I am the only one who keeps traveling with the ship itself! Don’t cross me, Missy! You have been warned.”

“Finally!” Missy exasperates as she regards the unfolded TARDIS that is disguised as a tent. “We can remove these damn helmets and spacesuits.”

“But you know why we have to occasionally wear them,” Star Breeze points out. “Two of those ponies are my own parents, for Celestia’s sake! According to them, I’m not even born yet.”

“Boo-hoo!” Missy pretends to whine with pity. “I’m soooo sorry for you and your inconvenience. As you’re well aware, I have quite the reputation for following the rules.”

Star Breeze growls at Missy in frustration while Missy attempts to unzip the “tent” but finds it is still closed. Missy then sighs in annoyance then looks at her “captain” while gesturing to the entrance and asking irritably, “Do you mind? I could use a shower to wash off a lot of disgusting filth right now.”

“So . . . you had enough fun for now?” Vision asks in a very serious tone as she continues to regard Missy with one swiveled ear.

Missy growls within her helmet then jabs a point at her “captain” as she complains, “Don’t you dare presume to judge me! I did what I had to do.” She waves the two of them off. “While you two were busy galavanting out there and ‘pretending’ to be heroes with each of those beasts one by one, I focused hard on the main objective! The vast majority of the other beasts, as well as all of the Daleks, are dead now because of me!” She gestures to herself hard when she said the word “me” then lowers her hoof back to the ground and says, “So open the bucking door and get off my back!”

“Did you hurt Derpy?!” Star Breeze asks defensively as she takes a bold step forward.

It is hard to tell with the helmets still on, but Missy passes Star Breeze a silent droll look for a few seconds before sneering and says sarcastically, “Why yes, little lady. Yes I did. I killed her then reversed time on her corpse so that I could kill her again half a dozen more times before finally yawning in boredom and decided to rob her of her memories of the encounter instead.”

Star Breeze cuts a hoof across the air as she says accusingly, “Knowing you as well as I do, I don’t have the luxury of dismissing that as a casual joke. In fact, I think it’s revolting that you even attempted to pass it off as a joke.”

Missy’s head straightens as she says, “I’m not like you pathetic, colorful equines. I’m not swayed by your cuteness or your insipid attempts at ‘friendship’. You all knew what you were in for when I was invited onto this ship, and let me make it perfectly clear that I only accepted the invitation for my own reasons.”

“And that is your prerogative,” Vision accepts with unshakeable calmness. “You’ve actually did very well on this mission, all things considered.” She waves a hoof at the entrance of the tent which suddenly unzips itself. “For that, you remain welcome aboard my ship. Enjoy your shower. You have earned it on this day.”

Missy actually feels disturbed because she wonders if Vision really means what she said or not. It’s even worse to realize that the annoying little psychic mare can sense her discomfort and confusion. That makes pulling off pranks against her, or otherwise evil schemes thereof, quite difficult around this mare.

In an attempt to pretend that she does not care, Missy scoffs then stomps her way into the ship. She figures she might as well try to fool Star Breeze at the very least.

“You’re really going to let her get off that easy?” Star Breeze asks her captain in disbelief. “Remember, she probably violated and hurt Derpy.”

“And took care of the source of this mission,” Vision reminds while not turning her head to “look” at Star Breeze. “She did say she would deal with this her own way. Don’t forget, there was a time when her motives, methods and objectives were all equally dark. An individual with a history that dark and ancient isn’t going to change fully overnight. In fact, it will require the patience of a Time Lord to pull off. I’ll cut her some slack for that but also give her the patience, love, understanding, and sometimes a bit of discipline that it actually takes to change very slowly for a soul who's been lost to the darkness to this degree.”

“Time Lord my flank. You’re demonstrating the patience of a downright saint if you ask me!” Star Breeze says in amazement.

“Whether she likes it or not, she is now in the Pony Universe and needs to learn that things run differently here,” Vision lectures calmly. “To that end, fate has sent me to her . . . one of the rare few who could actually succeed with this task. Not even the Doctor could do that, by the way. They are both too close to each other to make any true lasting change, and believe me . . . Time Lords can be very stubborn in their ways.”

“No doubt,” Star Breeze agrees a bit numbly and thoughtfully.

“Now come on,” Vision bids as she trots into her ship. “It’s time for us to go.”

The interior of this ship looks much like it does on the outside. It’s like a tent but much bigger in the inside. Ribbons and decorative silks hang from the walls and ceiling and a lot of pillows are clustered along the floor. This all closely matches something out of Saddle Arabia, but it even more closely matches the motif of a home of a mystical gypsy.

In the process of stepping in, she actually steps past Missy who waited to the side of the door. By then, she had removed most of the suit and finished with her helmet. Missy almost sets the helmet down but then she looks at it. A flair of anger bursts within her at the reminder of the occasional need to put this on. Growling at it hatefully (despite its occasional usefulness too), she chucks it hard at her “captain” but misses a bit.

What is startling to see, though, is Vision suddenly catching it without looking, not that she can “see” anyway. It is just so eerie to see the helmet fly at such tremendous speed in one moment then it comes to an instant stop at the end of Vision’s outstretched left forehoof which snapped out in the blink of an eye.

Missy is taken aback. This isn’t the first time that she’s reminded that Vision just might be the pony equivalent of a real live Jedi Knight, at least insofar as precognitive reflexes are concerned and this “somehow larger than life” feeling despite being so petite, calm, and often quiet.

Intense tension suddenly falls in the room thick enough that it causes all three mares to freeze. Ahead of Star Breeze and Missy, Vision continues to hold that pose for quite some time then finally turns her head halfway over her left shoulder. She then swivels her left ear more directly at Missy then holds that pose.

Inwardly, Missy shudders. Right now she feels like a child that got caught doing something naughty by a very powerful adult. It’s so strange that another mare, who is likely less than two percent of Missy’s total age, feels like Vision is many times older instead.

Nevertheless, there is just something about Vision that is very intimidating on occasion. A weight and gravitas about her that makes others feel like she can crush them in an instant if she wanted to. By now, Missy knows that is not a bluff either. Vision really does have the skills to do it.

Vision is not even staring directly at Missy, but just by aiming that one ear at her, it feels like her “captain” is somehow staring right through her soul. Since she is a known empath, Missy can’t dismiss that theory either.

Vision isn’t saying a word or moving a muscle yet that somehow makes her seem even more intimidating. It’s like she doesn’t even have to do that. One harsh, judgemental “stare” from her feels strong enough to cow even a normally powerful Time Lady.

That is why Missy also grew interested in the other mare. There is nothing like a cool display of raw power that makes her shiver to her core almost sexually. For that very reason, she has since started to scheme ways to corrupt Vision with the same vehement drive that she once had for the Doctor. She has not abandoned that goal either, but now there is another individual on her dark bucket list.

It’s ironic to Missy that she also realizes that these ponies keep on trying to persistently redeem her at the same time. More than once, Missy has mused over the possibility of what if they both succeed? That, against all odds, these ponies finally turned her good but it came at the cost of Vision’s own moral conscience?

Well, in that case, they might secretly remain on opposite sides of the spectrum even when they both flip sides. In that case, is it possible Vision could do more damage to the universe than Missy ever has or ever would? The thought of that possibility gives Missy a thrill of excitement!

“I’m, ah . . . just going to go now,” Missy announces with annoying timidness but right now she can’t help it, yet the realization that anyone can evoke that response in her at all also thrills her at the same time. That’s crazy to think about, but that’s been the theme of pretty much her whole life.

Vision remains silent and still as Missy tip-hooves away. The only movement the “captain” makes is to lock one ear aiming at Missy’s direction. The tension in the room doesn’t fully drop until Missy rushes out the last few paces out of this room.

Then, finally, Vision lowers her outstretched hoof that is still holding Missy’s space helmet. At that point it feels like the whole room expelled a breath of relief.

“I love it when you put your hoof down with her,” Star Breeze expresses as she finally removes her own helmet and tucks it more respectfully under her left wing. She then shakes her head to loosen her dark, multi-hue mane that looks like every shade of color the sky gets as the sun rises or sets. Beyond that, her face, and indeed most of her body, is black with white dots. Sort of like a living version of a star chart.

“Tough love is sometimes necessary with this one,” Vision expresses calmly. “She won’t ever obey anypony she does not fear and respect. Power in itself isn’t going to change her, but it can be a means to an end. It’ll at least gain her attention. A way to crack the door open, if you will.

“Now ask me what you wish to ask me,” Vision orders. “Get it off your chest.”

Star Breeze freezes for a second until she reminds herself that she’s dealing with a psychic empath. For some reason that keeps catching her off guard so far. She’s still not accustomed to someone who can see through others that clearly.

“Uh, well . . . I wanted to know if you know if my father figured out who I am,” Star Breeze asks.

“What good would the answer serve?” Vision challenges.

“Please!” Star Breeze begs. “I want to know. If you don’t tell me, it’ll keep nagging me and it might even hinder my performance later.”

“My dear, I’ve known the answer to that question a long time ago,” Vision answers. “Even before this mission started. That’s not an issue of empathy or my prophetic dreams. Instead, I personally grew up with him during my formative years and I can assure you that is one really bright pony. If you left any evidence behind that reveals your origin then I can assure you he will figure it out if he hasn’t already. Aside from that, he has good instincts too. He’s more of an empath himself than he realizes.”

“Then . . . he does know?” Star Breeze asks with rising hope.

“Probably, but remember . . . you are forbidden to confirm it,” Vision reminds with a hint of steel in her voice.

That response causes Star Breeze’s shoulder and head to sag and her ears to lower sadly.

“I know how much you want to tell him,” Vision assures with some sympathetic warmth to her voice this time. “I know how much you want to be honest and open with him. I know how much you want to ‘catch up’ with him, as it were, but remember . . . this is the past version of your father we’re talking about. To him, you’re not even born yet, although he probably knows, now, that you’re on your way someday. When you are born, he’ll get to know you while raising you. As for you, you have your memories of being raised by him. That’s enough. Be satisfied.

“Your time with your father, as you knew him, is in the past. You are here now. You chose to set hoof on my TARDIS in order to experience a grand adventure and I’m happy to provide it to you, but to embrace the new . . . you’ll have to let go of the old. Make the most of this moment now or you’ll be spending your future regretting that you didn’t take full advantage of this moment.” Vision nods while her milky white eyes remain staring out into empty space and not quite aimed at Star Breeze. “Live the adventure. Be in this moment. Explore with me and we’ll make an important difference along the way. That’s what you wanted, isn’t it?

“I know I’m not the Doctor and I’m aware you’re disappointed over that fact, but consider what you did receive. Can you still be satisfied?”

“Oh of course!” Star Breeze expresses brightly. “I’m very grateful to you for including me in your journey.”

“Our journey,” Vision corrects. “And you’re welcome. It is a pleasure for me to travel with you too. For me, this also feels like an enduring legacy.

“Now then, why don’t you go shower as well and take a load off too.”

“Do you know where and when we’re going next?” Star Breeze can’t help but ask with foal-like curiosity.

“We shall know when the moment comes,” Vision answers as she sits on one of the pillows on the floor. She keeps her eyes open as she sinks into a meditative trance. In doing so, she starts to intensify her otherwise constant communion with her TARDIS and that is how she steers her ship. She basically becomes one with it which is why, in Star Breeze’s estimation, Vision’s maturity remained far ahead of her actual age.

Star Breeze smiles in acceptance then trots out of the room while unzipping the rest of her spacesuit off. By the time she makes a few paces onward in the next room, she already hears this TARDIS come to life.

Part 22: Farewells and Reunions

“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.”

Part 23: Reflection

Finally I have a chance to sit down at my work desk on the upper floor of my home. I remove my pith hat from my head and almost set it down right away. Along the way, though, I hesitate as I look upon it. When I see it and all the damage it has accumulated over all these years, it reminds me of the day it was first given to me. The day Tanon pushed it towards me but also told me not to wear it until I got serious about being an adventurer. In a way, this hat is a keystone in my life that helped to unlock a very significant turn in my life.

I pause as I admire it. This old, worn, beat up-looking hat. It certainly has character now and it wasn’t new even when I received it. I have no idea how long Tanon actually had this but it certainly seems like he was still wearing it in his old photos. I can’t be sure, though. When a hat is new, many of them look alike.

At last I put my hat down and pick up another object that completes my transformation into A.K. Yearling, and that is my glasses. These things aren’t for show either. I needed them to help me read and write up close quite a while ago. Such is the way that often happens to scholars.

The thing is, though, it’s interesting to me how I actually do feel like a different mare whenever I remove the hat and put on these glasses. I sense this internal transformation in me. Somepony who is calmer and more willing to settle. Somepony who has the patience to actually write a full-length novel.

It is such a relief to finally get that mission off my chest. I have been at it for moons now altogether. I have traveled back and forth to the ends of Equestria which eventually brought me to confront, and beat, the riddles of a Sphinx to get the answers I sought for the cure. When she finally gave the answer to me, she meant it as a cruel taunt. That I came all this way just to find out that the cure I sought was now extinct, but at least I established it once existed at all. The Sphinx was confused why the news didn’t decimate me that much, but she didn’t know I had access to allies that could help me travel through time. By the time I tipped my hat to her and thanked her for those answers, she used her reality bending magic to manifest a series of floating question marks around her tilting head as she continued to gaze down at me in confusion.

What followed next was a journey I could scarcely imagine. The landscape alone was breathtaking. What we accomplished there was epic, but what moves me the most is the companions I traveled with. That, more than anything, has transformed me.

Stern Wing was incredible. I hadn’t known a mare could be so strong both inwardly and outwardly. She has set the new benchmark for me in terms of what any mare is capable of at the upper end of our potential. She clearly cared for her companions dearly and she did all that she could to keep us safe. Effort certainly didn’t remotely scare her away from that pursuit.

It’s strange, to me, to think a mare that tall, broad, and powerful actually looked up to me. I remember the first time she asked me, in earnest, if I could teach her some of the stuff I knew. I hesitated the first time because the question was so unexpected and I wasn’t certain how gifted of a student she’d be, but I ultimately determined there was only one way to find out and I seemed to have plenty of time at the time.

As the lessons continued, I remember smiling at her proudly when I noticed how strongly she was paying attention. She repeated what I said until she was certain she got it right then put those words into practice with admirable persistence. It was clear to me that she was really determined to master these lessons and I knew why. She did it because she cared for others. These skills would only help her protect them better.

I can’t help but wonder how much more awesome she’ll one day be when she finally masters these lessons because she already started with an incredibly high baseline. If she mastered martial arts, for example, to the same degree that I do them then she’d easily cream me for sure because there is so much more oomph behind each of her punches and likewise her endurance is that much greater. When she told me that she was once a professional sportspony in some obscure sport called “Puffball”, I had no trouble believing her. She is definitely a solid example of what top-tier brawn ponies look like.

Over time, though, I steadily realized that she was more than a traveling companion or a friend. In time, she felt like a sister to me. Sometimes we finished each other's sentences or spoke at the same time. She often agreed with every point I made and for the same reasons. Now I know what “at the same wavelength” truly means. I remember when we flashed each other a smile because we both realized that.

Now Derpy, that incredibly adorable mail-mare, could very well match the definition of innocence. She was very much an adult but still had the spirit, and perhaps even intellect, as a foal. She laughed. She sang. She blew bubbles. It took me some time to realize that she was the heart of the party. The one who cheered us up whenever we felt down or enhanced our joy in an already fantastic moment. There were plenty of examples of the latter in a time and place that is true paradise.

I loved her cooking too, especially her muffins. We had to get innovative coming up with a method to bake them while in the wild but we did it. It was worth it. I’m not accustomed to having that kind of luxury while on an active adventure. Usually my philosophy during travel is eat to live, not the other way around. That said, my travels have introduced me to a lot of exotic foods out there and my naturally adventurous spirit compelled me to try them.

Still, it was nice to wake up to aromatic, warm, lovingly crafted breakfast in the morning. That gave me an extra reason to look forward to each day.

Now Doctor Kelly was interesting. She is to promoting good health as Stern Wing is to protection. The good doctor also did it on all levels. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

She was incredibly professional and level headed. So much so that I grew shocked that she lost her cool even once. Usually she can keep herself emotionally distant enough to see the big picture calmly. Life is just a rapid scroll of letters and numbers to her. One she can read so fast that it is mind boggling. That is what a true genius looks like. One that might even rival the Doctor in her own way.

Intellectually, she was so engaging too! Multiple times I recall losing track of time as we spoke to each other across a vast array of topics. Both of us would point out all kinds of different perspectives and angles around what we were talking about. Enough to provoke a, “Huh. That’s interesting. I haven’t thought of it that way before!” response over and over again.

She made me realize how much I missed a good intellectual rival let alone one who was clearly superior, but she learned too. That’s what happens when a gifted mind takes her lessons seriously. She was never arrogantly dismissive with new information. Instead, she genuinely wished to learn and was willing to acknowledge her own potential ignorance on any subject. She broke down every argument into its individual components and explored each layer one by one. Very much an evidence-based kind of mare.

Then finally there was Feather Wind. “Gifted” seems like an insufficient word for such an incredible stallion and it was amazing, adorable, and sometimes concerning how humble he was about it.

For instance, just before we climbed the tall mountain in pursuit of the Ice Blue Lilly, the group encouraged him to read off one of his latest poems. It actually took a lot of coaxing to eventually convince him to do that. When he did, I remember how he tried to hide his face behind his floating scroll because of how afraid he was for us to see his reaction and vice versa. In the beginning, we had to repeat several times for him to speak up. To my credit, I succeeded to restrain my giggle at his reaction. Derpy had failed that same test.

But, once he finally really got going and he was absorbed in every word and syllable he spoke, the rest of the camp grew into dead silence out of stunned awe. Only Stern Wing wasn’t caught off guard by this because she was accustomed to the quality of his work a long time ago. I even remember her flashing the rest of us a smug-looking smirk because it amused her to see the rest of our reaction while at the same time knowing what we were in for.

I couldn’t believe that a stallion with that much talent could also be shy and lack confidence in his work. It seemed like he truly didn’t know how good he was. That was adorable in a way, but I still can’t easily swallow that fact.

When he was done, I recall him actually cringing as if he expected criticism or laughter. Before we even had a chance to rebuke his fears, he already gave us an excuse to justify the “low” quality of his work. He kept mentioning that this was just a first draft and he promised he’ll get better in the future.

I remember how the expression on his face, when he finished, begged us to go easy on him as if he was expecting that that would be a difficult task. At that moment, I almost failed my impulse to resist hugging him, but Derpy ended up doing it in my stead.

It seemed Derpy was easily swept up in any and all of her emotions.

Meanwhile my mind was numb for a while as it struggled to process all of my thoughts and feelings because of what I just heard.

I just barely caught Derpy explaining to Feather that she probably didn’t understand even a tenth of what he said yet she loved it anyway. To her, it was like listening to a foreign language being sung with unearthly beauty. That he spoke each word with such unbelievable passion that that alone moved her to tears.

I remember the surprise and delight steadily lighting up in his eyes as he absorbed each compliment. The word, “Really?!” was what he repeated multiple times as if he had a very hard time accepting what we were saying. Eventually he was moved to tears and he could barely express to the rest of us how grateful he was that we loved his work. It meant so much to him.

I really need to buy more of his books on poems in my time. That is definitely on my to-do list now. I can’t help but wonder, at this point, if any of his work might be designed to give a subtle wink to me specifically as his way of thanks and acknowledgment for all that I provided in his life.

Like that time I approached him as he sat at the edge of the cliff of the spot we took a break for the day after long hours of climbing. Since he was isolated from the rest of the group, I wanted to check on him to see if he was still okay.

What he was doing was gazing up at the cloud formations with wonder which was made even more spectacular because of the visible river of light above. That, in turn, made the clouds glow various shifting colors.

When I got his attention, my expression wordlessly asked him if he was alright. Feather was, at first, confused at my concern for him but he managed to figure it out when he looked over his shoulder with his bright yellow eyes at the others who all gathered away from him and eagerly waiting for Derpy’s cooking to finish.

I’ll never forget the way he looked back up at me with this gentle and beaming smile that assured me that he was more than fine in that moment. He was happy! Radiantly so. Staring at clouds was enough to light up the soul of this humble pony.

Looking down at him, I remember my fond smile as I marveled how such a tiny body like his managed to contain a soul of such incredible depth.

I ended up just sitting beside him and draping a wing across his back which he wordlessly accepted gratefully. Together we watched this gorgeous landscape full of broken clouds that created crawling shadows and shimmering light to gradually scroll across the land. It reminded me of what it was like to observe shimmering columns of light from under the ocean on a bright sunny day.

I sniff as I open my teary eyes back in the present. I think I have underestimated how profoundly my new group of friends meant to me. That bond stirs such rich emotion inwardly.

I have to write this down!

But now that I have settled to this point, I pull out my new Phoenix Quill and pause to admire that. In doing so, the spirit of my recent adventures floods back to my mind and heart again. I also feel the echo of earlier adventures too, like when I first received another quill that looked almost like this. It really stung when I lost it back then because it was a symbol of a bond I made with another grateful creature. Every time I held it, it felt like a reminder of the importance of my journeys. That, in turn, helped to solidify and reinforce the important decisions I made in my life.

This one feels especially poignant to me, though, because, in a way, it brings me full circle back to where I began. I remember when I used to still live in Manehatten and thought I would never be anything other than a scholar. A mare who merely admires adventures and adventurers from a distance, but then the Doctor came waltzing into my life and virtually opened those TARDIS doors for the first time. Beyond it lay adventure to the degree that I never could have imagined before. Some harsh but important lessons I learned back then. Of those, I think the most important one I learned was who I really am deep down. I didn’t realize it at first, but I was born for adventures like these! Ever since then, it’s been one grand and epic journey after another.

My writing career was another story. It almost felt like this whole other book in my life, not merely a different chapter. When I became committed to writing my adventures down, I fictionalized it to some extent. I didn’t do that as much in the beginning but I soon came to realize what the consequences can be if I gave the real coordinates to lost temples. Some may explore them out of casual curiosity and find out that the traps I wrote about in my books are all too real. I don’t want to even think about how many ponies I might have accidentally led to their deaths.

But the consequences of success can be just as severe. If those ponies got a hold of the treasure that the traps were set to guard, they might be wielding powers that they do not understand. Whether they are innocent fools or a cunning evil genius, either way, they are the wrong hooves to wield such powers. I did not choose to write about these adventures to put the world in greater mortal peril. Instead, I meant to inspire. To educate. To get ponies to at least think beyond their comfort zones. Beyond the everyday natural routines in our lives.

Not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that, especially if those routines follow their cutie marks. To do so means promoting and doing more of who that pony really is. There is such a warm and fuzzy feeling that naturally goes along with fulfilling one’s true purpose that is in alignment with one’s destiny. It’s so satisfying.

At the same time, though, I’d like to shine a light in order to bring awareness that there is a wider and more grand world out there and it’s full of wonders for the intrepid. Whenever a pony reads my books, I absolutely welcome them to imagine themselves in my place. That way they can get at least a taste of my adventures. To feel the mugginess of the deep jungle. To feel that shifting weight as they swing on a jungle vine. To feel the adrenaline and thrill that comes along with diving down and watch individual droplets of a waterfall follow alongside. To know what it is like to tumble through a closing door then realize, with a brief flare of panic, that they accidentally left their precious hat in the last room. At that point they reach beyond the threshold of that closing door and yoink it back just in time to avoid their foreleg from being crushed.

I really do feel like I’m doing something important for the world and it isn’t just what I accomplish in the adventures themselves. It is also to bring those adventures closer to home and that, in turn, offers my readers a new perspective.

I also recall that my journey as an author didn’t start out that well. There are plenty of publishers who turned me down, and even the ones who did say maybe, did so on the condition that I make certain changes, but I can’t do that. They didn’t know that I actually have experienced what I wrote on those pages so there are limits to how far I’m willing to edit it.

Sure, I might change the name of the temple, the name of the location it is at, and I certainly change some of the names of the ponies I encountered in my journey for the sake of protecting their personal privacy.

There are some exceptions here and there, especially if the pony I encountered happened to be a celebrity of some kind. For instance, whenever Princess Celestia or Princess Luna get involved, I think my readers would be downright insulted if I changed their names while still making it perfectly clear whom I am talking about.

In the end, it turned out I had to self-publish. That was scary for me because that was a lot of personal financial investment, especially during some of my earlier adventures when I didn’t win too much treasure that I was willing to spare. Eventually, though, I gathered enough funds. I published the books at my own cost but I also did it on my own terms. That kept the stories pure. Almost sacred. Considering the fact that they actually happened, I ultimately felt that was the only right way to get those stories out there.

At first it was a disaster. I got very little return on my investment. I gambled and basically lost, but I tried to console myself back then by reminding myself that the few who did buy and read those books might have been affected potentially profoundly. That’s basically how I got started too. I was inspired by the works of others as well as stories from my own grandfather.

I suspect any serious author out there knows my pain. It’s so scary to offer something that feels so personally precious out into the world then endure even the mere possibility that it could get rejected. Far worse if it actually is rejected or it gets infamous instead of famous.

None of my works ever suffered a fate that bad, though, until my works started to get more popular. Only after I started to make a name for myself is when the critics also started to show up. That stung at first, but I soon realized that being a famous writer takes a thick hide to endure. I eventually learned that accepting the criticism is actually a major sign of success. At least my stories made enough of an impact for some to complain about it. No pony would actually make that much effort if they didn’t truly care on some level.

Of course, it’s an even better sign that the majority of my readers praise it. That helps to remind me that most of my kind really are friendly deep down. Sometimes that trait isn’t even that deep.

In time, I eventually developed a routine of my own even as my skills continued to get refined both as an adventurer and as an authoress. It took a lot of baby steps to get this good and sometimes some giant leaps too. I’d even say I have more than my fair share of the latter because I tend to live my life at the edge of extremes. In a way, that has become my new comfort zone.

I pause to admire the quill in my hoof as I twist it back and forth. The light of my candle on my desk reflects off this crimson feather with a prismatic sheen. As I look upon this, I internally reflect on how this very much is a symbolic representation of my internal growth as a pony. Many times I have died and been reborn in my life. Each time I rise from the ashes stronger and stronger.

I grin as I think about that. I recall when I told Stern Wing that I am a fire-element pony. She’s probably right that I’m earth too so I guess lava really is a better fit. It doesn’t quite have the same poetic ring to it, though.

I slowly close my eyes as I internally reminisce on my past adventures. I had already written a lot of it down in my diary whenever I had the chance, but now I take the time to reflect on the feeling of those special moments. Each one is very precious nourishment to my soul. It causes me to grow, get old, die, then get reborn again as I gloriously rise from the ashes.

I am so glad to be alive! I am so glad to be part of this precious world. I am so glad to journey through it and share what I can.

I am the Guide. I am the Map Maker. I am the Compass. I am the Navigator. I stood on the threshold of many new horizons over and over again. I can’t wait to find out what I’ll explore next!

But, for now, it’s time to take a little break. To sort of decompress, as it were. These moments are important too to help me prepare for the next as well as create greater value out of my experiences.

In the past, once my pen got going, it tended to flow non-stop. I then develop a rhythm. I sink into the zone. It’s almost like a trance.

On the other hoof, it’s the beginning I tend to have trouble with. The fact that I already lived through these adventures helps, but there is still a great responsibility to exactly how I describe the beginning. After all, if I lose my readers at that point with a bad description, it doesn’t matter how great the rest of my work is. I’ve already lost them. Because of that, I’ve learned it’s very important to hook them right away, and for that, I have to give the beginning a little extra thought. I have to figure out how I can give it a creative and poetic spin on it while still being mostly honest.

As usual, though, my internal compass serves as a natural guide. Whenever I examine it for inspiration, I often find it nudges me in some way. It could be a word. A whole sentence. Sometimes it’s just an image or a feeling. Whatever it is, I feel a charge of emotion behind it. It’s sort of like it’s saying, “Try saying this! Trust me. It’ll work.” Then I feel my internal compass kind of winking at me.

This moment is no exception. I smile brightly as inspiration strikes me. When that happens, I finally feel ready to begin.

Until I suffer a knock on my front door. By the sounds of it, it’s rather urgent, in fact.

I grunt in annoyance at this interruption. I really hate moments like this just when I was starting to sync into the flow. At least these ponies, whoever they are, are knocking at all instead of barging into my place and trashing it in search of some ancient artifact I happened to procure, or at least they think I have. That’s happened before and those moments are far more annoying.

But no. That’s not what is happening right now. Instead, these ponies actually want my attention and that’s already a hint that he, she, or they probably aren’t hostile. I can’t be too sure, though, because I met plenty of villains in my life. Just because they want my attention doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be on guard against potential deception.

The knocking at my front door remains persistent and urgent. The closer I get to it, the more it concerns me. At first I could have dismissed it as forceful on the possibility that he, she, or they is merely trying to get my attention, but doing hard and continuous knocks is more indicative of a pony trying to warn me that my house is on fire!

I can see, along the way, that my house isn’t in that much of an urgent state, although it does feel a bit neglected lately.

Still, whomever this is, I am quickly growing more certain that this is very urgent.

My heart races just before I open the door. I am used to having my adrenaline pump, but sometimes what seems to be an urgent situation turns out to be nothing but bad news. I can help if a problem is occurring now or will soon, but it breaks my heart if I hear I’m already too late to help somepony. I really hope it’s not the latter.

Without further adieu, I open the door then wince when the hoof that was knocking on the door almost knocks on me!

“Hey! Watch it!” I complain as I wince strongly. “You almost knocked on me!”

“Oh! Sorry, luv. Ah didn’t know you wuz coming till ya opened the door,” apologizes and explains a pretty tall, broad, and somewhat handsome brown stallion with deeper brown hooves which kind of remind me of Stern Wing. He’s got a dark purple mane and tail, though. He’s also wearing a white dress shirt that is splayed open a bit since he isn’t using the top three buttons. On his head, he wears a brown hat that has a band of what appears to be teeth on it.

It turns out I have two guests after all. The one standing beside him is shorter than the stallion and she doesn’t nearly have his girth. She’s quite skinny and most of her height is in her legs. She has a peach-pink hide and platinum blonde streamed gold mane/tail. Like the stallion beside her, this pegasus mare is also wearing a shirt, but hers is green this time and, unlike the stallion, it is buttoned fully up nicely. She also has a band in the middle of her mane which wraps it into a single ponytail.

I wince at these two as my face assumes a discerning look behind my glasses because I recognize them, but I can’t put my hoof on where or when, or who they are. I suspect I never met them before personally, but I must have seen them at some point. A newspaper article, maybe?

In an attempt to help me figure this out, I size them both up with a carefully appraising eye. Doing so does not jog my memory of them per se, but it does suggest to me that not only are they fellow adventuring ponies like me, but they are very good ones as well.

After being in this profession for as long as I have, I’ve been able to pick up a thing or two that true professionals tend to have. For instance, they don’t brag or come off as too showy as if to compensate for something. That was a red flag I overlooked with Doctor Caballeron in my youthful and innocently naive days.

In contrast, true professionals have a certain bearing and poise about them that their years of experience and confidence would make it difficult to hide. It just naturally happens over time.

For instance, they stand ready for action at any moment’s notice and there are subtle ways they show it like their ears flick about on occasion as they are in the habit of regularly checking for danger. They typically wear subdued colors that may not be too pleasing to the eye, but they are practical and durable. Even their gear can often show signs of wear and tear, too, yet still hold up remarkably well.

The peach-pink mare places her hoof to her dark green shirt as she expresses, “We’re very sorry for disturbing you and your privacy, Miss Yearling.”

“But we’re also rightly glahd that yar’re still in ‘ere,” the stallion expresses more brightly. “Cuz we could really use your ‘elp.”

“Before we go on,” continues the mare, “I think it would only be proper of us if we both introduce ourselves.”

“An’ rightly so, I might add,” agrees the stallion as he pulls his hat to his chest. “Mah name is Snap Shutter and this here is mah lovely wife, Miss Mane Allgood.”

“Snap Shutter and Mane Allgood?” I echo questioningly then I rub the bottom of my chin. That sounds familiar too, but I still can’t put my hoof on it. This is getting both frustrating and embarrassing because obviously they are well aware of me. I wish I could return the favor in equal measure.

“Ya heard of us?” Snap asks with rising delight as he places his hat back on his head.

“I . . . I think so, but I can’t put my hoof on where or when,” I explain with a slight blush of embarrassment.

“Well, that’s okay,” Mane says good-naturedly as she waves a hoof off at me. “I already knew that the two of us aren’t as famous as you, Miss Yearling.” Suddenly her expression sinks into devious cunning. “Or, as you are better known in the social circles that we hang out with, would you prefer us to call you Daring Do?”

My eyes widen in shock at them. Surprisingly, I haven’t met many ponies who caught on to my secret. I have Daring Do’s salt and pepper mane and tail and still most ponies don’t catch on. Simply wearing glasses or a hood can be surprisingly effective among my race.

But, once in a while, I do encounter others who catch on to my secret and it always catches me off guard because it has alarming implications. If they know, then what will they do with that secret? Are they here to blackmail me? Will they try to threaten my friends and family?!

My initial impression of them is they actually do seem like a pair of decent-hearted ponies. I doubt they are here to hurt me in any way but I can never be too careful. After all, I know a lot of dangerous secrets and sometimes have dangerous artifacts in my possession. In short, there really are reasons for other ponies to go after me so I need to remain on my guard just in case it’s one of the bad reasons.

“Crackin good ol’ books ya write, bah the way!” Snap compliments me with a bright and grateful expression. “Good on ya for actually putting our profession in a positive light.” He points at me. “Sometimes we encount’eh others who either misunderstand what we do or seek to exploi’ us, but not you, Miss Do. Ya set the record straight an’ ya got mah respect for that. Ya give us adventurers a good name for a change and Ah, for one, deeply appreciate it.”

“In fact,” Mane says as she transfers her look from her husband to me, “that’s kind of why we’re here.” She looks behind her and uses her left wing to reach for something behind her. She then faces forward again and passes me two photographs using that same wing. “Here. Please take a look at these photographs, Miss Do.”

Curious but still feeling on guard, I reach my right wing forward to accept the photographs then look upon them. What I see is one colt and one stallion that definitely look related. Other than the age, they seem downright identical since they both have white hides with a mint green patch over the left eye. Both of them have yellow manes and the manestyle is identical too.

I look taken aback by these images then raise an eyebrow at Miss Mane as I ask, “So? What are these photos supposed to prove?”

“These two photographs are actually of the same pony,” Miss Mane tells me. “And believe it or not, the one with the colt was taken only four moons ago!”

I widen my eyes in shock at her as I repeat incredulously, “Four moons ago?! There’s no way that can be correct! The stallion in this picture is clearly much older than that.”

“Unfortunately, it is all too true,” Snap assures sadly and grimly. “Tha’ colt’s name is Olive Branch an’ we encount’ehed ‘is parents not but one moon ago. They gave us the grim news that their son is afflicted with a magical curse! A curse that is aging him faster and faster!”

“Sweet Celestia!” I exclaim in shock.

Mane nods sadly as she says, “Our reaction was much the same. They also asked us for help because we’re the best in the business at what we do, and what we do is track down rare and exotic creatures. Sometimes dangerous ones, too.”

“As to that,” continues Miss Allgood’s husband, “we ‘eard tell of the bunicorn, a mystical two-horned rabbit that is ultra rare. One little flake of their cartilages is said to be a key ingredient to breaking pretty much any curse.”

“The problem is that all of our research came to the conclusion that the only possible location of the bunicorn might be the Lost Valley of the Toka’Raz,” resumes Miss Allgood. She cuts a right wing across the air in front of her. “And no pony knows where that valley is except for maybe one pony.”

“‘an it’s a pony that not many even realize is real,” Snap continues. “The legendary adventurer and dungeon explorer, Miss Daring Do.”

“I see,” I express in a tone of realization since I’m beginning to piece all of this together.

Miss Allgood applies both of her two wings together in a begging expression as she pleads, “So we have come to you for help, Miss Do. Please disclose to us the location of the Lost Valley of Toka’Raz.”

“We’ll even pay ya for that information,” Snap adds.

I shake my head then tell them, “You two might not know what you’re getting into. I never seen a bunicorn before but I heard they are very skittish and otherwise pretty harmless. However,” I push a raised wing towards them, “there are other things in that Valley that are far more terrifying. If I give you the coordinates to that Valley then I may very well be sending you two to your deaths.”

“Believe us, Miss Do, we’re used to dane’jah,” Snap assures confidently. “For we are the bes’ at what we do.”

“That’s not my only concern,” I express. “There are other things in that Valley as well. Things that will tempt you, for that Valley also hides an ancient and very sinister evil. It doesn’t look like it now, but that Valley used to hide one of the greatest dangers that this world has ever known. It can see into your heart and it knows what could lure you.”

“So you have been there,” Miss Mane says with a smile. “That’s good. At least somepony knows the way to that Valley.”

“You don’t haffta worry about us,” Snap assures. “We already know where our greatest treasure lies. She,” he tilts his head to his wife while still regarding me, “already gave birth to her quite some time ago, an’ we been lookin’ forward to reuniting wit’ ‘er ev’ah since.”

“Do you have any foals of your own, Miss Do?” Miss Allgood asks which catches me off guard.

“Um . . . that’s a pretty personal question,” I complain slightly. “But I don’t see the harm in answering. The answer is no. I do not know that joy yet.” I then shake my head. “My career often draws me to very dangerous places so I have no time to raise a foal of my own.” I blush shyly as I add, “And besides, I guess I haven’t met the right stallion yet.”

I glance inside my house at a chest where I hide a picture of my family before looking back at them and I say, “Moreover, I remember how hard that was with my mother and her father. He was a legendary adventurer and she . . . Well. She was the one basically left behind and worrying about whether she’ll ever see her father again.” I shake my head. “I don’t think I’d have the heart to put my own would-be foal through that.”

What I said seems to have struck a nerve between these two. A very pained and guilty expression clouds their faces as they glance at each other then they both look down sadly.

“I can well understand your feelings in this regard, Miss Do,” Miss Allgood assures. “For we do have a foal of our own and it tears us apart to be apart from her every single day.”

“‘er name is Scootaloo an’ we left ‘er in Ponyville under the care of whomever is kind enough to help raise ‘er,” Snap Shutter adds sadly then cheers up a bit as he goes on to say, “Good’ news is she does ‘ave lots of friends ow there tah look af’tah ‘er from time to time. Even me ol’ sister an’ ‘er wife checks in on tha’ we ol’ bugg’ah from time to time, for which we are eternally grateful.”

“Of course we’d much rather be there ourselves, but nopony else can do what we do,” continues Miss Allgood. “And this mission is especially urgent!” She shakes her head. “There is no way we can face our daughter again with a clear conscience by going to her now while also knowing that doing so will also cost some other foal his life as it is quickly stripped away. There is no way we can possibly be that cruel so we have to do whatever we can to help.”

I am deeply touched to hear that. In my heart, part of me feels like smiling upon receiving yet another reminder that not only are there other very competent adventurers out there but some of them also have the heart of gold too. Seeing that makes me feel that I am not so alone after all.

“We know ya ain’t to keen on let’in others join ya in any of ye ol’ adventures,” Snap Shutter announces seriously. “An’ we ain’t asking fo’ that.” He shakes his head. “All we want is the coordinates to the Lost Valley.” He stands erectly in a dutiful pose and expression. “Af’tah that, ya juz leave the res’ on us.”

“Please, Miss Do! Look at those photographs again!” Miss Allgood begs. I do so. “That foal is suffering right now! So is his family. I can’t even bear to think of the pain that I would be enduring if this was happening to our daughter. In good conscience, we feel that we must do whatever we can to help, even if it brings us towards further danger. That’s just the risks we have to accept with this kind of lifestyle.”

As I stare at the two photographs of the cursed colt, I quickly realize how insulted I feel that they think I am so pig-headed in rejecting all other compony that I’d even let a colt die horrifically just to maintain that stance. I understand why they think I have that reputation because that recently was my stance when it comes to accepting others, but Sweet Celestia! They are making me sound like a heartless monster.

I close my eyes, sigh, then open them again with firm resolve as I pass the photographs back with my wing and say, “I made myself clear. I will not tell you the coordinates to the Lost Valley.” I take a moment to absorb their shock before I go on to say, “Instead, I’ll do something better.” My face twists into a daring expression as I slap my pith helmet on my head. “I’ll escort you to the Lost Valley myself!”

Their horror at my initial announcement shifts to shock when I tell them that I’ll escort them personally. They glance at each other long enough to notice that their partner feels the same way before looking back at me.

“Ya don’t haff’tah do that,” says Shutter. “I already told ya . . . we can hoofle this ourselves an’ we ain’t gonna inconvenience ya anymore than we already have.” He nods with a serious expression. “This ‘ere is our fight. We’re the ones who will hoofle it.”

“And I already told you that there are greater dangers in that Valley other than that which you seek,” I remind them. “If I go, your chances of surviving the trip will be that much greater which also means it increases the odds of success for that foal. Now that you told me what is at stake,” I shake my head, “I won’t be able to sleep either without knowing if anything is done to help cure him. Besides, I know something else that hides in that Valley and I want to personally make sure that both of you don’t fall for its temptations. Believe me, it’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

I notice the two of them glance at each other except this time it is with rising hope and delight. What I am offering is way better than they initially bargained for.

“Are you sure, Miss Do?” Miss Mane checks as she looks back at me.

“I am sure,” I assure as I nod at them confidently. “And I also want to thank you two.”

“For what?” Snap Shutter asks, taken aback.

“For tipping me off to this important mission,” I tell them. “Because you’re right. Now that I have heard of this, I can’t ignore this.” I then smile at them warmly as I go on to say, “And I also want to thank you two for another reminder that there are other good hearted adventurers out there, like me and those I recently met, who bravely venture out there to fight the good fight.” I tip my hat to them. “It shall be my pleasure to travel with you two.”

“Well hot diggity dang!” Snap Shutter cheers so ecstatically that he actually hops in the air and clicks his rear hooves in the brief moment they are off the ground. “If ya’er sure, Miss Do, then it will be our pleasure to work with ya! Heck yeah! I’m even lookin’ forward to it and seeing anoth’ah true professional at work.” Still giving a goofy grin due to his intense cheer, he tilts his head to the side as he asks, “Got a question for ya though, mate. Does this mean the two of us are going to be in ya’re next book?”

“You’ll know that when I publish it,” I answer back. “In the meantime, let’s get to writing it. Another day . . .”
“. . . another dungeon!” the two adults before me cheer in unison.

Author's Note

Well that concludes another arc. Back to back arcs that both have Daring Do. Both of these are also, by far, the longest arcs in the story. They could almost be their own novels.

This chapter also mirrors the last arc in another interesting way. In the last arc, it was first person until its final chapter where, all of the sudden, we see things more from Ahuizotl's third person perspective. With this arc, though, that pattern is reversed because Daring's no longer the main character but a fellow participant in it. That is, until this last chapter where it suddenly switches to first person again so the reader can be more fully immersed in Daring's thoughts and what she learned throughout this arc.

For her, though, things are winding down now. She'll have a lingering presence in the story in various ways going forward, but not to this degree. At least not for the foreseeable future.

Something that strikes me about writing for her in these stories is her depth, growth and maturity actually exceeds the show canon from what I can see. So, in a way, she's actually out of character here but in the best way. I don't see a serious problem with taking an existing idea and using it as a springboard to make it something better. All of this means, in a subtle but also meaningful way, it makes this story an alternate universe sort of angle. I drove for show canon authenticity for the most part and even mentioned that as a mission statement in the long description of this story. This, however, is a small but important exception.

In the first arc, during her first adventure as Agate Keystone, that story is long enough to be a full character arc in terms of an origin story. In this one, that growth continues by more fully revealing what she has learned compared to the last arc and during this one. That gives her an inner strength that I admire. She's way more than a cartoon action adventurer now for little kids.

I hope you all see this as a good send off for her. Coming back where she started, only now willing to acknowledge and accept the "compony" of other adventurers whose hearts are also in the right place.

Wherever your adventures take you next, Miss Do, we love you and wish you all the best.

With all that being said, the adventure goes on.

The Wild Card, Part 1: A Better Vision

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.

Part 2: Casino Royale

I take a deep breath as I stand in front of the exit of the TARDIS. I crack my neck left then right. I straighten up my tie.

I live for moments like this! Brand new adventure and whole new worlds just waiting for me beyond these doors. These magic doors that are so familiar inside, but once I step outside these doors . . .

Part of me inwardly scoffs when I think that Stern Wing would have insisted I view outside with my monitor first, but where is the fun in that, eh? I am the Doctor! I can handle whatever is beyond these doors.

Huh. It almost feels strange to me that I actually entered this timeline with a focused objective. I can’t believe it really is that time again to face an old enemy of mine.

And friend.

There’s hope in this pony universe. Derpy likes to tell me that friendship is magic. Well? Please, Friendship . . . don’t let me down.

I boldly open the doors.

Then I gasp and freeze when I behold a stunned crowd of ponies directly ahead of my ship. They gasp at me, too. For six seconds we just awkwardly stare at each other until the crowd ahead of me suddenly erupts into an unexpected cheer.

Where the heck am I? Did I really land off course?

I step outside of the TARDIS then look straight up into the sky. After that, I take a quick look around. I notice that not only did I land in some busy area of Los Pegasus, but I land here during broad daylight hours too. Man oh man! The only possible way I could’ve been more public about my landing is if I landed in front of the Queen of England during the first televised coronation.

I cast a playful glare back at the TARDIS as I begin to suspect it has a cruel sense of humor at this moment.

“That was FANTASTIC!” ecstatically cries out a yellow earth pony stallion who obviously looks like a tourist considering he’s hanging a camera about his neck. Around here, though, he actually seems to be the common one. “The way you just had that blue box thing appear from out of nowhere? Wowie-wow! You must be one of the city's stage magicians!”

“Ah . . . well . . .” I express bashfully as I rub a hoof behind my neck. “As a matter of fact, I do have some experience in stage magic.”

“No kidding!” the yellow stallion enthusiastically agrees. “What’s your stage name?”

“Well,” I say as I return my brown hoof to the ground. “If you must know, there are some who call me,” I stand up on my hind legs briefly while I strike a heroic pose by putting my forehooves on my hips and boldly declaring, “The Doctor!”

“Doctor who?” some pony in the crowd calls out. I actually fail to locate this pony.

“Just the Doctor,” I answer as I land back on all four legs.

“The stage must be where you ‘operate’ with your magic, eh?” the yellow stallion asks me as he gives me a good-natured nudge with his left fore wrist. Then he brightens again when he gets an idea. He asks me, “Hey! Can I get your autograph and your picture taken?”

“Ah . . . sure!” I agree with this pleasant, unexpected surprise. “I don’t see why not.” I give a sly look back at the TARDIS as I add under my breath, “I have the time, I suppose.”

“FANTASTIC!” the stallion cheers again. “Honey!” he calls to some pony out in the crowd. Based on the way they respond, I assume the pink earth pony mare with the white mane is this stallion’s wife. This seems confirmed when he tosses her his camera. “Could you take a picture with me and ‘The Doctor’ in it?”

“Only if you add the kids in it too,” the pink mare negotiates, then blushes at me as she adds, “If that is okay with you, Sir.”

“Of course! Of course!” I cheer then wave towards me. “Bring them in. Bring all of your kids in.”

I widen my eyes, startled, when I see a total of twelve foals cheer in this crowd then rush towards me and whom I assume is their father. I recover a moment later, though, as I look across them.

“Actually, allow me,” volunteers a blue earth pony filly within the crowd who is wearing some kind of stylistic, purple shades. She holds a hoof out to the pink mare, presumably for the camera. “You … go!” the blue filly insists. “You be wit’ yo’ fom-ah-ly while I, Photo Finish, shall take,” she lifts both forehooves in front of her eyes and spreads them apart, “dee magics wit dee cam-oh-ra!”

“Oh!” the pink mare gasps in delighted surprise. “Thank you, Miss.” Then she tilts her head questioningly. “But are you sure you know how to hoofle this?”

“Oh pwease,” Photo Finish says with a dismissive wave. “Dee pictures I take will be simp’wee shtunning!” She leaps up and snatches the camera away rather insistently then boldly points towards her family. “Now you go!”

“Okay-okay!” the pink mare cries out as she almost stumbles towards her family for a moment before recovering her balance and continues the rest of the way. Once she arrives, she spins about and smiles back at the insistent filly while requesting, “Make sure all of us are in the frame.”

For the next minute, the filly Photo Finish directs each of us to bunch up together then arranges us by height and apparently also color. Several times she keeps checking how we look inside the camera she’s borrowing without taking a picture yet. She occasionally adjusts her position in order to change the camera’s angle in order to include certain elements of the background. At first I thought she was merely trying to get the whole family, me, and the TARDIS in the frame but I eventually realize there were other things further back that she was trying to get in the frame as well.

“Yes. Yes!” the blue filly finally cries out triumphantly. “Dat iz zit! It’s goowd! Now ‘old shtill aaaaaaaaand . . . voilà! I ‘ave done it!” She then tosses the camera back to the family who catches it with a startled expression. Meanwhile the filly whips about and abruptly insists, “I go!” then immediately proceeds to do as promised.

Wow! And some people call me eccentric! But some of these ponies are really out there and I’m having a blast!

“Wow. You know what, honey?” the yellow husband says as he looks at the picture the camera produced. “This is pretty decent, especially for a filly.” He smiles as he looks for the filly out in the crowd. “I bet that pony is going to become a famous photographer someday.”

“Probably,” the pink wife agrees a little timidly. “I just hope she doesn’t keep tossing her cameras about like that.”

“Let me see! Let me see!” excitedly cries out a young purple earth pony filly.

“In a minute, Purple Pop,” the father says as he hooves the photo to me first. “I’d like for you to sign it first.”

“Certainly!” I accept good-naturedly. “I just need a pen.”

One of the twelve foals passes me a quill with ink. I have no idea where that colt produced the items. Part of me can’t dismiss the possibility of cartoon hammer-space or some obscure equivalent.

“Thank you, little man,” I express to the colt.

“I’m helping!” the tan brown colt cries out excitedly.

The family watches me struggle while I eventually opt to bite into the quill and try to write “The Doctor” on the photo with my mouth. It works but it is super sloppy. They wouldn’t be missing their guess if any of them believed that that was the first time I attempted to sign anything that way.

Then it hits me. That really might be the first time I signed anything in the pony universe.

“Well. I’ll tell you what,” I say after I spit the quill back out of my mouth. “I’ve been ‘shot’ in front of the TARDIS doors before but this time has been much more pleasant.”

“Yeah. It is a good photograph, isn’t it?” enthusiastically says the husband and father. “You can see some of the ferris wheels in the background and . . . Holy Cow! Is that really your signature, Sir?”

“For now, I’m afraid so,” I admit a bit sheepishly.

“Huh.” He gives me a dry look. “Perhaps you should consider just hoof-mark stamps as your signature. I’m just saying.”

I widen my eyes then express to the stallion brightly, “You know what? That’s not a bad idea!”

“Well,” he shifts his look to my ship as he says, “while your signatures clearly could use some practice, there’s no denying you have a talent for making things appear out of thin air! That almost looks like real magic!”

“Hey Pa! Look!” cries an excited green filly who peered inside my ship. “It’s actually bigger inside the box! Look at! Look at!”

“Ha-ha! That’s real funny, Candy Apple!” the yellow father scoffs.

“But it is! It really is!” the filly, Candy Apple, insists.

“More stage tricks?” the father guesses at me.

I give a sweeping bow with a hoof to my chest and deep nod of my head as I tell him, “A magician never gives away his secrets.”

“Too true,” the father agrees with me with a playful grin. “Well, anyway, we have to take off now and try to find a hotel before this city runs out of vacancies.”

“Which can happen often around here, so I heard,” agrees the pink mare. “So we need to hurry.”

Meanwhile I close the doors to the TARDIS before even more curious foals peek inside of it. Once the doors are closed, I give a secret wink to the green filly in order to imply to her that what she discovered needs to be our little secret. When she notices my expression, her face lights up in delight then she returns my secret wink.

It feels surreal to wander through this city while aware that it bears some reflection of the human universe city of Los Vegas but being ponified here reveals the differences between the two universes all the more clearly. This city is far more compact compared to Los Vegas which makes sense because these ponies don’t have cars. As such, they are building everything closer together.

There are many other differences too. Certainly Los Vegas can get all bright, shiny, and highly materialistic but I also recall it has dark alleys, police cars blaring back and forth on the highway, and ghetto neighborhoods that may have those of ill-repute of multiple types. That is so strongly true in the human universe that it comes as no surprise to most who even visit the city. They expect the city to have areas that are probably dangerous to navigate.

This place, however, illustrates everything I’ve ever observed and have been telling others about the differences between the two universes. Sure, this place is crowded and colorful and all kinds of lights and sounds and all things that can distract and overwhelm the senses, but it is all grounded by a sense of magic and innocent excitement. I’m not seeing any pony around here selling drugs or sex. Instead, there is this pure innocent joy that is so strong, it even affects the adults with the same attitude as their foals. Just that same sense of excitement like going to a theme park such as Disneyland for the first time!

Even those who seem to live and work here have this upbeat personality to them and a skip to their step. They are looking around at all their customers' happiness and they find it infectious. They are happy to work here because it keeps them close to a place where happiness and joy is so radiantly exemplified.

Normally I’d think a party-city like this would get tiring after a while and perhaps that is true on some level, but the thing about cutie marks is it can have a lasting psychological effect. Doing one thing over and over again would often exhaust and bore any typical human I know but ponies are different as long as that one thing they do has something to do with their cutie mark. I don’t fully understand this concept yet and I’m beginning to think these ponies don’t either. That the marks are just there and it’s too dynamic for them to fully understand either.

But then I arrive at the place I am looking for. A hotel and casino called “Casino Royale”. When I see it, I immediately think about an old film on earth that had the same name. The fact that this casino shares that name had a chance to be a coincidence but I know, for a fact, that this time it is not. Whoever named this casino was aware of that film on earth in the human universe.

This alludes to something pretty dark here, too. The old 1967 film was an old spy paradee film but the one who named this casino has a very shady past behind him. It is a spot of darkness in otherwise brilliant light here, and what’s worse is it is disguised as the light. It’s just as glamorous, glorious, and entertaining as a dozen other casinos nearby but this one actually was formed by a gangster one would expect in Los Vegas. A skilled and powerful one. There are hints of it all throughout this casino even from the outside. Little nods here and there that no pony from this universe would understand because it is a reference to something from another universe entirely.

A flood of memories and emotions assail me as I stand in front of this casino and behold giant, for the lack of a better term, magical holograms that slowly spin above a water fountain near the front entrance of the casino. The illusion shows two spinning playing cards. One of them is the King of Hearts but the other card keeps changing whenever the viewer looks away from it for a second and looks back or the image spins around. It’s like an optical illusion. Below that, the fountain is lit and I can’t help but notice it has a red light in the waterfall. Red, like the color of blood.

Yeah. He’s here. What Vision said is true.

I hesitate very strongly. What I’m about to do here is disturbing a sleeping giant. I’m about to poke a hornet's nest. At least here the damage is contained, but if I do this, if I press forward with the plan, a lot of dangerous outcomes may follow.

But I have to do this. I had already lived a small sample of the results after this day. For me, that’s now a fixed timeline. That’s the danger of encountering future events.

I have to hold faith that what I’m about to do will eventually have a positive outcome. There’s already a lot of sentimental value involved even if it has a dirty history. Still, that one piece of goodness out of all of this feels strangely nostalgic. It’s like a little piece of home.

I sigh as I close my eyes and gather my composure. I reach up and adjust my green necktie once again before opening my eyes and proceeding inside.

Inside the Casino, I continue to see much of the same kind of details as I did on the outside. Namely that someone has tried to taint the purity of this pony world. I am used to seeing a few ponies drink alcohol on occasion but this is the very first time I have ever seen any pony smoking for real. Sure, I have occasionally and hilariously seen ponies approximate it with something I can’t dismiss as a mockery of the foul habit, and that is blowing bubbles in a pipe designed to resemble a smoke pipe. Here, though, these are actual cigarettes, cigars, and smoke pipes that are all too familiar in a human universe Los Vagas setting, but here they are disturbingly out of place.

I can’t say this for sure, but I haven’t seen slot machines anywhere else in this floating city either, let alone anywhere near this number. There actually seems to be entire sections and floors dedicated to those machines and they are probably just as much of a rip-off as they are in the human universe. It’s so strange to see colorful marshmallow ponies keep yanking the levels of these slot machines while they are surrounded by flashing lights, mirrors for walls, smoke in the air, and mares dressed in sexy maid outfits while balancing a tray full of free alcohol on their heads.

This is all too familiar to me, yet it feels drastically out of place at the same time.

Well . . . whatever. I didn’t come here to admire or retch at the decor of this place. I know why these things are here and I well remember my vow to protect these ponies from the forces of outside corruption, and I will do that here too in my own way.

But first, I need to find the pony I’m looking for. I soon spot a poster on the wall that has two stage magician stallions on the stage. One of them is a pretty good sized lilac pony with a minty green mane, tail, and mustache, then there is another stallion beside him with a deep blue hide and white/baby blue mane/tail and kind of reminds me of Feather Wind. Seeing these two stallions makes me smile since they just gave me an idea.

“Halt,” orders a very dark brown earth pony stallion who has a black beard, afro mane, and straight tail. He is wearing an outfit that reminds me of Secret Service agents, complete with sunglasses. He holds a hoof out at me to block my path towards the backstage where the current performance is taking place.

“But the show is about to end and I want to have a word with the stars,” I announce to the stage security stallion. “I have a backstage V.I.P. badge for this and I paid very good bits for it. Look!”

To help “prove” my point, I reveal my folded leather case and reveal the psychic paper I have on one side of it. Now that I have implanted the suggestion of what this security officer should see on my psychic paper, that is most likely what he’ll see on it now.

The security officer leans forward and uses a hoof to lower the edge of his shades a quarter of an inch so he can get a better look at my “backstage pass” better. When he sees it, he nods in satisfaction, straightens his head, pushes his shades back into place then uses his head to gesture behind him to non-verbally signal permission for me to pass.

“Thank you, my good man!” I commend him gratefully. “And let me just say what a wonderful job you’re doing here.”

The security officer scoffs slightly but otherwise ignores me. He resumes vigilantly scanning any pony who may approach from behind me. Meanwhile I continue on my merry way and wait for the conclusion of the current set of performers.

“Did you see that?” asks the younger blue stallion, Jackpot, as the two of them step into the backstage after the curtain has lowered. “I had them going for a while there.”

“It was long enough,” Big Bucks, the partner of Jackpot, remarks in approval as he uses a hoof to adjust his necktie a bit. “That’s the important ingredient when it comes to this profession, and that is misdirection.”

Jackpot gains a devious look as he says, “But I think we can do better next time. What would you say if you and I step things up a notch, good chap?”

Big Bucks small green mustache twitches a bit as he regards me with a questioning blink to his eyes. Noticing the reaction of his friend, Jackpot soon regards me as well then gets a similar look of confusion.

“Can we help you, Sir?” Big Bucks checks with me.

“First of all, big fan of your work, you two,” I lie with enough enthusiasm to convey apparent sincerity. “That’s why I bought a backstage pass in order to see you two.” To prove my point, I flash them my psychic paper too.

“Simply marvelous!” Jackpot cheers.

“There is another reason I came to see you two,” I express as I fold up the psychic paper again and return it to the hidden pocket just above my cutie mark. “For you see, I need to speak to-”

“Whoa! Hang on a tick!” interrupts Jackpot as he lifts a hoof then uses that same hoof to point at me. “Did you just stick that thing in a hidden pocket above your cutie mark?”

“Yep!” I tell them with a half-grin. “I’ve been known to dabble in prestidigitation too.”

While that is true, I let them think that is the explanation for what I have done instead of going through the trouble of explaining that my body, along with Derpy’s, has a built-in hidden biological pocket a cut above our cutie marks.

“Well isn’t that something,” Big Bucks says with a smile. “Good for you.”

“Anyway,” I say with a very slight shake of my head, “I was hoping you two could introduce me to the manager of this resort, or at least point the way.”

My request won me a very noticeable reaction from the both of them. Big Bucks looks surprised but the mood of his partner immediately and greatly soured.

“What business could you possibly have with that lowly scoundrel?” Jackpot asks me in a tone of accusation.

“Now-now, Jack,” Big Bucks says to his partner. “You have no proof of your wild theories, and you are talking about our boss in this case.”

Jackpot narrows his eyes at his partner as he says, “You’re right. I don’t have proof and that just goes to show how smooth this criminal is.”

“Would you mind not saying this in public and in front of our new guest?” Big Bucks complains as he looks around at all the other stagehands with embarrassment and nervousness. He can’t help but feel worried that this kind of talk might get the two of them fired, or perhaps worse if his partner's fears are well founded.

Meanwhile I just blink at the two of them as I watch them going at this. I don’t feel like interrupting them yet because they are giving me valuable information at the moment.

“You got to admit,” Jackpot says in a tone of insistence as he taps a hoof on the stage with each word of his previous sentence, “that although his criminal record seems squeaky clean and he overall seems like a very nice guy, Card Shark has been very unusually lucky in this city. Plus, ever since he showed up, there have been a lot of mysterious disappearances and who is the pony who kept on profiting from it?”

“That’s just conjecture,” Big Bucks says dismissively but also with a hint of urgency in his voice.

“I’ve heard plenty of tales of a new mob boss that kept visiting the city ever since Card Shark took over this joint,” Jackpot goes on. “One Colonel Panders.”

I widen my eyes in surprised recognition of that name.

Big Bucks slaps the back of his partner's head as he insists, “That’s enough out of you! All of these are just rumors and hearsay. You have no proof so it’s smarter to keep your mouth quiet about this right now.”

“I’m warning you, Sir, for your own sake and good health, back off from this guy,” Jackpot warns me grimly then shakes his head. “No good ending will come from any association with that devious scoundrel. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, too.”

“Actually, I am here to investigate him,” I partially lie to help assuage their fears and get more cooperation out of these two. I reach back and flip open my psychic paper again, but this time I expect them to see some symbol of authority such as me being a police detective. I flip the psychic paper back and restuff it as I go on to say, “There does seem to be a suspicious amount of financial movement that’s been going on in this district and I’d like to follow the paper trail. I just need to ask him a few questions.”

“To establish his guilt?” Jackpot checks with me hopefully.

“Or innocence,” I counter propose. “I do think something suspicious is going on here but, if I can establish if Card Shark is innocent, then I’m one step closer to finding the true guilty party.” I wipe a hoof in front of me. “Either way, I intend to get to the bottom of all of this.”

“It would be good to put these nasty rumors to rest,” Big Bucks muses then nods towards his friend while still looking at me. “Forgive my friend, here. He’s a bit testy with our employer ever since he married his sister and had a kid with her.”

I widen my eyes in shock at Big Bucks as I ask in astonishment, “WHAT?! Card Shark has a child?”

“Yeah. Trixie,” Big Bucks says as he winces at me in suspicion since that is public knowledge to him. Now he’s starting to wonder why a professional “police detective” didn’t know that.

I realize I just made a blunder here, but I couldn’t help it. If this really is true then . . .

I shake my head to clear it. I need to stay focused here.

“Well, I suppose congratulations are in order then,” I express to Jackpot. “Regardless who is the father, Trixie is still your niece and I’m pretty sure at least she is innocent in this whole affair. That’s one great blessing to come out of all of this.”

“True,” Jackpot acknowledges far more calmly. In fact, he now looks fondly nostalgic. “And she has expressed interest in this profession as well. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree in this regard. Let’s just hope she isn’t like her father in other ways.”

“Card Shark is a magician as well?” I check with them.

“He sure is,” Big Bucks answers. “Scary good one too. The best I've ever seen in this business. That’s not his only talent either. As his name suggests, he can play a mean game of cards too.” He brightens slightly as he adds, “Speaking of which, that’s most likely where you’ll find him. He’ll probably be on the fifth floor of this resort. That stallion wears many hats, including the House's Card Dealer.” He shakes his head with a scoff. “The guy actually owns the whole building and the business within it for Celestia’s sake, yet he still likes to play cards along with the rest of us working grunts. That’s respectable if you ask me.”

“Thank you!” I tell them gratefully. “You two have been very helpful to my investigation.”

“I’d just be happy to finally have a resolution to all of this, come what may,” Big Bucks replies. “Whatever the truth is, it would be nice to finally have things settle down.”

“I know you may be an officer, but stay on your guard with him, my friend,” Jackpot warns me kindly. “A stallion like that doesn’t get this successful without a solid reason and I highly doubt what we see in the public is the whole story. You’re about to confront somepony whom I think even the mob is afraid of and I don’t want you to be his next victim.” He lifts a hoof gingerly. “So don’t underestimate him and please take care of yourself, alright?”

“Around him?” I ask. “Always.”

I now know where the target of my current mission is. Since that is the case, it’s time to prepare for that encounter. On the way up to the fifth floor, I stop by the slot machines first and take position in a more isolated corner. There are mirrors and security everywhere here. Normally I’d say there aren’t any sophisticated cameras in this time period, but I know who I’m dealing with so what I’m about to do is a bit of a risk.

Once I take position in front of one of the slot machines, I insert a bit, pull the lever, then check to see if the coast is clear before secretly pulling out my sonic screwdriver and stealthily using it on the machine ahead of me. I manipulate the machine to land on all cherries because I don’t want, or need, to win too big. Just get me a little extra spending bits necessary for the next phase of my mission.

My attempt to be stealthy is somewhat thwarted by the machine I am using flashing, dinging and ringing to signal there is a winner in this corner of the building, but that doesn’t win me anything more than a nod and a smile from some of the other slot machine players here for my good fortune. The rest of the security barely even glance at me because they are used to that noise from this section of the floor on occasion. I’m guessing if it happens too often, though, they might approach for a closer investigation.

Well, whatever. Mission accomplished. I fill a woven sack I have with the bits I won then continue on to the card playing section of the casino. Once I am there, I scrutinize the players carefully to single out the pony I am seeking. After a short while, I believe I have found him.

Card Shark is a sharp-looking, blue earth pony middle-age stallion. His mane is wavy with a mixture of white, gray, and a hint of blue, but it is mostly concealed beneath his gray fedora hat with a black stripe. From this angle I can’t see his tail since he is sitting on it but I assume it matches his mane. He has a snazzy black tuxedo outfit (which is rare for me to see ponies with clothes) and a red bow tie. He smokes a cigarette that is inserted into the end of a long stem which hangs in his mouth.

While he plays his hand at cards, he’s apparently good enough, or at least popular enough, to win a crowd around his table. Judging from the shoot of cards beside him, he’s obviously the dealer at this table. Eight other ponies sit at his table. When it comes to their confidence, this is a mixed bag.

I take my time to examine all the players and the cards on the table. I even get a peek at a few extra cards thanks to various reflective devices around here. Based on the cards I see in play, what the ponies have, and judging from the number of cards I see left in the shoot and discard pile, I do some rapid calculations in my head.

With this turn, the most nervous stallion is the last to decide his action. When I say nervous I mean very nervous. He is visibly sweating. I don’t think he’s on edge merely because of the outcome of this particular game but also because of other stakes that may be involved.

“Hit me,” the dark blue nervous pegasus stallion eventually decides. Complying, Card Shark pulls out a new card and deftly tosses it at the new stallion. I see it is seven of clubs.

Apparently the results of this card makes him even more nervous. I actually see him nibbling at the end of his hooves for a bit before reaching forward to touch the dwindling pile of bits he has left for this game. He’s about to call a raise, but I butt in by applying my right forehoof on his shoulder.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” I warn him.

“I know what I’m doing!” the nervous dark blue stallion argues then shakes off my hoof.

“As you wish,” I accept.

I figured the stallion would ignore my advice, but I didn’t actually say it for his sake. If he did what I said, he could have stuck around in this game a little longer but everyone at the table knows he’s bluffing. His tells are just too clear. That’s obviously why he’s visibly losing. This stallion truly is an amateur.

But whatever. I accomplished my objective. I won the attention of other key members of the table. Of them, the dealer is the most important one here.

Sure enough, the dark blue stallion gets broke and in short order. He ends up leaving while hanging his head in defeat.

“You’ve got a pretty sharp eye for this game, Stranger,” Card Shark says to me with a twisted, almost psychotic smile at me. “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

“I suppose I could,” I express as if I’m on the fence with that idea. “But you gentlemen appear pretty sharp in this game as well.”

“Ah say, don’t you worry notten, good Sir,” says a very elderly stallion whose accent is dripping with southern charm. He is wearing a white outfit and hat and has a trimmed beard and mustache. He strongly reminds me of a certain Kentucky Fried Chicken’s main mascot if it weren’t for the fact that he’s a pony. I wonder if this is the infamous Colonel Panders. “We don’t bite too hard.” He gives a bit of a sinister smile of his own. “Not right away, at any rate.”

“Pull up a seat, Sir,” Card Shark invites while gesturing to the now vacant seat in front of me. “If you dare.”

The crowd around us cheers for me to do so.

“Well, if you all insist, I suppose I can give this a whirl,” I pretend to give in then take the vacant seat. “Deal me in.”

The crowd around us cheers again in approval of my decision.

Several hours later, Card Shark and I are the last players at the table. As the number of players thinned, the number of spectators seems to have increased.

Card Shark peers at me sharply above the edge of his cards and below the rim of his hat. He asks me, “You’re not going to even look at your cards?”

“Nope!” I declare with confidence. “Instead, I’m going to raise twenty-thousand.” With that, I push in the largest bet I made in this game so far, but I’m not all in yet. I already did that several hours ago.

My opponent raises his right eyebrow as he remarks, “You certainly play a dangerous game, Sir.”

“Well, I had quite some time to get accustomed to taking risks,” I venture to say as I fold my forehooves on the table. “Educated risks, mind you.” I narrow my eyes back at him as I raise a daring smile. “Are you going to meet my bet or not?”

Wordlessly, Card Shark uses a gentleman’s cane to push in some of his pile of bits to match mine with suave flourish, but I notice he doesn’t raise yet. I also notice he’s been examining me far more than his own cards.

On the next round, I tap the table to indicate another hit on my hand of cards. He passes me another card and notices that, again, I don’t look at it.

For the first time in this whole game, my opponent does the same. He dishes himself another card but refuses to look at it this time.

“I’ll stick with these,” Card Shark decides as he folds his own cards face down on the table. “Final round of bets, Sir.”

Now I push in all my remaining bits after pushing him this far.

Card Shark just stares at me for a while before grinning a devious smile and feels compelled to ask, since we both know I just won the game, “Who are you, Sir?”

“A perpetual traveler,” I answer honestly. “I’ve gone by many names over those years.” I lean back in my seat. “But the one I am called the most is the Doctor.”

At that, I finally match his smile while he leans back in his seat too. We are both quiet for a tense moment until he shakes his head and says, “That figures. Why is it that I can't ever escape from you for long?”

“Red Thread of Fate, I guess?” I tease then shrug. “I don’t know,” I reply a little more honestly. “I guess we both have one of those destinies.”

Card Shark sighs then flips over his cards to reveal his loss. We are met by stunned silence from our spectators then eventually a cheer. While that happens, Card Shark gives a whistle sound. A tan pony in a sexy, almost gothic-looking black spiderweb dress approaches him. He passes her a note then gives her a dismissive gesture. She nods to him then leaves.

“Come to my office, ‘Doctor’,” Card Shark says with a mocking tone around my name. “I got a business proposition for you.”

“Funny,” I say as I rise away from the table. “I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“Yeah. I bet you are,” Card Shark mutters under his breath with a bit of irritation.

Part 3: Echoes of Friendship

Card Shark’s office is more reserved than I expected considering what I know about this “pony”. There is a lot of brown and dark brown wooden texture to the walls and furniture here. It seems pretty sophisticated. He only has one portrait of himself hung in this room. It depicts him staring towards the painter, his hat at a low angle just above the rim of his eyes, his face tilted down a bit, him wearing a slightly lighter blue coat with a handkerchief hanging from his left upper chest coat pocket, and him leaning heavily on his cane. He gives a piercing stare forward and a slight wicked crook to his smile.

Beyond that there is a lot of what I’d expect from a manager of this resort. A desk and three chairs, one of which is a swivel chair facing towards the others. A globe, a bookshelf full of books, a liquor cabinet, several drawers which are probably locked. A safe in the back corner.

All in all, pretty standard stuff, at least at first glance. There probably are some secrets in this room somewhere considering I am dealing with a fellow Time Lord and one who is a trained magician in this current regeneration cycle.

“Make yourself at home,” Card Shark tells me glumly as he circles his way to his desk seat and uses his cane to tap his desk as an indication I should sit down on the other side. Politely, I do so. Once he sits down, he gives a grand gesture around the room with both hooves, one of which still holds his cane, as he asks me, “What do you think of my resort? My grand Palace of Vices?”

“Seems pretty standard for a casino in our universe, but a touch out of place for ponies in Equestria,” I answer. “Overall, though, I’d say it fits you to a tee.”

“It does indeed!” Card Shark agrees as he leans forward and gives me a cunning predatory look before tilting his head and asking, “Care for a drink? I could use one myself.”

“My answer depends on what you have,” I answer as I give a cautious look at the liquor cabinet in the room. “Normally I might tell my host to surprise me,” I look back at him slyly, “but given our history, that might not be a wise idea on my part.”

“Oh come-come now, Doctor. Live a little! You’re the one who always tells me to drop all this conquest non-sense and just go off on your stupid little adventures. Well . . . that strongly implies taking a chance too. What example are you giving if you won’t follow your own advice?”

I smile at him coyly as I tell him, “In that case, I’ll have what you’re having.”

“That’s the spirit!” Card Shark cheers then rises from his seat to pour us a couple of glasses from a bottle at the liquor cabinet. While he does that, he asks me, “So what brings you here? More meddling, perhaps?”

“I guess you can say that,” I acknowledge. “Recruitement is a more apt term.”

Card Shark sighs then asks wearily, “This old shtick again?”

“Well . . . circumstances have changed a little since I last met you. You seem considerably more equine this time, for example,” I tease.

Card Shark passes me a shot glass full of brown liquid as he passes me then sits down in front of me with his cane, his own shot glass, and apparently the entire bottle he used to pour these things. Evidently he seems to think he’ll need to be smashed shortly in order to help him tolerate my presence.

“Don’t remind me!” Card Shark spat bitterly. “These colorful talking equines make me sick!”

I lift the shot glass offered to me just a bit as I pass him a shrewd look while saying, “Yes. I had a feeling these talking ponies wouldn’t be up to your tastes.”

After downing his shot, Card Shark stares at his empty glass and twists his as he outwardly reminisces, “You've been to many worlds and time periods, right? Have you ever come across another as strange and repulsive as this one before?”

“Stranger? Definitely. I could tell you plenty of stories about that,” I answer. “Repulsive? Certainly since I actually think this world, and universe, is pretty adorable.”

Card Shark passes me a dry look then pours himself another drink as he says in a tone of disgust, “You would.”

I sigh as I look at my own drink. While still staring at it, I say, “I’ve given a lot of thought about our history after our last encounter together.” My eyes shift back to him. “Especially considering what our people did to you. After all this time and everything we’ve been through, much of it was their fault.”

Card Shark downs another shot before leaning back in his seat and asks me chides, “Oh Doctor, Doctor, Doctor. After knowing our people as well as you do, can you really sit there and tell me that you’re all that surprised?”

“So much tragedy could have been avoided if they hadn’t done what they did. I’ve been wondering, ever since our last encounter together, if you still hear those same four drum beats in your head?”

Card Shark’s face assumes a more calm expression as he shakes his head and says, “No. Ever since I came to this repulsive universe, those drum beats have been mercifully silent. It’s about one of the few things I actually consider a blessing about coming here.”

“The only thing?” I ask skeptically as I raise an eyebrow. “What about your wife? What about your daughter? How did you do that anyway?”

Card Shark smiles with faint coyness as he tells me, “A good magician never gives up his secrets.”

“Normally I wouldn’t pry into personal family affairs, but this one is kind of a big deal. Geeze, man! Does she have two hearts?”

“No,” Card Shark says with a listless expression as he looks at his empty shot glass again. “No, she does not.” He looks back at me. “But there might be more energy pumping from her one heart than normal.”

“Do you mind if I examine her later?” I ask carefully. “I might discover something you missed. I am the ‘Doctor’ after all.”

Card Shark waves at me dismissively as he leans forward and pours himself another glass. While doing so he says casually, “Sure. Knock yourself out, or better yet . . . outright kill yourself so I don’t have to deal with this headache anymore.”

Finally I down my own shot after secretly examining it with my sonic screwdriver and verifying that there’s nothing in here overly toxic to our kind. Because of our two hearts, this drink will have less effect on us than it would for others.

“Admit it, you’d miss me if I died,” I tell him in a teasing voice at first but it shifts to a serious one when I add in disapproval, “And that’s a cold and dismissive attitude to have about your own daughter. I appreciate the permission to examine her, but damn, man! Would it kill you to give a damn about her?”

“She’s just a happy little accident,” he informs me coldly which chills my blood. “A means to an end, ultimately. It’s her mother that I was more interested in. Thanks to that, it gave me enough starting funds to eventually conquer this place.” He looks around again with wandering eyes. “Plus she had some ties and connections.” He smiles at me evilly. “Once she and I had a kid, she had even more reason to think I was loyal to her, and you know how women can be. All emotional and stuff.” He chuckles with evil glee then adds, “Honestly, I didn’t even have to mind bend her that much. All it took was just a little swagger and I had her wrapped around my fingers in short order.” He rolls his eyes. “Or hooves in this case, as it were.”

“You’re repulsive,” I say with a wince of disgust. “God damn you, man! That’s your family you’re talking about here.”

Card Shark is silent for a moment as he gives me a sharp, critical eye then leans back as he tells me, “I wonder if you noticed something by now. I am the sole proprietor of a casino resort in Las Pegasus, of all places, but that is it! I eventually plan to buy out a few more resorts to secure my holdings here and crush my competition, but this is a far cry from universe conquest, or galaxy, or the world, or even this damn colorful horse-land. I deliberately kept my ambitions to a minimum this time and you want to know why?” He jabs his cane to point at me. “I was hoping to avoid attracting you this time.”

“Well gee. Consider me flattered,” I say flatly.

“That, and I needed time to think,” Card Shark admits as he looks at and sighs over his desk. “After learning what our people did to me ever since I was a kid and messed with my head ever since, I needed some time for self reflection and evaluation.” He growls in anger and pounds the top of his desk as he says bitterly, “I hate, I hate, I . . . HAAAAAAATE . . . being a pawn in anyone’s schemes, but I have since come to realize that is all I ever was. Every scheme I’ve ever had and hair-brained idea, how much of that was really me and not some implanted suggestion in my head? Just who am I, really? Have I ever been the true Master of anything or anyone?”

“I certainly sympathize with your frustration with our people,” I acknowledge sympathetically. “For what it’s worth, you know that I wouldn’t have done such a thing in their place.”

“That’s true,” the Master agrees as he looks back at me with a gleam of fondness in his eyes for the first time. “You certainly do have higher moral standards. We may have butt heads against each other many times, but if there is one thing I can say about you in your favor, it’s that you have much higher integrity than the rest of our so-called former people.” He shakes his head. “It’s only fitting that they are all rotting in hell now, and good riddance, I say, to bad rubbish.”

“Hey! Not all of them were bad,” I argue.

The Master lifts a hoof as he complains, “Please don’t ruin the moment, Doctor. Why should any of them be worth any ounce of sympathy?”

“You can’t sort every apple in one basket,” I argue with a shake of my head. “That’s too reckless. Like any other society, there are good and bad mixes in all. I have often found, in my travels, it is unwise to assess an entire culture by the standards of their leaders alone. There can be a lot of dissonance between these two examples and our people are no exception. You remember our home, right? And the people who used to live there?”

I can actually see the bitterness and resentment in the Master’s eyes slowly give away to haunted nostalgia when I brought that up. I knew that was a perspective to this argument I couldn’t lose. Not if this is the same boy I once grew up with.

We share a quiet moment of rapport together as we both think back to the good old days. No matter how antagonistic we’ve been to each other ever since then, that shared history was the one thing connecting us throughout all this time. It’s also why I felt less alone ever since I learned he survived the Time War.

Speaking of which . . .

“Why are you doing this to me?” the Master asks me in misery with a sudden pained look in his eyes as he looks back at me. “I’ll never forget that those were good times and that’s what makes this all the more painful. Way to rub it in, Doctor.”

“I’m sorry for that. I truly am,” I tell him sympathetically. “But I had to because I need your help.”

“You need my help? Excuse me?!” he asks me incredulously then looks at me with sudden suspicion. “Are you really the same Doctor that I grew up with?”

“If I’m not, then I’m the closest thing you’re ever going to find here,” I acknowledge. “I suppose there isn’t really any way to know for sure considering how much variance and possibility there can be out there while universe-hopping, but I think we share enough history to solidify our emotions and intentions. As bad as our people had once been, there are some good apples in the bunch and they are worth saving.”

“This is useless conjecture,” the Master argues with a wince. “It doesn’t matter how nostalgic I feel about them. They are gone now, Doctor. Dead . . . every last one of them. You and I are the last of our entire race, and perhaps that is for the best.”

“That’s not true,” I counter. “A new universe has new rules, and in this one . . . the results of the Time War is not a fixed timeline yet.”

The Master widens his eyes at me in shock as he asks me, “You mean . . .?” He can’t even finish that question since he feels so stunned.

I nod emphatically as I confirm, “Indeed. In this universe . . . it may still be possible to save our people and our home.”

“Our home?” the Master asks me with a wince then shakes his head. “No, Doctor. This is not our home but rather a disgusting mockery of it. Make what you will about this repulsive pony universe. It cannot change one important fact, and that is that neither of us are native here. Even if you could save some approximation to our home, it isn’t really our home.”

“Granted,” I confirm with a nod. “Our true home and history might not ever be recovered. I’ll admit that, but think about it, man! You and I could be here for a very, very long time. In all that time, are you really content to be the last of our kind? Especially after I told you there is a chance to save some of our kind? Admit it, now that I’ve told you, you can’t help but wonder how far this could go if you follow my plan.”

The Master turns his face down at his desk but then lifts his gaze back up at me a second later. He looks bitter that I made a point he’s forced to acknowledge now.

“Imagine if we succeeded,” I coax. “We could be there again! To Gallifrey . . . our home . . . or at least as close to it as we’re going to get anymore.” I cut a hoof across the air. “For the longest time, I thought I would never gain even a close approximation of our home again. By that, I mean nothing at all. Not even you. I truly thought I was the last of the Time Lords. In a way I was until you awakened.”

“Maybe that would have been for the best,” the Master says sadly, which strongly suggests to me how haunted and depressed this man is deep down. He shakes his head. “I didn’t have the drum beats in my head when the majority of my consciousness was still in the Watch. I’ve kept wondering, ever since then, if that would have been for the better.”

The Master leans back in his seat again and wistfully looks at a wooden clock on the wall.

“I didn’t really think that seriously until I got here, but ever since I finally got a break from the drum beats when I came to this universe, I realized how empty my existence must have been all along. Hijacked.” He looks back at me and I’m taken aback to actually see a few tears in his eyes. “My life and destiny were stolen. The puppet who thought he was a puppet master. Dancing on a string for the amusement of our kind.”

“That was awful, but we’re here now!” I drive. I wipe my hoof across his desk and say, “Well I say screw what happened to us in our past! This is a new universe now and we have a chance to start over. We can redeem ourselves. We can claim our destiny again, and this time . . . we’ll truly be masters of our fate.”

“For what that is worth,” the Master says with a wince of disgust. “Ponies? Really? You think this is our destiny now?”

“It is if we claim it,” I quickly argue. “Our destiny is whatever we make of it. Here, ponies literally have stamps on their asses to signify their personal destiny. I’m sure you have one too.”

The Master gets an amused smirk as he says, “Yeah. I noticed yours is an hourglass. I have to say, that fits you to a tee.” He shrugs. “Of course I’ve seen a dozen others with that exact same mark. Is that a coincidence or are they your future incarnation too? If so, I have to say that you, Doctor, get pretty sexy in some of them.”

“I doubt the majority of those you’ve seen with a similar mark is-”

“Not just similar, Doctor, but exactly the same mark,” the Master insists. “It’s as if somebody copied and pasted the same mark on a dozen ponies as a cheap animation short-cut.”

I wave a hoof as I say, “Okay, maybe those marks are exactly the same, but I still doubt the majority of them are really me.” I wave a hoof at him. “But I can’t entirely write off that possibility because I actually have been granted extra regeneration cycles.”

The Master widens his eyes at me in shock and leans forward with sudden intense interest as he asks me eagerly, “Are you serious?! Do you really mean that?”

“A generous donation from our people, most likely, or the ponified equivalent at least,” I tell him. “I think it is because they knew I could save them but it would take a lot of time. Indeed, more time that I have to spare so they gave me extra cycles, possibly at their own expense. Because I have more, some of them have less. That energy had to come from somewhere, but it’s worth it if the alternative is their total extinction.”

The Master tilts his head at me as he asks me, “If I agree to help you, do you think they would grant me extra cycles too? Because I’m running pretty low as well.”

“I don’t see why not,” I say with a shrug. “And consider this; as bitter as you are about what our people did to you, these ponified equivalents might be innocent of. They didn’t do this to you. Those who did probably are truly gone, and even if they aren’t, they are a universe off and therefore out of our reach anyway . . . unless some copy of us lingers there still or replaced us.”

“Now there’s an interesting thought,” the Master muses. “That there is a version of me and you in the human universe that always recalled being pony Time Lords before.” He winces at me in confusion as he asks me, “Do you think the Horse Lords here have two hearts as well?”

I shake my head and chuckle before saying to him in amusement, “Horse Lords. I like that! I think I’ll use that one too to distinguish our home from this one.” I then shrug. “Anyway, my working theory so far is yes. The Horse Lords probably do have two hearts as well until proven otherwise.”

“Fair enough,” the Master accepts.

“I know for certain that we do,” I go on. “And I’d like to check on Trixie too.”

He gives me another dismissive wave and reminds me, “Like I said, have at it. If you actually do find something that I overlooked about her then I would like to know too.” He gives a sinister grin. “Maybe she can be more useful to me rather than just spare parts for me.”

“Dude, she’s your daughter! Please at least try to act like a proper father,” I request.

“Like you did?” he reminds me with a teasing grin. “Remind me,” he gestures back and forth between us, “which one of us left Gallifrey first in order to rush off into the Cosmos?”

“I had too!” I argue fiercely with an angry pound on the desk. “If I hadn’t, there would have been other consequences.”

“That’s just an excuse,” the Master dismisses with a wave at me. “You wanted to explore out there. I know because that’s what you’ve always told me ever since.”

“Just because I enjoy it doesn’t mean I wasn’t forced to leave,” I argue further. “I made the best of my situation, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t hurt deep down.”

“Forced to?” the Master checks. “Time and time again I heard the Council complain about the theft of the TARDIS and what you’ve been doing with it.”

“There were other extenuating circumstances,” I admit solemnly. “And I’ll take that secret to my grave.”

The Master sighs then accepts, “Fine. Be that way. It’s not as if I don’t have secrets of my own.”

“Of course you do. What Time Lord, who existed for this long, wouldn’t?”

“Touché,” the Master accepts, then waves a hoof at me. “Now, I’m not saying I am committing to anything, but if I did join you on this crusade to return some approximation of our people, what would that . . .” He winces as he trails off then shakes his head. “Honestly, after everything they put the both of us through, why would this be worth it? Convince me of that point first before I agree to anything else.”

I set the shot glass on his desk then tell him, “Fair enough. While it is true we suffered some tragedy in our mutual past, we have a chance for a do-over here. A fresh start, and this time we can face it on our terms.”

The Master lifts an eyebrow a bit, feeling intrigued, and bids me, “Go on.”

“Let’s just say that I’m willing to meet you halfway on your ambitions if you meet me halfway on mine,” I compromise. “After all, exploration will likely be required to conquer a challenge this monumental. If you explore with me, we’ll find out, together, what our options are.” I wave a hoof at him. “Basically you can consider this reconnaissance and resource gathering.”

“To what end?” the Master prompts as he lifts his face with a hoof which he is leaning on, the elbow of which is on the arm of his chair now.

“To not only save our people, but to make changes to their laws as well,” I tell him.

“Ooo!” He suddenly looks very intrigued. “Now we’re talking!”

“I still don’t plan to rule anything, but changes would have to be made to ensure their society doesn’t collapse for the same reasons that it did before,” I explain.

“Of course,” he accepts but he looks a little bored now. “But when you say changes . . .”

“That’s among the reasons we need to explore,” I press. “That gives us time to strategize and plan. To find out what’s out there and give us new ideas.”

“So you wish to rebuild our people from the ground up?” the Master checks with me. “Basically like the forefathers of America did?”

“Essentially, yes,” I agree. “Because we have to. If no changes are made then the same results will occur again.”

The Master collects his hooves together and gives me a piercing and thoughtful stare over them.

“If you join me, not only might they give you extra regeneration cycles, but you’ll have a chance to be part of the new foundation,” I press. “That’s among what I mean when I say we have a chance for redemption here. We have been wronged before . . . but now we have a chance to make it right again. I know you’re bitter and angry about what they did to you and you have every right to be, but hypothetically speaking . . . if we had a chance for a do-over, what exactly would you change?” I lift a hoof. “You don’t have to answer that yet. We both have time to really think about the details of that answer.

“My point is, there is room for both of our goals here. A little bit of exploration over here and a little bit of conquest over there. A broken system has to be repaired if any of them are going to make it again so we have to address this issue anyway. Given all that, what say you?”

“I am intrigued, but I’m also concerned,” the Master answers. “Right now it’s just the two of us. Do you really think that is a problem?”

“For the longest time, I thought I was the last of the Time Lords,” I tell him. “That was essentially true. Consider this . . . what if I had died back then? There were plenty of chances for that. Plenty of times I was nearly taken out, and there will probably be many more to come. If that had happened or does happen, there will be no Time Lords at all. Imagine that. Our entire culture . . . gone. Forever!

“Now tell me,” I wave a hoof at him, “are you really more comfortable with that prospect instead?”

The Master looks annoyed that I asked him that question but he leans back in his seat and looks cornerwise up at the ceiling for a moment as he contemplates that. Eventually he winces and looks back at me and appears reluctant to admit, “No. I suppose not. As much as I hate them for the grievances they have given me, I have selfish pride in our culture too. We’re Time Lords, Doctor! We have innate authority to rule and I can’t help but feel there’s a lot of potential in that. We’re entitled to that destiny. Literally in this case. The sooner you accept that, the better off we’ll be.”

I’m not going to argue with him over that point again. I have a much larger agenda here.

He lifts a hoof as he says, “For the moment, let’s say I was aboard with your plan.” He pours himself another shot and lifts it to toast me as he asks me, “What is our largest obstacle in our way? Whom must I destroy?”

I gulp as I answer nervously, “The Time War. We have to tame that first before we have a serious shot at success with this mission.”

He almost downs his new shot while I was talking but then he freezes in shock then looks at me sideways with wide, suddenly red-cracked eyes. He then puts his shot glass back down on the desk then leans forward while pressing both of his hooves on his desk. He leans on it so much that his back muscles flex. He gives me an ominously looming expression as he menaces in a demanding tone, “You better be joking!”

I deflate a bit as I say, “Believe me, I wish I was.” I shake my head. “But the downfall of the Horse Lords here is the same as the Time Lords. We need to deal with the same obstacle if we are to-”

“No. No!” The Master cries out in alarm as he suddenly plugs both ears on top of his head.

“That’s why I need you!” I press insistently. “You know the Time Lords almost as well as I do and I can’t do this-”

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” the Master screams in extremely fearful denial.

“ADOMINOUS!” I scream out his true name in a desperate effort to cease his attention again.

Still screaming and shaking his head in denial, he eventually whirls about and smashes through several glass vases in a row that was on a shelf behind him. He does this with his cane.

After they shatter, though, there is sudden and deafening silence in the room. The tension in the air feels so thick that it actually hinders my ability to breathe.

I knew this was going to be the trickiest part in convincing him to join me, but he has to know how serious this issue is and why I can’t afford to ignore it. He also needs to know why I need his help despite our troubled history together. For my plans to succeed, I can’t be the only Time Lord onboard with this mission.

“SIR!” screechesa mare who bursts into the room. “Are you alright?”

Looking back at her, I notice this tan-yellow mare looking at me accusingly. Obviously she’s singling me out as a possible cause to her “Master’s” outcry.

The Master’s shoulders slump then he expresses tiredly, “Thank you for your concern, Mirage, but I got this hoofled.” He waves his right hoof over his right shoulder dismissively. “You may go now.”

“Are you sure, Sir?” Mirage double-checks with him as she continues giving me a piercing stink-eye.

“GO!” The Master roars demandingly as he half turns his head to the right at the speed of a snap. For just a moment his voice was monstrously multi-tonal, which is a clear signal that he is no ordinary pony.

Feeling startled, the mare leaves in a hurry after that and shuts the door to his office again.

Which once again leaves the office in oppressive silence. We could probably hear a pin drop at this point.

The Master stabs his cane in front of him and leans on it as heavily as he does in his portrait in this room except it is much more clear he is brooding.

The tense silence is sliced by him first after a while.

“Really, Doctor? Shouting my real name like that?” He glares back at me over his left shoulder and under the rim of his fedora hat. “I can do that about you too, you know, or would you rather I spread that news to the Equestrian Daily?”

“Sorry,” I say as I lift my forehooves in surrender. “I just needed your attention. Nothing more.”

The Master slowly looks forward again as he releases a breath, but it almost sounds like bile from the hateful gurgle.

“Look. I know you're traumatized by the Time War,” I tell him sympathetically. “I don’t know of a single soul who went through it and wasn’t. Not even the Daleks.”

“Don’t even mention their name!” the Master insists as he halfway lifts up a hoof to his side.

“Well regardless, they are involved too and they need to be dealt with,” I express resolutely. “But this time I plan to handle it on my own terms.”

“How?” he asks me as he turns his head only slightly to the left again but otherwise keeping his back to me.

“Recruiting you, for one,” I answer. “I think I have enough enemies and objectives on my plate considering what I have in mind. For once in our lives, I want us on the same page with this one because the end results here will affect us both.”

He turns his head forward again and resumes brooding.

“You’re not the only one as well,” I go on. “Unlike before, I don’t plan on stopping with my personal companions. To accomplish this monumental task, I’m going to need an army of my own. A good one.”

“An army, huh?” The Master scoffs as he finally turns to face me since what I said amused him enough to calm him back down a bit. “That’s unlike you, Doctor.” He then peers at me seriously. “In fact, there was only one other time when I heard you use language like that, and that was during the Time War.”

“Aye,” I agree as I give a solemn nod. “Except this time I plan to face the War as nothing but me. As the Doctor. Those I plan to recruit will have similar talents, too. As for you,” I nod at him, “we may not have seen eye to eye on many things, but you have always been my closest equal. Besides that, what is at stake here is something else we equally share. We have this connection together and I don’t think we’ll ever get another chance to get this close to getting our home back.

“When we do, though, it’ll go better than it did before because this time we are the authors of this story. Until then I’ll keep on fighting for a better tomorrow. Do I stand alone?”

I let the question hang in the air.

The Master very slowly makes his way around his desk. His expression mostly remains unreadable as he makes his way to me. I can’t dismiss the possibility he’s about to kill me when he arrives at my position and I find myself wishing Vision was here to give me the head’s up about this.

But in a way she is here, though. She’s the one who sent me on this mission in the first place, and I trust her.

He stands quietly beside me and faces past me at first, but then raises a hoof and applies it to my left shoulder.

“For old times sake, my ancient friend . . . I will join you on a trial basis,” the Master compromises. “And you’re right.” His hoof slides off my shoulder and rests at the end of his cane. “There are issues here that are very personal to me. I may not sound it, but I’m grateful that you at least offered to get me involved.”

He looks down with a chuckle as he realizes something else before saying, “You always have been the better diplomat.” He then gives me a cunning and dark look. “But what I do . . . is something you don’t specialize in. Like it or not, Doctor, us monsters do have our place in the universe. It’s a cruel place out there, after all, and sometimes one needs sharp claws and fangs of our own.”

Feeling too tired to argue right now and I don’t wish to push my luck now that I’m getting some success, I pat his back as I say, “I’ll take it.”

Part 4: An Open Blank Book

I like to pony watch.

I like to imagine what their stories are as they criss-cross in front of me in this city of Neighbriais, merchant capital city of Saddle Arabia.

I suppose, though, that I do have an advantage beyond just “imagining” what their lives must be like because I have a secret, uncanny advantage to empathically absorb the memories of others or objects that I touch, or even rooms I trot in. Memories are everywhere . . . imprinted on every person, place, or object somehow. The irony to that is that I lack my own memories beyond a few moons ago. Did I attain this ability when I lost my original memories as if to fill in the gap?

Huh. I wonder if it was around the same time I lost my horn. Lucky for me that I also happen to wear a magic inhibitor ring on the stump of my broken horn or otherwise I'd be leaking magic like crazy. Perhaps to the point of my eventual death.

That's funny. An item I am wearing, which most others would consider a curse, or at least a hinderance, is saving my life. Strangely enough the memories of that object doesn't have much either. At first I thought it was like an object equivalent of “amnesia” as well, but I gradually started to realize that the ring itself is relatively new. In its new shape and function, it doesn't have much of a history of its own. Accordingly, that makes me easier to identify with it.

Already it feels like a natural extension of myself.

If I had my memories, maybe I'd lament the loss of my cartilage appendage. I can't even be certain how long I've lived with this disability. It doesn't look like it, but maybe I was born this way for all I know.

I doubt it, though, because I do feel this phantom sensation as if I should be able to use it. Like out of sheer reflexive habit I try to levitate some object, feel this block on my magic at the base of the horn, then realize that: Oh yeah! The magic inhibitor ring would prevent that. The fact that the horn is damaged doesn't help my cause either.

Other than that, I suppose I don't miss it. It's not as if I can be nostalgic for something I cannot recall. At worst, it causes me to lament lost opportunities. After all, there are plenty of times where even the most basic of unicorn magic, levitation, would have come in hoofy. As a thief of the streets, it would have considerably extended my reach.

Maybe my ability to empathically absorb the memories of others is simply a new way for my body to channel and circumvent its loss. Because of that, there is one thing I can do that could almost be viewed as a superpower. For example, if I hold a smith's hammer that was once wielded by a very skilled pony, I can unconsciously use that same hammer with the same level of skill as the previous owner. Sometimes I get flashes of memories that come along with wielding such a thing.

That may be why I don't lament my loss because I feel like the whole world has opened up to me. For some reason I feel this uncanny sense of freedom too. Was I a prisoner or slave of some sort before?

At that thought, I look down at my own shadow with a frown. A shadow which is very pronounced on this very bright, shiny, and hot day. I feel suddenly despondent because I'm thinking of one of my new friends. A young pegasus foal named Red Star who looks up to me because I rescued and liberated him from his previous abusive master. A master who mangled his right wing on purpose to prevent his “property” from easily escaping.

As a thief, I'm already accustomed to being on the wrong side of the law except, in this case, it was actually the slave owner who was the illegal one. Slavery is supposed to have been disbanded here in this country a long time ago.

Or at least it should, but ever since the death of the last Sultan, the beloved Nanpour Alabaster, it felt like the soul of this city was slowly being corrupted ever since. The city guards, for example, don't seem to put nearly as much effort defending us from this heinous practice. Secretly, they might even be in on it.

I narrow my eyes while thinking that if that's true, I should touch one of them someday, absorb their memories, and see if my theory holds any weight to it.

But, if I do that, to whom should I bring this information to? This change in law structure seems to have occurred ever since Grand Vizier Dispatcher Hoofclaven took over this city.

For a brief moment I consider today's unique opportunity to report this information to an important visiting dignitary who is coming soon to this city, Princess Celestia of Equestria, but then several problems soon occur to me with that plan.

First of all, the gang I'm with is planning to rob her shortly after she arrives. While that does grant me a near opportunity to see her, it wouldn't be under the best of circumstances.

Second of all, I'm not armed with the memories of the guards' illegal activities yet. All I have is a suspicion that they are paid to look the other way and perhaps even partaking of the heinous activity itself. I also can’t ignore the fact that this change in attitude coincides with the Viziers' rise to power.

At best all I have is circumstantial evidence, and I can't give the memories I acquire either. Probably the only way I can prove that I have this ability to the visiting Princess is to use it on her then give her the information I acquired as proof that I have the ability, but that doesn't prove that I'm honest.

Thirdly, even if I were to successfully convince the Princess of foul play in this city, what can she do about it? Refuse to raise either the sun or moon in this area? Sure, she could do that, but the whole world would be affected. Beyond that, this isn't her country. She has no official authority here. At best, she's merely regarded as a very important guest.

I have to admit, though, I don't really know what kind of resources she has access to. It could be considerably more or less than I'm figuring. It's always possible she might find a way to help us somehow, but right now it feels like a pipe dream when all I have is theories so far.

I sigh as I gaze forward at the crowd in front of me. While I do, I contemplate this curious sense of duty I feel clinging to my soul. I don't know why I wish to help all these ponies beyond any personal sense of loss. Slavery might be the reason for my loss and it certainly is Red Star's, but beyond that . . . I feel this curious sense of responsibility for every pony here. Even the visitors to this city and there certainly is a lot of that within a merchant capital city.

For now, I guess I just need to bide my time. There are a lot of mysteries I need to solve both inwardly and outwardly. Until then, I guess I just need to make the best of things.

Speaking of which, according to the angle of the shadows I see, I need to get into position for my end of the heist with the visiting Princess.

As I watch from a window of a fifth story building the procession of Princess Celestia's troops march through the busy streets with a parade cutting through a celebrating crowd, I wonder to myself why this parade isn't evoking such a strong reaction out of me. I fully understand how it could. What's happening before me is far from the usual activity that happens in this land and I well understand why a break in the tedium from everyday life is welcome on occasion. This certainly fits the bill, but for me personally, it bores me for some reason.

Well . . . I suppose that isn't completely true. I'm assigned to this position for a reason. I'm to survey everything about Princess Celestia's servants, guards, the Princess herself, and all of their gear, especially their valuable ones. Because of all of that, I take note how the Princess's royal pegasus guards are actually marching on the ground along with the rest of their troups. If I were in the Princess's place, I would have had them survey the situation from the sky to keep a wider eye on things. I do see some pegasus guards in the air doing precisely that, but they were assigned by the Vizier himself to safeguard his royal guest.

Later on I finally view the Princess herself. Her hide is just as white as mine, but unlike my messy mustard yellow hair, her mane and tail is very striking and legendary in appearance, for not only does it glow, not only does it ever flow like it is within a slow-moving flowing river, but it is a rainbow mane with small hints of Celestial sparkles in it. She cuts an imposing figure in terms of her size, yet she has a gentle royal motherly look. She gazes around her large, open-top carriage while smiling and waving at the crowd around her.

Everything I see about her matches her description I've ever heard about her. She's probably one of the most recognized alicorns on the planet and that for many reasons. She's often described in many pros, kind of seen on stage plays by other actors pretending to be her, seen in posters and more. Strictly speaking in terms of appearance, she's every bit as I heard and imagined her.

What strikes me at this moment, though, is how familiar she is to me personally. This is the first time I ever recall seeing her but, for some reason, it doesn't feel like it. When I reflexively demand my brain to come up with a reason why she's so familiar to me, my poor amnesiac brain is forced to simply shrug in defeat and basically insist, “I can't explain it, but I know I saw her in person sometime in our mysterious past.”

Where my memory fails me, however, my logic steps up and says, “Well of course we recognize her. Who wouldn't? She is, by far, among the most famous ponies in the world. Despite not being a native to this country, no pony forgets the sole heir of one who can raise and lower the sun and the moon, plus she is a monarch of one of the most powerful countries in the world.

“Make no mistake, though. Just because you recognize her, doesn't mean she'd be able to return the favor. The number of faces she must have seen in her lifetime within a crowd would be akin to grains of sand on a beach.”

Subconsciously I also note all the gear she is riding or wearing and calculate their value. Any good would-be thief would be able to measure their marks and pick out the target's most valuable gear. I swear, though, that part of me also feels like a merchant because I'm wise enough to realize how much each piece of gear she wears would sell for depending upon the seller. How much they can pay and their motivation to do so varies in each case.

All of that processes in the back of my mind, though. In the forefront of my thoughts, I actually feel a sting of pity for her. I don't know why for sure, but I think it's hidden behind a well-practiced royal mask that is smiling benevolently upon the crowd around her. When I sense this, I am forced to wince and question if what I am feeling from her is an extension of a mostly buried memory of her or if this is part of my empathic gifts. If it's the latter then that is strange because I usually have to touch my subjects to sense anything.

As I continue to dwell on that, a thought occurs to me. Maybe the reason I usually have to touch my subjects is because most average ponies' emotions are considerably more subdued compared to her, but her emotions, even the hidden ones, blaze like the sun that her cutie mark is symbolic of. Most others wouldn't sense this, but for the few who are especially sensitive, her emotions come off as a blazing shout rather than a quiet whisper dim enough that I typically require physical contact to sense.

Since I can't be fully certain where this information is coming from I don't fully trust it. However, for the moment, I cast my doubts aside and fully dive into my impressions in order to discern more about it. If it's true that she is in pain then it would be helpful to know precisely why that is so just in case that information becomes relevant later.

I close my eyes as I concentrate. When I do, I discover that what I sense is considerably more nuanced than I initially noticed. Pain is the most prevalent emotion coming from her, but there are other layers on the surface that are equally real even if they feel thinner in comparison. For instance, I sense she really is pleased to see this crowd of ponies around her and to get a small break from her usual routines. As for the pain, though, I sense two sources for that. One is that she is mourning somepony, though it is twisted with suspicion too for some reason. The second reason for her pain is loneliness. For some reason I can immediately identify with that.

I open my eyes as I reason with myself that, if I ever get a chance to touch any of the gear the gang I am working for steals then it may grant me a secret chance to confirm or deny any of the feelings I am detecting from her now. I doubt I'd ever get the chance to just talk to her but there is no assurance she'd be honest with me even if that opportunity came up for some reason.

Seeing her also brings up a flair of pain in my heart because part of me wants to work with her and it even feels important. I don't fully know why but I always sensed something wrong with this city. A corruption that is growing in an otherwise pure heart. Like this city does have innocents worth protecting but they are being threatened by . . . I don't know. Some unseen force. The only verification I've personally seen of that is the growing illegal and secret slave trade, but for some reason my instincts keeps insisting that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Even if all of that is true, what can I do about it? I'm just one pony. One pony can't save the world . . . right?

I sigh, bow my head, close my eyes, and raise a forehoof to my forehead as I bid myself to get a grip. I try to remind myself that I have a mission right now on behalf of my guild. It's the only concrete reality that I'm working with for the moment.

When I finally compose myself and ground myself from all these internal emotions, I draw out a curved knife and use it to reflect the sunlight off of it to a very specific spot in an alleyway across the street. An alleyway that is currently caked in shadow despite the otherwise bright daylight beyond. Using that reflected light, I convey the information I have gathered so far about the visitors numbers (which includes their breeds), their formation and details on their valuable gear. To do this, I sometimes shield the knife from reflecting the sun using my other hoof. The duration of the blinks indicate certain letters or words. I also wave the light in an intricate pattern that only certain members of my gang's inner circle would be able to identify.

With that completed, my job at this post is officially done for now. The parade will soon be marching past my position anyway so there is no reason to continue to hold it. Besides that, it's generally better for criminal elements, like me, to remain on the move to help us stay one step ahead of the law.

“There you are,” taunts a gruff voice behind me.

Oh you have got to be kidding me! I'd recognize that voice anywhere since it belongs to a guard captain pony who relentlessly hounds me. Seemingly even more so than any of the rest of my guild, in fact. What is really aggravating and confusing, however, is the sheer frequency with which he succeeds. I could be in one of the most secret and remote hiding spots and somehow he keeps on finding me. It makes me wonder if he has some secret magical tracker on me somehow.

“You again, I see,” I say as I look back at him dryly. In doing so, I see my nemesis, a large gruff earth pony with a thick black beard, mane, and tail emerge from the shadows. He wears a taunting and sinister expression on his face. He has an advantage over me for the moment and he does appear to relish it.

“I told you that, no matter how far you go and whatever you do, I'll always find you!” Captain Grimwald promises darkly. “I'll hunt you down to the ends of the world if I have to.”

“Charmed, I'm sure,” I continue to say dryly while secretly wondering why this guy is so obsessed over me. That used to be an impression I fought for the longest time. I tried to convince myself that he just takes his job too seriously and that he'd do this over anypony, but nope! I've actually seen him let other criminals go if they gave him any valuable intel over me. That is strangely obsessive for a law-pony.

Just how did he find me today anyway?

“I'm sure you're wondering how I was able to find you today,” Captain Grimwald taunts with a mocking sneer on his face.

I widen my eyes as I admit, “Actually . . . yeah. The thought had crossed my mind.”

Captain Grimwald taps his head three times as he tells me, “It's because I know how criminal scum like you thinks. You pathetic street rats are all alike. I knew your gang and you would try something to case the visiting Princess and appraise her for all of her valuable jewels and such. I must admit, though, that part of me is actually impressed how bold you Red Cloven Sands can get sometimes. While other petty criminal gangs fight for scraps and trashy territory, your gang is actually bold enough to occasionally shoot all the way towards the top. A lot of my peers mocked and doubted me that your gang would actually go that far, yet here you are.” Without looking at me, he briefly nods to several of his other subordinates who are, even now, closing in around me. “And I brought witnesses too to help verify my case.”

I wince one eye shut and lift the eyebrow of my other eye as I ask him, “Would you believe me if I told you I simply wanted to check out the Princess along with the rest of the crowd? We don't usually get foreign dignitaries, like her, visiting the city that often. As for why I am here, I waited here because I didn't think it was safe waiting to see her among the crowd because I figured ponies, like you, would be searching for me there.”

Captain Grimwald actually lifts up his head skywards and laughs before looking back at me and taunting, “Then I guess I was smarter than you because I figured you would think that and I knew you'd want to wait somewhere high to get a higher survey of those marching in the parade. Face it,” he lowers his gaze while keeping his steely, narrow-eyed gaze fixed tightly on me, “I beat you this time! Now you are mine!”

I give him a charming bow with likely unnecessary flourish as I tell him, “Indeed. Well played, Sir. You shall well remember this day when you almost caught the legendary Swift Hoof.”

“Legendary my flank! I'll grind you into paste!” Captain Grimwald barks harshly then orders in a gruff and demanding tone, “GET HIM!”

Motion around me actually slows down just a bit as the Captain, and his cronies, charge in around me. I had anticipated this, though, because he was foolish enough to reveal himself and taunt me instead of tackling me down when I didn't notice him yet.

I leap backwards and crash through the window behind me. Part of me derives a little bit of pleasure at the astonished shock I see forming on Grimwald's face because of that. I give him a cocky one-hoof salute with my right forehoof while my left coils around a curtain that hangs to my left. I don't hold onto it too tightly, though, since I use it to slide downward and crash through another window on the floor below and to the left.

I actually end up tumbling into a small crowd of ponies who were busy looking out the window of that floor, probably for a very similar reason. In this case I end up tumbling onto three foals. Because of that, I reach a hoof past them and use it to push myself away from the floor as we all crash down onto the floor together. I do not want to press my full weight into these innocent foals, though, especially with some shards of broken glass on my person now.

“Oops. Terribly sorry,” I express as I rise to my four hooves then reach a hoof down to help scoop them up. “The accident with the window is my fault entirely,” I say with thick roguish charm.

The ponies here just gawk at me. Their minds are not thawed enough yet to yell at me . . . or swoon over me as the case may be.

“Fare thee well,” I say with a graceful flourish to them. “And you kids . . . stay in school so you don't grow up as clumsy as me.”

With that, I bolt away dashingly and leave the other ponies behind me in stunned silence.

Author's Note

Published this one while visiting Hawaii with my mom. Yay!

Part 6: The Grinning Ghost

With any given heist operation, no matter how organized or who is doing it, there is a luxury and comfort a would-be thief can never count on and that is certainty. We've just got to roll the dice and see what happens.

Take tonight, for instance. We had it all well thought out. We had our personnel in positions, gave each of them the needed equipment for the operation that we could spare, relayed reconnaissance information and the whole nine yards.

When I get to the Mon Amarie Inn that Princess Celestia is staying in, though, I discover that I am either late, or my comrades started ahead of me too soon, for some of the city guards around this Inn are unconscious outside.

Then it dawns on me that this should be suspicious. None of my gang should be amateurish enough to leave unconscious guards in plain sight. There really are some idiots in the Red Sands gang but none of them are that dumb. Even if they were, they should be supervised by others who know better.

Soon after, I get another blatantly obvious hint that something has gone amiss when I see whole herds of ponies galloping out of the Mon Amarie Inn while screaming in panic. Moments later I see two types of guards, those from Princess Celestia’s escort and those hired by the Inn both exit then immediately turn about and wave for still other guests to leave the Inn in an orderly fashion.

That is when I realize that the heist has gone dramatically wrong. Most likely because something else has gone wrong that we did not expect. Judging from the level of panic I am seeing from those exiting the Mon Amarie Inn in a rush, it’s easy to assume that there is a fire in the building or something equally intense. When all that dawns on me, I suddenly stop caring about the heist entirely. Something far more urgent is going down. Because of that, a large jumble of priorities suddenly rush to the forefront of my mind which leaves me momentarily confused and numb concerning which ones I should target first.

Before I even know it and can fully register how I feel, I find myself in front of one of the Canterlot guards who is coaxing the rest of the guests out of the building in as calm of a tone as he can muster, but I can still see a glint of panic hidden in this large green earth pony stallion too.

“What happened? What’s going on here?” I inquire upon arrival.

“Step back, Sir!” the Canterlot guard orders me firmly. “Clear the way. Make some room.”

“But there is trouble in the Mon Amarie Inn? What happened?” I press again.

“It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with,” the dark hide hired unicorn stallion guard of this Inn said from the other side of this door. “Just stay back and keep clear.”

“But I have family in the Mon Amarie!” I partially lie to the bunch, though it is true I do have association with some ponies in there. “Are they alright?”

“Then they should be evacuating the building soon,” the green Canterlot guard tells me just a bit more calmly now that he understands why I’ve been unusually persistent. “And even if they don’t, we’ll go back inside soon to search for stragglers as soon as we secure the majority of the guests and hotel staff from the building.”

“Isn’t the Princess still inside too?” I check. “Aren’t you concerned about her?”

The Canterlot guard’s eyes grow smaller as his expression tightens a bit. It’s clear to me I struck a nerve with that question, but he quickly explains to me with somewhat strained patience this time, “She was the one who ordered me to this position to make sure every other pony makes it out of the building safely. Meanwhile she’s in there doing what she can and I know she has some armed escorts with her. Trust me when I say she’s probably the last one in danger here.”

While another panicked mare addresses the guards upon exiting the building and complains that she lost some of her foals in there, I sink into a thoughtful trance as I mull over what I just heard. Apparently there is some kind of emergency in there and I doubt the Red Sands are responsible for this. They should not have screwed up this badly. Whatever this is, this is something else entirely. Bad timing on our part, I guess.

Originally we had planned to steal Princess Celestia’s torc while she was sleeping but that option is clearly off the table now. There’s a chance that our prize is still in her room and unguarded due to the emergency, but based on what I just heard, there is no way in Tartarus that we’ll catch her sleeping now unless one of us is the cause of that status. That, or whatever else is the source of all this panic.

Princess Celestia is a powerful and seemingly immortal alicorn from Equestria. I heard she’s quite a well trained sorceress so the odds are strong she is the least threatened pony in that building at the moment, but I can’t dismiss the suspicious coincidence that all of this happens on the one night that she’s staying here.

Furthermore, while the odds of her being in severe danger right now are decently remote, the consequences of her downfall could end up extremely severe not just from her own country, but the whole world in general because she is the one solely responsible for the rotation of the sun and the moon. Because of that, I feel it is very important to confirm her status soon and make sure she is not in severe trouble, and if she is, help out in any way I reasonably can.

Not only that, but I want to check on my other gang members and make sure they are okay too. I also want to check on what this danger is exactly. Perhaps I can help?

I do consider the sneaky approach to just climb in through the side window, but thanks to the mare in front of me distracting the guards, I just rush in.

“HEY!” one of them hollers after me but I ignore him. As I suspect, they are too busy ushering everypony else out of the building. They already know why I have an incentive to explore this place, too, so my behavior won’t even seem too suspicious to them. Right now it has the virtue of being the truth too.

“Hey, anypony know what’s going on in here?” I stop and question a wealthy-looking brown unicorn stallion who is dressed in a royal blue robe and wears a similar color turban with a red jewel in it. Despite all that, he doesn’t look too composed, but he seems more confused rather than frightened.

“Honestly, Sir, I have no idea,” the wealthy-looking stallion replies. “All I do know is I was trying to sleep on the upper floor when all of a sudden the hotel staff raps in my door, wakes me up, and tells me I have to evacuate this building.”

“Whatever it is, it has something to do with the fourth floor,” an elderly purple mare explains as she rushes her family immediately out of the foyer.

“Any idea why?” I ask the elderly mare as I spin about and face her in our escalating distance.

“Something to do with a ghost,” she calls back to me but her voice is soon drowned out by the surrounding crowd.

“A ghost?! Is she serious?” the wealthy-looking merchant stallion asks beside me in annoyance and disbelief. “I seriously got woken up for a ridiculous reason like that?” He scoffs and rolls his eyes before proclaiming, “That’s it! I am demanding my money back and I shall not be writing a glowing review of this place. That’s for sure.”

A ghost?

I balk since I cannot believe what I heard either, but the most important information I can discern from that report is that the main activity seems to be on the fourth floor, for now, and ponies think it has something to do with a ghost. Honestly, though, this hotel shouldn’t ever have gotten wealthy enough to cater to very high class clientele if it always had a supernatural entity within it dire enough to evoke a mass exodus from this place at any moment.

Regardless, at least this narrows down my search somewhat if I wish to seek out answers.

I narrow my eyes and look over my shoulder down the hallway that most other ponies are fleeing from. Somewhere down there, I know I’ll find some stairs leading to the upper floors. I decide to search the fourth floor in particular for the Princess or the Red Sands. They could be elsewhere, but if they are, then they probably aren’t in danger anywhere else so I might as well start in the one place here that could be a problem.

The vibes I got from the earlier floors certainly changed drastically when I reached the fourth floor. Sure, the architecture and decor of the place, such as the painted floral design on the walls, has not changed much, but there is something awfully eerie about the sudden silence I got as soon as I stepped onto the fourth floor. It is also the first floor I encountered that is devoid of anypony else. As if that isn’t enough, the magical glow lights hanging on the walls are faded and fluctuating. It is as if some force is trying to extinguish them but the lights are struggling to hold on. Occasionally I also hear a groan and creaking in the walls as if the shape of this hallway is slowly transforming forcefully.

I admit I don’t remember much, but of all that which I do recall, I have never encountered anything like this before. A chill sinks into my soul, yet there is a stubborn part of me that can’t help but feel like this is some kind of charade. This is just too abnormal.

Cautiously I step into the red carpeted hallway itself. When I do, I hear my hoofsteps thump onto the floor. Normally I wouldn’t, or at least dismiss it as normal background noise, but with the nigh absolute silence of everything else on this floor, somehow that normal background noise seems greatly magnified here.

Gathering my courage, I venture on to explore this hallway. As I do so, I notice signs that compound the idea that something very eerie is going on here. Examples of that are some of the doors to various hotel rooms in this hallway are open, but no pony is within. Inside the rooms, I don’t see too many signs of struggle or a disheveled look to the rooms. They don’t look like they have been ransacked by thieves looking for valuable goods. The odd thing about that is there is very likely highly valuable goods in each of these rooms and I happen to know some of my gang members targeted this place tonight, and they ignored this golden opportunity? After all, the Mon Amarie Inn caters to very wealthy patrons. Even if the rooms are totally vacant of any patrons, some of the appliances and furniture of these rooms alone are worth nabbing, yet each of these rooms appear largely untouched.

About the only thing I see that is odd in any of them is dropped objects as if the rooms got abandoned in a hurry. Those fleeing from the rooms didn’t even take their goods, luggage, and maybe not even their money.

Eventually I encounter something else that really puts me on edge, and that is painted images of ponies plastered within the walls and floor in very odd places. Whenever I can see the faces on these 2-D images, they seem frozen in horror.

I see them on the walls. I see them on the floor. Sometimes the image is both, like their lower legs are on the floor and their upper body is suddenly curved vertically part way up the wall. The majority of these images depict ponies wearing clothes which is a rare trait for our entire race, but it does tend to be more common among the wealthy elite.

I gulp as I look upon them. This is far from normal, but I have to remember that I live in a magical world. Just because things like this aren’t common doesn’t mean it’s impossible to believe. Based on everything I’ve seen so far, I’m beginning to think that those images were once real ponies that somehow lost their third dimensional quality? Since they are not moving as a 2-D image either, part of me has to assume that they might as well be dead.

As I venture on, things get even more creepy. I continue to see images of ponies in the walls and floor, sometimes both, but the colors are more faded and smeared. As I go on, they get more smeared and stretched. Eventually it’s like they are just an inkblot from a pen that leaked ink which stretched further across the walls and floors.

On a hunch, I go back and explore the images I already passed. When I do, I notice their colors are more faded now too, but it never happened when I was looking at them. It’s as if they can only change when I’m not looking at them.

A scream suddenly seizes my attention from further down the hall that I haven’t explored yet. I whip my head to look in that direction then gallop to her in a hurry. While I proceed, I marvel how crazy this all is. Why am I galloping towards the scream?

Arriving to the scene, I burst into an open room and witness a cloudy-blue filly in a fancy dress shriveling and melting into the floor and wall in one of the hotel rooms while a larger figure, which seems to be a stallion, looms over her and jabbing a shining black cane with a white tip into her body. His body is odd though insofar as it is hazy, shifty like he’s behind a mirage, and misty fog hangs close to his body.

I’m too late. Within seconds, the filly shrinks into a flat, 2-D image of herself in the bottom corner of a wall and floor. Her image even seems painted over cloth carpet.

The stallion that once loomed over her is still for a moment before slowly turning his head back to look at me. It seems he once was some kind of blue colt in life and he wears a white tuxedo that covers the upper half of his body. On his head he has a white fedora cap with a black stripe. When he fully turns his head to look back at me, I notice there is a white porcelain-looking mask on his face that depicts a grinning ghost that shows fat white teeth. The mouth is held open a few centimeters in a straight line. The eyes are creepy wide except the black, bead-like eye pupils are tiny small which gives the mask a highly crazed look. As for the “nose” of this creature, it sticks straight forward about four inches from the mask.

It is at this moment I finally notice something unusual and that is a beat sound. It’s either a drum beat or a heartbeat sound that repeats over and over again in a four beat rhythm. I don’t know where the sound is coming from, though. Maybe the walls. Maybe myself. Maybe this ghost creature, or it could even be in the very air itself. I just can’t tell if I feel it on my hide or within my own body.

This creature is saying nothing to me and I can’t even hear the rustle of his clothes. From him, there is absolute silence as if this entity is entirely incapable of making sound of any kind.

The ghostly looking stallion turns about and stabs the cane into the floor, but again it makes no sound. He seems to simply leer at me. Eventually his head tilts just slightly to the left. That movement is so faint, I have to ask myself if I imagined it.

For some reason that I cannot fathom, I don’t panic. I do feel fear, true, but I don’t lose my mind like many of the other ponies I observed earlier did. Maybe it is because a part of me still can’t believe that this is happening. That this must be a charade of some kind.

For as long as I am not moving, the “ghost” isn’t either. He seems content to stare at me with that really creepy white mask. While we pause like this, I swear that four drum beats are very slowly getting louder and louder. Beyond that, it feels as if he is waiting for something and isn’t getting what he wants yet. Maybe he wants my fear first before he can attack me? Or perhaps he wants me to flee in panic first before he even attempts to chase me.

Since I sense what he might want, I don’t grant it to him, or at least not completely. I do back off, but I do so very slowly and I keep my gaze fixed on him. If there is any movement from him then I want to know about it immediately. I won’t break eye contact from him for even a split second.

My tactic seems to work. Like the images in the walls that can’t change so long as I am looking at them, this entity remains frozen in place too except maybe a slight turn of his head to keep his gaze dead locked on my eyes, even as I slowly change positions. The doorframe slowly creeps up at my peripheral vision since I’m slowly backing up and around the doorframe into the hallway. In all that time, he does not move in this tense moment.

The drumbeats! They keep getting louder! By all the Holy Sands, when is it going to stop getting louder?

I fully back up into the hallway and keep my gaze fixed on the open door. As long as I stare at it, the entity doesn’t seem to advance to that point but I am nervous that I have lost line of sight to him. If he really is a ghost, I can’t dismiss the possibility that he can walk through the walls anywhere behind me, and since he seems utterly silent, I’d have no warning of his approach at all unless I can lock visual sight on him again. Pretty much the only audible thing I can hear is those repeating four drumbeats over and over again.

Until, eventually, I hear some hoofsteps advancing to my position from somewhere behind me. I dare not look behind to see who it is, but I feel relieved to have some new compony anyway and it very likely isn’t the ghost.

I jolt, startled, when a hoof lands upon my right shoulder. The next moment I notice the pressure there is very light. Apparently it is meant to be a gesture of comfort.

“You’re a very brave stallion to hold your position like this,” another stallion announced. “Consider me very impressed.”

“Are you the only survivor here?” asks another voice further back from me. I notice how steady she sounds and it also rings with an air of authority. Normally I wouldn’t call that unusual in a hotel like this with such wealthy clientele but this situation is far from normal.

I keep my gaze fixed at the door I emerged from while feeling convinced that is the only reason the ghost hasn’t advanced upon us yet.

“That I’ve noticed so far,” I finally answer when I at last gather enough moisture in my mouth and throat. Until I tried, I didn’t notice how dry my mouth was.

“It’s in there, isn’t it?” the strangely calm stallion asks beside and slightly behind me. “The creature that caused all this mess.”

“I believe so,” I answer back. “I think it can’t move so long as I stare at it, or the area it needs to emerge from.”

“Huh. That takes me back,” says the other stallion in a tone of familiarity.

“You’ve encountered this creature before?!” I ask in shock.

“No, but I believe I met others like it,” he answers me. “And I think I know what this really is.”

“Stand back, my little pony,” commands the mare behind me with an air of regal authority. At that moment I notice a brilliant, shimmering golden glow grow in this hallway. It is only in that moment do I notice her shadow on the floor. I am still not looking away from the doorway, but I notice, based on that shadow, that the one behind me is unusually tall. Moreover, she possesses both large wings and a tall horn.

“Princess Celestia!” I gasp in shock.

“We will take it from here,” the Princess assures as she advances ahead of me. The stallion does too which is enough to allow me to tell that this stallion is a brown earth pony wearing a green necktie. He has the cutie mark of an hourglass and for some reason is biting into a weird metallic device in his mouth.

“Are you sure about this, Your Majesty?” I ask cautiously. “It would be unfortunate for us all if anything were to happen to you, and I suspect this creature has killed others in highly unusual ways. You might not be prepared to deal with this thing.”

“Nothing will happen to me because I will not allow it!” Princess Celestia says firmly as she keeps a fixed stare at the open doorway for a moment until she glances back at me over her right shoulder with shrinking eye pupils as she orders me firmly, “Go!”

I almost comply reluctantly, but then I freeze when I notice Princess Celestia’s right eye staring back at me suddenly widens with shock. She looks like she is beholding a ghost right now, but she seems to be staring back at me!

Just to check, I finally look over my own shoulder to see if that ghost had somehow snuck up behind me, but nope. The rest of the hallway here seems clear.

The brown stallion that is beside Princess Celestia regards her with surprise as well. He looks like he does not expect her reaction to me at all. He then regards me curiously as if I might be a character in a stage play that shouldn’t be here. That I am not “in the script”, as it were.

This is very odd! I know her, but everypony knows her. Why, in the world, does she recognize me in return?! I’m just a street rat. A no pony.

Of course, my memories don’t go too far back either. Is she connected to my past for some reason?

I feel tempted to ask her, but we are interrupted when the entity finally advances up to the doorframe. The brown stallion regards this as well. Then, for some reason, the metal device he is biting on emits a high pitched sound and a light ignites at the tip.

“Juz gwhooo!” the brown stallion orders me but his speech is muffled because of the device in his mouth.

At last I finally panic. I spin about and gallop away as fast as my legs can carry me.

Author's Note

When it comes to this chapter, I have a confession to make. When I first wrote it, my original plan was to go through with the heist of Celestia's torc. Maybe also a charade encounter with on of Swift Hoof's underlings because Swift thought Celestia as going to use lethal force against this other underling, or the other way around and Swift's real role was to try to maintain the peace between them. I was just a few paragraphs into the story, though, when something felt wrong and I just put the story down as I reexamined my plans. What came out of this pivoted the in a newer and, in my opinion, a much better direction.

Considering the creepy scope of this chapter, I once again find a certain degree of irony that this chapter comes published close to Christmas time. The last time this happened was in the Daring Do and the Lost Continent arc of this story. More specifically Part 11: Tactical Assessment.

Anyway, thank you all for following this story so far. Hope you all enjoy it too, and I wish you all a Happy Holidays regardless when you actually read this.

The next chapter will be posted on December 29th, and that will be the last one posted for this year. You're in for a treat then too.

Part 7: My Master

Perspective: Mirage

“What do you mean that you failed to track Celestia?!” angrily demands Grand Vizier Dispatcher Hoofclaven, the gray pegasus stallion with black mane, tail, and trimmed mustache in an M pattern. He wears a black silky robe with a red inner lining.

“Just what I said, my liege,” reports the Head Palace Guard Grimwald Hadozen. The large brown earth pony stallion keeps his head bowed. Impressively he does not flinch even with his liege’s angry outburst. “There was a lot of hectic chaos at the Mon Amarie Inn. Ponies had to flee in droves because of this entity that some have dubbed ‘Phantom Face’ or ‘The Grinning Ghost’. Princess Celestia had, apparently, never left the hotel, nor was she there later when I checked.”

Dispatcher pounds the left side of the Sultan’s throne in frustration as he complains, “This was not supposed to happen! The theft of the Sun Princess’s torc was supposed to give us a chance to win it back for her and to win her trust.”

“Interesting,” my Master whispers under his breath as he quietly holds his place in the shadows of the curtains behind the Sultan’s throne. “Wheels within wheels, I see.” My Master chuckles darkly. “Oh! This is going to be more fun than I suspected!”

Captain Grimwald lifts his head slightly as he tells his liege, “On the plus side, the Red Sands did manage to secure her torc.”

Now the Vizier pounds both of his forelegs on the arms of the thorne as he barks harshly, “FOR ALL THE GOOD THAT IS GOING TO DO IF WE FAIL TO SECURE THE PRINCESS!” He sinks back into the throne as he broods thoughtfully stroking one side of his long mustache. “Do you think this ‘Grinning Ghost’, whatever he is, killed her?”

Grimwald shakes his head as he answers, “I do not, my liege, or else the sun would not have risen into the sky on time.”

“That’s true,” Dispatcher realizes more calmly as he looks up to one of the heavily shaded windows of the extravagant throne room. “Indeed the sun would not have risen if she had been dispatched.” He returns his thoughtful gaze back to his lone guest. “Else the sun would not have dutifully risen today as it did.” His expression sinks back into a grim one. “But if she still lives, then where in Tartarus is she?”

“I believe I can shed some light on this mystery,” my Master announces as he finally chooses to reveal himself from one of the curtains behind the throne. When he does so, those in the room notice that he dresses in exactly the same manner as the ghost that recently haunted the Mon Amarie Inn except for a few differences. One is he is less silent this time, and two, he does not look as transparent and shifty. He does continue to wear the white tuxedo though, white fedora hat with a black stripe, and he continues to wear the white porcelain mask of the leering, grinning and crazed-looking ghost. He also continues to carry his black shiny gentlepony’s cane with white tip.

“Who in Tartarus are you?!” Grimwald demands to know as he finally rises to three legs and uses the last to draw a giant scimitar.

“No pony who hails from Tartarus,” my Master answers in a suave tone. “Though perhaps I am one who should be sent there. In that, I believe I am now in like compony.”

“It’s him, my liege!” Grimwald warns in stunned alarm. “He is the one the others have called the Grinning Ghost!”

The Grand Vizier's face sinks into a shrewd look as he continues to regard my Master.

While all of that is going on, the others continue not to spot me, as is my Master’s plan. Accordingly, I continue to hide my presence and hold my silence, for my Master does not like to reveal his whole hoof of cards until he holds a winning hoof.

“The Grinning Ghost,” my Master repeats. “The Phantom Face!” he goes on as he waves a hoof past and over his face with dramatic showmanship. “I have to say, I like it! May those rumors continue to spread.”

“Do you have the Sun Princess?” Dispatcher asks my Master darkly as he collects his dark gray hooves in front of his face.

“No, but I believe I do know who does have her now,” my Master answers as he spins about and gives a graceful and formal bow to the Vizier. “My plans did not go as I had intended either. What I had wanted to do was chase the Sun Princess into your awaiting hooves in a spooked manner, my liege.” My Master rises from his bow. “But two others showed up and thwarted my carefully laid out plans. Of those, I know one of them very well. A meddlesome brown stallion who wears a green necktie, has an hourglass cutie mark, and calls himself the Doctor.”

Grand Vizier Dispatcher lifts an intrigued eyebrow at this announcement then passes that same expression to his Captain of the Royal Guard as he asks his servant, “Did anypony report seeing a brown stallion with a green necktie enter or leave the hotel?”

“No, my liege, but I had not instructed them to search for any stallion matching that description either,” Grimwald reports as he continues to regard my Master very warily while still holding onto that giant scimitar. He holds himself in a ready battle stance. “If such a stallion does have the Princess, though, it remains unlikely she slipped out of the building without my guards noticing. Even if she was cloaked and hooded, she continues to have an impressive height for a mare in Equestria. I’m sure my guards would have noticed something amiss even if she had help slipping out of the building unnoticed.”

“The Sun Princess could have teleported,” the Grand Vizier speculates as he continues to regard the Captain thoughtfully. “She’s one of the few in the world who knows that spell. Maybe that is how she could have slipped out of the building unnoticed.”

“And teleport where, exactly?” Grimwald challenges his liege then shakes his head. “While it is true she has lived for several centuries, most of that time wasn’t spent here in this city, or even this country entirely. I believe she’d need a destination in mind first before she could execute a spell like that.” Grimwald shrugs. “Besides, she should have no reason to distrust my guards. Even if she did slip out of the building unnoticed, going to my guards should have been the very first thing she’d do unless she was unable to.”

“You forget, the Doctor is an anomaly in this situation,” my Master reminds them.

“So are you!” Grimwald accuses as he narrows his eyes aggressively at my Master.

“Hold on,” Grand Vizier Dispatcher says as he raises a hoof to signal for attention. Once he has it, he lowers both hooves onto his lap as he reminds my Master, “You said there were two who sidetracked your plans at the hotel. One was the Doctor. Do you know who the other is?”

“No pony that I know of personally,” my Master reports honestly. “And that was the first time I saw him. What I can tell you is he was a white unicorn stallion. His cutie mark was concealed, probably on purpose, but one very distinctive detail I can share about him is the fact that his horn was snapped off very near to the base of his skull. I also spotted a ring on what was left of that broken horn.”

I observe how my Master notes recognition on the faces of both of the other stallions in the room. Because of that, my Master is starting to earn a little credit in their eyes as well. Even Grimwald is now relaxing his battle stance slightly. Because of that, the Captain’s odds of leaving this throne room alive has increased a bit.

“Somepony you two know, I see,” my Master says observantly as he looks back and forth between them behind his creepy ghost mask. “Is he anything I should know about? Perhaps somepony who might be able to explain the Sun Princesses mysterious disappearance?”

“I thought you said that this Doctor is the most likely explanation,” Grimwald reminds my Master.

“Yes, but this white stallion is also an unknown factor for me, and he was there, too, in the hallway of the fourth floor, when the Sun Princess showed up,” my Master reports. “One thing I found noteworthy about him, aside from his broken horn, was the fact he was unusually brave. He stood his ground when I expected, and planned, for him to flee in panic like everypony else, but no. Curiously he didn’t.” My Master twists his grip on his cane to lift it up poignantly while he says, “Another thing of note is the Sun Princess seems to have recognized him.”

“Confound it! She saw him?!” Grand Vizier Dispatcher asks in alarm and anger.

“Indeed,” my Master replies as he twists the cane’s tip back to the ground and leans on it slightly. “Why should that be of any concern?”

Dispatcher leans back into his seat again as he says, “Let’s just say he’s a specialized project of mine. The only thing he, and his gang, was supposed to do in that hotel is rob her of her torc. With it, we could have used that as a bargaining chip later.”

“But then somepony decided to spook the residents of the hotel and get them all alarmed,” growls Grimwald at my Master. “We’re lucky that the Red Sands still managed to secure their main objective, but now we got a missing princess to deal with and an invited foreign dignitary at that!”

My Master sighs then expresses with a nonchalant shrug, “Doesn’t that always just happen with princesses? Seems like a common occupational hazard to me. They keep on getting kidnapped and taken to another castle.”

I get a weird feeling that my Master is making yet another strange reference from his native universe.

Still, I have to admit, he kind of has a point. Maybe getting kidnapped is considered a rite of passage to such royal individuals. It’s like their position isn’t really official until such things happen to them at least once.

“Anyway,” my Master continues as he now leans both of his forehoves on his cane. “Whoever this white stallion is, I saw him leave when the Doctor, and the Sun Princess, insisted that he do so, most likely for the sake of his safety. He did hesitate but eventually took off. Accordingly, he is a less likely suspect, in my playbook, to be the one to explain the mysterious absence of our glorious white Sun Goddess.”

“If you saw the white stallion take off, then you were still there to witness what happened next,” the Grand Vizier observes. “So what happened next?”

“Both the Doctor, and the Sun Princess, started to close in on my position,” my Master tells them. “I could tell neither of them feared me in the slightest so they weren’t going to back down. The Doctor also lifted up this metal stick that makes a loud noise. Somehow that device was disabling some of the hidden devices that I was wearing. Among them, one of them made me look transparent and shifty. When I noticed that, I leapt out of the window and fled into the dark of the night beyond.”

“That I can confirm, my liege,” Grimwald reports to the Grand Vizier. “The fact that somepony leapt out of the now broken window on the fourth floor, at least.” A bit of shame crosses his face as he says, “I’m sorry I didn’t add that part earlier in my report.”

The Grand Vizier's eyes shift from the Captain to my Master as he asks curiously, “So you leapt from the fourth floor of a hotel? How did you make it down without dying? Are you secretly a pegasus?”

My Master twists his cane upward and rests it against the mouth of the mask he wears as he says, “A good magician never reveals his tricks.”

“My liege asked you a question!” Grimwald menaces as he lifts his scimitar again. “If you wish to leave this room alive, you’ll tell him what he wants to know!”

“In due time,” my Master replies calmly. “I’m going to need some assurances first.”

“Why you-!” Grimwald menaces as he lunges forward to attack. Meanwhile my Master doesn’t move or flinch even slightly, but I can easily imagine a devilish grin spreads on his face beneath the mask. There is a good reason why he does not fear anypony else in this room.

Grimwald halts his charge, though, when he notices his liege lift a hoof in objection. The Captain regards his liege curiously at that point, wondering why the Grand Vizier is holding him back from attacking my Master which assuredly would have led to the guard’s death one way or another.

Noticing the Captain halt, Dispatcher lowers his hoof again as he regards my Master thoughtfully and asks, “You came at us for a reason. Somehow you managed to slip through all of my palace guards to get to me and my throne room. You obviously have some talent and then you decided to reveal yourself and announce that you had planned to chase the Sun Princes to me, but somepony else thwarted your plans.”

The Grand Vizier lifts his touching forehooves in front of him again as he peers at my Master carefully and thoughtfully over his hooves. He says, “Pretend, for a moment, you had succeeded with that plan. This Doctor did not get in your way and the Sun Princess fled all the way to my Palace, most likely in a fright. Tell me . . . if that was your plan from the start then what, exactly, did you expect to achieve afterwards?”

My Master politely and diplomatically bows to the Grand Vizier and says, “As you cunningly had surmised, there is something I had planned to achieve with you, for you see . . . you have something that I want. Something I was willing to do you a favor for.”

“Which is?” the Grand Vizier presses with a raised eyebrow.

My Master lifts his still masked ghost face slightly more at the Grand Vizier as he tells him, “My aim is to achieve nothing less than immortality, my liege, and I am convinced that you are equipped with the necessary resources to help me with that ambitious goal.”

“I see,” the Grand Vizier replies as an evil cunning look sinks deep into his eyes.

“Rumor has it that you are now nothing less than a Vampony Lord,” my Master goes on, “and those who are bitten by your vampony kiss may enjoy eternal life with you in exchange for eternal servitude.”

The Grand Vizier lifts a hoof to indicate that my Master has the Grand Vizier's permission to rise from his bow, which he promptly does. When that happens, the Grand Vizier asks, “Assuming that is true, are you sure you are willing to pay that price?”

“In exchange for eternal life? Most certainly,” my Master replies gladly. “For you see . . .” My Master trails off for a moment as he lifts his left forehoof with the hoof facing upwards in a scooping motion then says, “Time, like anything else in this world, usually is a limited resource. That is the normal ‘rules’ of this world, but as far as I am concerned, any rule is meant to be broken by the cunning. The strong. The resourceful. The ambitious. Power is meant for those who have the gumption to simply take what they want! What they are owed. Power,” he stomps his cane on the ground, “is meant for the entitled. The elite. Those who force themselves to be in charge and crush any resistance before them.”

The Grand Vizier quietly nods in agreement but his face otherwise remains expressionless. He had already achieved most of which my Master is talking about so the struggle is no longer as much of a concern to him. Instead, he observes my Master with arrogant and royal disdain but also enough interest to continue paying attention because he’s curious what ultimate point my Master is trying to make.

“I’ve given you a taste of what I am capable of,” my Master continues as he returns both of his forehooves back on the top of his cane which, in return, remains pressed to the ground straight down. “Impressive, no? Well then . . . imagine how well I can hone my craft if I had another hundred years to perfect it. What about a thousand? Ten-thousand? How about a million?”

The Grand Vizier grows a sly and feintly devious smile because everything my Master is saying is just another reminder of what the Grand Vizier already has and will continue to accumulate.

“Time becomes irrelevant to a true immortal,” my Master goes on in a tone of sinister cunning. “Infinite time means infinite resources. We’ll have all the ‘time’ we ever need to achieve anything else we’ll ever wish for, and that,” my Master tilts the top of his cane towards the Grand Vizier for emphasis, “is my true goal. The slow and inevitable acquisition of anything that I want, and all it will cost me is eternal servitude to you . . . but so what? With all of that time on my hooves, it is more than enough to do your occasional bidding then get back to whatever I plan to get.”

My Master cocks his head to the side a bit at the Grand Vizier while still wearing the creepy white ghost mask as he goes on to say, “Ultimately what infinite time means is infinite power, and it would be nice to share it with one who has enough cunning and ambition to force fate to bend a knee to him as well. I respect that and plan to have a piece of that action. To that end, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.

“So . . . what do you say?” my Master asks as he straightens his head again. “Do we have a deeeeeeeaaaaaaaal?” my Master drags out the last word of his sentence as if savoring a delicious, sinful experience.

Since Grimwald is the only other pony in the room, and that because the Grand Vizier doesn’t like to make secret meetings where sinful acts are discussed, the Grand Vizier looks to Captain of the Royal Guard for advice.

“So let me get this straight,” begins Grimwald to my Master, “your goal is to help us secure the Sun Princess. In exchange, you want my liege to make you a fellow immortal?”

“It would only be prudent to enslave the Sun Princess,” my Master replies as if that answers the Captain’s question. “After all, doesn’t a vampony have a curious and unfortunate aversion to sunlight? But if we can get the Sun Goddess to bend a knee to us then, not only do we get access to every resource she has her hooves on in Equestria, but we can make sure that the sun never rises in Saddle Arabia again!” My Master stands up on his hind legs as he uses his forelegs to lift up to his sides dramatically. “Eternal night! Imagine it! No more resting and shielding us from the accursed sunlight. No more blazing sun in the sky to thwart and halt our devious plans! We can bask out in the open forever on! We shall rule this land, and even the whole world, as eternal GODS of the NIGHT!” my Master says with dramatic flair so intense, his words occasionally sounded monstrous when he roared.

My Master stabs his cane back down and leans on it to return his weight to natural pony equilibrium while making a dramatic point at the same time.

“Such is our will, and such shall ever be our fate,” my Master declares in a much smoother voice. “With our chains wrapped around Princess Celestia’s throat, our greatest nemesis shall be forced to her knees and forced to suck us dry.

“Don’t you agree . . .” my Master asks with another curious tilt to his head at the Grand Vizier. “. . . my liege?”

“I will become Sultan soon,” the Grand Vizier announces with smooth confidence. “That was actually another reason why Princess Celestia was invited. She was to bear witness to my glorious ascension. I will wed Princess Arielza Alabaster and my acquisition of the throne shall be official. At that point, it is my current position that shall then be vacant.” He points to my Master using both collected hooves. “If you pull this off for me, then not only shall I grant you your wish to make you an eternal servant, but I shall also appoint you as my new Grand Vizier.” He lifts an eyebrow slightly. “How does that sound?”

“Deliciously sinful, my liege,” my Master answers. “I love it!”

“Very well, then,” the Grand Vizier replies as he returns his forehooves to the arms of the throne. “So be it.”

“I do have one question for you, though, my liege,” my Master brings up. “Won’t you share your vampony’s kiss with Princess Arielza too? That way you can ensure she says yes to the marriage and you can make her crawl on her knees and-”

Even I am startled by the fact that Grand Vizier Dispatcher Hoofclaven suddenly zips at my Master then lifts my Master up by his throat. That didn’t even take a split second, but I know he did not teleport.

To lift my Master’s throat, the end of the Grand Vizier’s hoof transforms into some kind of solid black smoke which surrounds my Master’s throat and lifts him up. Seconds later the Grand Vizier’s whole body turns into some kind of black smokey form which has glowing red eyes. His head lifts above my Master then curves down to peer straight into my Master’s eyes (or the equivalent on the mask at least), then says with a monstrous growl, “Don’t you ever . . . EVER . . . badmouth Princess Arielza again! If you do, I’ll rip out your heart and shove it down your pathetic throat myself! Do I make myself CLEAR?!”

Since my Master can’t speak due to the chokehold, he merely ends up nodding instead.

“Good,” the black smokey form of the Grand Vizier accepts before tossing my Master to the ground like a discarded ragdoll. Seconds later, the black smokey form of the Grand Vizier recollects into his natural gray pegasus form. From there, he brushes out any wrinkles on his robes as he makes a deliberate effort to regather his composure.

“Now then, with all of that said, I believe we’re done here,” the Grand Vizier says dismissively as he starts to make his way back to the Sultan’s throne. “You know what you need to do,” he continues while his back remains to my master. “Get the Sun Princess and bring her to me.” He sits on the throne again and rests his forelegs on the arms of that extravagant throne. “Alive, of course, and no worse for wear if you can manage it. I want her to trust me, too. We cannot afford to underestimate the Sun Princess so I need her vulnerable before I can spread my vampony kiss to her.”

My Master rises up to his knees, coughs some to force open his throat again, then bows to the Grand Vizier diplomatically once again.

My Master stealthily slips his way into the basement of the Palace and trots his way past one recent addition to this place, and that is a tall blue box that mysteriously says “Police Call Box” near the top. Moving past that, my Master makes his way to the back and opens a window shortly after hearing three chirping sounds from outside which was the signal he was waiting for.

“How are things on your end?” asks the Doctor’s voice which mysteriously is being projected from some great distance. Every word he speaks has a metallic sounding echo to it as if he’s speaking through a metal tube.

My Master finally removes the ghost mask from his face which reveals the beautiful blue face of my Master, Card Shark.

“Better than I had anticipated,” my Master answers back. “They have accepted me, somewhat, so long as I ‘pay up’ and prove my worth. I don’t think I have to explain to you what they are after.”

“Princess Sunbutt, no doubt,” answers the Doctor from that weird invisible echo tunnel.

“And you say I’m rude to women,” replies my Master with a dark chuckle.

“Hey! Miss Princess of the Sun has more of a sense of humor than you think,” the Doctor says as if in his defense. “Of course I’m a little more sensitive to her titles if we’re in public, but in a private setting she considers it a kindness to dispense with formal titles. She gets enough of that everywhere else.”

“In ‘private’?” my Master reiterates with a snarky smirk.

We hear the Doctor sigh wearily which still sounds strange coming from some invisible metallic tube thing, then he says as if to change the subject, “Be that as it may, you said you had a little extra success on your end?”

“Maybe but I want to check on something,” my Master replies. “Do you recall that white unicorn stallion we met in the fourth floor hallway who had a chopped off unicorn horn?”

“Indeed,” confirms the disembodied echo voice of the Doctor. “I was able to coax a little extra information on him from Miss Sunbutt here. It seems that mysterious stallion is one that the Princess thought was dead; one former Sultan Nanpour Alabaster. I’ll admit, though, Miss Sunbutt had her suspicions about this situation from the start. It seems one of the reasons she came to this city in the first place was to start an investigation of her own. Officially she’s here to oversee a new wedding and Dispatcher’s ascension to the throne, but it seems, in the back of her mind, she always suspected that there was more going on here. Seeing that pony standing there in that hallway has redoubled her suspicions. At this point I’m pretty sure she won’t give up her secret attempts to find more answers. Now it seems she’ll need someone around to do a little digging for her, and guess who showed up looking all cool and heroic-looking?”

“Indeed,” my Master agrees with a slight devious chuckle. “But as it stands, this isn’t Celestia’s own land. Her powers are more limited here. I imagine she would want to play her cards close to her chest too.”

“But of course,” the Doctor’s voice agrees as if that should be obvious.

“From my end, I’ve stumbled upon a couple of interesting tidbits here,” my Master reports. “For one thing, it seems that the former Sultan, the one presumed dead, now works for a thieves guild called The Red Sands. Moreover, someone in that organization secretly works for the Grand Vizier, and the Captain of the Royal Guard here is in on this conspiracy too. Both of them are too aware of the goings on in that guild and they counted on the theft of a particular item of Princess Celestia. You know that golden bib-thing she wears that has a purple jewel on it?”

“I do,” the Doctor confirms in a calm voice. “That piece of jewelry on her is pretty iconic. I half expected her to sleep with that thing on.”

“Well the Grand Vizier and the Guard Captain counted on its theft so that they could later secure it themselves, somehow, as a bargaining chip to win Celestia’s trust and favor.”

“Well . . . that’s convoluted, but okay,” the Doctor accepts with what sounds like almost casual acceptance. “Not every villain's plan has to be brilliant.”

“Tell me about it,” my Master agrees with a roll of his very light purple eyes. “Anyway, it seems the Red Sands managed to pull off the theft afterall. I’m guessing our plan inadvertently caused the distraction they needed. From what I can tell, though, our amnesiac former Sultan decided to go off the rails on a crazy train a bit. I have a feeling that investigating that hallway, to find out what was going on, wasn’t part of his guild’s plan. My guess is his reasons may be something akin to you. He was just concerned.”

“I agree that it is likely he lost his memories somehow,” says the Doctor’s voice. “That probably happened around the time his horn got damaged and he ‘supposedly’ died.”

“I think there is more to the story than just that,” informs my Master to the mysterious echo tunnel. I suspect my Master has the same echoey distortion on the Doctor’s end. “Towards the end of my conversation with the Vizier, I happen to mention that perhaps he should have spread his supposed ‘vampire kiss’ to Princess Arielza to secure her cooperation to his plan. In response, I received a much more intense reaction than I expected. He immediately zipped over to me faster than I can blink and lifted me up as some smokey black monster.”

“That sounds something like King Sombra, but these ponies would probably know nothing about that monster in this century,” the Doctor muses.

“Who is King Sombra?” my Master questions.

“Oh that’s right! That’s before your time too,” the Doctor recalls. “Well . . . sort of.”

“I am a Time Lord!” my Master reminds arrogantly and sounding a touch offended. “As such, I am beyond all time.”

“That is an irrelevant detail anyway,” the Doctor says dismissively. “Or at least . . . most likely. More to the point, I probably don’t have to tell you that we’re not dealing with a ‘real’ vampire, do I?”

“Of course not,” my Master replies evenly. “But since you put it that way, tell me . . . have you met a real vampire before?”

“Some can come awfully close to that definition,” the Doctor replies. “After all, I met plenty of lawyers before.”

My Master grins slightly then says, “Quips aside, we should keep in mind that, supposedly, ‘magic’ is real in this dimension. If you haven’t met an actual vampire before, the odds of encountering one in this dimension is a little stronger.”

“Maybe but not in this case,” the Doctor assures. “Instead, what we’re dealing with here is a symbite. That race can assimilate any memories and organic abilities of any host it previously had. In practice it is not much different from the fictional character ‘Venom’ from Marvel Comics. You remember that one?”

“Of course,” my Master says with a casual nod which I suspect this Doctor did not actually see. “So we’re dealing with a creature that can mimic the abilities of a vampire. Aversion to sunlight, need to feed on blood, and super speed . . . obviously, in addition to being able to change into a black smokey form.”

“The ability of a symbiote can greatly vary with each one depending on the hosts and number of hosts they had before,” the Doctor lectures. “However a symbite is different because they can infect unwilling hosts like a virus which is what they have essentially devolved into. In symbiote society, symbites are rogue criminals who broke the laws and taboos of their society. They are corrupted versions of symbiotes and, as such, they have a few things in common. There is a corruption to their genetic structure which makes them inherently unstable. It is not blood that they need, per se, but certain nutrients that can be found within the blood of some species. If they can find those nutrients in other things then that would suffice as well, but on paper . . yeah. They greatly resemble a vampire. A symbite always chooses one central host to consolidate the majority of its consciousness but it can spread samples of itself in other hosts. That, in turn, can allow them to copy their abilities in others, albeit at only one-tenth of the original’s strength, but it gives telepathic control as well. In vampire terms, it resembles a vampire spawn.”

“I’m well aware of all of this,” my Master says dismissively. “What’s our next move?”

“Something you told me I do find interesting,” notes the Doctor. “It seems like Grand Vizier Dispatcher has true feelings for Princess Arielza. That probably means that his hostile take over for the throne isn’t just motivated by ambition alone. I think, what we have here, is a crime of passion as well. That puts a new spin on everything. This means that, with everything he could have done to poor Nanpour, such as truly kill him, Dispatcher held back instead and somehow removed the memories from the former Sultan along with a chunk of his horn. After that, the Grand Vizier arranges for the amnesiac former Sultan to join a thieves guild, most likely to push the former Sultan further down the path of corruption.

“Don’t you see? To the Grand Vizier, simply ‘killing’ his hated enemy isn’t enough. This is actually revenge from a jealous rival lover. Knowing that, that puts a new perspective on all of the Grand Vizier’s future moves as well. That’s good to know.”

“All of this really means we have a new player at the table,” my Master replies. “Probably one who doesn’t even realize how important his involvement is. Since we do, however, that may modify our actions going forward.”

“It will indeed,” the Doctor agrees. “I was originally planning on hogging more of the spotlight from the heroes side of this story, but the addition of this new player is causing me to rethink my strategy somewhat.

“Regardless of all of this, one of our original objectives remains firmly in place. The symbite’s former vessel should be here in this city somewhere. The corrupted creature needed it to get here. That kind of technology is primitive compared to a TARDIS, but it still has the power to exert massive control over gravity. This society is far too primitive to handle that kind of alien tech safely. If they misuse it, they could accidentally create a black hole here and suck in this entire world into oblivion. We cannot let that happen.

“That object probably remains with those who would be considered a ‘lawful’ authority around here, though, which is why I needed someone who didn’t have qualms about subterfuge. That’s why I originally brought you to this time, but if we can restore Nanpour back to the throne and get his memories back, he just might hand over the dangerous artifact on his own, especially since it would give him awful memories of his former oppressor by that point.”

“Well that’s no fun,” my Master complains. “I was told I was going to get a good heist out of this operation, damn it, and I plan to collect. Don’t back out of that plan now just because a new player is involved. I want to climb over a mountain of corpses before we secure our prize.”

“You would,” the Doctor scoffs in disgust. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get some fun. After all, I invited you into this mission in the first place and I’ve known, a long time ago, how you tend to operate.”

“You’re god-damn right!” my Master agrees aggressively.

“Everything we’ve discovered so far has simply put a few extra layers into our operation because we have some new objectives now,” the Doctor clarifies. “Does that sound fair?”

My Master sighs then says, “Sure, but remember . . . I told you from the start that I’m only joining you on a trial basis. How this operation goes down will help me to determine if I ever join you on one of your little crusades again, and I’m something of a vampire myself. I demand blood on my hooves before all is said and done.”

“Because that isn’t going to mess with history, isn’t it?” the Doctor asks sarcastically.

“I’m not aware of any fixed timeline here so anything goes,” came my Master’s rebuttal. “And even if there was, I’m a rogue element among the Time Lords anyway too, just like you were. Apparently by design,” he adds with an undertone of bitterness. “Still, I play the cards I’ve been given to the best of my ability. I will own this game by whatever means is at my disposal.”

“I know you will,” the Doctor expresses with a sympathetic tone. When he speaks next, it sounds like he’s about to be interrupted.

“Okay. Something has come up and I’ve got to go,” the Doctor reports. “I’ll contact you later on when I can. Over and out.”

The strange metallic tube sound outside suddenly seems to cease. Following that, my Master slowly closes the window behind him then bonks his head slightly against the wall.

“You can come out now, Mirage. I believe we finally have privacy now,” my Master, The Master, commands.

As he bids, I change my form from the hidden pocket watch he had hidden in his pocket then leap forward while still in mid-transformation. When I am done, I look like a beige colored earth pony mare wearing a sparkling veil over my face. My tail and mane is tied up into a single pony tail that has woven reflective silver threads to it. I turn around then kneel before my Master as I gaze up at his glorious face with my currently brown-colored eyes.

Much like anything else I appear to be, it is only superficial and subject to change, especially at his command.

“What is thy bidding, my master?” I ask in reverence.

My Master does not answer right away. I slowly grow more disturbed by the continuing silence then get double caught off-guard when he erupts into roaring laughter. Only when he simmers down somewhat enough for me to speak without having to shout do I ask him, “Something amusing, my Master?”

I see my Master gaze up at the ceiling and bonk his head twice against the wall behind him. I notice he has a silly grin on his face that I’m not accustomed to seeing. Through my secret changeling olfactory senses, I smell other emotions coming off him too that is a little too complex for me to fully identify, especially considering he’s not really a true pony at all. As such, the pheromones coming off of him might not match what other species' emotions would be, but I think I still have a rough baseline to work with.

“You don’t know this, but for so . . . many . . . years . . . the Doctor has been nothing but my enemy. My opponent. The one that stands in my way!” my Master, Card Shark, exclaims bitterly but he quickly relaxes shortly later. “For once . . . it’s nice to be on the same team.”

My Master looks at me then kind of startles me by showing me an almost colt’ish smile on his face. One that is born from almost pure joy. He then says to me, “I find this fun, too. Far more than I expected. Subterfuge. Deception. Now that is my cup of oats. Finally we’re on the same page with this one and it feels great!”

Although still slightly confused, I smile too as I express, “It’s great to see you happy, Master. I must admit, I never saw this side of you before. Part of me doesn’t know what to think.”

Still pressing his back against the wall, my Master slides himself down to the ground and sits. From there, he lays his cane across his lap and says, “In many of my schemes before, I had often offered for the Doctor to join me in my conquest spree. No matter how many times he said no to me, I kept on offering because that was what I truly wanted.” He lifts a hoof to me. “Don’t get me wrong. He can be fun as an opponent too, but I always had this gut feeling that if we could be on the same page for once, we’d make an unstoppable duo.

“The Doctor . . . the one who stood in my way and successfully thwarted so many of my other would-be conquest attempts . . . I had often wondered if anything could stop us if he joined me for a change. A good game can be fun but I want to win for once, damn it, and if my greatest opponent was finally on my side then there is no telling what we can achieve together.”

My Master looks up at the ceiling as he has a musing expression on his face.

“All that I ever wanted . . . all that I tried to acquire . . . I wonder if him being on my side might have been my greatest wish of all.

“Now this mission,” he gestures behind him for a brief moment, “is far more tame than I usually planned. This isn’t really conquest and I figured the Doctor wouldn’t really go that far, but in this case . . . his tactics resemble mine enough to find some common ground together. I guess I just feel a little giddy to get a taste of an ancient wish of mine fulfilled.”

“Subterfuge, as you know, is something that my native culture specializes in as well,” I remind my Master. “Nothing pleases me more than to join you in an operation like this. Seeing your excitement inspires my own too because I see it as a hint how far we might get this time.

“I told you, long ago, that my only true ambition in life is to serve you and fulfill your ambitions. After all, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn't even desire anything at all. Not really.”

This is true. I well recall this, for I am not an ordinary changeling. I was among the few secret police force of the changelings. An elite and largely unknown faction that is known in legends to be The Ghosts. There are only ten spots in that organization and we’re required to kill another to take their spot.

We were the faction that wasn't supposed to exist. Just a fearsome legend mentioned in hiding of an elite group of changelings that is so perfect at our job that we have access to training and abilities no other changeling could accomplish.

But to achieve that level of perfection required the sacrifice of everything else. We never associated with the rest of the hive unless it is in disguise. Our allegiance was only to the Ghosts and Queen Chrysalis. So strong was that devotion that we were nothing else at all. Just empty, emotionless shells that literally had no true ego of our own. No real free will. No personality at all other than the masks we temporarily wore.

Somehow, however, my Master discovered my true identity and then he used me. He seized me in a forceful kiss that I initially tried to resist, but doing so is like being butter next to a blazing inferno. There is a primal and savage intensity to my Master’s spirit that is unlike anything else I had ever encountered before. He can seem like such a suave and smooth gentlepony on the outside, but like the many disguises that I wear, that is just another facade for him. Beneath that, he is the very embodiment of primitive carnal desires times a thousand. So overwhelming and intense is that passion that even he can’t control it at times which occasionally makes him seem like a mad pony.

But to me, I had never encountered anyone else who was more alive than him! His passion is so intense, I started to realize how fake I felt before compared to him. I never truly “wanted” anything like him, especially to the same degree. It forced me to question the very nature of existence and wonder what it meant to truly be alive.

I had sworn a secret allegiance to Queen Chrysalis and the Ghosts, though, and they’d certainly not let one of their top agents defect without a fight. I knew too many critical secrets of the Hive. If I showed any sign that I was a compromised agent, they’d send everything else they had at me with maximum prejudice. I genuinely didn’t think anything could withstand that kind of focused onslaught.

But not only do I still live, but the Hive now thinks I’m dead. Somehow my Master created a clone of me, I guess? It would have to be very detailed because I know the Ghosts would inspect the body to minute detail to make extremely sure it was me. In order to fool super spies of that caliber requires a mind that is so vastly overwhelming that it truly is out of this world.

But he did it! He actually did it!

I realized something ever since. Not only did he teach me how to truly feel and desire things, but with him . . . it is safe to do so because nothing would be out of his reach for long. Every-single-time I have ever watched him skillfully negotiate with others for whatever he wanted, I soon realized he planned circles around them that seemed to be a thousand steps ahead. Backup plans layered over backup plans, then to go way out of his way to clean up every trace of evidence that ever revealed his crimes. He even thought of things that never occurred to me before. I was in awe of his majesty!

What makes this even better is he had no morality to limit his freedom. No sense of guilt to ever slow or tie him down. Because of that, nothing impedes his movement. It feels so incredible to serve under a master who truly can accomplish anything. Seriously, it really does feel like nothing is out of his reach in every possible way.

Personally, I don’t care about issues of morality either and I don’t think I favor any side of it truly. I consider those tiresome philosophical debates that are a chore to slog through, like is it truly a sin for a lioness to kill for her meal? What about for her cubs?

For me, I am proudly above those kinds of issues. Instead of that, I examine life in a much more simple format. What do I want and how can I achieve that?

It is a pleasure to simply want anything at all. It is an ability that most sentient life takes for granted, but I really was raised by a culture that fully lacked an ego. All we could think about is how to accomplish the mission we were assigned. No thought was given to anything beyond that.

But my Master! My glorious master! He exemplifies ego in every possible way. He made me realize what I was missing. How empty my existence was without it.

I owe him everything, even my love. I used to take love from others as much as the next changeling, but to feel it growing inside me instead . . . that is a precious and very different gift.

I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren’t for him, and I’ll follow him to the depths of Tartarus if that is what it takes.

He gave me the ability to want things. It’s only natural that I use that ability to want him in return.

Author's Note

This chapter was posted December 29th. If I keep to my weekly schedule, which I will, then this chapter is going to be as close to the new year for 2024 as this story will ever get.

However, this author's note now is added exactly on the date of December 31st. In my time zone, more specifically 4:33 PM. I'm about to go out for my walk soon. Anyway, in light of this fact, I have this to share.

So this is the second year straight I've been posting this story. Last year I posted a chapter exactly on December 31st. The weekly schedule just happened to land that way. In terms of duration of posts, this is the longest story I've made so far, and that was true a long time ago. It also has the most chapters and total words. I see no end in sight either right now, so this very well can go on for years. Given the fact each arc is in little segments, it is easier for me to tell when the next arc is ready to be put online. From there, those chapters simply wait their turn to be posted.

I heard lots of rumors and predictions all throughout this year of how hectic it is going to be, that it'll be the year that will change everything. So on and so forth. But I look around me and I just continue to see the world is not on fire. Instead, I continue to see a bunch of people walking their dogs, the sun rises and sets as normal, and I hear birds tweeting outside, the same as I usually do. Those birds have no care or have any awareness of human propaganda whatsoever. To them, the world is mostly the same as it ever was. When it does change, they probably have no idea why, but they still deal with it.

So that is the attitude I'll hold for 2025 too. Until I do see floods, fires, and all of that hellish nonsense directly in my immediate vicinity, I will treat the world as just moving on as normal.

With all that said, have a Happy New Year, everybody, and thanks for loyally following the story I have so far. May be be another of many to come.

Part 8: Honor Among Thieves

Perspective: Swift Step

I wasn’t looking forward to this. To return to the Red Sands empty hooved. We planned that heist for moons and some of us put in meticulous detail to our efforts, myself included. After all that, the night finally came and went and we failed.

Still . . . how were we supposed to know that the Mon Amarie Inn was going to be haunted during Princess Celestia's stay in it?

My recent memories of that event have left me feeling numb about it ever since. I got such emotional whiplash by going from being totally unaware of anything like this to visibly seeing that which should be impossible to exist. I saw a filly melt into a flat, 2-D image with my own eyes! That’s horrible! All of this is made worse with me not knowing if the same happened to the Princess.

I guess I’ll have some idea of her fate tomorrow morning if I see the sun rise again. It’s a haunting thought to consider that it really might not do so ever again. My end of the world stuck in the night . . . forever. It probably would be just as bad for another to be stuck in the day.

What an unforgivable, critical weakness our world has. The untimely death of an otherwise immortal pony could doom the entire world to oblivion. If anypony asks me, I think the Princess needs way better security for all that.

Thinking of all of this, this is why my emotions feel numb when I arrive at one of the hideaways for the Red Sands. No matter how much anypony yells at me for failing tonight's heist, it’ll feel like nothing compared to what could have happened tonight or what might have already happened. No amount of punishment sent my way can compare to the prospect of half of the world freezing to death and the other side cooked alive. I would be panicking over that prospect except it’s just too large. Too overwhelming for my emotions to fully process, so instead I feel numb.

The place I go to is called the Rocking Horse. It is a bar, restaurant, and inn all wrapped up into one. Poor quality too so the wealthy should stay clear of it. Secretly it also has the hideaway entrance for one of the branches of the Red Sands.

When I enter, I notice a few secret members of the Red Sands giving subtle acknowledgment towards me in the form of a faint nod, a wink, or raising of a stein. Beyond that, the bar is a clamor of drunken activity with very low-class clientele. Same as usual. I order a room for the night and the bartender, a lanky yellow brute, gives me my usual room.

When I enter that room, I make sure to close the door but I don’t lock it. Truthfully I can’t. Still, with the door shut, I can be sure the coast is clear. I then make my way to the closet at the back and open the secret entrance that leads to the Red Sands base in the sewers. Once I am through, a Red Sands guard gives me a nod of acknowledgment before shutting the secret door.

I make my way down the dimly lit stairs then down through a dank tunnel of the sewers. I make my way quite a ways before I reach yet another hidden door in one of the walls of the sewers. When I pass through that, I am immediately taken aback by the buzz of celebratory activity from the rest of the Red Sands gang who are already down here.

Blinking with shock, I wander through the group while wondering what is going on. Many ponies are raising steins, clinking them, laughing and hoof clapping each other. One pony slaps my back as well.

“What’s going on?” I try to ask the group in bewilderment. Considering how loud it is down here, I am surprised anypony has heard me.

“Yo! Swift Step! The Boss wants ta see ya,” a large light blue brute of an earth pony stallion informs me.

I am taken aback again before I double check, “The Boss wants to see me personally? But . . . he’s never done that before!”

The blue brute just shrugs and replies, “Well, he does today and he ain’t a patient stallion, so get on in there.”

I gulp. Despite the festive mood around me, I guess this is very serious. The Boss, Neighzer Ralmsha, hardly ever sees anypony in person. Usually he just sends out orders from some dark and remote corner of the city. Beyond that, all I know for sure is the fortune of the Red Sands took a severe upswing several moons ago ever since he became in charge. No pony knows how he does it, but the Red Sands have never been more organized and successful before he was in charge. Mysteriously and ominously, though, hardly anypony has ever seen him either. Some even question whether he really exists or not.

Despite all that, I do know where to go to see him if he really exists.

It’s dark here.

Too dark.

Indeed, this is much too dark here for any average pony to see even if their eyes are adjusted to the dark. The glow bug lamps on the wall are very dim green. They radiate a light one can read off of if it is held about six inches from the lamps. Beyond that, it is impossible to read anything let alone see anything. Vague shadows and silhouettes are pretty much the most anypony can see here at all, if that.

This is where our mysterious leader likes to dwell if, indeed, he exists at all. Anypony who dwells in the shadows this thick all the time doesn’t feel natural in the slightest.

Also, I can’t be sure, but I smell something off about this area. It is more than just the pungent stench of mildew from the sewer walls. I think I smell the tang of blood as well and it’s got the hairs on my body standing up on end. In addition, I feel something . . . dark here. Not just in the ambient sense, but in an energy sense as well. It’s as if there is something evil here to a monstrous degree.

“Swift Step. Ah! We meet at last,” calls out an almost nasally sounding stallion somewhere ahead of me and very well hidden in the shadows. If this is our leader Neighzer, he almost sounds like too much of a weak dork to be intimidating except there is an undercurrent of sinister confidence in his voice as if he knows he has an advantage that is so strong, he need not fear anypony who comes to him in the slightest. It’s like talking to a tiny chihuahua dog who knows he can secretly shapeshift into a mountain-sized ancient and powerful dragon.

“I wish I can say the same, but it’s too dark to see pretty much anything in here,” I reply.

“One can get used to it eventually when their eyes adjust to the dark!” Neighzer replies with sinister emphasis with the last word. “And one can’t be too careful with this business. Cloak and dagger strategies tend to work best in the shadows.”

“No doubt,” I agree politely. I think I’m holding my composure very well right now all things considered.

“Congratulations are in order too, me thinks,” Neighzer goes on with a very slimy edge to his tone. “Well done with our successful yet also unexpectedly complicated heist.”

“Successful?” I echo questioningly. Doing so right now, in front of him of all ponies, might not be the most diplomatic and tactical move but I’m just that confused. Then I exclaim, “Oh! Is that why the gang is celebrating back there? We successfully took Princess Celestia’s torc?”

“Indeed,” Neighzer replies in his usual very thick, slimy tone. “Equestria should pay very well for the return of their national treasure.” There is a short pause before he goes on to say, “But I understand there were some unusual complications with the mission? Things we could not have foreseen?”

“A ghost . . . so some of those in the Mon Amarie Inn claim,” I report to him. “I’ve seen it as well. It isn’t like anything else I’ve ever seen before.”

“And you are convinced that this is an actual apparition, I take it?” the Red Sands leader checks.

“I don’t know about that,” I answer with a light shrug. “But, whomever this pony was, he wasn’t normal. I could see through him. The edges around him were also blurry, and he could attack others in a way I have never encountered before. Something about melting ponies he touches into flat, 2-D images of themselves on the floor and walls. The image gradually fades, too, but only when one is not looking upon it.”

“Interesting story,” replies the leader. “It is one I would normally call a flight of fancy if it wasn’t you who is telling me this.”

“Why should my word have any more credit with you than any other in the gang?” I check.

“Because you are not like any other pony in my gang,” Neighzer answers. “I keep an ear out on the streets and the stories I hear about you aren’t like other ponies, for you see . . . it seems that you aren’t as greedy as other ponies in my gang. You actually care for others. You look after the little guys which, I think, are admirable qualities about you.”

“Really?” I ask skeptically as I raise an eyebrow. “Considering the organization you run, one would not normally think that you would consider such traits to be useful virtues.”

“That used to be true, I’m sure, back in the days when the Red Sands were nothing more than petty thugs,” Neighzer returns. “But in order for this Family to become something more, to grow to the next step, we require more evolved ways of doing business. The ‘every pony for themselves’ strategy isn’t going to cut it with truly organized crime. In order to take a larger role in society, we have to be willing to be something more. Something more grand than a petty criminal could ever be. We need ponies in this Family who are interested in far more than their own self worth, and Swift . . . I’ve been hearing mighty fine things about you in this regard.

“That’s not to downplay your other contributions either. Even as an individual thief, you are pretty skilled. The Guards have hounded you far more than any other member of my gang for some reason. I promised you that my gang would provide you some protection and I delivered on that word, but still . . . they are after you with an unusual amount of determination. Even on your own, you kept up and stayed one step ahead of the law.

“You’ve paid your tribute too and always on time. You never shirk those duties or pretend you already paid it off. Keeping your promises is actually a big deal with you. Honor among Thieves is a creed that some others may look down upon or scoff at, but to me . . . I see it as a virtue of one who is ready for the next level, for only a pony who can take responsibilities seriously should have them in the first place.”

“Forgive me if I sound impertinent, but where are you going with this?” I ask him.

“Forgiveness is not required, for I see nothing wrong,” he replies. “In fact, I find it rather refreshing that you are courageous enough to speak your true mind with me. I cannot tell you how rarely I encounter that. Most other ponies would bend over backwards to kiss my flank if they suspected that is what I want and might even be willing to do it anyway even if I don’t request it. I guess sucking up to others makes them feel secure somehow and I’m kind enough to let them think that at times.

“However, when it comes to talking to true ‘adults’, it requires another language entirely. One that I have observed that the gutless cannot speak. The Red Sands are no longer just a loose connection of petty criminals and that is a concept that most ponies here can’t seem to understand. In order to achieve grand visions, one needs to work closely with an organized group who are at least willing, to some extent, to put aside petty differences and work together towards a common aim. In order to do that, we need a leader who has a grand vision. Not just for himself, but for the Family as a whole.”

“And you have fulfilled that role very well,” I tell him as calmly as I can while secretly dreading where this conversation seems to be leading. “You’re the reason why the Red Sands have enjoyed the recent string of successes that it has.”

“Of course I helped, but what is a leader without followers?” he reflects to me.

“Just an individual pony,” I answer swiftly.

“Exactly!” he cheers. “See? You get it. You have a good enough head on your shoulders to recognize and respect Big Picture stuff, and I want to see that potential nurtured and grow. Even as an individual, you are quite impressive, but me thinks you can be something far more.”

“Your point?” I challenge him brazenly. After all, he did encourage me to be honest about my feelings.

“I think you’re well aware of my point, but let me be absolutely clear just in case,” Neighzer says then swiftly moves in front of me. I have no idea how he moved that fast. Once he is in front of me, he’s in the dim green light enough for me to notice he is a surprisingly lanky dark brown stallion with a white mane and tail. His face is a little elongated. He is bald at the top of his head but has a short mane to the sides of his head. He wears a white toga robe that is rather richly embroidered. More than any other feature of him, it is his crimson eyes that captures my attention the most. It could be my imagination, but they seem to have a dimly predatory glow to them.

“I built up this Family to be more than it ever was,” Neighzer tells me when he’s in front of me. “That is a legacy that I wish to see endure, but I can’t do that on my own. Any building that leans on only one support structure will eventually collapse. We need a bigger vision of the future to make sure our good fortune lasts. To that end, I need ponies who are willing to do more than think of only their own self interests. I know you donate some of your earnings to street orphans and that tells me that you have some of the qualities that I am looking for. You’re willing to rise above your own petty interests and put The Family first.

“It is The Family that is everything to me, Swift Step, and only another pony who shares that same vision can see that this legacy endures.

“To be perfectly honest with you, Swift Step, I don’t really have many other options beyond you. I have ponies galore who are very skilled and/or talented in other pursuits. For some it might be weapons training, for others it is good fliers or scouts. Some of them are very sneaky, some are good at staying hidden. Some are good at divvying out a fair amount of rations, but you? You have what it takes to put The Family first. As such, you have the qualities that makes a truly good leader, for a leader has the wisdom to realize that any social organization is more than just its component parts. Only by ensuring that they work well together can grander aims be accomplished.”

“Yes but you have that too,” I remind him. “Do you simply want me to be a backup? A second-in-command perhaps?”

“For the moment, yes, but eventually more,” Neighzer answers. “For you see . . . eventually I plan to retire in luxury. Maybe buy a palace or an island somewhere. To be surrounded by buxom beauties and the like. Amassing a giant fortune has its own challenges and amusement, but eventually I want to know what it is like to relax on the lap of that accumulated fortune. When I do, however, I want to make sure that the throne of the Red Sands is passed on to a worthy successor. One who is capable of keeping up or even further propelling our good fortune because it is The Family that I care about as well. I cannot fully relax and retire until I become certain that I have left this organization in good hooves. Very few can do that, too, so I keep a very close eye on the few that can.

“Not long ago you joined this Family for the first time. When you did, I told you, however remotely, that this Family would be here to protect you so long as you remain loyal to it. You did that and I think you even went above and beyond that call of duty. Because you protected and promoted our cause, we are able to protect you, and others like you, all the more. By strengthening The Family, we can do more for The Family and I need that vision, that trajectory, to continue.

“I also think that, if you are willing to pause a moment and really think about this with all honesty, who else would make a more worthy successor of that vision than you? If you were standing in my place and eventually plan to retire, who else would you promote to take your place? I know you care for this Family so you are among the very few who could possibly give a worthy response to that question.”

“I see your point,” I conceded.

“Dishonor among Thieves is common enough to be considered cliché, and for good reason, but for the few who have a better vision, more can ultimately be accomplished. We are more than the sum of our parts and I need truly ‘good’ leaders who can hold all of this together and do it for the right reasons.

“So . . . what do you say?” When he asks that, Neighzer holds up a hoof to me. “Can I count on you?”

I stare at his hoof for a second then look him right in the eyes as I say, “The fact I take my promises so seriously is also why I am reluctant to make them. I don’t know what the future holds and if it includes something that would make such promises difficult, or even impossible, to uphold. The fewer promises I make, the easier it’ll be to fulfill them all and with true conviction.”

Neighzer’s hoof continues to be held up to me but lowers slightly as he asks me, “A fair point, but ask yourself this; do you care for this Family? If there was any way to make us stronger, is it an opportunity that you would take? If the answer is yes, shake my hoof and we’ll seal this pact. That’s basically what I do all the time.”

I consider his proposal for a moment then lift my own hoof but I don’t shake his yet. Before I do so, I tell him, “I’ll shake your hoof so long as there is an understanding between us that there is no exact plan yet. I need this promise to be loose enough to be flexible towards any opportunity. I might be willing to consider leadership someday but perhaps some other path, even one we haven’t discovered yet, might be more ideal in the long run. For now, I will agree with the fact that I agree with the general plan and vision of this Family. I do, indeed, care for it and therefore shall do whatever is in my power to protect and promote it. Is that enough for you for now?”

Neighzer’s drooped hoof lifts straight again as he announces firmly, “We have an accord.”

“Very well then,” I agree as well then proceed to shake his hoof.

As soon as I do, I am immediately blasted with a huge download of information and most of it is not good. I would later need a lot of time to sort out all of this sudden blast of information, but what stood out to me the most is precisely why Neighzer was so confident this whole time, for he is no longer fully mortal anymore, or indeed, not fully a mundane pony at all.

He has become something more. Something supernatural and dark, and all of that because of the Grand Vizier of this city, one Dispatcher Hoofclaven. By becoming a spawn, and therefore also a pawn, to whatever Dispatcher has recently become, it means these two are in cahoots with each other and their plan, all along, has much to do with me. I don’t fully know why yet, but it has something to do with corruption and revenge. I also get the feeling both of these stallions know who I really am before I lost my memories.

I keenly feel that Neighzer has become an unnatural monster. He does have dark, supernatural powers above and beyond normal mortal kin now but it comes at a price. To maintain his dark strengths, he must drain something from others. Whatever that something is, it resulted in the death of a lot of ponies and in this very room! No wonder I got awful vibes in this room!

Neighzer doesn’t really care for the Family either. All he actually wants is for me to take his place so I become as corrupt as him someday. When the time comes, I might even be offered the same dark transformation. Either that, or it will be forced upon me.

He was, however, honest about retiring in luxury eventually. In the meantime he is relishing the power and authority he has over others as well as the unnatural advantage he gained because of another. That same dark gift is precisely why he is keeping himself in the deep, dark shadows.

Another reason he stayed hidden like this was to make his transformation, and therefore his new unnatural advantages, less obvious. The more ponies remain unaware of that, the less prepared they are to counter the full scope of his new dark gifts.

Neighzer never knew about my recent psychic gifts, though, which is why he didn’t avoid shaking my hoof. He had no idea that allowing me to touch him, or other sentimental objects from him, would suddenly reveal a lot of his dark plans to me. It is most fortunate for me, then, that I kept this a secret from the rest of the Family. One never knows exactly who to trust or who will later stab us in the back.

As he said, Honor among Thieves is indeed a rare thing.

Part 9: Daunting Revelations

I arrive at a place that is the closest thing I call home. I have no official legal standing here. Truthfully any other pony could come here and stake a claim. Since only I tend to come here, though, it is the only real reason I can call this “my” place.

I get a feeling this building wasn’t even finished with its construction and already it is basically in condemned status. That happens sometimes. Deals fall through or funds run out. If a project gets abandoned before it finishes, then it remains in a state where it can decay faster. At least it has walls. Pretty much all I can say in its favor other than also offering a fantastic view of the city’s main Palace. That shines like a brilliant beacon in the distance.

I like to come here and gaze upon it through this wide opening which would have been a window had the building finished its construction. As it stands, it's just a square opening that is exposed to the outside elements. Only a flimsy and shredded curtain stands as this opening’s only barrier and even it isn’t worth much to speak of.

I often come here to think, to rest, and delude myself into thinking I have sanctuary here. Tonight, however, my mind remains troubled.

For a moment, I try to concentrate on the Palace itself and try to imagine what it must be like to be welcome there. To be surrounded by such opulence.

When I really think deeply on it, I can’t help but suspect that being and living there doesn’t make a pony happier in life. It just raises the standards of living to the point where only thee most extraordinary luxury is absolutely required just to be “okay”. If it’s anything less than the utmost best in life, then those with such high standards probably tend to remain miserable in general. What must it be like to require utter perfection just to be satisfied with anything?

Whenever I stare at The Palace, I don’t feel a sense of jealousy like one would normally expect. It’s there if I concentrate on more specific aspects of such a lifestyle such as good food, abundance of said food, warm blankets, and the secure feeling of a palace full of loyal guards. Beyond those details, the feelings I’ve always gotten from that sight is “extravagant prison”. I don’t know why, but I keep getting a feeling of relief not to be there.

To me, the only true treasure in that place is Princess Arielza. The pony I’ve never met, and only seen once, yet somepony I passionately love anyway. I don’t really know why I feel this way, but eventually I noticed this feeling is too strong to ignore.

It’s painful to want what I can’t have.

On this dark, largely quiet, and chilly night, my thoughts dwell elsewhere. Mostly they are drawn to recent revelations that have turned my perspective in life upside down.

Neighzer Ralmsha, the leader of my own thieves guild, has not only been transformed into some vicious monster recently (which thereby confirms such creatures exist as well), but he’s been in cahoots with the Grand Vizier of Neighbriais, and that pony is not only a fellow member of these monsters but the leader of them as well. I wonder how long that’s been true. It also seems Dispatcher has a personal grudge against me. I don’t know why, but my gut tells me it's related to the history of my life that I can’t recall.

All this time, I thought I had sanctuary among the Red Sands. They promised me protection in exchange for joining them. In hindsight, I just realized that of all the times Captain Grimwald has ever found me, it tended to occur during one of my assigned missions on behalf of the Guild. In other words, if the Red Sands Guild just happened to know where my position was, they’d also be able to secretly tip Captain Grimwald to that fact. That’s probably why he’s been unusually lucky in finding me.

And yet, if I think about it carefully and take into account that the leader of the Red Sands, the current leader of this city, and Captain of the Guards are all secret accomplices to each other then it also leads me to believe that Captain Grimwald never really intended to capture me. Instead he only pretended to try. The real goal might have been to give me an additional incentive to stay with the Guild. To try to convince me that I needed their protection or else Grimwald really would capture me.

Who else might have been involved? Has anypony . . . anywhere . . . ever . . . truly been on my side? Is there anypony out there that actually cares for me?

“Hey Swift Step!” cheers a familiar young voice shortly behind me. I turn to look and see the red pegasus colt Red Star step into the moonlight. His eyes are alight with great cheer as he says, “I heard the heist mission was successful. Way to go! I knew you could do it!”

I just stare at him as happy tears slowly rise to my eyes.

“Also I wanted to tell ya I carried through with your previous request,” Red Star reports more seriously. “I bought and dropped off the medicine to that old mare like you asked. As for the rest of the money, I donated it to-”

Red Star is cut off, startled, when I suddenly seize him and yank him into a tight hug.

“Ah . . . okay,” Red Star remarks in a muffled and surprised tone. “I guess this is happening now for some reason.”

Right now I feel like it is impossible for me not to do this because his presence has reminded me of something very important. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, I know this pony is, and ever shall be, my loyal friend. I know him well and have been in contact with his memories plenty of times. He looks up to me like a dearly cherished older brother. Because of that, I know for sure there is at least one pony out in the world who isn’t against me.

In light of my other recent revelations, it feels desperately important to hold onto this one thing. Right now he is my anchor that is keeping me from completely collapsing in utter despair and paranoia. For as long as I acknowledge that I do, indeed, have one true friend, then that knowledge emotionally grounds me. It also reminds me that there might be others out there, like him, who might be that way too. All of that is an important reminder.

Ponies who haven’t betrayed me.

Ponies who even love me.

Right now, I don’t think there is any way I can convey to him how grateful I am to him because of the reminder of these facts.

“Ah . . . Swift Step? Are you okay?” the young colt asks me timidly and worriedly.

“I need to thank you for being my loyal friend, Red Star,” I tell him as tears roll down my tightly closed eyes. I shiver as I hold him. No doubt he can feel that. “I can’t possibly express to you how grateful I am to you over this fact. How much I love you for it.”

“Well of course I am your loyal friend!” Red Star replies happily and gratefully, though his voice still sounds muffled due to me hugging him tightly against the fur of my chest. “You saved me from slavery then took me in! You showed me the ropes and how to survive out on these streets even while you were still busy figuring it out yourself. You cared for me and provided enough for not only me but a dozen of other foals. We all look up to you, Swift Step. You’re very dear to us!”

I weaken my tight hold on him a bit when I feel him gripping me tighter. I start to notice him shaking as well. I also feel his own tears start to soak my chest.

“You taught us that we can be valuable too,” Red Star confesses in a bit of a whimper. “Y-you . . . you don’t know how much we needed to hear that! How much we needed to hear that somepony out there cared for us. That we are something more than useless gutter trash. You taught us that life can be worth living after all.”

I tighten my hug on him again. Listening to him explain why he feels the way he does and knowing he’s speaking the absolute truth further solidifies my own sense of self-worth and in some of the relationships I’ve helped to forge while out here.

I am not forsaken.

Actually . . . we are not forsaken as long as we continue to have each other.

“What a touching scene this is,” says a mysterious stallion from somewhere nearby. Hearing that puts both Red Star and I on sudden high alert. We’re still holding onto each other but we also both pop our eyes open and face the direction of this new intruder.

“Forgive me for disturbing you two,” announces the stallion as he steps into the moonlight. The moment he does, I immediately recognize him as a stallion I recently met once. He is the same one who was in the haunted Mon Amarie Inn. The brown stallion with the green necktie.

“While I am loathe to disturb this happy reunion,” the brown stallion goes on, “it's also reassuring to see. By recognizing the fact that you two care so much for each other helps to assure me that I can trust the Princess’s judgment in this affair.”

“Who are you?” I challenge him with a guarded tone. “What do you want?”

“Quite right,” the stallion says in a tone of agreement. “I, too, think introductions are in order.” He bows to me a bit. “My name is the Doctor.” He rises from his bow. “As for what I want, I want to have fun. At this moment, though, I have a more specific purpose, for you see . . . I am here at the behest of Princess Celestia.”

Red Star and I just continue to stare at him silently. This results in an awkward pause between us. To help clear it, the Doctor clears his throat before going on to announce, “Well . . . anyway, what’s important to note here is that I’m a royal Agent of the Princess who is on an assigned mission by royal decree. You, Sir,” the Doctor nods at me, “have become a subject of interest to Her Royal Majesty ever since our last encounter at the Mon Amarie Inn.”

The Doctor reaches behind him for something near his flank. He pulls out a mysterious folded black leather thing then flips it open towards me. What I see on it is an image of a caricature of Princess Celestia facing towards the viewer with both eyes closed. She has both of her white wings extended out to her sides. Over her right wing is the image of the sun and over her left is the image of the moon.

“As you can see, this is my credentials as proof I am a Royal Agent of Her Royal Majesty,” the Doctor announces.

Since I still feel suspicious, I push Red Star further off to my side and behind me then I trot forward to meet this stallion. When I stand in front of him, I extend my right forehoof and request, “Let me see that. I want to examine it more carefully.”

The Doctor proceeds to hoof it over as he says, “I realize you might be less familiar with this emblem since it comes from an agency foreign to your nation, but I assure you that my credentials are indeed authentic.”

The moment I hold onto his “credentials” something unusual happens. Firstly, the image fades into what appears to be blank white paper and yet I still sense intense psychic energy from it. Closing my eyes for a moment, images of the Doctor presenting this thing to others floods my mind. Whenever he does, he seems confident that whatever form of credentials he pretends is on it is what tends to be the thing seen to whomever he chooses to present this thing to. By implying what specific image might be on this thing, that image tends to show up on this paper to the viewer.

What is more startling still is empathic psychic impressions that this object was often presented by someone who has centuries . . . yes, centuries of experience while in some alien form of a two-legged creature that walks upright. In a vast majority of those times he shows it to other two-legged creatures with the intention to deceive them, though often not for malevolent reasons. Across all that time, he changed his form multiple times for some reason.

Bottom line is he’s an alien from some other place where forms like the one he had were more common. Only recently had he taken an equine form. At the same time it occurred in a new place where quadruped forms are vastly more common.

Before opening my eyes again, I ask the object I’m holding one final question in my heart, and that is what agency does the Doctor really serve. When I open my eyes, I see the image of some kind of hourglass on the paper that now has a black background which is speckled with many tiny white dots which I assume are stars. I also feel that, despite the deceptive intention of the one who first presented this item, there is no real malice behind that deception. In fact, the owner of this object commonly wishes to protect something.

However, despite this object’s owner’s often benign intentions, I also gain a strong empathic impression that bad things can, and often do, happen around him. Benign intentions do not guarantee benign results. There is a good reason some people, who know this object’s owner, occasionally call him, “The Oncoming Storm”.

I swallow hard as my internal world is once again rocked with yet another startling revelation. First I learned that ghosts exist, then ponies who are transformed into some kind of monsters, of whom some of them have organized intentions against me, and now I have to contend with the fact that aliens exist too?! Just how far is all this recent craziness intending to go?!

“Red Star,” I say with sudden firmness to my voice as I flip this object closed again and offer it back to the Doctor. “I need you to go now. The Doctor and I need to have a private conversation.”

“Are . . . are you in trouble?” Red Star asks nervously. No doubt he’s secretly thinking about my recent heist attempt against Princess Celestia. He heard that the heist was successful despite some setbacks and now, suddenly, a secret agent of Princess Celestia shows up at “my” place. In Red Star’s head, he probably doesn’t consider it safe to dismiss this as a coincidence. After all, I was the primary one to gather information for this mission and mastermind the details.

“Indeed, this stallion is in a great deal of trouble,” the Doctor announces. “That’s the bad news. The good news is I’m here to help solve those problems.”

“Red Star, please go as I requested of you. Now!” I tell him in a commanding and demanding tone.

“Yeh . . . yes Sir,” Red Star agrees nervously then swiftly moves to retreat.

“Thank you for kindly dismissing the boy,” the Doctor tells me gratefully after the red colt seems to leave. “I prefer to minimize the danger to children as much as possible whenever trouble comes knocking.”

“I’m not going to let anything hurt him!” I tell him in a firm tone of insistance. “And you can cut the crap about pretending to be an agent of Princess Celestia. I know who, and what, you really are.”

“Indeed,” the Doctor tells me in a tone of acceptance that belies his curious lift of an eyebrow while still staring at me and putting the psychic paper away somewhere behind him again. “This is most interesting. You’re one astute and talented individual.”

“Why are you really here?” I challenge him in a guarded tone.

“It is true that I know Princess Celestia and she knows me,” the Doctor begins. “Who is, by the way, fine. I have her hidden elsewhere in the city and there she plans to stay until certain questions are answered and problems are resolved. While I don’t officially work for her, I really am here at her behest, for the Princess knows, just as I do, that there is a lot of horse dung around the situation within this city and somepony high up is trying to jerk her around. More specifically, the epicenter of the conflicts of this city have been revolving around the Grand Vizier lately as well as the mysterious disappearance of this nation’s previous liege, the Honorable Grand Sultan Nanpour Alabaster.”

“You think the Grand Vizier has something to do with the disappearance of the Grand Sultan?” I check with him.

“Yes,” the Doctor answers bluntly. “And I think you have something to do with his disappearance as well.”

I widen my eyes in shock at him as I ask, “You mean . . .?”

The Doctor nods in confirmation as he says, “You’re a lot closer to him than you currently think. Princess Celestia thinks so as well, for she has been acquainted with the missing Sultan.”

The reason I suddenly feel dizzy is apparently because the world seems to be spinning around me. As a result, I wave about on my hooves unsteadily.

“Whoa. Take it easy, there,” the Doctor coaxes as he reaches a hoof forward to steady me on my left shoulder. “You’re okay.”

I brush aside his hoof then make my way to the wide open square in the wall which would have been a window. I make my way there successfully despite my unsteady gait. Once I am there, I lean forward and lay my right foreleg along the edge of the window at my bending joint. From there, I look upon the shining palace with a distant gaze.

It is, at this moment, I suddenly realize that part of me knew the truth a long time ago. The reason I dismissed it earlier was because I used to think that voice inside me was just part of my conceited ego. The part of me that simply wished I was the Grand Sultan and that I inherently deserved a better life than all this squalor.

The truth is the truth, though, no matter how I feel about it. Somepony, somewhere, had to be him because he once existed for sure. Now that I’m finally starting to fully accept it, a lot of other things in my mind are falling into place. No wonder I loved Princess Arielza despite barely remembering her. No wonder I felt such a heavy sense of duty about this city. No wonder I felt the status of this city used to be better and something new went wrong with it.

There are a lot of other aspects about myself that now make sense when that one missing piece of the puzzle is put into place. Via training and probably also natural talent, the Grand Sultan would be a talented charismatic leader. As well, he would be a good judge of character over ponies. He’d likely be a good judge over the value of material goods too. After all, Saddle Arabia is a merchant nation. One of the best in the world. It’s only natural that its leaders would follow suit.

This would also explain the Grand Vizier’s grudge against me personally, at least partially. I was the pony “in the way” of his ambitions. If he was able to turn me into a criminal instead then maybe it would help him justify his new position in his heart. That seems to make sense but it's just a guess at this point. I really don’t remember him personally.

Why didn’t he just kill me, though? He’s probably the one responsible for the loss of my horn and maybe also the loss of my memories somehow, but if he killed me instead it would ensure I remain out of his way. Why go through all this elaborate ruse?

I close my eyes as I try to contemplate why I am accepting all of this now. That part of me knew this but it didn’t fully click until now.

I suppose, maybe, I was just waiting for some form of external validation. Until then, I kept wondering if it was just the selfish part of my ego talking instead.

Curiously, every time I contemplated the possibility of being such an “important pony”, all that really came into my heart is that I've gained considerable freedom since then. That the Sultan had major political power and considerable resources, but it cost something. A cost that I have lost ever since I needed to eke my way on the streets. There really was a part of me that squirmed with the indignity of this as if I used to have much higher standards, yet all of this was overshadowed by a sense of relief that I think no other pony could have imagined unless they actually personally lived both lifestyles and had a fair chance to compare them.

“What’s your deal in all of this?” I ask the Doctor as I pop my eyes open and half turn my head over my left shoulder but not enough to look back at him directly. I do, however, fully swivel my left ear at him. “You’re an alien from another world. Perhaps even another dimension. Why would you care about any of us?”

“I have many reasons,” the Doctor announces. “Among them is the fact that other alien forces have also intervened with your culture, and unlike me . . . this one does have malevolent intentions.”

“Oh?” I ask as I turn my head to look back at him more fully.

The Doctor waves a hoof in an arc ahead of him for a second before putting it back to the ground and saying, “Perhaps you are unaware of this, but the Grand Vizier has recently undergone a dark transformation. One that resembles the fables of a vampire, but it is actually an alien parasite that recently landed on your planet. Not only is this creature itself a threat, but so is its tiny ship. It would be no larger than a golf ball, but it is still a vessel that is capable of tremendous gravitational control. That ability can be so great that it can warp the fabric of space and time. That is a concept I am well familiar with.

“Tell me,” the Doctor continues as he lifts a hoof to touch his lips, “do you really have some latent psionic ability? One that allows you to sense the history of touched objects or even other biological creatures?”

“I’ve had that ability for as long as I remember, but I’ll admit my memory does not go back that far,” I confess to him.

“In that case,” the Doctor says, then pauses as he makes his way to me. He does not resume his sentence until he stands next to me and offers his left hoof. “I want you to touch my hoof,” he requests. “I want you to know and understand me better so that you know you can trust me. If you do, that’ll smooth out my plans for us later on.

“I warn you, though, make that contact brief and don’t look into this too deeply. Not only are there some secrets that I must protect, but the sheer enormity of my memories and experiences you could gain might vastly overwhelm you. It could even kill you if you’re not careful so be advised to make this brief.”

I look at his offered hoof then back to his face as I check, “Are you sure?”

He nods as he says, “Yes, but like I said, make it brief. A summary of my life is sufficient to solidify my identity and intentions. That is all that I require at this time.”

I look at his hoof again and swallow nervously. After the warning he just gave me, I’d be a fool not to be somewhat afraid of what I’ll discover. From the glimpse I gained from his psychic paper, that is already enough to convince me that he’s far more than he seems.

In this case, however, my curiosity gives me sufficient courage to make the plunge.

I probably only touch him for the briefest moment. That is enough to bombard me with a phenomenon many ponies call, “life flashing before my eyes” except, in this case, it isn’t my life and it's unusually long. Not just long, but extensively busy. That flash alone threatened to tear my ego asunder. It felt like I leapt into an infinite, bottomless abyss that isn’t empty, but too full of information for me to withstand.

Nevertheless, that flash of information is enough to guarantee certain concepts about him are rock solid now. He is most assuredly an alien with extensive heroic experience. I also feel a crushing sense of weight to him which that kind of heavy experience would naturally induce.

So many losses. So many regrets. So many friends dearly missed.

There is also something else that rises to the surface of my consciousness. The awareness of an ability he had which makes what I just did moot.

I narrow my eyes at him as I tell him accusingly, “You’re telepathic too! You could have just touched my forehead with yours and transferred whatever information you wanted.”

The Doctor nods as he confirms, “True, but if I did it with my own ability then it may leave some room to doubt the authenticity of the information I presented. By allowing you to rely on your own abilities, it can assure you that I’d have no opportunity to edit the information you have received. As a result, you can trust it more.

“Plus, I was curious to see what you’d come up with on your own. I don’t often encounter others with such abilities so I wanted to see how far you could go with it.

“Anyway, after learning all that, I must ask you; what are your intentions now?”

My eye pupils shrink as I look back at the Palace with determination and resolve.

“I had often wondered why I felt such a curious sense of duty over this city. Now that I have that answer, a lot of things are falling into place for me.” I sigh. “Part of me enjoys the freedom I’ve gained ever since I departed from that life, but if there is a force out there that threatens that which I love,” I flash him an angry and determined look, “then I will do whatever it takes to protect it.”

The Doctor smiles at me brightly as he says, “Brilliant!”

Part 10: A Royal Accord

Upon her introduction, I take a knee as Princess Celestia of Equestria enters into the dark room that she is hiding within. I hear her hoof clomps as she enters the room. Moreover, I notice, curiously, how her presence brightens the room as if her white hide is made of light. Sneaking a peek back at other scattered objects within the room, I notice how shadows start to stretch across the wall as a new light source enters the room.

“Please, Your Majesty,” begins Celestia’s calm and elegant voice, “you need not bow before me. You’re not one of my subjects and you are a fellow ruler.”

As requested, I steadily lift my gaze and behold the raw majesty of the god-like mare before me. Indeed her hide casts off a radiant white through the room. Her mane seems to glow too with a cascade of various colors while it waves softly as if caught in a smooth, constant breeze. Seeing that made me curious what would happen to her mane if it is caught in a real breeze. Would the magic of her mane defy that breeze and blow wherever it wants?

Princess Celestia is very tall and looms above me. She is also spreading her white wings a bit which I get the feeling she does, sometimes, out of royal protocol whenever she wants to give a strong impression. That pose actually makes her seem a bit imposing, yet the gaze in her eyes seems calm and doting like a loving mother.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” I say as I rise to my hooves again. “If I am breaking any kind of royal etiquette right now then it is largely because of my own ignorance.”

“As you have feared, Your Majesty,” announces the Doctor who stands beside the Princess and facing me. He was also the one who introduced the Princess a moment earlier. “His Majesty, Nanpour Alabaster, indeed does have amnesia. However,” he turns to regard the royal alicorn beside him for a moment, “I don’t think it is because of the damage to his horn as you suspected earlier. Instead, I think it is part of a fiendish plot from the Grand Vizier. The creature that inhabits his body right now provides certain abilities and traits that the creature acquired from previous hosts. One of them is likely a hypnotic gaze. Via that ability, he most likely induced the memory loss of His Majesty here.”

Having shifted her eyes to look at the Doctor as he spoke, the Princess continues to regard him as she says, “Then that would make any dealings with him dangerous for us. If I meet him, I could be subjected to the same effects. For that matter, many other personnel working under him could also be in a similar trance.”

“I believe I have a defense I can offer against that particular ability, Your Majesty,” the Doctor proposes politely. “But regardless, I don’t think Dispatcher is much of a threat in the daylight anyway. The species that inhabits his body is normally harmless, but the corrupted ones are extra photosensitive. As such, it would greatly impede him if he were to engage you in the daylight. So, until the sun goes down, I do not think he’ll be that much of a threat to you.

“In addition, symbites accumulate the weaknesses of various species it possesses in addition to their strengths. That can later be difficult to sort out. Furthermore, the more abilities it acquires, whether it is a hindrance to it or not, it increases its hunger. The longer it lives and the more hosts it had, the more genetic material it will need to feed on to sustain itself.”

Princess Celestia gives a subtle nod of acknowledgment for the Doctor’s announcement then shifts her eyes to look back at me as she tells me, “Since we are both sovereign rulers of our own respective nations, I request that we address each other on even hoofing. Please address me simply as Celestia while you are in my presence.”

“Did I do that before?” I check with her.

“Typically only while we were in private,” Celestia admits. “In public, both of us usually put on more airs. Believe me when I say I am well acquainted with the tradition of putting on public masks. In privacy, I am more comfortable relaxing and dropping some pretenses. I had gathered that you once felt the same.”

“It’s odd to hear anypony else knowing who I am better than me, but that is the circumstances we find ourselves in now,” I tell her. “When you speak of Nanpour, I almost feel like you are describing a stranger. For the past several moons, I have only known myself to be the stallion Swift Step.”

“Would you prefer if I address you by that name?” Celestia offers.

“I’m not sure,” I say in a tone of wonder. “Maybe I’ll need to get used to being called Nanpour again.”

“I am under the impression that your wife would agree,” Celestia announces which cuts deep into my emotions suddenly. The very slight squint I see in Celestia’s eyes informs me that what she said was a very carefully calculated move on her part. She’s nudging this conversation towards the important things that are at stake here. “I could feel her sorrow through the letters she wrote me after she thought you passed, though for a while there she had refused to believe it.”

“I must admit, it feels strange to me to hear of this other life, that I no longer recall, being referred to as dead,” I tell her. “I feel anxious too. If I get the throne back, I’d have to rule it without any of the experience and training that I had before. That’s a very daunting thought to me.”

“Unless Dispatcher has tampered with her mind too, you can rely on the wisdom, training and experience Princess Arielza has,” mentions the Doctor. “Furthermore, since you have the telepathic ability to absorb some memories of things and creatures that you touch, perhaps touching her will spark some of your own memories. It is a lot more likely absorbing the memories of somepony who is familiar with you may jog some of your own memories, especially if it is somepony that you have strong feelings for as well.”

I notice Celestia lift a curious eyebrow at the Doctor when he mentioned that I have gained the telepathic ability to absorb some memories of others. However, when she looks back at me, she seems to dismiss her earlier confusion and instead tells me, “If it is indeed true that you can absorb some memories of others upon touching them, then I have no doubt that Princess Arielza is likely to reawaken some of them, for nary have I often seen two other ponies as deeply in love with each other as the two of you.”

“Really?” I ask with a slight bit of skepticism. “Because I once heard that it was a political marriage. At least, that is the word on the street in some corners.”

“I’ll admit, it may have started that way,” the Princess confesses to me, “but I have seen the way you two have addressed each other in the past. It warmed my heart and put a smile on my face when I beheld how deeply and dearly you two clearly loved each other. A lot of political marriages don’t often go down that way, but in the case of you two, there clearly was a spark there that none could deny.”

“A healthy relationship between a married couple always involves some degree of effort,” the Doctor chimes in. “My guess is it was a decision the both of you strived to make. You both tried to make that relationship work, and for that effort, you two had some success.”

Princess Celestia’s eyes shifted from the Doctor when he spoke, then her focus returns to me with a subtle nod of agreement as she adds, “Indeed. Based on my own observation, one thing I can tell you that both you and the Princess had in common is your love for your subjects. If I had to guess, that was a strong baseline where the core of your deep relationship with each other started. It seems to me you resisted any attempt to actively love her until you established that she’d make a great ruler for your subjects as well. As soon as you realized how much she cares for them, too, is probably when you gave yourself permission to love her.”

Princess Celestia shakes her head slightly as she goes on to say, “In fact, at that point, I think you couldn’t resist loving her. From what I can tell, being a perfect princess really is her cutie mark destiny precisely. She was literally born and raised for this role and it fits her to the core of her being. The only problem with her is how many others fought for her hoof in marriage.”

“Oh?” I ask in an intrigued tone.

Once again, Celestia gives this subtle nod which I’m beginning to notice is a trait of hers. She then says, “Yes. Princess Arielza really is unusually fit for a role like this.” She twists her flank to the side so I can see the left side of her flank. In that pose, she gestures back to her own brilliant and blazing sun cutie mark as she says, “My destiny has always been to raise and lower the sun. I also find it indicative of how much light and glory that I cast over my nation. I dispel shadows and cast radiant warmth of love wherever I trot.” She returns to her normal pose. “But with Princess Arielza, she was fit to be only one thing in her life; to be the perfect princess and she succeeded in that role all too well. When you married her, not only did that strengthen the political ties of your nation, but you also prevented the outbreak of a war because your romantic opponents to that marriage did not have enough political clout to oppose you. If, however, you didn’t step in then they might have clawed at each other’s throats like a pack of savage beasts. In her eyes, and many other ponies for that matter, you did your nation a huge favor by marrying her. Even some of your romantic rivals probably reluctantly agreed with that fact. It would have been a bloody and costly conflict had you not stepped in.” She beams at me proudly as she adds, “And I suspect most of the subjects you rule agree with this move, because they have fallen in love with her too.”

“As a matter of fact, this may well explain Dispatcher’s motivations as well,” the Doctor puts in then waves a hoof. “Aside from political ambition or the fact that the symbite tends to amplify the worst traits of anypony it possesses, Princess Arielza herself has a history of evoking strong jealousy. She is, quite frankly, too good at her job. As a result, many a stallion and colt have tried to covet her hoof in marriage.”

“As a matter of fact,” puts in Celestia, “I was invited to this nation to preside and oversee that ceremony exactly. By marrying Princess Arielza, Dispatcher Hoofclaven hoped to legitimize his rule over the throne of Neighbriais and, by extension, the entire nation of Saddle Arabia.” She looks cornerwise up as she says, “I used to just think marrying her was a power-play move,” she looks back at me, “but now I suspect he really does want the Princesses hoof in marriage as well. That might even be his primary motivation in all of this.”

“Presiding over the marriage of a foreign nation? You can do that?” I ask her with a questioning blink.

Celestia nods as she says, “I did it for your marriage.” She straightens with royal dignity. “I would consider this kind of service optional for other nations. Not every sovereign ruler has offered for me to do this and I certainly respect that, but many nations consider me, as well as that of my nation, to be exceptionally influential. If I preside and approve over any particular marriage then many regard that is a good blessing and omen. It is just as important to many foreign rulers to believe that other rulers gain that impression as well, so having me preside over the marriage is considered a combination of a good luck charm and a power play simultaneously, especially considering that I only agree to do this with dignitaries that I personally respect and trust.”

“So being wed by you is considered a political badge of honor,” I realize aloud. “I see. Any pony wed by you, a powerful and greatly influential leader, gains greater status in the eyes of other rulers as well.”

Celestia nods in agreement then goes on to say, “But some other nations have their own traditions and stick to that no matter how much political clout they would have gained if I were more involved. Sometimes I at least get invited as a guest to such weddings. As a courtesy to them as well as an interest to establish and maintain a positive political relationship, I tend to accept. That’s actually grown into something of a tradition for the majority of the world.”

“You are a princess that raises and lowers the sun and the moon. Both are a service that the world cannot survive without and that has not escaped the notice of the leaders of foreign nations,” I realize aloud. “No wonder you have so much political clout aside from the strength and prosperity of your own nation.”

She nods at me as she says, “Which is one of the reasons why my participation is considered a good luck charm. Other nations are hoping to emulate the level of success and prosperity of my nation. For my part, I do whatever I can to help them succeed too. My ultimate goal is to unite the entire world in harmonious bonds of friendship.”

“And yet you agreed to preside over Dispatcher’s wedding too?” I check with some confusion and doubt.

For the first time since I saw her, I see Princess Celestia’s body grow stiff and her eyes sink to cold fury. For a brief moment I thought I made a social blunder until I see her gaze elsewhere at a wall as if to indicate the true source of her fury is elsewhere. For that alone, I internally breathe a sigh of relief.

“Publically, I agreed to attend this wedding as a diplomatic courtesy,” the Princess explains with steel in her voice. While her face remains directed at a wall, her eyes shift back to me which occasionally gets obscured by her ever flowing rainbow mane. “But the real reason I chose to attend is to get some answers. I found the overall circumstances of your sudden departure to be highly suspicious, so I wanted an excuse to get a closer look at this situation to see if it is on the up and up.”

“And if the answer is no, which it clearly is?” I check with her. “What then? You’re just a guest in this nation, not its ruler. Granted, you are a guest with a high degree of political clout, but I’m not sure what you can really legally do in this situation other than make your disapproval public.”

“That alone would do some damage,” the Doctor announces. “The Princess here is so well respected, loved, and sometimes even feared that her disapproval would be considered a bad omen in the eyes of other nations. They might shun a nation that does not meet her approval in fear that if they don’t, then they might get included as a nation that will get shunned as well.”

The Doctor then lifts a hoof as if he’s about to bring up a new point, which he does by saying, “Consider this from Dispatcher’s perspective, though. What else does he gain by inviting Princess Celestia, of all ponies, to his wedding ceremony? Sure, he may want the political power of this nation, and sure . . . he may personally want Princess Arielza’s hoof in marriage, but right now Princess Celestia is a threat to Dispatcher in a very unique way because the symbite that resides within him has a weakness and aversion to sunlight.” He then gestures to the Princess standing beside him. “And who raises and lowers the sun each morning?”

I widen my eyes and red lines crack in it as I say aloud, “And the Grand Vizier recently also gained the ability to hypnotically control other ponies into a trance.”

“In her case, I think he plans to do worse than that,” the Doctor warns as he returns his hoof to the ground that originally gestured to the princess beside him. “I think he plans to make her one of his spawns.”

I notice confusion in everypony else in the room about that statement. As for myself, I think I see where the Doctor is going with this.

“Spawn, Doctor?” Celestia inquires for clarification.

“The symbite within Dispatcher is essentially a virus,” the Doctor explains. “It gives its primary host a slew of useful abilities but some drawbacks as well. One of its most nefarious abilities, though, and definitely a trait that the other symbiotes do not share, is the ability to infect other hosts with a portion of the virus. If that happens, then the symbite can share a portion of its strengths and weaknesses with other hosts. In exchange, they become highly influenced by the primary host. This can even be done telepathically at a distance. The stronger the symbite grows, the more spawns it can create and control, too.

“So think about it. Grand Vizier Dispatcher Hoofclaven, who is the primary host of the symbite that recently landed in this world, invites Princess Celestia, the only known pony who can raise and lower the sun and the moon, to his wedding where he gains the opportunity to make her one of his spawns, willing or not. If he gains that level of control over her then he can essentially also control two of the most important celestial bodies on this planet, one of which is a key weakness of his. I assume the rest of you can surmise the rest.

“Note, too, that the primary host of the symbite can achieve a quasi-form of immortality, but to do it, the creature will have to continually drain genetic material from other lifeforms. Essentially it can forcefully gain a new lease in life by draining it from others.”

“Much like a vampony,” Celestia realizes.

The Doctor nods as he says, “Right. Much like a . . .” He trails off with a blink then looks at Celestia with surprise as he asks her, “Excuse me. Did you say vampony?”

“Yes,” Celestia confirms while giving the Doctor a narrow-eyed stare as if to say, “I know what you’re going to say about that and I want you to not say it.”

The Doctor snickers a bit. When he recovers, he says, “Um . . . right. Much like a vampony, and because of that, it might actually be the symbites that is the source of that myth in this world.”

“He can’t get his hooves on Princess Celestia, then, at all costs!” I firmly decide. “Because, if he does, we are, all of us, doomed.”

“I appreciate your concern, but you do not speak for me,” Celestia warns me. “I came to this nation as a guest in order to investigate the suspicious circumstances that this nation has recently fallen under. When I do, not only do I find that some corruption has indeed fallen upon it, but it is also so bad that it’s even a threat to my little ponies, and that is something I cannot tolerate.”

My jaw firms up a bit. I feel nervous to say this, especially to her of all ponies, but I’m also determined enough to proceed. I tell her, “I may not speak for you personally, but you currently are a guest in my nation. As your host,” I gesture to myself, “you are my responsibility and I take that role seriously. Please, Your High . . . Um, I mean Celestia, let us hoofle this threat for you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“And just how do you plan to hoofle this?” Princess Celestia challenges me with steel in her voice and eyes as she looms over me. “Very few other ponies know you’re alive right now so they won’t recognize your authority yet. On top of that we have another power-hungry, potential dictator who has an alien virus in his system which stimulates the worst traits in him.”

“And if that wasn’t enough, there is the tiny ship that entity came in as well,” the Doctor adds. “If any of you see it, it may not seem like much, but that tiny ship has the power to crush the life out of anything between an ant and an entire solar system because it can create a black hole. As such, I don’t blame Celestia for affirming that she has a stake in this situation, for Dispatcher can, indeed, threaten her little ponies . . . and anyone who knows her would realize that is a big no-no to her.”

“As I said before, I really do appreciate your concern over me,” Celestia says to me much more softly but she firms up in the next sentence. “But we have to consider everything that’s involved here and what resources we have access to which we can use to solve this problem. Of that, I believe I have brought a lot more along with me than you currently have access to,” she says with a firm jab of white hoof towards me which has a golden horseshoe proceeding about two inches above and around her hoof. “You are the legitimate ruler of this nation, though, whether the majority of your nation realizes that or not. As such, you can grant or deny me permission to participate in this mission. To that end, I beg you, Nanpour, please give me permission to help. If you do, we can both work together to solve and avert this crisis to both of our beloved nations.”

“Dispatcher would want you to say no if he was aware of this deal,” cunningly adds the Doctor’s manipulative argument. “That’s probably the point of hypnotizing you, erasing most of your history, and trying to establish a new identity in its place to encourage you to be the opposite of your previous role. Maybe, in his head, that would further serve to justify his right to rule.

“On the other hand, the last thing he’d want you to do is gather allies and resources which could threaten and oppose him. I, too, understand and respect your concerns for the Princess since I partially share them, but I am the Doctor and this world is under my protection. The threat of a foreign and hostile alien force has come into play so I must step up as well.” He reaches up and tightens his necktie as he goes on to say, “Now I can do this with or without you, but for obvious reasons, I would prefer to have your support. Besides, if we all work together, we can increase our chances of success, and I have a plan.”

“Of course you do, Doctor,” Celestia agrees with a side, almost snide and amused expression at the Doctor beside her. She’s reacting as if this situation reminds her of another encounter she’s had with him in her past and this amuses her for some reason.

I sigh then say, “Well, considering the limited resources I personally have access to right now and considering the threat to national security in place, I don’t blame you two for wanting to get involved. Right now I’m forced to concede to your point. As such . . .” I pause for a moment as I bow to them then plead, “. . . please, I beg you both, help me.”

“Done,” the Doctor agrees instantly.

“I will gladly extend my support,” Celestia expresses as she beams at me proudly.

“Princess!” announces a royal Canterlot guard who rushes into the room and salutes his princess. “I have urgent news for you, Your Majesty.”

“Speak,” Celestia bids her guard.

“A large platoon of royal guards from this city is on their way here!” he reports in alarm. “Their captain is leading the team as we speak.”

“What?! How?!” I exclaim questioningly. “Gah! That stallion never fails to somehow find me.”

“For once, I don’t think it has to do with you,” the Doctor argues. “There might be another agent in play in this situation. An old frienemy of mine, I suspect, has leaked the location of the Princess.” He looks at her. “In this case, I think she’s the real target here.”

“Let them come, then!” Princess Celestia firmly decides. “They are probably here to escort me to the Palace, and I wanted to go there anyway.”

“It would be opportune for us if we arrive there soon, too,” the Doctor adds. “Particularly while the sun is still up. I don’t think the Vizier would make any major moves against you, Your Highness, until he can do so with an advantage in his corner.” He looks at me. “In the meantime, I want you to accompany us as well. Disguise yourself as one of her royal guards. With that, she’ll be able to lead you right through the front door of the Palace as well. Once you’re inside, I have a mission for you.”

Part 11: Sneaking through the Royal Palace

Internally, it still cracks me up to think of Captain Grimwald when we came out to meet him while he was marching his way, along with his own army of guards, to meet us. The Captain truly expected to surprise us with his arrival which is why he was really caught off guard when we showed up to meet him instead. Moreover, Princess Celestia made it clear that her intention was to finally resume her trek to the main palace as originally planned before the whole Mon Amarie Inn debacle. Along with her is her own precession of guards, of which I am hiding among them.

Thanks to the Royal Canterlot armor I am wearing, which was worn by several guards across a bunch of generations, I now have the mental fortitude to restrain my outward amusement at Captain Grimwald’s initial reaction to seeing us. I have also empathically absorbed enough of the discipline of those who once wore this armor to fit in among the rest of the guards perfectly. This isn’t directly out of conscious training but subconscious movement. I think I even fooled the rest of Princess Celestia’s precession.

Wearing this is really helping me to calm my nerves as I absorb the proud and stoic nature of those who wore this armor before me. I also notice that it does not quell my fears completely. Those who once wore this armor had enough training to hide their true emotions and, to some degree, it really did weaken their fear somewhat. There is a pervasive sense of duty that subdues their fears but there are still times when they still panicked. This is particularly true when things do not go according to “plan”. If things are, the Royal Guards can remain stoically impassive in the face of pretty much anything, but if something does go enormously wrong that their training did not prepare them for then they often run about like a chicken with their head cut off because their prior training provided them pretty tight tunnel vision. Immovable and unshakeable within certain limits, but the opposite of adaptable beyond their rigid “inside the box” thinking.

I did not even need to think about how to march in formation along with the rest of the Royal Guards as we made our way to the Royal Palace. In fact, I get the sense that if I did think about it, flaws to my formation march would start to seep in. As long as I don’t question it, subconscious reflex mode will get me all the way there without flaw.

As we drew closer to our destination, a deep sense of dread grew in me. I did not outwardly show it, but I knew multiple forms of trouble lay at our destination. A lot is riding on the line with this mission, too. Perhaps even the fate of the world. Grand Vizier Dispatcher had some very sinister plans and he had enough time and influence to really make a serious impact. Beyond his timelessness and “vamponic” abilities, he could seize control of Celestia herself! If he does, he could threaten anypony else in the world never to have the sun or moon rise or set in their area. Either way would be devastating to that nation and likely the world as a whole.

Villains who want to take over the world sounds cliché, but it’s so scary to think how close this guy is to securing those results exactly. If he succeeds, the sun might as well never rise anywhere again because surely the world will become the epitome of joyless.

And then there is Princess Arielza. I don’t think she’d want to live in a world controlled by such a diabolical monster. It’s too antithetical to her own nature, and I love her enough to be deeply affected by that prospect.

I love her.

I love this nation.

I cannot let him win!

All of this simply reminds me of the consequences of failure and perhaps the likelihood that it will, for it is the home turf of our opponents we are marching to. They had plenty of time to secure things in their favor at their main power base. The only thing that does reassure me is the presence of Princess Celestia and the Doctor. In the latter case, I’ve glimpsed into his past enough to reveal how he tends to win even against overwhelming odds. In order to figure out precisely how he tends to do it may require a pony as brilliant as he is; otherwise, I’ll just have to trust him.

Brilliant plans, in order to succeed, requires every individual component of it to do their own part faithfully and successfully. To that end, I have my own part to play which is why I feel the pressure pressing down on my shoulders and sinking into the pit of my stomach.

Thank goodness I am wearing this armor or else I might not have been able to at least conceal my growing inward panic.

In addition to fear, a wave of nostalgia also passes through me when we cross the threshold into the Royal Palace. Looking about whenever no pony is looking at me, I can’t shake how familiar this place is to me which further assures me that I am, indeed, Grand Sultan Nanpour Alabaster. I had this huge and important role behind me and now I can’t recall it. By noticing the degree of memories that are missing, it suddenly feels daunting.

I’m still surprised how well the plan is going so far. I kept expecting somepony, along the way, to look at me with suspicion when they notice something is off about me. Despite all of my success with disguises before and for the reasons they tend to work, I’m still super nervous to be caught this time primarily because of how important it is for our mission to succeed.

But nope. That’s not what happens. No pony, not even Grimwald, gives me a second look. In fact, it seems to me that I am especially overlooked. Maybe it’s because of how similar I look and act among the other Royal Guards. There’s just something about our appearance and mannerisms that makes it difficult to tell us apart. Our helmets, which hide our mane colors, may be a partial contributing factor but I think that’s only the start of it. It’s weird, but with every glance I make to the rest of the Royal Guards out of the corner of my eye, it keeps making me think that we’re all just a bunch of identical clones.

When we do make it further into the Royal Palace, I squash down my final wave of panic and launch into the next important phase of my role. That is, I split away from the rest of the Guards. From this point forward, the rest of my mission is on my own.

There is a part of me that laments needing to ditch the Royal Canterlot armor in a hidden place in one of the rooms in the Royal Palace, but it simply makes too much noise for a stealth operation. This also means abandoning any physical or psychological defense the armor was providing in addition to the combat training it would have provided. My only consolation, now, is an internal promise that I will return that armor back to Princess Celestia’s forces if we manage to secure my return to the throne first as well as get rid of that which threatens our nations. I know where I hid that armor and made sure to keep a mental note of it.

It could be more ideal if I replace that outfit with something that wouldn’t seem out of place here, but there are drawbacks to that plan too. I am not planning on wearing a maid’s outfit even if I find one. I’m pretty good with disguises but I think I’d need to be a little extra prepared to make that situation work.

So, instead, it is better to hide entirely or at least blend in as much as I can. To that end, I keep weaving in and out of various rooms I meet along the way or hide behind anything else I can find like long curtains.

To help me access those rooms, I utilize a tool that the Doctor had provided for me, and that is his sonic screwdriver. Normally he wouldn’t consider loaning a tool this complex and versatile to any other pony but I just happen to have a knack for absorbing the talents of the previous owner of any tool I touch. Thanks to that, I subconsciously know how to wield this tool proficiently and certainly enough to bypass ordinary locks. To a lesser extent, I’m also absorbing his creativity, adaptability, and intelligence, especially if any of those traits specifically involve utilizing this tool. To that end, there is plenty to absorb as well because it seems he has often wielded this in his adventures and did so for centuries.

In one of the rooms I duck in for cover, I get an extra surprise.

“Psst! Hey! Swift Step, it’s me!” quietly calls out a familiar and young sounding voice.

No! It can’t be!

I look over my shoulder as I quietly call back, “Red Star? Is that you?”

Within this fancy-looking room, Red Star pops his head out of a closet he is hiding within and gives me a wave.

I trot close to him and whisper as forcefully as I can, “What are you doing here, Red Star? Also how did you get in here? Sneaking into the Royal Palace of our nation is no easy feat.”

“Answering your last question first, I’ve had training on how to be a good thief. You saw to that, remember?” Red Star quietly reminds me.

His answer causes me to thin my lips. Right now I’m going through a strong mix of emotions. Part of it is flattery and pride, but somepony I deeply care about has just snuck into a very dangerous situation right now, and he is a foal at that. That feels like it is putting even more pressure on my shoulders.

“Plus, I have to say, there are some advantages in being a foal,” Red Star adds. “We can fit into small places, for example, and tend to get overlooked even when somepony does spot us.”

“Okay,” I say in quiet tightness. “Let’s discuss motive next. Why are you here?”

Red Star suddenly looks sullen as he admits, “I’m here because of what the Doctor said. When you two told me to take off, I didn’t take off that far. I kept close enough to eavesdrop on the rest of the conversation.”

“Of course,” I say as I slap a hoof to the bridge of my muzzle and shut my eyes tight.

“And he said a bunch of things I would normally find incredible if it wasn’t so alarming,” Red Star goes on in the same volume. When he does, I open my eyes again, regard him, and lower my hoof back to the floor. “I mean . . . aliens from outer space? Wowzy-wow-wow! And not just one of them, but at least two. One of which is possessing the Grand Vizier right now which might explain why he’s been such a pain in the flank recently.”

Red Star’s expression gets a lot more somber when he goes on to quietly say, “What concerns me the most is hearing him tell you who you really are. I mean, that is kind of neat and all, but what if, by remembering who you were, you forget who you’ve become since then?” Tears rise to Red Star’s eyes as he asks me, “Does that mean you’ll forget about me too?”

“Red Star, no!” I reassure as I seize him in a tight hug. “I can never forget you! Not after everything we’ve been through together. Besides, I made certain important promises to you.”

“But you forgot about your previous life,” Red Star’s muffled voice reminds me. “How can you be sure it won’t happen again, except in reverse?”

“It won’t, Red Star! Trust me on this!” I reassure him firmly.

His response to that is silence. Since I am tightly grasping him, I can sense he wants to believe me, but the sheer degree of that which he could lose without me is too frightening to entirely ignore either. In a way it also explains his presence here. He’s here to remind me about his existence and he also wants to help. After all, if I fail this mission, he’ll lose me anyway.

At this point I understand him and his motives better, but I’m still stuck with a dilemma. What do I do with him? There’s no way I’m willing to risk the health and safety of a foal that I cherish here, but he’s here now so it’s too late to complain about that fact. Since I can also sense his determination to be here, which is motivated by a deep sense of fear and love, I can tell that I’d be wasting my time trying to convince him to leave on his own without overwhelming effort on my part to convince him and I just don’t have time for that right now.

Besides, even if I did convince him to go, I’d be too nervous to let him out of my sight right now. After all, the moment he leaves, he might get captured behind my back. It’s a miracle that hasn’t occurred already.

Also, note to self, when I get this Royal Palace under my control again, I need to find out how he snuck into this place and plug those leaks. If a mere foal was able to sneak into the main Royal Palace of our nation then that indicates an alarming lax of security somewhere. Sometimes it just takes a former thief to notice, and thereafter fix, all the flaws in security in this place.

I might not want to be too thorough, though, just in case I want to use some of those gaps myself. In that case, I can just construct my own secret passageways.

I gasp as I pop my eyes open.

Wait a second! What if I’ve already done that? Are there secret passageways in this Royal Palace that I could exploit? If so, it might be passageways that even the Grand Vizier himself might not know about.

Gah! If only I could remember!

In that case, is there a way I can jog my memory here? At the same time, is there a safe place I can stow away this foal for the time being?

Upon further reflection, one answer came to both questions. In a way, and for several reasons, it’s an option I didn’t want to exploit yet, but my back is to the corner now. I have to do this!

“In that case, I know of one way you can help,” I partially lie to my beloved friend.

“Anything! You just say the word!” Red Star beams enthusiastically.

“Come with me, and be sneaky about it,” I bid him. “Technically this is my Royal Palace but the majority of ponies here don’t know that yet. Until they do, they are under the command of the Grand Vizier and he’s not really our friend right now. As such, let’s not get caught.”

“You got it!” Red Star acknowledges with a proud salute.

Having made it to where I intended to go, at least for the moment, I hesitate before making that final knock on this door. Do I really wish to involve her? I feel conflicted. If I do involve her, how much should I explain?

“Coast is still clear for the moment,” Red Star quietly tells me as he keeps a vigilant scan of the hallway we just crossed through. “But that can change at any moment. We’re still exposed where we are standing, so whatever you’re going to do, make it fast.”

This situation is so crazy that, for a brief moment, I actually considered hiring Red Star to be one of my Royal Palace Guards because he really is keeping such a good vigilant watch over anything else in this hallway. It kind of does make sense to hire a thief to catch other would-be thieves.

Eh. Maybe I’ll consider that more seriously after he grows up and if he continues to show a knack for this. In the meantime, I need to make sure he gets a fair chance to grow up first.

With a final sigh, I gently rap on the door ahead of us which momentarily panics Red Star behind us. After all, until now, we had remained stealthful and sneaky.

Right after I knock, part of me swells with panic for multiple reasons. Part of me fears her answering the door, yet another part of me fears I did not rap on the door loudly enough to be noticed. If I knock on it harder, will it attract other unwanted attention in this hallway?

Red Star is certainly right about one thing. The coast is clear for the moment, but that can change at any time. The longer we stand here, exposed like this, the greater the risk is.

“Come in,” bids the sweetest voice on the other side of the door which momentarily makes me swoon.

“What are you doing, Swift Step?” quietly complains Red Star behind me. “I thought we were supposed to avoid attention?”

“We can trust this one,” I assure him. “Right now we can use all the allies we can get. I need a favor from her. Besides that, I could use some information too.”

Red Star looks partially reassured as he says, “Well . . . we’re here, I guess. She invited us in, whomever she is, so I assume that means the door is unlocked?”

Even if it wasn’t, I do have the means to bypass it right now. Still, he does have a point. If we are invited into the room then that’s an indication that she doesn’t expect us to be barred from entering.

To test this theory once and for all, I reach to touch the doorknob and attempt to open it. Sure enough, it does open. Upon discovering this, it flashes in my mind that I think this door is at least capable of locking. Considering the importance of the one inside, it wouldn’t even surprise me if there was a magical trap, or two, with this door as well, but since it is presently unlocked, it’s probably safe to enter for the moment.

Knowing who is inside gives a light indication that the door might be generally unlocked on purpose. After all, the one who dwells inside usually wants her guests to feel warmly invited.

I steel my nerves then enter inside. When I do, Red Star very swiftly follows after me since he wants to be concealed from anypony patrolling the hallway as fast as possible.

Once again a wave of nostalgia assails me. I have definitely been inside this room before. Not only is the decor familiar, but so is the scent of this place.

The scent of the one I love!

Venturing a few paces forward, this brief hallway within the room soon widens out to a larger chamber. There is a lot of feminine and royal decor to this place, but what captures my attention the most is Princess Arielza herself brushing her own mane in front of a mirror. She freezes in mid-stroke, though, when she looks back at me initially through the mirror with several lit lights around the rim of it. She gasps in shock then twists about in her stool to face me.

“Hell . . . hello, Princess,” I bid in a very failed attempt to remain calm and suave. Instead of that, my voice cracks up badly enough to cause me to wince.

“Princess!” Now it is Red Star’s turn to gasp. He immediately recognized her on sight. When that happens, it flashes through my mind that this mare isn’t merely familiar because of some posters hung up in various places of the city, although that is true too. Beyond that, however, she attempts to make a personal connection with her subjects with various appearances. Some are in public and some are in secret.

Here we are . . . beholding each other again and she thought I was dead. In a way it was true, so is this meeting symbolic of me coming back to life?

I guess, in a way.

I almost worked up the courage to speak to her again, but my words falter as I witness her lips quivering, a hoof nearing her lips in a subconscious effort to cover them, and tears rise in her eyes. When I see that, pain sinks into my heart to know that I had hurt her, but seeing me alive again is bringing with it a flood of relief as well. All of this reminds me of how much we love each other.

“Hi, Princess!” Red Star boldly broaches as he unknowingly, in his innocent naiveté, breaks the ice for the Princess and I. “I’m glad to see you again. I’m Red Star! Pleased to meet ‘cha! Listen, though. Could you do us a favor by not telling anypony else we’re here? If you can do that, that would be great.”

“Oh! I . . . certainly can,” Princess Arielza says as she quickly reads the room. I can tell she hasn’t learned all the important details yet but I can also tell she is adapting fast. For instance, I can see her scanning the clothing and condition of me and my companion. It probably tells her volumes. Her attention lingers especially long on my broken horn. Based on her reaction, I can tell she is not accustomed to seeing it that way which indicates, to me, that condition recently occurred before I was dumped off on the streets.

“Swell!” Red Star cheers. “Thank you so much, Princess. You truly are a sweet gal.”

Hearing that, Princess Arielza giggles then asks, “Did you think I was pretending to be sweet before?”

“Ah . . . I honestly did not know what to think,” Red Star admits. “You certainly seemed nice but I wasn’t sure how much trust I should put in royalty. After all, you might all be putting on airs.”

“How very wise of you, young colt,” the princess expresses with a nod and a gentle smile. “Some do. That’s pretty typical of the aristocracy.”

“The what now?” Red Star asks with a wince of confusion.

“The social elite,” the princess elaborates while correctly surmising which word of her last sentence confused him. “However, you should also know that, sometimes, such ponies do care for those that they rule and keep in mind, at all times, that we’re all just ponies who struggle to make the best that they can out of life.” She places a hoof on her chest as she goes on to say, “It is an honorable and worthy endeavor to fulfill the potential of our cutie marks to the best of our ability. If we do, we’ll leave behind the fewest regrets. Instead, we can bring joy and laughter as much as we can.”

“Sounds good to me,” Red Star enthusiastically agrees.

We’re all startled when we hear another knock on the princess’s door followed by a mare asking from beyond with a hint of concern, “Arielza, are you alright in there?”

“I am fine, Belidina,” Princess Arielza calls back. “There is no need for concern. I am in good compony.”

“Anything you want me to bring for your guest, then?” the lady beyond offers which leads me to believe it is probably a maid.

In response to her question, I quietly shake my head no at my wife.

“Not at this time,” the Princess calls back, likely in response to my non-verbal cue. “Thank you for the offer, though.”

“My pleasure, my lady!” Belidina calls back. “Well . . . if you have need of me later, I’m just a ring away.”

“Thank you. We’ll keep that in mind,” the princess replies.

With that, Belidina leaves.

“I want to make it clear to you two that she has my explicit trust,” Princess Arielza informs us. “Whatever you can tell me, you can tell her. Your secret would be safe with her too.”

“But there is danger involved and I’d rather not spread it to other ponies needlessly,” I tell her, finally finding my wits enough to do so. “Suffice it to say, there is a reason I disappeared for quite some time and that same force would prefer if I remain gone.”

“Dispatcher?” Arielza wisely guesses.

I nod as I confirm, “The same.”

“He changed recently,” Arielza notes further. “I’m not exactly sure how or in what way, but he feels more dangerous recently. More confident but for a chilling reason, I sense.”

“I see your intuition is as sharp as ever,” I commend her. “For indeed, he is not the same pony that he was and it might not entirely be his fault. Nevertheless, he stands as a clear and present danger and I don’t wish to spread that danger needlessly. In fact, that’s why I’ve come to you now.”

“Tell me how I can help!” Arielza presses as she leans forward in her seat.

“What I want from you, right now, is to watch after this little one,” I tell her.

“Wait. What?!” Red Star exclaims in shock.

“I want you to stay here with the Princess,” I tell him. “I trust her explicitly.”

“You didn’t even remember her last night!” Red Star reminds with a complaining voice. “I mean, not personally, at any rate.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the fact that Arielza caught that fact as well. To the colt, I tell him, “Indeed, but circumstances have muchly changed since that time. Many revelations have come to me and that, in turn, has refined my opinions about whom I can trust. Of those, I know the Princess here is one of them. Stay here and she’ll take care of you. I know she’d do that from the bottom of her heart.”

“But what about you?!” Red Star argues. “You said yourself that you can use all the allies you can get. How is getting rid of me improving your odds?”

“I’m not getting rid of you, I’m keeping a foal I dearly love safe,” I correct him. “If I do that, then I can focus on the rest of my mission more easily. Grand Vizier Dispatcher has become so much more than a mere pony at this point. He is possessed by a monster with powerful abilities. Abilities such as hypnotizing others with his mere gaze and modifying their memories.”

Even as I explain this to Red Star, I know my wife is listening to this too; therefore, I am managing to explain myself to two ponies simultaneously.

“Which is how he caused you to forget your life here?” Red Star figures.

“Most likely, yes,” I tell Red Star. “Fortunately for us all, a more benevolent being from space has come to help us deal with another fellow alien, and this being is one that Princess Celestia personally trusts because of her prior experience with him. I, in turn, trust her so I trust her judgment in this ‘apparent’ pony as well. If she tells me we can trust the Doctor then I know he really does have the means and motive to help us. Now all that is left is for me to locate the Brass Sphere that the hostile alien came in and secure it before confronting Dispatcher. When I do, I’ll have help.”

“But you don’t know where that Brass Sphere is, right?” Red Star checks with me. “If we both search for it, we can cover more ground.”

“I think I’ve seen what you two are talking about,” Princess Arielza chimes in, which attracts both of our attention.

“Where?” I press with her.

“At the Grand Cathedral,” she answers. “It’s being revered as a new holy object. It’s probably kept there, too.”

“The Grand Cathedral. Got it,” I tell her. “Just in case, can you give me directions to it?”

“I’ll do better than that!” Arielza decides. “I’ll escort you there personally.”

“Really?!” Red Star exclaims brightly. “Then we can all go together!”

“No.” Arielza looks at Red Star. “You’ll be staying with my chamberlain, Belidina.”

“Aw!” Red Star complains foalishly.

“You are obviously somepony very important to my husband and he’ll be distracted in his mission if he brings you along. He said as much, and he meant it.”

Red Star mopes as he looks down.

“But don’t worry. I’ll take care of him from now on.” Arielza looks over at me. “In my compony, no pony else should question him anymore, but we probably should get him into a new outfit just in case.” She looks back at Red Star. “No pony will stop us from entering the Cathedral either. I might even be able to get others to join our search.”

“I guess that’s true,” Red Star partially relents.

“Just by being alive and safe, you’re doing your own part to protect our nation,” Arielza tells him. “Can you do that for us, young colt? Can we trust you with this most important and sacred duty?”

Red Star suddenly straightens and salutes the Princess as he boldly declares, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Call me Arielza,” the princess bids. “You might have noticed my chamberlain doing the same.”

“Actually, I did,” Red Star notes. “I thought that was unusual.”

“I prefer to waive formalities in favor of closer and more personal relationships,” Arielza expresses.

“Ah! Gotcha,” Red Star accepts with a wink.

The Princess stands up as she declares, “Let’s get you both into more formal attire. While we do that, you can explain to me further about what exactly is going on.”

Part 12: Secret Allegiance

Something occurred to me that while Princess Arielza and I trot our way to the Grand Cathedral. We passed several other maids, servants and guards who recognized us on sight. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that they recognize my escort, but the reason that it surprises me is because none of them are chasing me as if I were a criminal and gutter trash. Instead of that, they react to me as if they’ve seen a ghost return from the dead.

While it is true that my attire has been spruced up some because of the outfit my wife gave me, it still strikes me as odd that that is the only dividing line allowing these ponies to recognize me as the former Sultan or not.

That still feels strange, too. I’m divided on that point. Part of me recognizes others regarding me as if I’m the Sultan, yet another part of me keeps expecting to “wake up” from this dream. Considering the fact that a bunch of other crazy elements are part of this reality as well, that only reinforces my subconscious belief that this has to be a dream.

If I dismiss that notion for a moment and convince myself that this is real then I also have to acknowledge several other points that go along with this. Now that I’m trotting through the Palace in the open and being recognized as the apparent former Sultan who returned from the dead, then it’s only a matter of time before the antagonists of this adventure make a move as well. Somepony is going to report to them the fact that I’ve returned. That pony might not even intend any harm in that action, but nevertheless, this is going to stir a reaction from Dispatcher and Grimwald. When it does, they will most likely be hostile.

What really worries me about that is the secret strength Dispatcher commands. Fortunately it is still daylight outside, but I’ve been warned that the Grand Vizier has been augmented far beyond the degree most ponies would expect him to be. There’s no telling how many spawns he has out there either or what he’ll command them to do too.

Having my wife beside me really helps ease my mind, though. It’s almost as if I can absorb her confidence through osmosis. By watching her trot through this Palace with confidence and authority, I feel as if it’s easier to hold my head high as well. Right now it kind of feels like I’m a foal being escorted by a powerful adult, which is ironic considering I was the one who originally grew up here, but eventually I might get my groove back in this Palace.

In thinking of Red Star, however, there is a part of me that laments that transition. In order for this life to become more my norm, the one I had must be, more or less, abandoned. Here, I’ll regain comfort, security, and authority again. Despite all of that, the prospect of the shift still makes me sad.

With each guard we meet, I keep tensing up as if expecting for spears to be aimed at me or scimitars ripped from their sheath while the wielder chases me down and screams like a madpony. I just can’t help it. That experience has been so ingrained in me recently that it keeps catching me off guard when they bow to me instead.

To be fair, the Princess is with me too, but she’s highly unlikely to be the one that caused their stunned, haunted, and/or relieved reaction. Most of them look like they are begging me to give them permission to ask me a question or dozens.

While all this is going on, plans formulate in the back of my mind. That’s the part of me that’s saying, “Well, just in case this is all true, there is a list of things that need to get settled in this country before I can relax. This includes the list, and plans, that the Doctor gave me.”

When the Princess and I get to the Grand Cathedral, I do not get much time to soak in the atmosphere of this place. In what degree that I do, it leaves me stunned. My mind floats between recognition and unfamiliar awe. Part of me wonders if this place used to stun me as the Grand Sultan Nanpour as well.

Judging from the sheer opulence of this place, there’s certainly a chance of that even for a pony accustomed to royal luxury. It feels like comparing a royal throne in a mortal realm to a divine throne among the gods. There’s something about this sheer open space, the acoustics here, the grand architecture, the incredible magnificence, and masterful art that conveys a sense of otherworldly presence. Any pony who trots in this place is bound to feel much smaller in comparison. I can’t help but wonder if Princess Celestia would feel the same in this place, and it boggles my mind to think I may soon get the chance to ask her.

However, before I can fully absorb and digest the grand elegance of this place, the Princess and I meet another encounter that neither of us can afford to ignore, for he is none other than Captain Grimwald.

I just keep on getting caught off guard by a different reaction of these guards than I expected until I glance to my right and notice the fact that the Princess is still standing beside me which is yet another element I have to get used to again. Once again, I keep expecting somepony like the Captain to immediately brandish his sword and demand something, like for me to step away from the Princess as if my mere presence next to her taints her somehow. Instead, I am surprised to see him remain still. There is a weary, resigned look to his face and yet, for some reason, a hint of relief as well.

The three of us stare at each other for several tense moments. I’m not exactly sure how long until my wife dispels this tension by speaking up.

“Captain,” she says with a nod of acknowledgement. “It might be evident to you, by now, that you have some explaining to do.”

“Indeed, Princess,” Captain Grimwald acknowledges.

I grow startled when he finally does draw his large scimitar and he does it slowly, too, as if for dramatic effect. However, seconds after he draws it, he chucks it to the ground. Considering the incredible acoustics of this Cathedral, only Grimwald is the one who manages not to wince at the intense echoing sound of metal clanging in this huge room, and the only reason he probably managed to resist that reaction is because he was the one expecting that sound.

“Was that really necessary?” Princess Arielza asks with a wince and hint of annoyance in her voice.

“That,” he points down at his dropped sword, “is something a royal guard of this Palace should never do, especially one of senior authority. However, in this case, I made this gesture to convey my surrender and my resignation.”

“Resignation?!” the Princess and I ask simultaneously. We both glance at each other long enough to notice a stunned expression on both of our faces. The Princess is the first to turn back to Grimwald and say, “I acknowledge the gesture, Captain, but I don’t accept your resignation yet until I receive a satisfying explanation. Until I do accept your resignation, you are still under my royal authority.” After a second she corrects herself to, “Our authority, actually.”

“Fair enough,” Grimwald accepts with a grim nod. “It should be pretty evident to your husband that I was hired by Grand Vizier Dispatcher, and he did that because of my history. I was once a former slave, you see, but the task I’ve mostly been set to before was a gladiator. The reason I stand before you today, with the authority granted to me, is because of the sacrifice many other ponies were forced to make before my blade. I was good at my job. That meant I have talent, and Dispatcher wanted that for his own ends.

“For multiple reasons, he used to have my loyalty too. Partly because of the favor he granted me. Both for freeing me, sort of, and made me Captain of the Guards. I also enjoyed the fact that I had the legal right to brandish and wield my blade.

“On the flip side, I also cooperated with the Vizier because I knew how powerful he secretly was and still is. Is that loyalty? I guess you can say that. Fear can so closely resemble that sometimes. I can be intimidating, but you do not want to meet Dispatcher in a dark corner of the Palace at night. I’ve seen enough of what happens to his victims to know how easily he could also “dispatch” me if he wanted to. No pony else in this Palace knows how easily that tall and lanky stallion could absolutely devastate anypony in his way. He’s not a pony anymore, assuming he ever was. Instead, that stallion is a monster.”

I’m surprised when Grimwald suddenly looks at me fondly. It is a look I have never seen from the guy before.

“The real reason I eventually, and secretly, switched my allegiance to you, My Liege, is because of what you did for Red Star,” Grimwald tells me.

“Since when?” I feel compelled to ask as I am taken aback. “Allegiance to me? You gave me so much grief. You chased me through the streets so many times.”

“Right, but I had to,” Grimwald acknowledges with a nod. “It must have caught your attention, by now, that the Guards here in the Palace recognize and give deference to you, My Liege. Given those facts, don’t you think it’s odd that the ones who followed my orders on the streets didn’t recognize you?”

“Not really,” I reply as I calm down a little. “I’m not an idiot, nor was I born yesterday. Clearly the ones who followed you on the streets were also hired by Dispatcher, and that more recently. Recent enough that they wouldn’t recognize me on sight.”

“Correct,” Grimwald agrees with a nod. “That also means they report to him too, and if it became obvious that I was granting you mercy, then Dispatcher, in turn, would grant me none.”

“Oh!” I exclaim with a surprised blink.

“Furthermore, if it became clear to them that I had secret allegiance to you, then not only would I be disposed of, but the next pony he hires for this job might take it more seriously,” Grimwald explains. “Sure, I chased you down and made a good show of it, but behind the scenes, I also put my hoof down with firm denial when some of my subordinates suggested we capture Red Star instead and use him as a hostage to secure your cooperation.”

“I take it you were sympathetic for Red Star because you were a former slave yourself?” comes Princess Arielza sympathetic and educated guess.

“I hate slavers!” Grimwald says with a passionate growl. “Well and truly I despise them. Just as well, I somewhat despise myself for being forced to look the other way while they operated on the streets.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know why Dispatcher regards them favorably but I get the sense there is some hoofshaking behind the scenes. He acts like he owes them some favors or something. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. For his part, this seems to be a reluctant alliance. It’s as if they have some hold over him.

“Whatever the case may be, he has ordered me, and my stallions, to turn a blind eye to these cases. I have never despised another order he’s given me more but I had to do it. Not only because of the legal authority he has for the moment, but also because of the secret strength he hides in the shadows. There might be other shady allegiances and alliances in there as well. Who knows?

“But for me personally, everything changed when I noticed that you, My Liege, not only broke into a slaver compound and freed all of their so-called ‘merchandise’, but you personally took care of and lovingly raised Red Star ever since. For so long, I wanted to convey how proud I was of you for that, but under the watchful eyes of the Vizier, I was forced to hold my silence.

“So, ever since then, I resolved to pretend to chase you down and make a good show of it not only to protect my own life, but also to protect yours . . . sort of.

“I should also make it clear that my job was never to specifically kill you. In fact, I was expressly forbidden to do that. According to him, a pony cannot suffer more if he, or she, is terminated instead. I wasn’t even supposed to capture you either. At worst, my job was to rough you up a little then secretly arrange an opportunity for you to escape. The overall goal was to convince you that the Red Sands were the only ‘family’ you could count on and therefore convince you to bind your allegiance to them all the tighter. Dispatcher wanted you to become a force that stood for the very thing you once opposed. It wouldn’t even surprise me if he had hopes that you’d even become a slaver one day.”

“In that case, why confess all of this to us now?” I check with him.

“There are several reasons for that,” Grimwald says. “My secret loyalty to you for one thing and for the reasons I specified. For two, there is the Princess here,” he says with an emphatic nod to her. “Because of this, it seems clear to me the jig is up anyway. She probably already explained to you who you are which thereby unravels some of Dispatcher’s plans. All I’m really doing is confirming what you already know aside from my own personal motivations.”

Grimwald gives me a piercing stare as he goes on to say, “The third reason I’m telling you this is because Dispatcher’s grand design has recently scared me all the more, and this time I’m not just talking about my own life. He has aims to capture and enslave none other than Princess Celestia herself, and if he does that . . . he might as well rule the world, and if he does that . . . it won’t likely be a good world.” He shakes his head with a grim look on his face. “At that point it doesn’t matter how many riches I retire with for my ‘loyal’ service to him. Under his rule, I’m half expecting the windigo’s to return. Even if they don’t, the world may be bathed in frost and shadows for different reasons anyway which means there is no safe sanctuary anymore, for anypony, anywhere, ever onward. That’s the ultimate disgrace.” He, once again, shakes his head. “I may not be what you could consider a good pony, but Dispatcher’s grand ambitions are on a whole different level. Now it’s getting so bad that even I’m willing to make a noble sacrifice if that’s what it takes to stop him. Because of my history, I’m not exactly a fan of this world but I certainly don’t hate it that much. The absolute last thing I want is for a horrible world to get even worse.”

Princess Arielza and I give each other a silent, meaningful look for a while. Wordlessly, we both reach a decision. During that time, I also inwardly marvel at how deep our connection to each other is. This gives me a familiar pang of fondness for her.

“If everything you have told us is true, I have a proposal for you,” I say as I look back at my former nemesis. “I see shame entrenched in your eyes. Because of that, I’d like to give you a chance to redeem yourself. If you help us to take down Dispatcher, I will pardon all the crimes you have committed against me and this nation. Furthermore, you may continue to prove your loyalty to us by taking your stallions and hunting down the slavers that plague our glorious city.”

I notice how Grimwald’s eye pupils suddenly grow very small due to his intense surprise. He asks me in shock, “Are you serious, My Liege? You’d forgive me just like that?”

“I take my duties to protect and serve this nation very seriously,” I answer him then ask, “Can you say the same?”

Grimwald’s eyes shift back and forth rapidly as he thinks about my offer before he looks back at me, grows a wicked smile, and bows to me as he says, “My Liege, nothing would please me more than to help you get rid of those pony trash that call themselves slavers. As well, it would be an honor, and quite frankly a relief as well, to help you take down Dispatcher.” He looks up at me with worry. “But can you do it? You have no idea how powerful he is even if he gets cornered and alone.”

“Dispatcher has been augmented by an invasive alien from beyond the stars,” I tell him.

Grimwald widens his eyes in surprise as he asks, “Are you sure, My Liege? Normally I’d dismiss your claims as far-fetched, but after the things I’ve seen him being able to do, I can’t write anything off the table anymore. However, there is a legend of a certain kind of undead he strongly resembles now.”

I lift a hoof at him as I tell him, “I know, but trust me, he is not. His abilities and weaknesses are very similar, however, and we can exploit that.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, My Liege, how do you know all this?” Grimwald checks in the hope I’ll tell him something reassuring.

“Because I’ve met another alien from beyond the stars that has come to our aid in getting rid of the other hostile alien,” I tell him. “That’s, ah . . . sort of his job? More accurate to say his hobby, I guess.”

Grimwald narrows his eyes as he inquires cautiously, “And are you sure you can trust this being, My Liege? Also, how can you be sure that he is what he claims he is?”

I wave a hoof as I say, “I prefer to keep how I know this confidential for now, but suffice it to say, I am sure, Captain. We can trust his word, his motives, and his means to help us solve the problem.”

Grimwald’s shoulders sag as he relents and says, “Be that as it may, we could use all the help we can get as long as it truly is help.

“In that case, is there any other way I can serve you, My Liege?”

“An escort to Dispatcher might be nice,” Princess Arielza reasons. “That way you can make sure no other Guards get in our way. You can also provide us some valuable backup when we do confront your former employer.”

“There might be one other thing you can do for us,” I propose.

“Name it,” Grimwald invites.

“Do you know where we can find a hidden Brass Sphere in this Cathedral?” I check with the Captain.

At first I mistake the Captain’s look of confusion for a no to my question, but instead he says, “Indeed, I do know where it is hidden, but what of it, My Liege? How can that help?”

“Securing, then relinquishing, that is one of the conditions for the cooperation of our alien benefactor,” I explain to him. “It would also neutralize a critical advantage Dispatcher would have had. You think he’d be a greater threat with a secure hold on Princess Celestia? Then you don’t want any idea what he could do with that Brass Sphere. Suffice it to say, it could eventually become a problem for us unless we secure it first. If we do, we’ll also secure the help of a valuable ally as well. We could also gain a safe means to dispose of this potential super weapon.”

“Wait. A weapon?” Grimwald blinks. “In that case, couldn’t we just use it against Dispatcher?”

“Only if we have to and are able to,” I answer him. “To do that, we need to secure it first.”

Captain Grimwald nods in understanding as he says, “Understood, My Liege. Allow me to show it to you right away.”

Part 13: Mysterious Ways

I should probably just accept the fact that recovering from shocking revelations is just a theme of my life now. Every single time I start to recover my hoofing, something else comes along to knock it right back down again. Not all of these recent discoveries are bad things. In fact, I guess I’ve overall been on a very good trend lately, but it just doesn’t feel fair how strong each of these impacts are. Internally, there is just no way I can withstand the impact yet. It’s very humbling.

Like in Captain Grimwald’s case. Everything I knew about reality, and this pony in particular, has turned topsy-turvy. Just about everything I knew about the pony and accepted as fact, it turns out the opposite is true on a lot of core issues. It’s one thing to get his word on these new discoveries. It’s another to secretly touch him while reaching for the Brass Sphere he recovered from a hidden compartment within a pillar of the Grand Cathedral. When I did that, two major downloads came crashing down upon me like a ton of bricks.

For one thing, Captain Grimwald was telling the truth about his past and his goals. That’s only something I could determine after I had a chance to recover from the crash of information that bombarded me. The first thing I actually had to sort out was the weight of his emotions due to his tragic history. He really was forced to fight in so many secret gladiatorial matches. The majority of them did not occur in Neighbriais until way later, but he didn’t know that until he was later purchased, freed, and offered a job by Dispatcher Hoofclaven, of all ponies. That also tells me that Dispatcher was well aware of, and took part in, the businesses of these slave traders long ago.

Prior to that, Grimwald’s history was about struggle for survival. To face deadly combat so often that he had to harden his heart over it. There was no point in making friends when every other fellow slave might turn into his next opponent, but that didn’t mean he evaded an occasional challenge. Every time he had to put down another pony that he started to develop some affection for, he transformed his grief into rage at his oppressors. In the back of his mind, he slowly accumulated a plan. As his skills as a warrior gradually grew, part of him planned on slaughtering his way to freedom when he got skilled enough, but he was purchased and freed before he could fully execute that plan.

Freedom didn’t have the sweet taste that he expected in light of the fact that his new benefactor ordered him to turn a blind eye to other slave trade in the city. He knew that they were there and slaughtering them might as well have been his cutie mark. His true life’s purpose. When it comes to them, hatred was all he knew, but considering his gratitude towards the one who freed him combined with his fear of this unholy and unnatural monster, he was forced to keep swallowing his rage over and over again.

It was a new form of torture for his soul. Because of that, it pretty much trivialized everything else in his life. In moments he should have been elated in his elevation of status and newfound freedom, he found himself consumed by pain and rage of being unable to fulfill the one purpose that had defined his more recent life. Next to that, his life felt like a drift from one meaningless moment to the next with very few things feeling important enough to break that pattern.

The other bombardment of information that crashed upon me, and threatened to break my sanity, was touching the Brass Sphere itself. As tiny as it was, it was indeed a space vessel for an even smaller entity that should be too wicked to possibly exist. It is amazing how such a tiny entity could be responsible for so much pain and damage in the universe. It was far more than one lifetime that flashed before my eyes because this entity had possessed so many other hosts before. The most common theme between them all was an all-pervasive hunger. Hunger for power, hunger for control, and hunger in the biological sense.

Between all of these lives, there was something primal about this creature that is befitting a very savage animal. Many of its past hosts had animal-like intelligence anyway but often also certain abilities that empowered its own dark evolution. Consuming one victim after another, it cared nothing for the hosts it used like stepping ladders. They were to be used and discarded. Consumed from within, just like the victims it forced its hosts to feed upon.

Eventually, though, it did possess some hosts that had intelligence on their side. Ever since then, it climbed a new form of evolutionary ladder. A layer of strategy became involved which eventually turned its sights upon a much larger hunting ground. A hunting ground that required space travel to fulfill.

Not every host was a step up in terms of evolutionary intelligence, but this entity memorized many key genetic traits of its past hosts. If the new host didn’t have much intelligence before, it acquired at least a semblance of it through the symbite up to the level of the smartest hosts it possessed before. Those hosts tended to be easier to control anyway so the symbite kind of developed a taste for them, yet there always was that allure to possess a smarter host who is more difficult to control but further empowered the symbite so that it will always be smarter with all of its future hosts.

That’s the hunger. That’s the all consuming drive of this dark entity.

The Brass Sphere traveled through space and it is a marvel to me to behold, but the dark purpose that drove that journey quickly made me wretch because of multiple levels of horror.

Captain Grimwald was confused and concerned why I had that reaction because he still has no idea about my newly acquired psychic abilities, but Princess Arielza does know now. The ever sharp mare, especially when it comes to emotional intelligence, quickly deduced the source of my woes. Because of that, she offered to hold the Brass Sphere for me but I quickly, and vehemently, denied her. After everything I learned about the history of this abhorrent object, there’s no way in Tartarus I am allowing this to taint her pure hooves.

On the other hoof, she did have a point about it being difficult for me to carry it, and despite everything I learned about Grimwald’s history, I didn’t fully trust him either. So, instead, I resolved to carry this unholy thing in a cloth sack and hold it a hoof’s length away from me. Its mere presence still seems to reek in the air like a poisonous miasma, but this strategy can at least be temporarily endured. That’s far better than touching it directly. I won’t make that mistake again.

Fortunately and surprisingly, we encountered the Doctor earlier than expected. The last time that I checked, he should have been with Princess Celestia and her guards, but apparently he slipped their compony and intercepted us earlier. While surprising, I still consider this most fortuitous because it gives me a chance to be rid of this awful thing sooner.

“Doctor! What a surprise to see you so soon,” I express to him in a tone of surprise when we encounter him in a hallway of the Palace along our way to Princess Celestia. “I thought you’d still be with the Princess.”

The Doctor almost speaks but hesitates when the Captain beats him to it.

“Doctor? Doctor who?” Captain Grimwald asks defensively then passes me a nervous glance. “Are you sure this pony can be trusted?”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” the Doctor responds with a blink of surprise of his own while regarding Captain Grimwald. He then grins as he adds in amusement under his breath, “The horse's mouth.” More aloud and much more serious again, he says, “We have, indeed, encountered each other before, my good Sir, for I had traveled with and been employed by Princess Celestia. I was there among her procession as we all marched towards this Palace. I should have stood out to you as one of the few ponies in her company who was not in royal armor regalia.”

“Oh yeah,” the Captain replied with a blink of recognition. Recalling that fact makes him much calmer now. It seems to me that he still doesn’t know why this mysterious brown stallion with a green necktie is traveling with the Princess, but if she trusts the Doctor enough to accept his compony, it’s easier for the Captain to do the same.

“Well you two certainly made fast friends,” the Doctor remarks as he regards me again. “Mind you, I’m not complaining, but I beg your pardon if I find this unexpected.”

“I’m with you on that one,” I agree with the Doctor as I give a quizzical glance at the Captain before focusing on the Doctor seriously. “But trust me when I say I am sure that we can trust this pony now. He wants to help us take down Dispatcher as well.” I nod to the Doctor confidently. “We can trust him, and this will make our job easier too. With him on our side, none of the other Palace Guards should stand in our way anymore. This’ll also mean the Grand Vizier will stand alone when we finally confront him.”

“Which we’ll need to do soon. Daylight is fading outside which, I’m sure, is what he wants,” the Doctor figures, likely in reference to the Vizier.

“True, but with Princess Celestia herself in our compony, I’m sure it isn’t lost to us that having the sun linger in the sky a little longer is a unique option for us now,” I point out.

The Doctor nods in agreement as he says, “True, but I’d rather not mess with the cycle of the entire planet if we don’t have to. A little haste in our steps is all that is required to cure this ailment, and the Doctor is in the house now.”

The Doctor takes a deep intake of breath then lets it out slowly before he tells me, “But before that, let us get to the crucial matter at hand. Swift Step . . . do you have the Brass Sphere now?” I notice his eyes turn to look at the cloth bag I’m holding apart from me. “I take it that it’s in there?”

“It is indeed,” I concur with a pained wince of disgust. “And I would consider it as a kindness if you take it from my hooves now.”

“My Liege, are you sure?” Captain Grimwald asks cautiously. “That thing is a royal and holy artifact, or so the Grand Vizier claims. If somepony like him considered it that important, are you sure we can trust this pony with it?”

“Yes,” I tell the Captain as I do my best to openly reveal my confidence in this stallion. “I am sure.”

Captain Grimwald frowns, still feeling uncomfortable with this prospect, but at least now it seems like he’ll hold his silence. He doesn’t know the Doctor like I do.

“As for you,” I say to the Doctor as I approach him and hoof him the sack, “you be careful with this. The one who dwelled within this thing was a very sinister presence. So sinister, in fact, I can’t believe it exists at all.”

“And that is why I’m here,” the Doctor assures as he accepts the offered bag then, mysteriously, he pulls out his sonic screwdriver from the hidden pocket above his cutie mark. I blink at that device in surprise since I was so sure I did not hoof this device back to the Doctor yet, so how is it he already has it?

Regardless how he mysteriously got the device back, what I notice him using it for is to aim the metal stick at the sack. When he uses it, the tip ignites and it emits a weird sound. He waves the sonic screwdriver up and down a bit. It’s just a guess, but I’m assuming he’s using the device to authenticate the Brass Sphere in the sack.

“What, in the Holy Name of Saddle Arabia, is that thing?” Captain Grimwald asks with intense and cautious surprise.

“You’ll find the Doctor has many mysterious ways,” I assure the Captain. “But there’s always a method to his madness.”

“Indeed,” the Doctor agrees as he gives the sack he is holding a very discerning look. “Artifacts like this thing shouldn’t even be on this planet for quite some time. Until pony kind is ready for such technology, it is my job to ensure your species does not destroy itself with things like this. To be sure, it certainly must be removed from the hands of the Vizier as well, for nothing good could come of that.”

The Doctor smiles then nods in satisfaction before putting both the sonic screwdriver and the sack containing the Brass Sphere away in his hidden pocket in his flank.

“You say that as if you’re not included in the term, ‘pony-kind’,” the Captain remarks observantly.

The Doctor smirks in amusement at the Captain as he asks, “What part of, ‘You’ll find the Doctor has many mysterious ways’ didn’t you understand?”

“Pretty much any of it,” the Captain replies immediately. “That’s the nature of a mystery.”

“Touché,” the Doctor accepts with upraised eyebrows and a nod of surprised acceptance. He then regards me seriously. “Well, in any case, with this artifact secured and, most importantly, out of the Grand Vizier’s reach as well, it is soon time to initiate the next phase of our operation.” He nods at me confidently. “To that end, what I want you to do is rendezvous with Princess Celestia and the rest of her guards. We’ll need to regroup before we embark upon our final confrontation with the Vizier.”

I regard him in shock as I ask, “Wait! You’re leaving us? I thought you were going to help us confront the Vizier!”

The Doctor nods at me as he says, “And I will, but first I need to properly dispose of the Brass Sphere which, by the way, isn’t really made of Brass. It just looks like it.”

Princess Arielza reaches a hoof to touch and calm me down while she addresses the Doctor herself by asking, “You will regroup with us there with Princess Celestia before we confront the Vizier?”

“Yes,” the Doctor replies before he goes on to say, “and I promise I’ll rejoin you all before you know it. Timey-wimey shenanigans and all. Trust me, I’ll be with you soon, perhaps even before you all meet with the Princess.

“In the meantime, I have to go now to make sure that this thing is removed from the equation once and for all. Our encounter with the Vizier will be manageable as long as he loses access to this thing.”

“It really is that bad?” the Captain asks the Doctor in a spooked tone.

“If you think the unnatural powers of the Vizier is bad, it’ll seem like nothing if he maintains access to this thing,” the Doctor assures the Captain. “And even if he doesn’t use it for hostile purposes, even though he very well could, it’s also a potential escape option for our true enemy within him. If that happens, this whole fiasco could start all over again in some other world. I cannot let that happen.”

“And which one of those worlds should the statement you just made make any sense?” the Captain asks in true confusion.

The Doctor chuckles in amusement before partially stepping past the Captain, pauses to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then says, “Believe it or not, my new friend, you’re starting to catch on more than you think. In the meantime, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to ensure the odds become even more stacked in our favor.”

With that, the Doctor departs.

“You sure do keep some interesting compony,” my wife remarks to me in amusement.

“I have to agree,” the Captain chimes in. “And I’m not just talking about him, either. Pretty much everypony in your life seems quirky in some way. I suppose I should count myself among them . . . in a way.”

I shake my head as I say, “Well, whatever the case may be, at least now things seem to be building in our favor.” I look to where we were going with determination. “And we need to do our own part to continue that momentum.” I transfer my gaze to the Captain as I order him, “You know where Princess Celestia is. Resume your course to lead us to her.”

“At once, My Liege,” the Captain accepts with a deep nod of deference to me before about-facing and resuming his previous course.

“Let us go,” Princess Arielza bids as she trots forward to follow the Captain. “I’m sure the Doctor will meet us with Princess Celestia soon, as he promised.”

“Right,” I accept and take a step to follow. While I do, I pat to check the pocket I had stored the sonic screwdriver to confirm the fact that I lost it. In order to explain how the Doctor had it a moment ago, he must have pick-pocketed it from me which is quite deft of him considering I’m a well trained thief too, now. Knowing what I know of his history, too, it surprises me that he’s already grown that adept at using his hooves now.

But I freeze in shock when I notice the fact that the sonic screwdriver still seems to be in my pocket. Gasping, I frantically fish it out then gaze upon it in shock. Sure enough, I confirm the fact that I still have it.

What, in the unholy abyss of Tartarus, is going on here?!

“Nanpour?” my wife inquires when she notices my shocked expression and the fact that I’m no longer following. A moment later she regards the device I’m holding. At that moment it begins to register, in her mind, why I am so surprised.

Captain Grimwald, however, doesn’t notice. He keeps on his focused course of leading the rest of us to the royal Princess of Equestria.

“What is going on here?!” I quietly exclaim to my wife in confusion. “Why do I still have this?! We both saw the fact that the Doctor wielded this moments ago.”

“He has more than one?” my wife theorizes with an upraised eyebrow.

“I doubt it but I suppose I can’t be sure,” I express back to her.

“Or maybe time travel was involved,” proposes my wife’s second theory. “He did say that timey-wimey shenanigans may get involved. Perhaps he knows that he’s already there with the Princess of Equestria then later travels back in time to rendezvous with us, here in this hallway, just to ensure he eventually collects that thing early. If that’s true, that thing must be really important to go through all these convoluted steps.”

“I suppose that’s possible,” I accept as I relent a bit.

“You said yourself that the Doctor operates in mysterious ways,” my wife reminds.

“Yeah,” I say as I put the sonic device away. “That’s true.”

“And if this is true, then we need to give the Doctor, the one with the Princess, back that thing so that his future self will have it, thus completing that time loop,” my wife reasons. “We should also inform him that we encountered his double here so that he knows to make a note of it and fulfill that objective later.”

“A solid plan,” I agree enthusiastically. “I must say, my dear, it’s so good to have you back on my side again.”

“Don’t be silly,” she says as she turns and waves a silk cloth in my direction. “I never really left it.”

Part 14: The Truth Reveals

“There you are,” greets the Doctor as Princess Arielza, Captain Grimwald and I meet up with the Doctor, Princess Celestia, and her retinue. Between them all, it is the Doctor that trots up to me personally with a purposeful stride that catches me off guard when I first behold it. It makes me feel like I might have done something wrong. My blood freezes when he stops right ahead of me, extends a hoof, then demands politely, “Sonic Screwdriver, please.”

Oh wow! I was going to offer that device back to him anyway, but it turns out he requests it first.

Sighing with relief since this is all it is, I tell him, “Sure,” then gladly hoof back his precious device.

Except, when I do so, did I somehow offer him two devices? I don’t know. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me.

Off to my side, I notice my wife approaching Princess Celestia then give a graceful and diplomatic bow of her head. In return, the taller, equally white, alicorn mare spreads her wings regally and bows her own head.

“Your presence warms my heart, like the radiant dawn, to see you here and well again, Your Highness,” my wife cordially but also warmly bids our visiting royal guest. “If only you could have returned to us while we were under better circumstances.”

“Think nothing of it, Your Majesty,” replies Princess Celestia who is the first, between the two, to lift her head high again and behold her friend with a twinkle of delight in her eyes, but also with the focused look of duty. “I am proud to return to raise the dawn upon the dark of the night that has wrongfully beset this noble country. As well, I couldn’t let a dear friend of mine suffer alone if it were in my power, at all, to come and help alleviate the situation.”

As I listen to the two of them engage each other, I quickly realize that the both of them are putting on royal airs to each other, but they equally don’t want to. Instead, they would far prefer to be in privacy with each other so that they could catch up with each other on more authentic terms.

“Anything interesting to report?” the Doctor checks with me which causes me to look back at him. “Like finding the Brass Sphere, for example?” He glances at my wife then looks back at me as he adds, “And I see you’ve caught up with your wife again.”

“I had to because I met with Red Star first,” I explain to him.

“Red Star?” the Doctor echoes questioningly. “You mean that young pegasus foal we met last night?”

I nod as I say, “The same. Apparently, after he left us last night, he didn’t venture off too far. He remained close enough to eavesdrop on some of our conversation.”

I close my eyes, face hoof, and cast a long sigh before I open my eyes again, return my hoof back to the ground, and say, “I should have known. I was the one who gave him thief training, and any good thief knows to be wary of anything around the corner. He didn’t trust you because he didn’t know you, and he cared for me so he felt compelled to stick around to make sure I was okay. In doing so, he overheard some startling information. It was enough to intensify his concern. As a result, he took it upon himself to sneak into the Palace.

“I swear, when I get this Palace back in my control, I’m gonna find out how he did that and plug up these leaks.”

I then grin as I add, “Yet, as his mentor, I can’t help but feel a shade of pride for the young lad too, and his heart was in the right place.”

The Doctor nods in understanding as he says, “As a result of meeting him, you resolved to deescalate the dangerous situation for him by coming to your wife and hope she’ll take him off your hooves. Since she is here and Red Star is not, I guess that means she had other plans of her own.”

“Astute as ever, my good Sir,” I concur. “Yes. My wife demanded . . . neigh, politely requested that I catch her up on the situation. Of course, since she is my wife, her request is my command.”

“Naturally,” the Doctor agrees casually.

“Anyway, once she understood the situation, she had a better idea . . . as usual. Anyway, she resolved to leave Red Star with one of her own most trusted retainers and a personal friend of hers.”

“Something tells me that your wife makes friends rather easily,” the Doctor figures as he gives a shrewd glance at my wife while my wife continues to converse with Princess Celestia. For some reason they are giggling with each other right now. I thought our present situation was too tense for that, but it makes me smile anyway to realize they found some way to bring levity back into their hearts.

They really are good friends!

“Agreed,” I say with a fond look back at my wife before I shake my head, look back at the Doctor with renewed seriousness, then continue my report by saying, “We checked the Cathedral since we both thought the Brass Sphere might be located there. It was, recently, revered as a divine artifact, after all. Along the way we encountered Captain Grimwald. When we did, he threw down his sword and confessed that he was secretly on our side since he used to be a former abused slave. He noticed how I helped to free Red Star which earned me his secret sympathy, while for the similar reason secretly despised his new benefactor because Dispatcher secretly ordered Grimwald to look the other way in regards to the slave trade crimes.” I lean close and whisper, “I secretly touched him, too, and got enough of a flashback about his past to confirm his words, and intentions, are true.”

The Doctor grows a bright smile as he cheers, “Excellent! That should make things a lot smoother, then. Things are actually going better than I hoped for a change.”

“With his help, we found the Brass Sphere with no problem,” I further report.

Around this time I catch a glimpse of my wife glancing in this direction. It is enough to inform me she is listening in on this conversation while conversing with Celestia simultaneously.

“Then you do have it,” the Doctor realizes. “Oh, and by the way, it isn’t a real Brass Sphere. It only looks like one.”

“You don’t say,” I reply with a curious lift of an eyebrow since this is the second time the Doctor has told me that today. I then shake my head to clear it and say, “Well, anyway . . . Yes, I did have it, but then I ran into a future version of you along my way here after I secured the Sphere from the Cathedral.”

“Really?!” the Doctor exclaims with surprise. “You don’t say.”

“I do say,” I confirm. “That version of you already had the sonic screwdriver, yet I also still had it in my pocket. That’s how I was able to figure out it was a future version of you. Apparently, after we’re done confronting Dispatcher here, you will travel back in time in the TARDIS, intercept me and my wife in a hallway of this Palace, and demand the Brass Sphere in order to make sure I don’t deliver it anywhere near Dispatcher. I’m guessing you were/would be worried that if I deliver that Sphere near Dispatcher, he could somehow use it remotely against us?”

“Interesting,” the Doctor says with a deep look of cunning in his eyes as he looks over his shoulder at two massive doors that lead into the throne room of the Palace. He continues to eye it for a thoughtful moment of silence then looks back at me with a nod of appreciation and says, “Thank you for your report. I’ll keep everything you said in mind.”

“With all of that said,” I bring up, “are we waiting for anything further?”

“No,” the Doctor replies. “We have everything we need now. In fact, we need to act soon before the sun fully sets on the horizon.

“Listen up!” the Doctor calls aloud as he trots next to the two large doors then spins about to face everypony here. “Dispatcher Hoofclaven is no longer an ordinary pony. He has been cursed by being possessed by an alien entity. While it does augment him in many ways, it also imposes one crucial weakness which we’ll exploit soon. Among some of the advantages he has is the ability to hypnotize and manipulate the minds of others who meet his glance which was why I waited for this before feeling prepared to engage him.”

The Doctor triumphantly lifts his sonic screwdriver before he goes on to loudly announce, “What this is isn’t as important as what it does. With it, I will emit a subsonic pulse which will subtly alter your conscious focus and thereby permit us to be immune to his hypnotic gaze. Thanks to that, we can thereby engage him with confidence that he will not have the chance to mentally impair us. Best of all, I can do this in a wide radius around me and I can even affect the deaf, should such be present among us, because the subsonic pulse will vibrate each pony’s skull here and basically turn it into an internal speaker.”

Seeing the looks of confusion upon everypony’s face here specifically because of the word “speaker”, the Doctor face-hooves, sighs, then lowers his hoof as he looks back at us and says, “Look, it doesn’t matter how it works. Just know that it does. Because of that, we are now ready to engage him. The true rightful ruler to the throne is here among us and has given us permission to neutralize the interloper, which we shall do in multiple ways. After today, he shall not be a threat to our world again.”

The Doctor then looks at and nods to Princess Celestia as he invites, “Princess Celestia, do you wish to add a few words before we engage this villain?”

“Indeed,” Princess Celestia accepts with a graceful nod before speaking again with a boldly projecting voice, “My little ponies, here me and listen well. In the dark days of yore, before we were invited to this country, a grave injustice has been wrongfully imposed upon this land. A lie was spread that the former Sultan was killed, yet he stands among us again. Princess Arielza stands among us as well, and she, too, gladly invites us to right this terrible wrong. Justice is on our side on this day, and TODAY . . . we shall boldly meet the rise of a new dawn. Hope and glory shall return to these befuddled lands, and we shall renew our pact of friendship so that harmony, glory, and prosperity reigns upon ALL of our lands! Unite and rejoice, for we shall not permit darkness to beshadow us ever more! Come. We march on to VICTORY!”

Princess Celestia’s forces raise a spirited battle cry as she boldly spreads her wings. In doing so, her body seems to emit a brilliant light.

This is it. The day has finally arrived. Time to take back my throne and free all my ponies.

The Doctor aims his sonic screwdriver and buzzes it at the giant doors that bar us. Because of that, we hear a “click” sound. He then looks over his shoulder and nods at Celestia. When that happens, Celestia boldly ignites her horn with a brilliant golden glow. Such a glow is copied on the giant doors which then push them open.

“Isn’t it curious,” my wife says quietly as she returns to my side.

“I know,” I say back in the same tone. “I didn’t think this day would come. Finally I confront Dispatcher and take back my throne.”

“Sure, but I meant something else,” my wife says. “Isn’t it interesting that the Doctor told us that the Brass Sphere isn’t made of brass, and he said it to us twice?”

“Uh . . . yeah. That caught me off guard a little,” I admit as I look back at her.

“Why would he do that, though? The future version of him, that is,” my wife elaborates. “If the version of him we encountered in the hallway really was him, wouldn’t he recall that his past self would explain that to us? If so, why bother repeating himself?” My wife looks at me squarely and asks me directly, “You’ve known him longer than I have and you received flashbacks of little moments of his life when you touched him. Based on that, is it enough to tell you that the Doctor can be forgetful and end up inadvertently repeating himself?”

Part of me wishes my wife didn’t challenge me with that question because reviewing the Doctor’s memories kind of gives me a massive headache. After all, even tiny glimpses of his memories is enough to overwhelm my own. It’s as if my brain wasn’t designed to hold that much information.

Still, since she asks, I take a moment to sift through the information I had received. In doing so, I notice that it has degraded quite a bit as if, again, my brain truly can’t retain that much information so it is, therefore, fading like a dream.

With this particular question, though, one thing does stand out to me so I look at her again and tell her, “Yes. Some information has faded and even overlapped over time. This is particularly true between his regeneration cycles. His body, and mind, undergo massive transformations each time he recovers from near death so there’s an adjustment period as he recovers some of his previous memories. When that happens over and over again, it’s not too surprising that this old stallion has gone a little senile.

“Nevertheless, I still trust him with my life. I know his hearts are in the right place and he has a lot of experience setting things right where things once went wrong. We may not be able to fathom all the reasons he does the strange things he does, but if the end result is victory for us, should we really complain?”

“Just be careful,” my wife advises in concern. “I get the feeling there is more going on here than meets the eye.”

Her warning makes me thoughtful, but right now I don’t see how that should significantly alter my present course. One thing at a time, I guess.

Still, I vaguely recall my wife’s instincts are nothing to scoff at. If she advises that we should remain on our guard, then I shall be. I trust her too.

“Duly noted,” I tell her seriously. “Now let’s go. Time to take back our country.”

Right now, I guess I didn’t know what I expected, but the throne room of the capital Palace of Saddle Arabia is extremely spacious and is endowed with great opulence such as the white marble columns or white marble floors shiny enough to be potentially reflective.

Whatever else might have been in here, though, it is hidden by how dark it is. Up above, I do notice window shutters that could have permitted light to spill in. If that did happen, the colors and reflective material in here could have greatly intensified the light in here. I suspect the acoustics of this room is a similar story. It, too, can be intensified, but that’s only if there is any sound to intensify. Right now the most noise any of us are hearing is our own hoof clomps as we enter the room.

For a brief moment I am surprised by the architecture and decor of this room because it feels so unlike me, but then I have to stop, think, and realize that, first of all, this is Saddle Arabia. This is one of the richest countries in the world because our primary attribute, as a nation, is trade. We know where all the valuable goods are. We have the means to transport them wherever it is most profitable to go. We know the true value of that which we trade, and we have the negotiating skills to set the best price for those items. Combining all of these facts, of course the throne room of our capital Palace would be designed to strike a strong impression.

Secondly, while I might personally prefer something more humble, I probably wasn’t the one who designed this place. Instead I inherited it from my family, but to our credit, we usually do our best to earn it too. True prosperity for any nation takes effort to maintain. For this nation to succeed to the degree that it has in the past, most of its previous leaders had to care and put effort into their work, and I’m no exception.

With the state that the throne room is currently in, however, is most indicative of the acting leader for this nation’s recent times. It symbolically reveals the taint that has beshadowed this place. A room that tries to be as bright and as acoustic as it can be. A room that tries to be as openly inviting as possible, and yet now it looks like somepony tried to conceal that with a dark blanket. There is a shadowy mask covering this place as if the message symbolically is now, “On second thought, no. Go away. I used to be inviting but now I am not anymore. If you dare to trot my grounds anyway, know that you do so in mortal peril. The shadows, here, hide many monsters. For your own sake, you better whisper while you are in here, if you dare speak at all, as if your life depends on it.”

At this point, the most light that spills in the room is coming from the hallway we just trot through. That, too, is symbolic of the coming changes. Finally the light has burst through the front door of the shadowed throne room as if to specifically challenge the recent darkness clinging in here.

With us trots the very Dawn Bringer of our entire world. No matter how thick the shadows are in here, Princess Celestia’s hide curiously seems to emit a light of her own. Because of that, her troops continue to march beside her with confidence and resolve. All of which would have been far more challenging in this unholy and unwelcome place, but this pillar of light they have beside them bolsters their spirit.

We also know we came with a righteous purpose which is greatly needed here. That, too, feeds our inner strength.

At first I couldn’t even see the Grand Vizier himself. The throne stands out well enough with all the gold and inlaid jewels it has, but our eyes truly needs more time to adjust before we can make out the shadowy silhouette of Dispatcher. When I’m finally able to accomplish that, which is assisted by the fact we draw closer to him with each step, I behold that which I expected the most at first. I see him sitting on the throne with his forehooves draped over the arms of the throne. He is apparently brooding. I also get the feeling he has no trouble spotting the rest of us, for his eyes are very adjusted to the darkness. Quite likely to a supernatural degree. However, as more light gradually spills into the room, our visual acuity gradually reverses. We’re starting to get an easier time seeing while Dispatcher has to wince.

There are a few ponies that I notice Dispatcher’s visual attention linger on. Princess Celestia is one of them but that is to be expected. Likewise Captain Grimwald’s presence holds the Vizier’s attention for quite some time as well. He especially takes notice of the fact that none of the other guards are stopping the Captain from this intrusion. If anything, they have joined their Captain’s side against this nation’s oppressor.

I find it strange that his attention did not linger on me for too long. The fact that I am with these ponies does not escape his notice and that alone tells him volumes. He does narrow his eyes at me slightly and briefly which conveys an inner depth of hostile emotion towards me, but given how quickly he looks away from me, that tells me that he doesn’t want to acknowledge my presence here. That almost strikes me as pure stubborn denial.

However, when his eyes fall upon Princess Arielza, I am greatly caught off guard by the intensity of his reaction, especially considering some of the other ponies who are in here. One would think he would consider the other Princess to be the most imposing and threatening to him personally, but no. He eyes Princess Arielza with intense shock for a moment strong enough to stand out even while he hides in his darkness. The secondary reaction we notice actually seems to shift into shame. It’s as if she is witnessing something, right now, that he was trying desperately to hide from her. I doubt it’s the throne room itself or the general state of the nation. Those things should have been clear to her long ago and he would know that. Nevertheless, there is something here he was trying to hide and, for some reason, he cares about that more than any other in here right now.

This alone greatly shifted the dynamics of this encounter. For a brief moment, it seems as if Princess Arielza’s presence here has shifted his attitude so much that he might surrender peacefully on the spot. He turns his face to look away from her as if to say, “Please don’t look at me. Not you. Anypony but you.”

Off the corner of my eye I get visual feedback which my hearing also verifies, and that is the fact that everypony in here, without exception, pauses for a moment because they are also caught off guard by Dispatcher’s reaction to Princess Arielza. It then dawns on me that they have the same reaction as I do for the same reason. They also expected several other ponies to evoke a more intense reaction rather than the one pony in our compony who has been in this Palace the longest.

What is it about our present situation that has dramatically changed in his eyes? My wife has been around the longest and she is a very sharp pony. Subtle details stand out to her far more than it would to any average pony. She just catches things and he should know that, so there must be something specific to this encounter that has never been here before. Something he would want to hide.

That is very odd. The symbite within him is greatly threatened by Princess Celestia the most. The sunlight is its bane. He should be afraid of her because she doesn’t just threaten his recent ill-gotten gains, but his very life too. That creature is genetically immortal, too, so long as it keeps on feeding upon the living. It has infinite time to lose against her so that just ups the stakes of this encounter.

The longer I think about it, the more I realize it is me. I’ve been here before too, but that was before his treachery. By standing here, it reveals to him that my wife is in the know too, now. I guess there are certain aspects about that he desperately wanted to keep hidden.

For all that, I’m not surprised that Dispatcher overlooked the Doctor completely. The Doctor could have been considered the greatest threat among us if it weren’t for the brown stallion’s obscurity and intention. I get the feeling that the Doctor personally welcomes that reaction since it affords him a strategic advantage. The memories I’ve acquired from him also confirm the fact that he’s often capitalized on that before. About the only thing that had a chance to capture Dispatcher’s attention towards the Doctor right now is the unusual and unfamiliar device that the Doctor is wielding, but nope. Ever since the Vizier noticed my wife standing among us, nothing else seems to matter to him anymore.

“I believe you know why we have come,” Princess Celestia declares boldly while holding an imposing stance. “You have eyes and enough sense to see that. Your days of tainting the honor of this nation has come to an end, fiend. Surrender and we may yet show you mercy.”

For some odd reason, Celestia’s bold declaration knocks Dispatcher out of his stupor. When he returns his focus to the Sun Princess, his face suddenly looks bored as if he regards her as a miniscule threat.

That reaction of his actually puts me back on edge again. In what way did he prepare himself enough to feel confident against the one pony he should consider to be his greatest threat?

“I suppose the secret is out,” Dispatcher announces fairly quietly. The incredible acoustics of this room is probably the only reason any of us caught that unless the Doctor has been providing some audible boosting of his own. “That is interesting.” Dispatcher collects his hooves in front of his muzzle and leans forward a bit. “Present circumstances being as they are, it certainly would adjust my strategy going forward.”

“Strategy, you say?” the Doctor asks with interest in his own voice. Since he spoke next, that won him Dispatcher’s attention for the first time in this encounter. “I agree that that is interesting, but I think we haven’t revealed all of our cards here yet. Since we got your attention to this degree so far, there’s something else we’d ask you to notice as well. Before you reveal your own trump card, you might want to take a peak at one of ours.”

The Doctor about-faces and aims his sonic screwdriver upwards as he calls back, “Observe.” When the device he carries gets more noisy, one of the shutters on the windows above bursts open for some reason. Based on my own knowledge of the device, I am guessing that it is caused by the sonic vibration he projected up there.

The result of this is a surprising degree of sunlight shooting through the now open window. Not only is the light unusually bright, but it is unusually focused too. An actual column of light aims at Dispatcher specifically. I quickly notice that the light is way too targeted to be natural, so I focus my sight out the open window again which gradually reveals a large curved mirror being held up by some of Princess Celestia’s pegasus guards. I widen my eyes in surprise when I notice that. After that, I quickly calculate that there are probably several more mirrors strategically placed out there to reflect and intensify what is left of the sunlight outside.

Considering Princess Celestia’s presence here as well, I can’t dismiss the possibility that she might have slowed the sun’s descent this time or otherwise found a way to intensify the sun’s remaining light somehow.

Wow! I knew that the Doctor can slam his adventures well once he understands the situation he is in if he has enough time to plan and prepare, but it is still a marvel to witness firsthoof.

As a result of all of this, Dispatcher hisses and does his best to hide his pain, but it is too intense right now to hide it completely. He writhes in obvious discomfort but there is another aspect to this situation that hangs in the back of our minds while this happens. For all the advantages the symbite can grant, it may not amount to anything once it is hit by one of its most critical weaknesses. In the sunlight, and very focused one at that right now, it may be that all of his advantages are instantly cut off. Not only that, but he is now actually weaker than any ordinary mortal pony in here. Even a yearling might have a chance to kick his flank at this point.

All of this reveals a very clear message to him. His secret is out, his most dangerous foe is before him, his own guards have turned on him, and now the symbite’s own weakness has inadvertently caused it to betray him too. He’s surrounded in every possible way that matters and that is the point the Doctor was trying to make with him. With all of this combined, it may greatly adjust negotiation tactics going forward. The Doctor wants Dispatcher to know that this conversation shall continue with most of the leverage on the side of his opponents. With all of that in mind, maybe the Doctor has a greater chance to steer this negotiation in a peaceful direction.

“I take it,” the Doctor says as he slowly turns about to face Dispatcher again, “we really have your attention now?”

“Who, in Tartarus, are you?!” Dispatcher strains to say in a shocked, angry, but also pained voice.

“Me?” the Doctor asks as he briefly gestures to himself. “I am the Doctor. I am the last of the Time Lords, and more importantly, I am the one who has sworn to protect these ponies from any threat that endangers their lives or the sanctity of their harmonic innocence, and you, Sir, have chosen to ally yourself with a force that does not belong in this world. Because of that, I am the inevitable counter-force that has risen to thwart this unnatural threat.

“So I repeat . . . I am the Doctor.” For a moment he rises off his fore hooves and balances on his hind hooves in order to give a grand sweeping gesture outward as he adds, “Behold my medicine.”

“Doctor, eh?” Dispatcher growls spitefully. “Trust me . . . I’ll remember that name.”

“Not that it’ll do you much good after this,” Princess Celestia promises boldly. “Your reign of terror ends here, fiend. Trouble the innocent little ponies of our lands no more!”

“And what say you,” Dispatcher challenges as he looks at me squarely. “Do you think I’m cornered completely?”

I did not expect his attention to shift to me all of a sudden so I briefly struggle to put moisture back in my throat and fight to thaw my mind. To his question, I eventually answer, “Seems to be from where I am standing, but you’ve employed devious tricks before. I want you to know that I’m aware of that and am not underestimating you no matter how cornered you may seem for the moment.” I peer sharply at everypony else here as I add, “I suggest the rest of you all keep that in mind too.”

“Oh I have. Trust me,” the Doctor assures confidently. “For instance, I know there is one more wild card he has yet to play, but it shall not avail him as much as he thinks.”

“We’ll see about that!” Dispatcher spat in spiteful anger. “The Grinning Ghost . . . do your thing.”

“And so the curtain rises on this stage play to make room for one final performer,” announces a tall blue pony wearing the mask of the Grinning Ghost. He reveals himself from behind the throne. Upon sight of him, I choke up, startled. That is the very same creature that I witnessed melting ponies into 2-D wall paint, only now he’s actually talking and seems a bit more ordinary than he appeared last time.

Still, there is a debonair swagger to his entrance that I cannot deny. Until recently he was content to hide, but now that the spotlight is figuratively (and certainly not literally) on him, he seems to enjoy the attention. I almost expect him to give a kind of stage bow.

“We meet again,” the Doctor greets coyly while a look of deep cunning sinks into his eyes. That’s reassuring for me to see because it signifies that this encounter is indeed expected to the Doctor after all, but I still have no way to know what direction this is going now.

In a curious way, it also comforts me slightly to see everypony else on edge. That, in turn, helps to assure me that I’m not alone in my feelings.

“I do indeed!” The Grinning Ghost agrees as he stabs his cane down upon the ground which causes an audible pang. “The final performance has begun . . . and we’ve played our own parts well, you and I.”

Surprise sinks into Dispatcher’s eyes as he gazes at his last ally in shock as he asks, “What? You actually know this pony?”

“I told you that before,” The Grinning Ghost reminds as he turns the edge of his creepy mask closer to the crumpled Vizier beside him. “He and I go way back, in fact.” He gives a dark chuckle before he goes on to say, “Mind you, those past encounters have not been on the best of terms. It’s been rather hostile more often than not, in fact. Through it all, though, there is the occasional exception and sometimes I enjoy those times the best. When the Doctor and I are on the same page, we can make an unstoppable duo. Case in point . . .”

The Grinning Ghost trails off as he then thrusts the tip of his cane into Dispatcher. When that happens, the rest of us hear an audible “click”. At the same time Dispatcher’s body jolts for some reason. At that point it has become evident to me, and maybe most of these ponies as well (especially the brightest and most observant ones here), that the Grinning Ghost has injected something into Dispatcher’s body.

“Yah . . . you?!” Dispatcher asks in utter shock. “You betray me too?! But you had so much to gain from me!”

“Treachery does seem to be an ongoing theme of this fading day, so it seems,” the Grinning Ghost agrees. “Or at least it climatically reveals. Since the momentum has carried us this far, however, I figure it's best to ride it out to its natural conclusion.”

After saying that, this mysterious and ominous pony reaches up to finally pull off his Grinning Ghost mask. After that, I am surprised how ordinary he can appear, but there is still a heavy and dark gravitas about him which keeps me on edge.

Glancing about at the others, I discover that I’m not the only one to feel that way either. Only the Doctor seems to be the one not surprised here.

“You may all call me Card Shark,” Card Shark introduces, “and I am, indeed, the last Trump Card of this encounter to be revealed that matters. The Doctor was apt in describing me as the Wild Card as well, for such a thing can take many forms as needed. At my core, I’ve always had a certain inherent nature to me and I live for triumphant moments like this.”

Card Shark leans on his cane more and bows his head to be closer to the still writhing Dispatcher on the ground as the suave blue earth pony goes on to say, “I will admit your offer was a bit tempting, but not nearly as much as you might think, for you see, the Doctor and I share a similar heritage. Enough to ensure we are both less mortal than we outwardly appear. We are not completely invulnerable, of course, but it is enough to say with confidence that we have a . . . shall I say? . . . ‘leg up’ over most average ponies.” He chuckles darkly then goes on to say, “Besides which, I bow to no pony. There is no pony alive or dead that shall willingly induce me to take a knee, for only I am the Master of my own destiny. All those who dare to mistake that fact shall lie dead at my hooves.”

Card Shark then lifts his cane up once again then stabs it back down, only this time he does it directly into Dispatcher’s body. Dispatcher howls in pain while Card Shark cruelly twists his chosen weapon. When Dispatcher fights to compose himself, Card Shark bids, “Rest in Pain, Mr. Ed.”

“Enough of this . . . please,” the Doctor bids, clearly not enjoying beholding this.

“You’re the one who invited me,” Card Shark reminds as he turns back to the Doctor while literally kicking Dispatcher while he’s down at the same time he withdraws his cane from him. “Too late to complain about it now when you know full well how I operate.”

Card Shark starts trotting his way to join us while he continues his monologue.

“And isn’t that precisely why you invited me?” he asks his frenemy in a teasing voice. “To do what you cannot? To murder. To kill!” he says with acidic excitement. “That’s not the ‘style’ of the Doctor, now is it? But that doesn’t remove the occasional necessity from time to time. If it has to be done, better to dirty the hooves that are already bloody. So much the better, in fact, for I won’t lose any sleep over this.”

“Is any of this true?” Princess Celestia asks the Doctor with a disapproving frown.

“I would prefer we discuss the details of this later,” the Doctor replies. “Until then, tense emotions can lead to their own forms of misunderstanding, and I want the truth to be clear when the time is right.”

I gasp in shock when this whole situation suddenly clicks into place for me because there are certain elements about the Doctor’s past that I had borrowed which helps to explain our present situation. Many times in the Doctor’s past he had one nemesis which he often had a tête-à-tête with. In the vast majority of that time, the other individual had a “humanoid” form, too. That person was none other that a nefarious version of a fellow Time Lord. An individual who often referred to himself as “The Master.”

I facehoof and groan as I realize that that individual troublemaker is in the pony universe too. At least, in this case, the Doctor is aware of it and is keeping an eye on his ancient frenemy. Between all the various tussles they’ve had between them, it is comforting, to me, to know that the Doctor usually had the upper “hand” between them, as it were.

Curiously enough, they seem to be cooperating with each other on this mission even though it also appears they don’t see completely eye to eye on the details of it. Reflecting on the Doctor’s memories that I’m aware of in an effort to find an explanation for this, one aspect that stands out about them, despite all of their many fights, is a curious sense of affection that they also have for each other. Because of that, both sides often tried to coerce the other to join each other.

For some reason they found a tenuous agreement with each other for this particular mission, but I still get this nagging feeling that they are both secretly trying to outdo the other somehow at the same time.

“With all of that said,” announces Card Shark as he joins us then spins about to face the still writhing Dispatcher, “his failure is complete.”

Dispatcher clearly seems to agree with that sentiment too. His movements seem to suddenly relax and his mood collapses into despair. He clearly seems to have suddenly just given up. The Doctor clearly has covered all of his bases with the remainder of this adventure all too well, and Dispatcher finally realizes that.

Then, unexpectedly, my wife moves to comfort him. At first this mystifies me, but then I recall his reaction to her earlier. There is no doubt in my mind that my wife noticed that too, but unlike me, she might have a good idea why all of that was so.

Now that I think about it, an answer does come to mind. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me sooner. Maybe my own pain and rage blinded me, but every iota of a reaction he ever had to my wife strongly indicates another layer of motivation for him beyond the lust for pure power. Had that always been the case, he should have enslaved my wife long ago as a spawn of the symbite. More than likely the entity within him actually encouraged this. My wife is a key political figure of this nation, after all, and yet he stayed his hoof against that plan for some reason.

He resisted that dark temptation! Why? In order to fight against the powerful and corrupting instincts of the symbite, which my experience with the Brass Sphere clearly attest to, there has to be an extremely powerful motive to successfully resist it. Try as I might, I can only think of one that makes sense. For the same reason, it could also explain why he wanted me out of the way.

Indeed, he was jealous of me, but it is for a more dynamic reason than a lust for power on its own. That was true too and there’s no doubt in my mind that the symbite tried to capitalize on those baser instincts, but when it comes to Princess Arielza, there was another drive in his heart.

It just had to be. It explains everything. He really did and truly love her.

As I watch my wife kindly bending down and brushing a hoof across his cheek to comfort him, all at once my mind spun ahead in time, for once, to see two possible futures that would have occurred if the heroes of this adventure had never intervened. I see those paths because I know, now, that there were actually two goals Dispatcher had in his mind and heart, and they were incompatible with each other. On one hoof was his lust for power in this nation, and perhaps even the whole world, and on the other was his love for my wife.

The reason these two goals were incompatible is because of the personal feelings of my wife. If he truly wanted her to love him too, then either he would have to change or she would. To induce the latter, he’d have to give in to his temptations and corrupt her as a spawn of the symbite. If that happened he could control her outright, and that includes thrusting her forcefully down the dark path.

But if love won out, then it is he who would have to change to stand any chance of winning the affection of a mare as compassionate as she. To do that, he’d undoubtedly have to give up his pursuit of dark power. Moreover he’d have to confess his crimes and do everything he could to make up for them. All the while he’d be desperately fighting against the screaming instincts of the symbite within him.

Ultimately that would have resulted in one of two things. Either he’d have to entirely reject the symbite and expel it from his system somehow, or if that proved impossible, then I think he would outright kill himself just to ensure it does not harm the one he loves. If it is indeed love within him that is bright and true, that’s the only possible ending I can see for this tragic story.

When that dawns on me, I suddenly realize that Dispatcher and I had one important thing in common after all. We both loved her, but she chose me, so in his mind he was forced to become the opponent.

When all of that clicks into place, I realize that I have sympathy for him too. I still do not like what he did to me, or my nation, but if true love was his guiding principle with her at least, then the two of us can agree on at least one thing. That one thing provided some glow of hope for a brighter future too, but more than likely it still would have ended in tragedy. Like it or not, he sealed his fate when he agreed to be the host of this wicked symbite.

“Nanpour,” Dispatcher calls out weakly. When he does, I notice my wife looks back at me too. Her eyes beg me to do what I can to comfort him in his last moments.

I cannot deny her. For my own reasons, I want to do this anyway now.

“I am here,” I tell him as I approach, then kneel over him.

“I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but if you’ll indulge me one last request,” Dispatcher asks me hopefully.

“I’m listening,” I reply.

“Make . . . her . . . happy,” he begs me weakly. “Keep . . . her . . . happy. You do that, and we’re good.”

I smile bittersweetly as I tell him, “I would gladly do that anyway, but I’ll redouble that effort for your sake as well. If I may ask one thing in return, though.”

Dispatcher merely lifts a curious eyebrow at me to signify I have his attention in regards to this request.

I shake my head as I declare, “I don’t like fighting and I don’t want enemies. In my eyes, this should never have been. I must have trusted you quite a bit to appoint you to my most trusted advisor in the first place. I say, the next time we meet again, let’s be true friends from then on.”

Dispatcher regards my wife lovingly for a moment before looking back at me and weakly saying, “Agreed.”

With that, he closes his eyes for the last time.

Author's Note

There are still a few loose ends to tie up in this story, but this chapter is the major climax and final chapter for Swift Hoof, aka Nanpour Alabaster. In the end he didn't do much. His allies secured their victory all too well to make any action for the main character necessary. He was observant, though, and had learned a lot in that encounter. As a result, it is easy to imagine the results of this encounter profoundly affecting him ever onward.

Also, I don't know about the rest of you, but for me, every time I read, or even during the moment I wrote the death scene of Dispatcher at the end of this chapter, I keep thinking of this song. In particular, the last few seconds of it starting at timestamp 2:07. I just can't shake it.

Water World Part 1, Arrival

Feather Wind stirs restlessly today because something feels unfamiliar. Instead of the cool crisp scent of the morning dew, the air is dry. Instead of resting on clouds, he's on a solid bed. The last time he checked, he was in nature. Was this his room in his father's mansion?

Eventually cracking his eyes open, he looks about himself and sees he is surrounded by darkness. To alleviate that, he ignites his horn which then emits a silvery glow. He then brushes aside his poofy, cloud-like mane with his small sky blue hoof. In doing so, he gets more confused to notice that he is in totally unfamiliar territory until he consults his memory which needs a moment to awaken and unfog. When it does so, it gradually tells him a tale so outrageous that it really is hard to believe.

But of the few bits of his memory he does trust, one of the most alarming news he recalls was that he fell asleep with his marefriend Stern Wing, but she isn't here now. In that case, where is she instead? Considering the fantastical story the rest of his memory is reporting, it doesn't feel safe to leave this to his imagination.

And so, with a minor groan of effort, he rises from his bed and explores his surroundings more. As he takes in the sight of this boxy room, it gradually appears more familiar as his memory returns. It doesn't take long for him to locate the exit of the room which he promptly uses.

Feather Wind also locates his cloak made of misty clouds. He floats it over to himself and drapes it on him as he makes his way to the exit. Doing so conceals his cutie mark of a white feather being blown in the wind which also has tiny magical sparkles within the wind.

The egress from the last room leads to a metallic hallway. The floor is a metallic grate of some sort that leads to a slightly lower drop beneath it. Looking to his left and then to his right, he notices that the right direction leads somewhere brighter and to a wider room. He hears other noises in that direction too, like a shuffle of hooves.

Deciding that is probably the best course, he lifts one of his short legs to begin his journey in that direction, but he freezes when he hears a very odd noise. Whatever it is, it sounds mechanical and perhaps barely functional since it sounds like the engine struggles to come to life. It sounds almost like it is wheezing. That noise crescendos on the fourth wheeze before fading away. When it does, a new noise picks up that is even harder to identify, but it kind of sounds like a laser-blasting sound. That sound, too, rises then falls.

“And voilà, ladies and gentlemen,” triumphantly declares a stallion in the next larger room. “We are here.”

“'Here' as in where, exactly?” Feather hears Stern Wing ask.

“When and where,” corrects an innocent-sounding mare with emphasis. “This super-duper wonderful place can go anywhere in time and space.” There is a brief pause before the mare giggles cutely before saying, “Hey! That rhymes.”

“To either question, the answer is . . . I don't know!” mischievously announces the stallion.

“What do you mean you don't know? You were the one fiddling with the controls just a moment ago,” reminds Feather's foalhood friend, Stern Wing.

“Right,” the stallion agrees, “but I set it to go to a random place in space and time on purpose with the criteria that it must be a place with gravity and oxygen.”

“Why would you do that?” Stern Wing exacerbates in a complaining tone. “If you do that, we'd have no idea what is out there!”

“Exactly! Isn't it fantastic?!” the stallion replies enthusiastically. “Imagine it. Absolutely anything can be beyond those doors. It will be a wonder to explore.”

“You're impossible,” Stern Wing growls. “Lest you forget, we have a young blind foal traveling with us now. I would think that would warrant a little extra caution on your part.”

“That it does,” the stallion agrees in a much more serious tone. “She's staying here. At least until I can determine the threat level out there.”

Deciding he's heard enough, Feather Wind ventures on into the next larger room. Doing so reveals a large semi-circular room with a weird sort of console in the center that has a large assortment of glass tubes, spinning wires, and do-hickeys above it that extends all the way to the roof. The stallion in question is still located there. He is a brown stallion with a darker brown mane. He has a cutie mark sporting an hourglass and he wears a green necktie. If memory serves, Feather Wind recalls this individual simply calling himself “The Doctor” and he claims he's the only one in the room not inherently a pony but rather some pretentious-sounding race calling themselves the “Time Lords.”

Then again, Feather Wind himself grew up with the aristocracy so he's somewhat accustomed to pretentiousness.

His large foalhood friend Stern Wing, who is a brown pegasus with darker brown wingtips and tips to her hooves and mane, is standing just outside of the rail surrounding the console in the center of the room. She has a cutie mark of a heart on a sturdy-looking shield which has wings extending off to the sides of the shield. Initially, she was glaring with her brown eyes somewhat accusingly at the Doctor but her expression softens when she notices her friend enter the room.

“Well good morning, sleepyhead,” Stern Wing greets softly before her expression grows confused. After that, she turns to look at the Doctor again as she asks, “Actually, is it morning?”

“I don't know yet,” the Doctor replies with a light shrug. “I haven't explored this world, space station, or rock formation yet. It could be that there is no distinguishable 'morning', as you eloquently put it, relative to this time and place. Furthermore, you'll find such concepts to gradually get more ambiguous as one continues to travel through time and space.” He looks at Feather Wind as he says, “So suffice it to say, he is early in his waking cycle.” He looks back at Stern as he offers, “How about that?”

“It does take some getting used to,” announces a gray pegasus with a shaggy, dirty blonde mane. She sports a cutie mark of a bunch of bubbles. Her light yellow walleyes make her especially distinctive. If memory serves, this individual is a former mail carrier from the future relative to Feather's native timeline. She said her name was Ditsy Do, but has accepted the affectionate nickname from the Doctor, Derpy Hooves. Everypony else here seems to accept that too, including Feather. “I think I'm still not accustomed to it,” Derpy goes on to say.

“Physically, I did not feel any motion sway as we traveled,” announces the youngest member of their new traveling family by far, a blind albino earth pony filly with a snowy white mane that has just a hint of ice blue in it. Her cutie mark is a single open eye in the center of a pyramid tip. Feather recalls her name to be Vision and his history with her is interesting because she is a blind, psychic foal who once gave her mother a prophetic vision that ended up saving Feather's life several years ago. Far more recently, Vision needed saving herself when she became a target of the very same threat that once almost claimed Feather's life, a psychotic and deeply twisted unicorn stallion by the name of Puppet Master who might no longer be alive anymore but rather a magically animated puppet of his own former body that is powered by a magic crystal hidden somewhere within the corpse. When Puppet Master assaulted the temple Vision lived at, he was far more overt in his assault that time and easily tore at anypony who physically stood in his way. Not only that, but he gruesomely animated their shredded corpses to make them sound like spooky ghost foals who cackled madly and kept insisting that they wanted to “play” with anypony they spoke to. It is the single most horrifying memory of Feather's existence and is among the reasons he's questioned his sanity lately.

There are other reasons he's questioned his memories and sanity too but, unlike Puppet Master, those memories lean in a far more positive direction.

“Yet still I know that we have arrived at a new location,” Vision goes on to say. “A different vibration permeates beyond the walls inverted universe.”

“Huh?” Stern asks Vision with a questioning wince.

“The TARDIS exists beyond the confines of normal space/time,” Vision replies. “It's like its own separate dimension. That's why we didn't feel ourselves traveling outside of this place.”

“Good on you for noticing,” the Doctor commends Vision with a very impressed nod at her for all the good that gesture did for a blind filly. “You're mostly correct. However, there have been some circumstances where external forces outside the TARDIS have affected the interior environment. Usually, when that happens, either something has gone wrong with the TARDIS itself or whatever external forces outside this place can travel through subspace.”

“I'm, ah . . . not understanding any of this,” Stern Wing announces in confusion.

“You and me both, sister,” Derpy affectionately agrees. “But hey! At least we get to go on an awesome adventure. Right?” Derpy cheers but then goes on to say more somberly, “That said, though, I'm staying here if Vision is. I won't leave a foal unattended here. We may be largely immune to the shenanigans that go on outside of the TARDIS, but I can't, in good conscience, leave a new, often sickly, and blind filly to roam around this place unattended.”

“Well said,” Stern Wing agrees with a very proud and respectful nod to Derpy. “But if you're staying here with her, then I'm going.” Stern Wing gives a stern look at the exit of the TARDIS. “Not out of some mad thrill for adventure, but because I want to remain prepared to defend my friends from any unforeseen danger.” Using her face, she nods to indicate the exit as she goes on to say, “Besides, it's more than just the occupants of this vessel that may need a helping hoof out there. The natives, too, could potentially use my services.”

“An admirable sentiment and one I fully endorse,” the Doctor commends Stern which wins her attention back to him. “That said, be aware that other complications might exist out there. Sometimes the natives might not welcome your help even if they truly need it. Sometimes it's because they are unaware of the danger or because of some silly and stupid pride or custom.” He applies a hoof to his chest as he says, “Usually I'm all for respecting most customs, but when lives are on the line . . .” he trails off.

Stern Wing nods at the Doctor and then seems to conclude his sentence with, “. . . action may be required.”

“Exactly,” the Doctor agrees. “The thrill of adventure is not my only motivation to travel. Sometimes what we do out there is also a worthwhile accomplishment in other important ways.” He nods to indicate Stern Wing as he adds, “And it's companions, like you, who have natural heroic instincts that are more than welcome to join me in my travels.” He tilts his head at her and turns his head slightly to his right as he aims his left eye at Stern more fully as he proclaims, “You may not always approve of my motivation to charge into danger, but whenever I do, it's because someone out there needs saving. When the moment of action is required, we do as we must.”

“True,” Stern agrees, but then she says, “But I thought one of the points of bringing Feather and I on your adventures is to charge his red crystal with positive energy, so why would you chuck a dart at a dart board blindly in this case?”

The Red Crystal! Feather Wind almost forgot it!

He looks down at his neck and notices it is missing. Thinking back, he recalls putting it safely in one of his saddle bags and that is back in the room he left. Notably, the very same magical tri-tip red crystal that houses the original soul of King Sombra. A wizard and sagely stallion within the crystal who prefers to call himself Crystal Sage now to distinguish himself from his dark counterpart. It is necessary for Feather to not only learn to attune himself to that crystal that houses the spirit of his ancestor but also charge it with large amounts of positive energy to counteract the negative charge crystals that Crystal Sage's dark counterpart employs. One of such crystals is hidden within the animated corpse of Puppet Master. If that dark crystal is not attacked with the right kind of energy, that psychotic villain might as well be invincible.

Not to mention that Feather Wind might also need that energy to contend with what basically amounts to his ancestor's magical ghostly clone.

Feather Wind isn't used to having that crystal around yet, but right now it suddenly feels irresponsible to leave it anywhere unattended. If Feather happens to encounter a situation where there is enough positive energy to be useful in absorbing into the crystal, then it makes even more sense to get used to carrying it around just in case. One never knows when a situation like that might appear in advance.

Except, maybe, for a certain psychic filly in their company. But, even then, she claimed she only experienced such visions in her dreams. It may also have something to do with Equestria's native moon. Vision gets nightmares about impending but also preventable disasters when she sleeps at night on that planet, but also receives good, or at least neutral, dreams when she sleeps in the day on the same said planet.

Which reminds him, Feather regards Vision as he privately wonders if Vision is still receiving psychic dreams now that they are no longer on their native planet. Even if the TARDIS happened to land on it somewhere within history, she said herself that the TARDIS is basically its own internal dimension separate from whatever transpires outside most of the time. That inherent fact might even be why it can move so easily through time and space. It is because it is not directly tied to it. The TARDIS, apparently, operates on its own rules of physics. Stepping in here is akin to stepping into a whole different world or, indeed, a whole new universe according to Vision which is sort of verified by the Doctor.

“Because it's fun,” the Doctor replies to Stern's question as if that simple explanation should be enough.

“Fun?” Stern reflects with a piercing and narrow stare. “You call placing our lives, and yours, in potentially mortal peril . . . fun?”

“Well, that and to challenge myself, my dear,” the Doctor replies. “That's how we all grow.” He looks at the exit as he goes on to say, “With my considerable degree of knowledge, intelligence, and experience, I wouldn't necessarily say we are in any unreasonable degree of danger. Whatever is out there, I'm fairly confident we can handle it.”

“Hoofle it,” Derpy corrects with a tired expression as if she's growing tired of correcting that statement over and over again.

For some reason, the Doctor giggles a bit at that statement before looking at his right hoof and saying, “Hoofle? Oh, you ponies crack me up sometimes with your horse puns. Then again, I suppose I can understand the logic of omitting a term like handlefor a species that never had 'hands' to begin with. Still, your terminology is so adorable!” he squees.

Derpy rolls her walleyes in exasperation.

“If it is at all possible, I would like to go, too,” Vision requests with a bit of a frown. “I lived my whole life stuck within the confines of my previous temple. Now that I'm finally out of it, I actually want to explore.”

“I find your courage and motivation admirable,” the Doctor replies to Vision. “But I am far older than I appear. Long enough to have gathered many regrets over the years. All of those are extra weights that I have to carry for a long, long time and a long time to come. As such, I do not wish to add to that burden unnecessarily by accompanying a pony so young and fragile in her health. As a psychic empath, you should at least be able to feel the sincerity of my words even if you don't fully agree with them.”

Vision sighs as she says, “I know. Sort of. But if you establish that it is relatively peaceful out . . . there . . .” Vision trails off as she slowly turns her head towards the exit.

“What?” the Doctor challenges her in sudden alarm. “What is it?”

In response, Vision is quiet for a moment as she unconsciously closes her eyes and tilts her head as if listening to something external to herself, but Feather suspects she's actually listening to something internal. One of her psychic senses, perhaps.

“I think I dreamed of this last night,” Vision eventually announces. “Déjà vu has struck me which, believe me, is very common in my life.” She opens her eyes, for what little good it does her, and turns her head in the general direction of the Doctor while also turning her ears in his precise direction as she goes on to say, “Water world. Prepared to get wet out there, my friends.”

The occupants inside the TARDIS are quiet for a moment as they each internalize her announcement.

“Storming too,” Vision eventually adds before turning her head kind of in Feather's direction before warning him. “You shan't be able to quell the storm with your internal talent, my friend.” She shakes her head. “This isn't our native world so the weather won't be as cooperative. There are, however, some ponies in it much akin to ourselves.”

“Spoilers,” the Doctor lightly and a bit playfully complains. “I can tell you're going to be an interesting one for me even if you don't leave the TARDIS.”

Vision turns her head roughly in the direction of the exit of the TARDIS for a moment before turning her head down, sighs, then says, “You're right. My fragile constitution would have no chance out there.”

“You're still getting psychic dreams in here?” Feather queries Vision. “Earlier, you told us your visions were tied to the Equestrian moon somehow on our native world, and the Mare in the Moon in particular.”

“That's true so I don't know where my visions are coming from now,” Vision replies to Feather. “But, for some reason, I feel even more confident in my visions than I usually am. The dreams were unusually sharp and clear, even for me. Even standing here now, it almost feels like I'm reliving it.”

“So your unconsciousness has made a connection to a new source,” the Doctor muses aloud as he rubs his chin with a hoof. “Fascinating. I wonder what that new source can be.” He returns his hoof to the ground as he goes on to say, “If you had these prophetic dreams last night, or what is basically the equivalent of 'night' around here in your sleep cycle, then it is unlikely to do with anything on this planet.

“But then again, who's to say your visions are limited to the confines of space/time in the first place? When it comes to psionics, it really is governed by its own set of rules which are not necessarily limited by the confines of third-dimensional reality.”

The Doctor lifts a hoof and taps it on the rail around the center console four times with a thoughtful expression on his face before he goes on to say, “It would be interesting to learn which new source you are channeling because that might help to determine how reliable these visions of yours have become. Depending on what it is, I may have other concerns as well.”

“Such as?” Stern Wing asks the Doctor cautiously.

The Doctor shifts his eyes to look at Stern Wing for a silent moment before tapping the rail four times again. After that he stands up straighter, sighs then says, “I don't wish to announce any further unverified conclusions yet. Let's just gather more evidence over time and we'll see where that takes us.” He grins as his eyes shift towards the exit of the TARDIS as he goes on to say, “In the meantime, adventure awaits us. Onwards and upwards, my friends.”

Author's Note

I haven't written for these characters in about five years. Coming back to them again feels as comforting and nostalgic as returning home to good friends.

I really hope you've enjoyed yourself so far and the rest of the story. Know that I plan on posting another part each Saturday until the entire arc is done and possibly then some. Questions and comments are perfectly welcome. I always enjoy having more feedback to refine my craft.

Part 4: Preliminary Inquiry

On the upper deck of whatever this rig is, the Doctor, Feather, and Stern struggle to not slip and slide all over the place as they behold the violent force of nature playing out all around them. Off to their left side and over the rig, they behold endless waves that are the size of small to large hills, although that is very hard to see in the dark storm except for the occasional flashing of lightning briefly illuminating the area. The landscape shifts and crawls all the way to the horizon in every direction they can see. The sound of the crashing waves and thunderstorms drowns out almost any hope of speaking to each other if it weren't for one factor. It is at this moment that the Doctor's legendary and suspiciously useful sonic screwdriver once again helps out by somewhat muting the sound of the storm outside and creating an audible safe zone within the spherical force field that Feather Wind is creating around them. Thanks to the force bubble, they are not affected by hurricane-strength winds, stinging rain, and crashing waves. That force bubble cancels all of that inertia, leaving them completely immune within it other than the tilt of the entire ship and the slipperiness of the wet floor beneath. Thanks to the sonic screwdriver, they can even whisper to each other if they wanted to and still be heard.

In fact, if it weren't for the tilt of the entire ship or the wet floor, they could almost feel disconnected from the raging storm all about them.

Things being as they are, they are forced to hold onto something as they struggle their way across the upper deck while following sonic blipping noise from the Doctor's device that indicates the distance and direction of lifeforms on this deck. This eventually leads them to a small crew of earth ponies who are wearing what looks like bright life preserver vests, and from those vests, they are also tethered to something on the ship to help secure them. It is difficult to tell what they are trying to do on the upper deck but they are either shouting at each other or some device nearby them. They clearly seem stressed but it's not hard to guess why in general.

Feather, Stern, and even the Doctor to some extent feel surprised to find native lifeforms on this planet that look almost exactly like earth ponies back in Equestria. Here they are on some distant planet and they unexpectedly encounter something familiar.

Eventually, the new visitors get noticed themselves. At that moment it isn't just the TARDIS crew who are surprised anymore. When the two earth pony crew members spot them, they glance at each other in surprise as if to silently ask themselves, "Are you seeing this too?" Upon noticing each other's looks of equal surprise, they basically get their answer. After that, the one in a yellow vest, as opposed to the orange vest, waves for the TARDIS crew to approach them. They do so.

The surprise of the crew triples when the safe bubble catches up to them. They look around each other in utter shock at the near-perfect but a severely unexpected bubble of safety that now surrounds them before the one in the yellow vest glares at the TARDIS crew and shouts, "WHAT ARE . . .” he starts to shout but then everyone in the bubble painfully winces as the volume of his voice intensifies. Not only because of external factors being quieter, but the sonic screwdriver is also enhancing the voices within the bubble as if to compensate. It essentially sounded like he just shouted in a metallic acoustic tube which echoes a bit.

“You do not have to speak so loudly, Sir,” the Doctor informs them. “As long as we are within this bubble, we can speak normally.”

Once again, the two crew members glance at each other in intense surprise before the one in the yellow jacket, who seems to have more authority between the two, looks back at the three new visitors as he begins again, "What are you three doing on the upper deck during this storm? And who are you three anyway?”

“Clyde, look!” the one in the orange jacket says with wide eyes in amazement as he gazes in awe at Feather Wind on Stern Wing's back for some reason. “That one is a unicorn!” he says in a tone of awe.

Feather Wind and Stern Wing glance at each other in confusion, each wondering why that news would be regarded as so unusual.

"Holy shucks," Clyde says in near-equal levels of amazement.

The Doctor observes their reaction to Feather Wind carefully, transfers his glance between his companions for a moment, then looks back at the two bridge crew as he asks, “Is there somewhere safer we can discuss the matters at hoof?" he says with intense emphasis on the last word then gives a narrow-eyed and playful smirk back at Feather and Stern. "Yeah, I finally said it."

The Doctor doesn't get through to the two earth pony crew at first. They are still staring at Feather Wind like they are beholding a living miracle.

“Gentleman, if we may?” the Doctor coaxes again.

“Huh?” the one called Clyde asks as he shakes his head as if to clear it then blinks at the Doctor as if rising from a daze. “Oh, ah . . . sure. The bridge is just right over here. Follow me.”

“Ya know, you three shouldn't be up here without your safety harness,” the one in the orange vest lightly scolds but also with a tone of surprise. “It's very dangerous up here right now.”

“Oh really?” the Doctor reflects as he passes a droll look over to his left at the entire horizon full of endless ocean waves. “Thanks for the tip. We wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed that out.”

“You don't have to be snippy about it,” the one in the orange vest mopes. “I'm just doing ma job.”

“Come with us, and be careful,” Clyde instructs. “Hold on to anything ya can while you three follow us. It's just up on yon way a bit.”

They weren't kidding. The bridge was only a few minutes away. All they had to do is crawl back a few feet, climb a short ladder, then enter a small cabin that has tall, slanted windows on three of the four sides. The upper end of the windows extends about a foot further forward compared to the bottom end of the window. Here, there are also a few swivel chairs permanently attached to the floor. In addition, a lot of console controls and dials here that Feather and Stern hardly recognize the function of but it kind of resembles the center console of the TARDIS a bit insofar as it looks highly technical to them.

Once they are all in and the thick metal door is swung shut, the roar of the outside storm is considerably reduced in decibels even without the help of the Doctor's device. When he notices that, the Doctor puts the device away in his built-in pocket just above his cutie mark.

“Perhaps introductions are in order,” the Doctor suggests, the first to speak ever since they all climbed into this room. “I am the Doctor and these are my two companions Feather Wind,” he gestures to the unusually small blue unicorn, “and Stern Wing,” he then gestures to the unusually large brown pegasus.

The two crew earth ponies both glance in surprise at each other again for some reason then pass a curious look to Feather Wind as Clyde asks him, "Does this one speak for you?" he asks while looking at Feather Wind but tilts his head at the Doctor.

This situation has caught Feather Wind off guard and he also feels uncomfortable about it, but not in an entirely unfamiliar way. The way these two look at him reminds Feather of how low-born society used to view him and his fellow aristocratic peers, but unlike his peers, Feather was never comfortable with the treatment. By growing up in high society, he at least knows how to act around his fellow peers and fit in enough not to be teased about it too much, but he's always been shy at heart and far more comfortable in the wilds of nature rather than the rigid structure of high society.

But the way these two are regarding Feather goes way beyond that. They are acting like they are beholding a downright god or some similar overwhelming supernatural entity. More like a figure of legend that they didn't really believe in until now.

"Yes, I do," the Doctor confirms before Feather has a chance to speak. Not that Feather knows what to say anyway. The Doctor gestures to himself as he says, "It is my role and assignment on this mission to speak for the unicorn. You may address me with any questions, comments, or concerns about these two."

"Kleetus, check it out!" Clyde points at Stern Wing's wings. "That one is a pegasus! He's got wings!"

“You mean 'she' has got wings,” Stern Wing corrects with a bit of an offended squint to her face. “I'm a mare, thank-you-very-much.”

Now they look very embarrassed, especially the one who spoke. Clyde visibly flushes as he stutters, "Ma-ma-my ah-pah-pah-pologies, Ma'am. I was mistaken."

“About the gender thing. Not the wings, he means,” the one called Kleetus quickly adds.

“Yeah.” Clyde tilts his head at his companion but keeps his eyes locked on Stern Wing. “What he said.”

All of the sudden, Kleetus narrows his eyes as he asks accusingly, “Speaking of which, it is said that pegasi have the power to control the weather. Is that true? And, if so, did you cause this storm?”

“Kleetus!” Clyde snaps at his companion.

"What?!" Kleetus asks back. "I'm just asking. If we did something to offend them, mayhap we can discuss compensation and whatnot."

“Gentleman,” says the Doctor as he raises a hoof, “before anything else gets more out of hoof,” he says with another emphatic glance to his companions then resumes with a serious expression at the two worker earth ponies, “let me just assure you right now that we are not the ones responsible for causing this weather. As a matter of fact, the reason why we're here is to investigate what precisely has caused it. Perhaps you two can shed some light on this matter? Any information you can share would make our job here much easier.”

Because the Doctor said that, Kleetus and Clyde both look at each other for a moment as they both seem to realize something. They nod at each other confidently before they both look back at the Doctor and Clyde says, “If what you say is true and the unicorns nor pegasi are responsible for this, then it is probably the Alphalmians.”

Feather Wind and Stern Wing both wince in misunderstanding, but the Doctor didn't miss a beat by asking, “That's your aquatic neighbors, right? The ones you trade with?”

Kleetus and Clyde both nod as Clyde says, “The very same.”

The Doctor winces in confusion as he asks, “In that case, I'm confused. Why would the Alphalmians attack you all? If you get killed, the benefits of the trade they have with you all end as well and you provide services they cannot replicate. Plus, exactly how could they cause this weather storm?”

"The Orb of Storms, or so the legends say," Clyde answers. "That's an answer to the 'how', by the way. The King of the alphalmians, Afaminious, is said to be the one who wields such a powerful artifact that can have such influence over the weather."

“Assuming that is the cause, what motive would he have to use it against this facility?” the Doctor checks.

Clyde shrugs as he admits, “I honestly have no idea. It doesn't make sense to me either, because you're right. We provide a service for them that they cannot replicate and as far as I know, they've always found that useful.” He sighs for a moment as he says, “Now there are rumors of possible reasons, but I ain't fer believing a word of it. No siree.”

“What kind of rumors?” the Doctor checks again.

Clyde casts a much longer sigh this time as he thinks about it. There is a squint on his face as if merely attempting to recall the rumors leaves a bad taste in his mouth, but eventually he goes on to list, “Rumors that we stole some of his people, rumors that we tainted some of the stock we've given to him.” When he said that, he sounded especially offended at the mere prospect. “Rumors that they've always hated us for some reason so they always planned to kill us when they had gotten enough of what they wanted, rumors that a new king has taken them over and it is actually he, or she, that is the one using The Orb of Storms. Rumors that the Orb of Storms is malfunctioning and all of this is being caused accidentally.” He shakes his head. “The list goes on and on and, quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of hearing about it.

“Still, our situation has been desperate for quite some time and it's only growing worse. When ponies have reason to panic and that reason has been ongoing for quite some time, they just can't help but speculate why all of this is happening without basing their fears on any substantial evidence.” He shrugs. “When ponies are afraid, we see demons in every shadow. I'm tempted to call it an inherently racial flaw.”

“But you don't believe in any of these rumors?” the Doctor probes.

Clyde shrugs as he says, “I can neither confirm nor deny anything, and frankly, that's my problem. Until I see hard evidence leading towards any conclusion, I can't rule anything out and I prefer not to waste my time on any useless speculation when I got a crisis to deal with on my hooves at this very moment. For instance, I got a man stranded up on that radio tower up there and I can't do a thing about it right now,” he says as he gestures to a tower behind them that is made of an X pattern of many metal bars surrounded by metal squares. The tower is widest at the base and narrows at the upper tip.

“What did you say?!” Stern Wing asks as she pounces on that information immediately with intense seriousness. “There's somepony stranded up there?”

“Yes Ma'am,” Clyde replies to Stern Wing then looks at the Doctor. “He tried to repair that radio tower since, apparently, a large wave damaged it earlier. The thing is, if that radio tower isn't repaired, we'll never be able to radio for help and get resupplied after the storm passes. We did warn them about the storm earlier so they are holding their distance, but we'll need those supplies too eventually.”

“Why didn't you try to repair the tower after the storm passes?” Stern Wing asks a bit tightly.

"Because we were trying to brace it," Clyde answers her then shakes his head. "Storms this intense have happened before, but never for this long. We were trying to secure it with extra chains, cables, and wires to avoid the damage from escalating further, but the cables broke. That also ripped out the pulley system we used to get our man up there."

“Is there any other way up or down the tower?” Stern Wing checks sharply.

Clyde nods as he says, “Yes Ma'am, but it's suicide to try. We do have a ladder we normally use to go up and down from there, but with this storm . . .” He trails off as he nods to indicate it. There is a moment of silence before he turns back to Stern Wing and adds, “Besides, he's now injured, so even without this storm, he may not be able to hobble down from there anyway.”

Stern Wing looks down as she contemplates what has been said very carefully.

“Just how long has the storm been going on, Sir?” asks the Doctor.

“Several weeks,” Kleetus answers as he slumps his shoulders in despair. “Several very long, very grueling weeks.” He shakes his head. “It has never gone this long and still be this intense.” He then grows angry. “It simply must be those evil Alphalmians! They need to pay for what they have done to us! I promise that they will!”

“Easy there, tiger,” the Doctor coaxes. “We still don't know what is going on, which is what we're here to find out.”

"And once you do?" Clyde checks with the Doctor and then can't help but sneak a desperate glance at Feather Wind in particular.

“After that, we'll do what we do best in these kinds of situations,” the Doctor answers as he puffs his chest out in pride but also with a look of confidence and determination on his face. “We're going to save everyone!” He then widens his eyes as he realizes something before saying, “Oh! Excuse me.” He turns to and bows to Feather and Stern as he corrects with a cocky smirk, “Everypony.”

“I'm going to go out there and save that pony!” Stern Wing declares with sudden determination as she lifts her head. “Feather,” she turns her head to gaze back at her foalhood friend still on her back. “would you mind helping me?”

“Of course I will,” Feather answers right away. “I'm surprised you have to ask.”

Stern Wing flashes a warm and grateful smile at her unicorn companion before shifting a narrow stare at the Doctor as if daring him to object, and if he does, he'll have a fight on his hooves.

The Doctor looks back and forth between the two of them real quick as he seems to do some quick mental calculations in his head before he nods in agreement and says, “Go. You two can handle this, I'm sure.”

Stern's firm warning look shifts to a grateful one as she nods at the Doctor in approval and then looks at the exit. "Alright then. Let's move."

Author's Note

I know this will make no difference to those reading this author's note far into the future, but for those more diligently following and tracking the story now, I will be moving the post date of this story from Saturday to Monday from now on. However, there may be some exceptions. If I notice any upcoming Monday to be a holiday, I will post the chapter of that week to either a Sunday or a Tuesday if that is sufficient to dodge the holiday which is dead space time to post stories.

Furthermore, just in case it comes up, I will also not be posting any more stories, including this one, on the last two weeks of the year and the first week of the following new year. Not only is the holiday vacation time the worst time to post a story to draw in new eyes, but even current readership tends to drop since many people are too busy traveling and visiting family.

For more details as to why I am making these changes, refer to my blog Smart Post Dating which, in itself, is a reference guide to yet another blog post When is the best time to post a story? -- Answered with SCIENCE!

So today is the last post I will make on Saturday, February 25th, 2023. The next post will be on Monday, February 27th, 2023. The following post after that will be on March 6th, 2023 and so on until it is done.

And speaking of which, I currently have no fixed plans on how this story is going to totally end. Instead of that, there'll be lots of "episodes" that each focus on their own little adventure, and some of them may connect to larger overarching plots which will accumulate to something akin to the television Doctor Who series equivalent of a season finale. Even then, though, this story might just continue into the next "season" until some kind of final conclusion is reached where the companions of the Tardis, specifically Feather, Stern, and Vision, retire their journey with the Doctor.

There is a chance for other spinoffs though which I might post as their own stories. Stay tuned.

Hollow Paradise Part 1: Doing Our Part

“And we're here,” the Doctor declares with a nonchalant, triumphant attitude as soon as the TARDIS they are riding within is done making its weird noises.

“How can you tell?” Stern Wing feels compelled to ask from outside of the center control rails.

“Uh . . . because the engine has stopped which means we rematerialized outside,” the Doctor answers while giving Stern Wing a confused blink.

Stern Wing uses her brown left wing with a darker brown tip to wave the Doctor off dismissively as she elaborates, “I'm not talking about the sound of the engine and whatnot. I'm talking about your certainty of where we are.

“Look, there are no windows to this vessel that I can tell and, from where I'm standing, there is only one entrance and exit to this place. With all of that being the case, how can you be so certain of where and when we are? You have no outside references to help guide your course.”

“Oh. That is what you mean,” the Doctor realizes with an amused chuckle. “Look, Stern Wing, you can't be thinking so third dimensionally when it comes to a vessel like this because this vessel does not travel through traditional time and space. Even if there were a window we could roll down and physically see what is beyond, all we'd see while in mid-transport is a wormhole tunnel. Transportation like that is akin to a magical gate in your world. It skips the space in between, so there's no point of reference we could gather if we could see on the outside.”

“Then how do you know where and when we're going?” Stern Wing presses. “Because all I see is you tweaking and pulling a bunch of levers, wires, and doohickies. How does that translate into knowing where and when we ended up?”

The Doctor sighs as he presses his right hoof on the bridge of his muzzle. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts before turning back to Stern Wing and answering, “The exact specifics of how I handle these controls would take too much time to explain and you wouldn't likely understand it anyway, but let me put it this way. Every spot in time and space can be calculated down to a very specific number. It's sort of like coordinates on a map except in four dimensions which include an X, Y, and Z axis. Just add time to the mix and there you go. I don't need to see outside this TARDIS because it wouldn't help me anyway. Instead, I have to plot a course to a specific spot by first working it out in my head,” he points to his head for a moment, “and then I use the TARDIS controls to deliver us to the spot that I desire.”

The Doctor lifts a hoof as he cautions, “I must warn you that this is a greatly oversimplified explanation but it gets the job done. In reality, there is more complexity in determining a specific spot because that spot has to be calculated on a universal level. The latitude and longitude of a specific planet aren't going to cut it when the whole universe is thrown into the picture. A different but somewhat similar method to chart our course has to be made. Add to that, there are all sorts of variables like gravity and time/space anomalies. A black hole, for example.”

The Doctor trails off when he notices Stern Wing's brain really seems to be fried. She is barely focusing on anything at all because of how confused she is.

“Go on. I'm listening,” Feather Wind prods. When the Doctor looks at the small sky-blue unicorn stallion, he notices that that pony has a much better grip on what he is explaining. It doesn't appear that even the small wizard is totally following this, but he is to some degree and he wants to learn more.

“And answer me this,” Feather goes on to say. “Just what is a black hole?”

“A very powerful spacial anomaly,” the Doctor answers. “One which is so strong, it can bend the fabric of space and time. As a matter of fact, something akin to that is precisely how these vessels like this travels. Knowing that, it also stands to reason that other spatial anomalies like it may skew us off course if I don't factor it in. Things like that are among the issues I mentally calculate when I plan a course.

“Look, you don't need all the details right at this moment. I'm just trying to explain that there are factors out there that are variables I have to account for.”

“I see,” Feather Wind says with a very thoughtful look. “I believe I partially understand.”

“That makes one of us,” Stern Wing expresses with a dizzy expression. Her eyes are actually spinning.

“You and me both, Sister,” Derpy says with just as dizzy of an expression. “I must have heard the Doctor try to explain it half a dozen times to me already, and I still don't understand it.” She shakes her head which makes a rattling sound before smiling at Feather Wind proudly. “If you can even partially understand it then you must be a really bright pony! Go you!” Derpy cheers.

For that complement, Feather Wind blushes shyly but also feels flattered.

“Ah . . . thank you,” Feather Wind expresses a bit lamely. His expression gets more serious again when he looks back at the Doctor and says, “I hope you don't mind if I pick your brain for more details about this later. If I can understand this well enough, perhaps I can, one day, hoofle the TARDIS controls myself, at least enough to deliver us out of potential danger. As it stands, I feel nervous that you're the only one aboard who knows how to hoofle it. At least one backup pilot would be more ideal. Mathematically doubly so.”

“Now that would be quite a challenge for you,” the Doctor says with an intrigued expression towards Feather Wind. “I have to say, not many of my past companions have made that offer, and fewer still have ever been able to handle it.”

“Has anypony . . . Um, I mean, anyone ever done so?” Feather Wind checks.

“Yes, but most of them were fellow Time Lords,” the Doctor answers. “And many of our race are trained to handle such things.”

“You said 'most' of your former companions, who hoofled the TARDIS, were fellow Time Lords. That implies that is not an absolute prerequisite,” Feather Wind shrewdly points out.

“You are a sharp one, Feather Wind,” the Doctor says with a proud grin. “I'll give you that, but that said, there are other issues you may have to contend with. I brought you aboard this ship not just to give you a joyride. That is true too, but you have a more focused objective here. You need to charge the Red Crystal with a sufficient amount of positive energy before you'll be ready to face the challenges that are left in your native timeline. Now I'm technically willing to try to teach whatever you can handle as long as it does not distract you too severely from your primary objective.

“And by the way, not everyone who handled these controls proficiently was a companion of mine. Some of them were, more or less, downright enemies who stole the TARDIS. One, in particular, comes to mind several times over.”

“Enemy Time Lords?” Feather Wind reflects nervously. “That sounds gravely alarming.”

“Well, back in my home dimension, hardly any of them are left,” the Doctor informs. “And they weren't all bad. I even had my granddaughter in here at one time. She was proficient with the ship and she wasn't an enemy.”

“Sounds like there's a story behind that,” Feather Wind notes with an intrigued expression.

“Indeed, but that shall be a tale for another time,” the Doctor decides as he makes his way down from the elevated center console. “Right now it is time to add to our story and we have some business to take care of here.”

Finally, Stern Wing refocuses from her dizzy expression and directs her attention back to the Doctor as she asks, “I take it we've landed on the planet of the guardians of Water World?”

“Ah . . . yes, except our destination isn't a planet, it's a moon,” the Doctor elaborates. “Furthermore it is an artificial moon if the other dimension serves as any indication.”

“Artificial?” Stern Wing echoes. “You mean it was hoof-built?”

“Precisely,” the Doctor answers. “One hundred percent of this moon isn't natural. From its surface to its core, this moon is completely constructed. Think of it as akin to a giant, spherical space station. Since it has become a stable satellite of another planet as well, it is also a moon.”

“A space station?” Feather Wind echoes. “That means that anypony can also roam the inside of this 'moon'. Fascinating.” He looks down with a fascinated look. “That would mean the occupants on this moon dwell in considerably more space than just the surface of this structure. If the entire core is also inhabitable, then that would considerably extend their options.”

“It's even more than that if my knowledge of the other dimension equivalent is accurate,” the Doctor mentions. “But let's not waste too much time discussing this here. We have a new world to explore.”

Derpy sighs as she lowers her head sadly before she says, “Sadly, I'm going to have to sit this one out as well.” She lifts her head with a more determined expression as she adds, “Vision still isn't well so I'll stay behind and take care of her.” She now gives a brave smile bright enough to cause her to momentarily close her eyes as she says, “So you all go on ahead without me and without worrying about Vision. I'll take good care of her.”

“And speaking of Vision, I should give her one last look-see before I depart,” the Doctor decides as he looks in the direction of the hallway leading towards the rest of the ship. “Final adjustments might be necessary to secure her health, so if you'll all excuse me.”

The Doctor trots his way out of the console room and into the hallway. Feather Wind waits till he is out of earshot before he turns to address Derpy and says, “That's not fair. Let me take care of Vision this time. You go on ahead with the Doctor. We'll take turns.”

“What?! No!” Derpy exclaims in alarm. “Absolutely not!”

“It's fine, Derpy. I do not mind one bit,” Feather Wind calmly assures the suddenly distraught gray pegasus mare. “While I help to take care of Vision, I can also work on attuning myself more to the Red Crystal. I need that practice and . . .” Feather Wind trails off when he sees Derpy continually shaking her head frantically.

“No, no, no, no, no, NO, NO! I forbid it!” Derpy insists while continually shaking her head and stomping one hoof each time she said no, and with greater intensity with the last three words. “You're far more useful to the Doctor out there than me.”

“Derpy, no,” Feather Wind moans sadly as he gazes at Derpy with a guilt-stricken face. “Please don't say that. You're plenty useful to-”

“PLEASE DON'T PATRONIZE ME!” Derpy screams insistently then relaxes a moment later with guilt on her face too as if she regrets raising her voice, but she also still looks determined mixed with sad. “We all know it is true. You're a very bright, resourceful, and accomplished wizard who can control the weather and sky with your cutie mark talent alone, and I'm a clumsy and ditsy mail delivery pony who has four left hooves and a feather for a brain. We don't need to spell it out any more than it already has been established. Let's just drop the subject and get on with our lives. You're much more useful to the Doctor out there. End of story, and I don't want to compound my sadness over that fact by continuing to debate this. You're going and I'm staying, and that's final!”

The three of them have an uncomfortable moment of silence before Stern Wing breaks it by saying, “I really hate to admit this, but Derpy has a point.”

For saying that, Feather Wind passes his foalhood friend a hurt look.

“I know you're a sensitive pony, but you're also smart. Think this through,” Stern Wing encourages her friend. “Derpy would actually be safer in here as well and we absolutely need somepony to take care of Vision right now. She is a blind foal under the best of circumstances, but now she's ill to boot. As for you and me? We're used to working together as a team, and I'm an obvious choice as well because of how big, strong, tough, and determined I am.” Stern Wing shakes her head as she goes on to say, “I'm not saying any of this with the intention to be a personal attack. I'm simply looking at the facts, and you need to do that too.” Stern Wing flashes a much more sympathetic look to Derpy for a moment before looking back at her small friend nearly the same way as she says, “For the moment, at least Derpy knows that you do have sympathetic fealings for her. For now, that will need to be enough, so get your head in the game and focus! As a trained wizard, you, above all, should know the value in that.”

“We all need to focus on what's best for the team,” Derpy agrees. “And, right now, I'm the most expendable one here.”

This time both Feather Wind and Stern Wing wince in pain at her wording, but Feather is the only one to voice that.

“I beg you, Derpy, never ever say that in front of us again. No pony aboard this ship is expendable, and I'm very sure that the Doctor would agree with me. That was a very poor choice of words, Derpy, and I want you to know that it hurt me.”

Derpy looks meek as she says, “Okay. I'm sorry. I take that one back. I really didn't mean to hurt either of you.” She starts to smile even as her yellow walleyes shine with tears as she says, “And I do deeply appreciate your feelings for me. Really I do.” Her kind smile shifts back to a determined face as she says, “I promise you, all I want to do aboard this ship is be helpful, and right now this is the best role I can see in front of me. I'm accident-prone wherever I go, but at least here the damage is more contained. I'm not putting anypony else's life at risk. What's more, I can actually be helpful to Vision, and you know I have plenty of motivation because I deeply care for the little filly. Let me have this one. I'm proud enough knowing I can at least be useful to you guys in here, and I will feel safer knowing more powerful and competent companions are securing the health and safety of the Doctor. And yours too, of course.”

Feather Wind winces as he says, “Look, it's not as if I can't see your point, but is this the arrangement we're going to have for every adventure we're ever going to have aboard this ship? I know you want to be with the Doctor too.”

“I want to be useful to him because I know he's out there, saving lives,” Derpy argues then shakes her head. “That is so much more important than my personal feelings. If I remaining here, in the TARDIS, gives us the best chance to accomplish that, then I'll proudly hold my place here. This is something I can do. Don't take that away from me when I have hardly any other good alternative. This isn't just for my sake. This isn't just for Vision's, and it isn't even about all of us in this ship. This is also for the sake of anypony you meet out there who needs our help! I will not tarnish the odds of success by any degree when a pony's precious life is at stake. That's too important to let our personal feelings stand in the way. We all have to make this sacrifice.” Derpy's chin quivers with pain as she says bravely but also sadly, “It's for the greater good of us all.”

“Feather,” Stern says softly as she gently applies a hoof to his shoulder. “Let this one go. You can't win this. I know what determination looks like and I know the value of pony lives. When those issues are in play, you cannot argue a mare off of her determined stance. It's like threatening a foal when his or her mother is present. You just don't do it and still expect to win.”

“Okay, fine. You two win,” Feather submits in a lamenting tone. “Maybe this doesn't have to be permanent anyway. Other opportunities may present themselves later. In fact,” his own eyes grow more determined, “I shall endeavor to design such opportunities whenever I see a remote possibility.” He focuses more on Derpy as he asks, “If I can provide a useful alternative, will you kindly reconsider your stance and join us out in our adventures together?”

Derpy's hurt yet also determined look quickly shifts to thoughtful as she mulls over his words before smiling brightly and says, “Um . . . okay! Sure! If you can provide a reasonable and ideal solution to our problem, I'll consider joining you all then.”

“I mean it, Derpy,” Feather Wind says firmly. “You better keep your word at that time.”

“That's still a ways off,” Stern Wing points out. “We can't predict the future. Well, with the possible exception of Vision, but that said, we can only deal with the here and now. There's nothing wrong with forming goals, but keep your focus on the present because this is when your focus is needed the most.”

“I'll do my duty. Don't either of you worry about that,” Feather Wind assures with steel in his own voice. “You all matter to me too so I won't deliberately do anything stupid that'll jeopardize our lives or any others. In fact, the reason why I wanted to settle this issue here and now is because I know I'll need it to help me focus better later on.” He shakes his head as he says, “I know I can't be in the game one hundred percent if I also know that I have a reason to feel guilty. My magic is drawn from my emotions in addition to my concentration, and if I am experiencing something that emotionally drains me then it will affect my spells as well. I, at the very least, need some hope to give me the strength to carry on.” He looks forward at nothing with a determined focus. “As long as I have that hope and goal in mind, I have something to shoot for and keep me focused.” He looks between the two of them again. “And I need you two to be aware of the fact I am not spilling empty promises here. I mean it when I say that I'll pounce on any chance that will solve this problem to the satisfaction of us all. Even Vision.”

“Well,” Stern Wing says as she narrows her eyes and glances at Derpy for a second before focusing back on Feather with the same expression. “Like I said before, having goals is fine, but let's be clear about what we're dealing with here. Vision isn't simply just a frail and blind filly, she's also a filly. Only natural time can solve the latter problem. That'll take years to solve. Years that will also add to our own time if we spend it with her. There may be some workaround options given the fact we have a time machine on our hooves, but somepony is going to have to bite the cork in the bottle and sacrifice their time to help raise her somewhere that's relatively safe. That's the only way she'll ever join our journey on even hoofing. Even then, she still may be blind and frail unless we come up with some innovative solution for that too.”

“Under normal circumstances, I'd often call my native home reasonably safe,” Derpy proposes. “Ponyville is a very pleasant community. There's hardly any cops there but they don't really need them as much either. As a small community, practically everypony knows each other's name and they prance about typically with a happy skip to their step. It is plagued by the occasional monsters, especially since we're parked next to the dangerous Everfree Forest, but in my native time, my home is also defended by the legendary Elements of Harmony. I know you two aren't aware of what that means exactly, but trust me. Our town practically has a bunch of real-life superheroines defending it and Equestria at large.”

“That might actually not be a bad option to consider,” Stern Wing agrees. “I haven't seen her native home and time yet, but if it produces ponies as naturally compassionate as Derpy here, I'm already leaning heavily on this option.”

“Oh. Thank you!” Derpy says gratefully to Stern Wing along with a very shy blush.

“We should at least check it out sometime before we fully commit to this,” Feather Wind advises seriously. “I'm sure the Doctor won't object to this either at some point.”

“Ooo! I would love to show you all my native home of Ponyville!” Derpy expresses very cheerfully. “It'll be great! I can show you my parents and my friends and Sugar Cube Corner and . . . ooo-ooo! Sweet Apple Acres! You'll just love it there. I know it.”

“You're probably right about that,” Feather Wind agrees. “I'm already on friendly terms with the Orchard Family who have later renamed to the Apple family somewhere along the way.”

“I'm guessing their focus on apple production in Ponyville probably had something to do with it,” Stern Wing surmises.

“That is my assumption as well,” Feather Wind agrees again.

“Granny Smith still lives there, and you know her,” Derpy mentions. “You can just ask her about things like that. I'm sure she'd have a tale, or two, to keep you compony for a while. Trust me, she's famous for that.”

“And reveal the fact we're time travelers?” Feather asks skeptically before shaking his head. “I'd rather avoid freaking her out if at all possible, especially at that age.”

“That said, most of the other citizens of Ponyville don't know us,” Stern Wing points out. “If we're avoiding Granny Smith because she might actually know us and freak her out, we don't have that excuse with anypony else. Plus, even with Granny Smith in the picture, that still wouldn't be a problem with Derpy and Vision, or even the Doctor, I suspect. She only knows you and me, Feather.”

“True,” Feather agrees then looks at the hallway as he hears, then sees, the Doctor return. Feather then flashes Derpy and Stern another glance as he says, “We'll finish this discussion later. Right now we need to focus on our current mission.”

Both mares nod in agreement.

“How is she, Doctor?” Derpy checks with the brown-coated and green necktie-wearing Time Lord stallion.

“Stable for now, but I did have to tweak her medication a bit,” the Doctor reports. “She's still running a high fever so I'm very grateful to you for staying here and looking after her. She'll have to be monitored closely.

“That said, I recommend lots of water and plenty of bed rest. She's mostly settled on the latter, although it is fitful bed rest.” The Doctor sighs in regret as he shakes his head. “Quite frankly, the poor little filly can hardly handle anything else right now. Fortunately for her, this is precisely what she needs to recover. I may recommend a change in her diet and more exercise when she is stronger, but for now, it is bed rest that'll keep the doctor away.”

“I'll keep a close eye on her. I promise,” Derpy vows. “So you all go on ahead knowing she will be fine.”

“Wasn't she coughing earlier?” Stern Wing checks with the Doctor. “You don't think she's contagious, do you?”

The Doctor shakes his head as he says, “I think she's well over that hurdle now. Even when this illness was fresh, the treatment I gave her should have kept a good lid on that particular issue, so those treating her should be fine.

“So then,” the Doctor continues as he tightens and adjusts his green necktie, “if you're all done with your heated little debate here, let us be off! To adventure, my friends!”

“You heard us?” Stern Wing asks in amazement.

“No, but I don't have to,” the Doctor answers. “The story is clearly written on all of your faces, and speaking of which, Derpy,” he focuses on her, “please attend to your patient. Monitor her closely. I also left a device by her bedside which you can use to contact me just in case things go south. Be warned that I may not be able to immediately respond, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can. You have my word on that, and in the meantime, you can at least be assured that I'll be alerted to your situation.”

“Yes, Doctor! Right away,” Derpy says seriously then hops up and actually flies into the hallway just to get there more quickly. As predicted by most, however, she has an accident down there when her wing clips the wall several feet down the hallway. From there, she crashes and tumbles several feet, but then quickly calls out, “I'm alright! I am oh-kay. Just . . . being me again.”

The Doctor scoffs with an amused snicker but then narrows his eyes slightly at Feather Wind as he observes the young stallion viewing the hallway with concern.

“Feather Wind,” the Doctor calls out to the young unicorn which draws the blue stallion's attention to him. With it, the Doctor says, “Be aware that Derpy made her choice. We have to respect that, even if we partly disagree with it. Keep in mind that the best thing we can do for her, right now, is to hold our heads high. The less we seem to feel guilty about her decision, the less reason she has to feel guilty in return.”

Feather Wind widens his eyes at the Doctor.

“Now then, shall we?” the Doctor proclaims in a sudden chipper tone. “Onwards and Upwards, my friends.”

With that, the Doctor trots his way out of the TARDIS.

Stern Wing almost follows, but she hesitates when she notices Feather Wind isn't following yet. Instead, he just has his eyes wide open with an amazed expression followed by an embarrassed one. He then shuts his eyes and rubs the bridge of his muzzle.

“What is it? What's wrong?” Stern Wing asks her friend in cautious concern.

Feather Wind casts a long sigh before lowering his hoof back to the ground, shaking his head, and cracks his eyes open before saying, “One of these days I am finally going to learn to stop underestimating the Doctor.”

“Uh,” Stern Wing winces, “what do you mean?”

Feather glances at Stern for a second then looks out the now open exit of the TARDIS as he says, “Earlier, I thought the Doctor was being callous on how accepting he was of Derpy's decision. Little did I realize he was thinking at least ten steps ahead of me as usual. When am I ever going to learn?”

“Um . . . I don't have the answer to that question right now,” Stern Wing replies, “but I do know that you're the brightest pony aboard this ship aside from the Doctor. If there is anypony who surely will learn what he needs to know, it's you.”

Feather thinks about that compliment for a moment before flashing Stern a side grateful smile as he says, “Thanks. It's good to know you think so highly of me.”

“And for good reason,” Stern assures. “You're one of the most amazing ponies I know.”

“Well,” Feather returns his gaze to the exit as he says, “we better get a move on and join the Doctor out there. We can work on all of these other problems later. For now, as you said earlier, we should focus on what's in front of us.”

“Indeed,” Stern agrees as she looks at the exit as well. “Let's move.”

Part 4 History Enchanted

“Well,” Stern Wing comments as she exits Madam Pinkie Pie's tent. “That was both predictable and surprising at the same time.” She looks back as she watches her friends exit the tent as well. She focuses her next question at Derpy in particular. “Is that normal for that mare?”

“Pretty much,” Derpy confirms with a casual shrug.

“Pretty much all the time,” Time Turner confirms more firmly. “But all of us who grew up in this town with her are used to that. I may not personally understand or approve of how easily she breaks the laws of physics, but if there is one thing I most definitely can say in that mare's favor, it's that she's really good at her job. Lifting the spirits of all those in Ponyville is a personal mission for her.”

“OH SHOOT!” Derpy gasps in unpleasant shock which momentarily puts her friends on edge. “I forgot to tell her to bring muffins to the party.” Derpy slaps her face with a hoof. “How could I be such a feather brain about this?” Derpy spins about to face the entrance/exit of the tent behind them. “Excuse me for a moment.”

Derpy was about to enter back into the tent but her face gets shoved right back outside not only because of a very extended pink hoof but a muffin that is carried on top of it.

“Here you go,” the largely unseen Pinkie offers from beyond the tent entrance/exit. “For you, and don't worry! I know what to bring to a party to make sure all my friends smile! That's another Pinkie Promise.”

“Oh goodie! Thank you!” Derpy squees as she accepts the offered muffin with both of her wings. She then brings it immediately to her mouth and scarfs down a large bite. Magical, floating bubbles appear around Derpy's head as a visual gag to show how much Derpy's mind is now floating in pure bliss. The underside of her eyes blush red as an additional sign of that.

“Okie-dokey-lokey!” the still unseen Pinkie cheers as she withdraws her pink hoof back into her tent. “See you all tonight! Please look forward to it. You won't be disappointed.”

The whole TARDIS crew, plus Time Turner, is suddenly silent for four seconds before they all erupt in a mirthful laugh. Some of them don't even consciously know why they did that at that moment and would later categorize it as a brief moment of temporary insanity, although there is no doubt that Pinkie would personally interpret that as a personal badge of honor.

“Well,” Time Turner says as he starts to calm down again and wipe a happy tear away. “Now that that brief moment of insanity is over, do you all care to resume the tour?”

“You all go ahead. There is something else I want to check out myself,” Feather expresses.

“Sweet Apple Acres?” Stern guesses wisely.

“Bingo,” Feather confirms with a proud nod to his foalhood friend.

“Well, we can make that the next destination for us all,” Time Turner offers.

“No,” Stern Wing objects as she looks back at Time Turner. “I think he wants to be more alone on this one. I've noticed that crowds, like this,” she uses her face to gesture around them, “eventually starts to overwhelm him. I think he just wants to withdraw to someplace quieter.” She looks at Feather. “And familiar.”

“True that,” Time Turner says as if he just realized something. “This whole town is very new to the four of you time travelers.”

A passing mare by the name of Carrot Top pauses in her trot for a second as she gives Time Turner a curious look for that comment.

“Aren't we all traveling through time?” Time Turner explains to Carrot Top to help explain his earlier comment. “Time waits for no pony and all that.”

Carrot Top blinks at Time Turner then shrugs carelessly before casually proceeding on with her day.

“You should probably keep comments like that on the down low while we're all in public,” Stern Wing sternly and quietly advises Time Turner.

“Point taken,” Time Turner agrees while he fidgets nervously with his green bow tie.

“Do you think you can even find Sweet Apple Acres?” Derpy asks Feather in concern.

“Don't worry. I'll ask the wind,” Feather assures.

“I'm sure there is some world and timeline out there where a comment like that makes sense,” Time Turner says as he lifts an eyebrow at Feather Wind.

“Just in case, I'll go with you,” Derpy offers then suddenly gets shy as she amends, “if . . . if you don't mind, that is.”

Feather shakes his head as he says, “I don't mind at all. I'm perfectly comfortable, and even elated, for you to join me.” He gives a casual smile at Derpy then follows that up by looking at Stern Wing, but that smile dims a bit when he notices a look of concern in Stern's eyes. “Something wrong?” he checks with Stern.

“Um . . . no. I'm sure you two will be fine,” Stern reassures but she continues to hold a guarded expression on her face. “You two be careful. Don't drop your guard too much even around here.”

“Ah . . . sure,” Feather says with a mystified and slightly disturbed blink.

Stern Wing steps forward then kisses the top of Feather Wind's mane before she steps back and says, “I'm sure you two will be fine, as I said. Just be careful, and I'll see you two later.”

“Well. Shall we?” Derpy offers as she gestures in the correct direction with a wing.

“Sure. Let's go,” Feather accepts as he trots in the indicated direction.

As they proceed, Derpy shortly later asks, “Also didn't you say earlier that you didn't want to run into any of the Apple family at this time? Especially Granny Smith?”

“I'm not planning on visiting the Apple family and especially Granny Smith,” Feather explains to Derpy as he continues. “I just want to visit the farm itself and see how much it has changed, or hasn't changed as the case may be.”

Feather pauses for a brief moment when the wind brushes up against his head and a whisper is carried with it.

“The reason I advised caution is because we were being followed by some cloaked pony,” Feather hears Stern's whisper in the wind. “Perhaps we still are. Somepony was tailing us earlier. I'm still sure you two will be fine as long as you remain on your guard. However, if your status changes then let me know via the wind if able.”

This is the first time Feather heard anything about this and he didn't notice this himself. For a brief moment he wonders privately why Stern kept this to herself until now, but then he figures she wanted the others to enjoy themselves and not panic while she secretly remained alert for this possible threat. For as long as Stern kept this to herself, the one following them shouldn't be tipped off about the guard pony being alert about this either. However, since the party is now being split up a bit, Stern finally fessed up and stealthily offered this tip to at least Feather Wind.

“Thanks for the tip. I promise I'll remain alert,” Feather Wind whispers then allows the wind to carry that message back to Stern.

Along the way to Sweet Apple Acres, Feather Wind doesn't notice anypony tailing after them. That doesn't mean there isn't anypony there. There are a lot of trees to hide behind in this area.

Indeed. A lot. Far more than Feather is accustomed to. This farm has obviously expanded across these one hundred years significantly. Last time he checked, this family just had a few orchards immediately around the Orchard's new home. Now their orchards sprawl across many hilltops all across this landscape.

“Are you serious?!” Feather Wind asks in shock when Derpy informs him how many Apple family members live at this farm permanently. “Just four ponies are living at this farm? And two of them being so old and young that they can't help buck any of the apples down from all these trees?! So what you're really telling me is only two farmers are left to buck all of these trees?”

“Apple Bloom and Granny Smith both help out on the farm in their own way,” Derpy assures. “Chores and quality assurance and all that.”

Feather squints an eye at Derpy as he asks her, “Didn't Time Turner say earlier that the Apple family is very large?”

“Yes,” Derpy confirms. “If you don't believe me, time travel to one of their family reunions.

“However, that family is spread out a lot all across Equestria. They are mixed up in all kinds of things now, but they come back to the farm about once a year. Sometimes more, but it also depends upon what else they're caught up in. The bond of this family is still very strong. That promise to come back once in a while drags them from all corners of Equestria. This farm is still their focal point.”

Feather looks down as he thinks back. He remembers when the Orchard family got chased off their original farm by a small hoard of goblins. If it was only their house and barn that got burned down, they could have recovered. However the goblins poisoned the land as well, and a strategy like that was way beyond the normally dim-witted and kind of insane little buggers. It was only later that Feather learned that the attack was driven by Puppet Master which was Feather's first, albeit distant, encounter with that insane sociopath. Years later Feather further learned that the whole thing might have been secretly masterminded by King Sombra.

What followed after that tragedy was something that Feather never forgot, though, nor would he wish to. Despite the loss the Orchards had suffered, there was something heroically endearing about how they stuck together and cheered each other up. It was so hard to smile back then, but they kept on trotting and they kept on singing. While Feather's younger self temporarily joined them just to make sure they remain in the clear about that which attacked them earlier, the Orchard's insisted he was part of the family during their initial trek. As such, they insisted that he join their songs.

As far as Feather knows, Granny Smith is the last pony left who remembers that initial trek besides Feather Wind himself. What he observed about earth ponies back then dramatically shifted his perspective and gave him a healthy respect for the culture. They were so strong both inwardly and outwardly. To imagine family roots like that taking root here in Ponyville and then growing into all of this!

A proud tear trails down Feather's face and chokes up his breathing a bit.

“You okay?” Derpy timidly but also kindly asks beside him.

“Yeah. I'm fine,” Feather assures as he bends his head and wipes the tear away with his bent left knee. He then gazes upon that tear for a second before trotting on. “It's just that . . . being here, at this farm, is bringing back a lot of memories for me. Some of them are good, and some of them are bad. Mostly all of this reminds me how strong and loyal this family is to each other. How much they care for one another. I was not entirely alienated from this kind of culture during my upbringing but you can imagine how different it can get among Canterlot elite even during my time.”

Derpy remains quiet for that comment because she doesn't know what to say. There are many things in this world that go way, way above her head. She is sympathetic to Feather even if she doesn't fully understand where he's coming from.

“Strong family. Strong roots,” Feather goes on. “Strong enough to help forge all of this.” He looks around the giant orchard around him almost in awe. Derpy has a feeling that Feather meant far more than just the farm. After all, she just told him that this family has spread out all across Equestria. That means this family's influence upon this world has spread just as far. So many amazing stories are out there because of it, and all of it started here on this humble little farm in Ponyville.

In thinking of that, Derpy's own eyes start to tear up since she's beginning to understand the sheer magnitude of what happened here. There is a lot about this that she used to take for granted, but now she's beginning to feel the weight of it by traveling beside another pony who was a part of this history.

It's all connected.

“I love this future, Derpy,” Feather says with a proud smile and tears glazing his own eyes. “I'm so glad to see how brightly things turned out here, and I promise I'll do whatever I can to make sure that this world is forged from my own little corner of it. I won't take any of it for granted. I can't. It's just too important.”

“Listening to you say that about my home, the world I grew up in, I . . . I'm so moved, Feather,” Derpy expresses to Feather very emotionally. Mostly happily.

“Everywhere I look, I see a story begging to be told,” Feather goes on. “A poem waiting to be born. A history as alive and as rich as the trees that are all around us. Savor it, Derpy. It's all so meaningful, alive, and special.”

At that moment, as if on cue, the wind suddenly picks up. It is potentially caused by the blue stallion beside her, but he isn't acting like it. He does, however, seem to expect it, for he pauses in place, closes his eyes, and breathes it in deeply as the wind passes the two of them.

As requested, Derpy closes her eyes and spreads her wings just a bit as she savors the wind that passes through them. Like Ponyville and its history, the wind is something else she used to take for granted. However, ever since she started traveling with another pony who has such a deep connection to it, her own appreciation for it takes on a whole new dimension of depth in her soul. It feels like rediscovering something deeper about a thing she previously overlooked. That certainly makes this moment feel magical and special to her.

The wind blows through her mane and ruffles through the gray feathers on her wings. All around her, she hears the sizzling sound of the wind drifting through the many branches of the apple trees all around them. Because of that, she can also smell the apples in the breeze. It feels like a gift to her. A sacred gift. It's like a reward for simply being alive at this moment.

Derpy slowly opens her wet walleyes. She feels so enchanted at this moment that it almost makes her dizzy.

“I love how you view the world, Feather,” Derpy expresses quietly but very emotionally. “You're almost as enchanting to me as the Doctor in your own way. He helped to open my eyes to many possibilities and impossibilities spread out in all of time and space. It feels incredible even though it also makes me feel smaller and smaller.

“But you help to remind me how sacred my own roots are. How much joy is waiting to be noticed in my own home. I almost feel ungrateful for not noticing it before.” She frowns as she looks down. “Too busy moping over the others teasing me about my crazy eyes or my lack of balance, I suppose. I wasted so much time feeling sorry for myself.”

Now it's Feather's turn to remain quiet but also very present beside Derpy. He just stands there and listens to her, watches her, and cares for her very deeply.

“You have very kind eyes, Feather,” Derpy says as she looks at him with a smile. “The gentle soul behind them feels almost otherworldly. Thank you for being my friend and for just being you.”

“To you as well, Derpy,” Feather replies. “Right back at you.”

A sudden whimsical thought snaps into Derpy's mind. It entails an opportunity that she just now realizes she should have taken advantage of a long time ago.

“Feather Wind . . . let's go for a fly!” Derpy cheers in an enchanted voice. “I just realized we've never done that together yet. The very thing that is most dear and sacred to you is something we haven't shared yet.”

“You sure?” Feather checks with that same kind and gentle eyes, but it is brighter now with elation.

“I'm a pegasus, yet you make me feel like I never truly understood the sky before,” Derpy expresses then shakes her head. “At least, not to the degree that you have. I want to see it for myself. A true glimpse into the depth of your world.”

“You've always been welcome to join it, Derpy,” Feather says with a soft and gentle smile.

“Yeah, but now I finally noticed that. I acknowledge it,” Derpy returns. “With you, a flight probably feels ten times more enchanting. I want to experience that at least once in my life. It's on my bucket list now, and we already have an opportunity to cross it out.”

“Then let's fly, Derpy!” Feather expresses brightly as the winds suddenly pick up again. “To the skies above and even the stars beyond. May no gravity, or any limitation, ever impede our unlimited freedom.”

“Yes!” Derpy cheers. “Let's.”

Derpy spreads her wings as Feather Wind floats his Mist Cloak out of his saddlebag. He floats the opening in the hood through his horn and tucks each of his hooves into four corner pockets of the Mist Cloak. Once he does that, he yanks the magical cloud cloak tot while lightening this body weight. The wind catches within his cloak and propels him to sail up like a kite except he isn't tethered by a string.

Together they fly free in the skies above Ponyville. The whole landscape sprawls around them from this much higher bird's eye view. This affords them a much broader perspective, but they also savor their view at the level of the sky. Playfully they dance and swirl around other clouds in the sky. The wind coils around those clouds and twists them into a higher column. Sometimes they also plunge into it like sinking into cotton candy or just lift a hoof as they fly under it. Doing so causes bits of clouds to spiral behind them as they fly onward.

Down below and hidden among the various trees of Sweet Apple Acres, the mysterious cloaked figure continues to watch them.

Part 10: Decisions

Perhaps I should have expected an earth pony stallion named Leg It to be able to race so far ahead of the rest of us that we'd lose sight of him. Even after the heavy lifters in our party dumped most of our gear just so they can run faster, no pony can keep up with Leg It.

While perhaps I should have expected that, I must admit that I had no way to predict that Leg It would also find us after proceeding so far ahead that we lost sight of each other. But, when he did return, he tells us that he may have found shelter that can offer us protection from whatever large carnivorous creature we have discovered. He tells us to follow him. Since none of us take that much time to more fully evaluate our situation, we just proceed to do so.

Leg It leads us under the trunk of a very tall tree. The roots of this tree is so thick, they would have qualified as most average tree trunks back in Equestria in terms of length and thickness. There is a gnarled look to them that thrusts the rest of the tree up off the ground. Either that, or some creature dug out a hole beneath this tree at some time.

In any case, it is large enough to fit the whole party within, but we do have to duck and squeeze ourselves past some narrow openings along the way in. Once inside, my hide crawls upon sight of how many large insects are down here as well. It may offer us protection from the large predator for the moment, but I really think I can't sleep down here personally.

We take quite a few minutes to catch our breaths with the curious exception of Doctor Smith. He alone looks like he did not break a sweat which is quite surprising since he doesn't look like the kind of stallion who can keep up with a professional sports pony. He seems more like a nerdy professor so his stamina in this situation feels really unexpected. In hindsight, however, I start to more fully realize how nothing about this stallion is what he seems. He's been constantly surprising me left and right.

And then he does it to me again right now.

“You all stay here and catch your breaths,” Doctor Smith says as he starts to venture towards the exit. “I'll find our stragglers and lead them to our position as safely as I can muster right now.”

“Wait a minute! What stragglers?!” Leg It exclaims in startled surprise.

“You mean we're not all here?” Doctor Venture wonders as she scans those who are here and appears to do a head count.

“Straight Arrow, Terminus, and Trump Card are missing,” I inform this group with more confidence than the majority of us are expecting. “I know because I saw them wheel about and deliberately try to stall the creature from chasing the rest of us.”

My declaration stuns the majority of the group who suddenly stare at me with unblinking eyes.

“The good news is it seems they succeeded,” I go on to announce. “The bad news is . . .” I trail off because I lost strength telling them the bad news.

“The bad news is they are not here,” Doctor Smith finishes for me. “Which is precisely what I'm going to change if I can.”

“Then I'm going with you,” Tanon announces as he floats up and loads a bolt in his crossbow.

“Me too!” Leg It quickly volunteers. “It's my fault that we got in this mess in the first place. If I hadn't-”

“You're right. It is your fault!” Tanon agrees with harsh accusation. “And that is exactly why you are not going. I'm not giving you another chance to screw up again as severely as you have before. Right now we can't afford more set backs like that again.”

Leg It frowns as his ears fall flat. He visibly winces at Tanon's harsh accusation, but he goes on to argue, “And that is why I need to fix this! I can't-”

“Are you aware that those three are probably dead because of you?!” Tanon growls harshly. “Do you hear me? DEAD!” Tanon shouts which causes the whole party to flinch. “All three of those stallions are way past the prime of their lives, and they had to face that gigantic creature with just the three of them. Only if we're lucky will we find any shred of their corpses to bury, and I refuse to escalate the danger any further by allowing incompetent green legs to tag along. Stay here where it's safe. You've done enough damage.”

Every word Tanon threw at Leg It is like a punch to the face. By the end he looks truly devastated.

Likely because of Leg It's reaction, Doctor Smith takes a step towards the other stallion and says, “Right now there is something useful you can do for us here.” Leg It looks up at Doctor Smith with a desperate look of hope. “Stay here so you can look after the others here,” Doctor Smith proposes as he nods to indicate every other pony here.

“We're not helpless Senior,” announces one of our heavy laborers. This brown coated stallion sports very bushy mustache but no other facial hair at all. He takes a step forward to announce his presence as the one who just spoke and looks at the rest of us meaningfully. “We're all used to heavy lifting and labor. Pretty much all of us could deck and take out any average pony.” He scans among us then nods to indicate Doctor Cabbelleron's henchpony Rouge who is the largest of those three. “Except maybe you, Senior,” this worker stallion amends. “You probably could out deck all of us.”

Rouge looks surprised by that announcement. He then takes a closer look at the rest of us gathered here. What he sees eventually causes him to close his eyes, nod his head, and wear a faint proud smile in agreement.

“All that said,” the worker stallion goes on to say as he scans among all of us again, “none of us could have done a thing against that creature. That remains true. This shelter,” he gestures above, “is the only thing protecting us right now.” He then nods towards Tanon and Doctor Smith. “And you amigos still can't do anything to that creature, so why go?”

“There is something I can do to that creature,” Tanon argues then shakes his head. “But it wasn't an option for me before. At the time, my job was to secure the safety of the group here. Now that that is done, I can more easily concentrate my efforts on the next task.”

I swallow a lump in my throat before clearing my throat then going on to announce while desperately trying to squash the panic I feel welling within, “Allow me to come too. I want to help.”

“But you're not even an adventurer,” Doctor Venture argues with a look on her face and expression in her voice which both points to genuine concern.

“Yeah, but she is a pegasus,” Doctor Smith announces. “And the only one in this party we have. That just might give us some vital options against this creature we might not otherwise have access to. In this case, I say the risk is worth it as long as she is willing.” He nods to me proudly as he goes on to say, “And I admire your bravery, Miss.”

“We don't need her,” Tanon argues but with a considerably softer expression than the one he gave to Leg It. It's more like he's stating a fact rather than trying to deliberately hurt the feelings of yet another pony. “I have a way to deal with that creature and it would be easier if we limit those who are involved.”

“But you have to admit, an aerial scout might come in handy,” Doctor Smith counter argues to Tanon. “She could also lure the creature away from us, or those stallions, using a method none of the rest of us have access to. I say having access to those options is too good to refuse right now.”

I am surprised to see a look of pained reluctance from Tanon. It is only then that it occurs to me that he might have a personal objection to me coming. I am the granddaughter of one of his best friends after all.

“I . . . I can do this!” I cry out insistently after I recover from a slight stutter. “I want to do this. Let me help you. If you find any of those stallions alive, you might need my help to carry them back anyway. I understand the need to keep the party smaller for the sake of tactical mobility and stealth, but we'll have to consider what happens next after we find them.” I point to Doctor Smith as I say, “Having a pony with medical expertise makes sense. After all, we might not find any of them in tip-top shape.” I then point to Tanon, of whom I am still talking to for the sake of convincing him. “You also makes sense because you're our most senior explorer and claim to have a method of dealing with this creature. As for me, I should go because I have the ability to fly. We should also bring-” I go on as I look at Doctor Cabbelleron, but I cut myself off when I see that stallion sit down, lift both of his forehooves, and shake his head no.

“No. I absolutely refuse to go,” Doctor Cabbelleron insists.

I can't believe what I am hearing! Doctor Cabbelleron is among the most experienced adventurers in this party and one who made some of the most important discoveries among us. As a result, it didn't even occur to me that he'd refuse until I witnessed it right before me.

“I will, however, stay here and watch after those who remain,” Doctor Cabbelleron amends as he closes his eyes and gestures to himself with a graceful flourish. “We'll need somepony here who can take charge and keep those remaining here from panicking. That shall be my role.”

Hearing that calms me down a little. It's hard to deny a surprised and numb sense of disappointment that Doctor Cabbelleron refuses to accompony me after it took so much courage for me to volunteer, but he also does have a good point. If we're going to split up, having a pony here with a cool head on his shoulders probably would be very useful. Those of us who are going will probably feel better about it if we can feel more certain that those we are leaving behind will be safe.

“That's a good idea,” Doctor Smith agrees. “We need to keep the party who is going light and agile, and it would be better to leave somebody here who has a good head on his shoulders.” He nods to Cabbelleron. “Keep the others safe and organized till the rest of us get back.”

“Are you sure you-” Leg It began nearly with a begging expression but Tanon's harsh glare at the stallion silenced the rest of Leg It's sentence. As a result, Leg It returns to a moping expression for he looks genuinely guilty for putting us in the situation we are facing so far.

Noticing this exchange makes me feel numb inside. Only in this moment does it occur to me that I've been looking up to every professional adventurer in this party in the same way I once looked up to my parents and grandparents during a time when I was still a filly. I once looked up to all adults, really, as if they were infallible because they knew more things about the world than I did. Back when I had so little knowledge of my own to command, I absolutely relied upon every adult around me to know what was best for me and it took many years to notice that some adults disagreed with each other. Only at that time did I start to question the validity of an adults claims. If they all have the correct answers in life, then how is it possible for any of them to disagree with each other? The moment any argument came up seemed to automatically mean one of them had to be right and the other wrong, but if both were adults, how can I tell which is which? It was only then that I became disillusioned to this idea that absolutely all adults are infallible.

It is only now that I start to realize that that same youthful idealism I once had towards all adults lingered in my perception of professional adventurers who have some real field experience. I guess I figured it was because I knew, by then, with each of them armed with approximately the same amount of experience under their belts, that they would all inevitably reach the same conclusion as to how to properly survive out there with this kind of profession.

But no. In the real world, both wisdom and experience of each individual adventurer greatly varies. The stories I've read, both fictional and non-fictional, are always written by those who survived the experience or at least imagined the experience. For those who didn't survive the experience, their tale is downright silent. As a result, the rest of the world has less of a chance to learn from their failures. Overall, it makes the profession itself seem safer when we're only hearing it from the side of the winners.

Reality is a much harsher mistress, though. Until Tanon had said it, it didn't consciously occur to me that those three elderly former guards who stayed behind voluntarily may, in fact, be dead.

When I think of that, I harden my resolve to find out. Dead or not, I have to know. I just can't live with the idea that we abandon them without even checking. Even if we find only one survivor among the three, that one survivor may save the rest of our lives one day. After all, despite and because of how elderly they are, they have access to techniques the rest of us lack. Now that we're out here on this lost continent all alone, we're the only ones we can count on to save each other. The death of each one of us diminishes the odds of success for all the rest.

Besides all that, this is just the right thing to do. I feel it in my heart.

Author's Note

This chapter was made on 5/10/2023. The next one I wrote was many months later. Frankly I thought the story was dead in the interim. All of this started because I got a note from Section 8 housing authority that I may qualify for government housing assistance. That was very nice, but also meant leaving the place I was at for 20 years and deal with all of the issues of finding and moving to a new place. The creative muse was hard to spark during that time, but I since settled into a new place since then and managed to write a few more chapters so far.

Part 23: A Legend Begins

I gasp in astonishment as soon as I step through the doors and enter the interior of the Blue Box. The inside is astonishingly spacious. I have never seen anything like it outside works of fiction, and even then it feels far-fetched.

Then I glance to my side and behold Doctor Smith observing me with an amused, expectant look on his face.

“What?” I ask him as my face flushes with a tiny shade of shyness.

“Oh . . . nothing,” he says as he continues to hold his ghost of a grin. He touches the fedora hat and closes his eyes as he says, “I was just wondering what you think of the place.”

“It's . . . surreal,” I say breathlessly as my gaze sweeps across the place again.

Then I look down.

“And at the moment . . . a tad overwhelming too,” I admit sadly. “After everything else I've been through on this journey . . . part of me feels as if I must be in a dream.”

“I suppose that's one way to put it,” Doctor Smith partially agrees with a far more somber expression. “You really have been through a lot. Probably more than a mare your age should be put through. In this place, though,” he focuses back at me which I notice off the corner of my left eye, “please be at ease. Nothing shall harm you in here. I promise.”

Reminded of something, I lift my head again and gaze back at him partially over my left shoulder as I say to him, “Before you left through the Stargate portal, you promised me you'd be back to help me. At the time I couldn't conceive how you'd do it, but for some strange reason I believed you anyway.”

Doctor Smith smiles at me softly as he expresses, “I'll take that as a compliment then.”

For the next fifteen seconds, the two of us continue to stand there in slightly awkward silence. For me, it is a lot more than that. There's already been so much for me to process right now. I still feel like I'm in shock. That's why my emotions seem to be on vacation right now. While they are gone, I feel mostly blank and empty inside.

“Stay here,” Doctor Smith bids me. “I'm going to step outside and take care of Tanon's body.”

“Please hurry,” I urge him with more force in my words than I feel inside. It seems like I should be carrying much more right now, but instead I'm just going through the motions. Still, it seems important to warn him that, “Leg It bought us a little bit of time out there, but it is unlikely it will be for long. When the Naga are through with him, they'll show up here soon.”

“I won't be long. I promise,” Doctor Smith swears as he steps towards the exit of this place. “When I'm done with that, I'll shut this door. Nothing shall get through after that, and this ship won't stay here for long anyway.”

The shadow of confusion rests in the corners of my mind, but I mostly just stare blankly at him as he leaves this . . . whatever this place is.

I sweep my gaze across this place again. I notice most of the activity and emphasis in this room is located in the center of the room. There seems to be a circular console there that is raised up higher than the rest of the room by a single step. Contraptions spill down the center of the room and meet up with the console there. Celestia only knows what that thing is for, but my guess is Doctor Smith operates this Box thing from there. This “Police Call Box”, whatever that means.

My left ear shifts towards the door when I hear a weird sound outside. Moments later Doctor Smith returns inside this Box thing and shuts the front door. When he spins about and proceeds further inside, I notice a curious look of satisfaction on his face.

“What did you do?” I ask curiously. “You couldn't have buried his body that fast. Besides that, that cave is solid rock out there. I also don't see you lugging in his body in here, so . . .” I trail off.

“What I've done is de-molecularize and rearranged his subatomic structure,” Doctor Smith states as if it should have been a casual fact. “In essence, I made his body a lot more portable.”

“Ahhhh . . .” I gaze at him, stunned. “How portable?” I eventually venture to ask.

Doctor Smith steps up to the center console. Until I asked my last question, it looked like that was where his focus was going to be. After I ask, though, he turns to look at me for a second then reached inside his coat to pull out something. When he reveals it on his right hoof, what he holds towards me appears to be a teardrop shaped topaz gem. With it presented, he tells me, “About this portable.”

“Wha- . . .?” I blink, stunned again. “Ha . . . How?”

“That's not really important right now,” the Doctor replies as he returns the gem to an inside coat pocket. “And it is unlikely you'd understand me even if I told you. Right now I want to dematerialize this ship from my current spot. I'm confident that the Naga, or even Decay, can't get through those doors. Nevertheless, I don't want them to even know that this thing was ever here.”

I see Doctor Smith fiddle with some controls. When he gives a final yank of some lever, he gazes up in satisfaction as the place we're in groans to life again. Once again I hear the same sound that I heard when this Box first materialized.

“Thankfully this temple doesn't have cameras either,” Doctor Smith expresses in satisfaction. “I don't even think it did during its heyday. The residents of that time clearly had other priorities in mind.”

“Where are we?” I suddenly demand to know. “And who are you really? Time and time again, you've proven yourself to be unlike any pony I've ever known.”

“Ponies seem quite distinctive to me, at least in this universe,” Doctor Smith says as he steps up to the rail around the center console and crosses his forelegs there. “Distinctive enough to say that every pony is unique.”

“Yeah, but you are far more unique,” I assure him confidently. “Much more otherworldly. Plus, I remember when you said you'd bet one of your two hearts over something or another back when we were in front of the statue of the Great Serpent. At the time I thought you were joking, but now I'm not so sure.” I lift a hoof and gesture around this place as I add, “Plus there is this place. No ordinary location or object that I know of is bigger on the inside.”

Doctor Smith's expression towards me immediately brightens as he cheers, “There it is! That's fantastic! Finally you said the word!”

I wince at him in confusion as I ask, “What words? What in blazes are you talking about?”

Suddenly Doctor Smith lifts a hoof and pushes it lightly towards me in a calming gesture as he says, “Your questions and confusions is very understandable and fair. Also I shouldn't expect a mare as intelligent and observant as you not to notice unusual details about your traveling companions.” He looks about him as he adds, “Especially obvious details like this place.”

“Please level with me,” I urge him. “What's going on?” I suddenly give him a shrewd expression as I ask him, “This is the legendary Blue Box that Doctor Caballeron was talking about on the ship during the storm, isn't it?”

Doctor Smith gives me a faint proud look as he tells me, “Indeed. It is.” His expression turns to more normal as he goes on to say, “It is called the TARDIS which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It is a time and space transport vehicle that is among some of the most useful inventions of my native people who once called themselves Time Lords.” He shrugs slightly as he adds, “Or Ladies as the case may be, though that, too, is highly relative because our appearance can change greatly on each regeneration. My people,” he applies a hoof to his chest, “can recover from near fatal wounds using a natural technique that we call regeneration, but the process is trying and it can greatly alter our appearance and even much of our personality with each change. Our most fundamental goals remain the same, though, which in my case is healing and exploration. As a Time Lord, the name I have chosen for myself is the Doctor.”

I stare at him blankly for several silent seconds before I wince my right eye at him as I ask him, “Not Doctor John Smith?”

The Doctor shakes his head as he replies, “No. That's just an alias I've assumed for this adventure and some others in the past.” He looks up. “Although 'John' doesn't seem to be much of a pony name anymore. Maybe I should consider another.” He looks back at me. “I faced a true pony counterpart of me before who also had a name that I honestly did consider using for this adventure, and that name is Time Turner.” He shrugs. “The problem with that, though, is that pony is already born in this world during your time so I didn't want to run the risk of using that name and confusing everyone with him. Aside from that, ponies seem to thrive on individual self expression and I figured 'John' might give me a unique identity. Did I stretch things too far, though?”

I shake my head as I admit to him, “I've lost track of all the ways you've stood out in highly unusual ways. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who noticed either.”

The Doctor frowns slightly and taps the rail four times as he says, “Darn. I'm going to have to work on that. Standing out can have some advantages sometimes but not always. In this case I really was trying to blend in because I didn't want to steal the spotlight from you.”

I give him a curious expression as I say, “That's not the first time you singled me out as a special mare. You've done so multiple times, including a night around a campfire out in the open when you and Tanon thought I was asleep.”

“Huh.” The Doctor gives me a coy look. “I had a feeling you were actually awake during that time and listening.”

“You met my future self, didn't you?” I press on. “You said that this vessel can travel through time too.” I point out towards one of the walls as I add, “Doctor Caballeron thought so too, and now it seems to me he might have been right.”

The Doctor flashes me a cunning and proud grin as he says, “Since you asked me to level with you, I'll admit that I have met your future self once. I gathered certain clues about her that indicated that this adventure would be necessary to eventually facilitate her potential.” He shook his head slightly. “You were way too familiar with me the first time I met you so I knew right away that we've met before in your perspective.”

I feel stunned again when what he just told me sinks in. At this point I plop my bottom on the ground and just stare forward blankly.

The Doctor steps down away from the center console in order to approach me. In front of me, he lays a sympathetic hoof on my shoulder. I glance at it for a moment before looking up at him.

“I hope you'll believe me when I say I did not know much about this adventure before I chose to join it,” he tells me softly. “Much of it has surprised me every bit as much as you. Plus, I rarely take precious moments like this for granted. I have on occasion but I've usually been depressed in other ways during those times.”

“You're very old, aren't you?” I realize as I widen my eyes at him. “You're like Princess Celestia!”

“Ah!” He says as he looks forward above my head with a fond look in his eyes. “Good old Miss Sunbutt.”

I blanch at him then express in shock, “I hope you didn't say that in front of her!”

He looks back down at me with a grin as he says, “Well, even if I did, she'd take it better than you'd expect, I suspect. Princess Celestia can be a very regal and wise mare, but secretly she's bored of that lifestyle and I don't blame her one bit. A thousand years of stuffy court meetings would take their toll on anyone's soul. Trust me when I tell you that she definitely considers playful levity a breath of fresh air. Typically only her closest friends ever get to see her mischievous side which is secretly starving for attention. In later years she gradually allowed that hidden side to come out when she had other reasons to relax more. I won't say why that will happen because it hasn't happened yet in your time, but you'll find out soon enough.”

He stands up straight and lowers his hoof back to the ground as he says, “But enough about that. Let's talk about you and what you want.”

“Me?” I ask him in a mystified way.

“You're the real reason I came back to this time,” the Doctor reminds me. “This is your journey. You steer its course. I only offer guidance here, especially when requested.”

I think about that for a moment as I stare blankly at his chest. Then I look back up at his face as I ask, “Where and when are we now?”

“Well,” he says as he looks back at the console. “Right now we are nowhere and no when. We're still in the trans dimensional tunnel between all of reality.” He looks back at me. “I haven't set a time or place yet because I want you to choose it.”

Somehow I knew he was going to say that, so I declare, “In that case, I do have somewhere specific in mind.”

“Hey Grandfather,” I express solemnly as I lay Tanon's pith hat directly on top of grandfather's grave stone. A grave stone that is parked at the edge of a cliff. Beyond that is a massive and expansive view of our countryside that is filled with green grasslands and farmlands. It feels strange to me that my recent city life had such humble beginnings like this.

I know this was one of grandfather's favorite spots. He loved the wide and beautiful view it affords. This was no secret. He took me plenty of times in my youth too. Sometimes we didn't fly here but rather climbed instead. At the time I used to complain and question it, but now I can't help but cherish those memories.

Today is a beautiful and cloudless sunny day. Even the winds are soft and gentle right now. I can't help but feel like it is caressing me softly. It's almost as if the winds itself is delivering a loving message from my grandfather.

“You remember this hat, don't you?” I ask my grandfather's spirit as I continue to regard his small and humble gravestone. “I finally met Tanon Burrows, but I suppose you know that now, don't you? He's probably standing right beside you even as I speak.”

Hearing the Doctor take in and release a deep breath reminds me of the fact he's nearby. Maybe not close enough to hear me well. I think he wants to give me this private moment with my grandfather and maybe even the spirit of his old partner and friend. Glancing back at him, I notice the Doctor just soak up the beautiful view in front of us. He looks like he truly relishes this experience which I find an odd contradiction for a stallion as old as I suspect he is. I figured someone who is as old as he is and seen the things he's seen would have this near constant attitude of, “Been there, done that,” sort of thing, but no. Instead of that, he takes this moment to relish and cherish life. My love for him deepens when I see that. It makes him seem so authentic and noble to me. So very “present” in this sacred moment of time.

I smile back to the gravestone.

“Tanon was as rough around the edges as you warned me, Grandfather, but I could tell his tough exterior hid a noble soul. He often told me you inspired that. I kind of believe him, but I don't think you put anything inside him that wasn't already there. You more coaxed it out, I think.

“The recent adventures I've been on were on a whole new level though, Grandfather. Maybe even beyond most of your single adventures. It's not every day that a pony can honestly say that they've discovered a brand new continent let alone everything that dwells on it.”

Tears rush to flood my eyes at the memories I've encountered there and even those I experienced along the way. Memories of friendships I thought I had developed as we traveled and they certainly felt precious to me. Most of them ended in tragedy though one way or another. That makes the good memories I have seem to sting more.

“I've learned a lot about adventurers and adventurers on this journey, Grandfather,” I continue in a more pained voice. “There is a lot of things I've seen that wasn't what I expected. All of this has caused me to realize how truly sheltered I was before. I don't consider myself a dumb mare by any stretch of the imagination either, but if so many of my former beliefs can land this badly off target, that mainly goes to show just how much experience in the real world I lacked before.

“Maybe you spoiled me, in a way. I looked up to you both literally and figuratively as I grew up. You were this mighty stallion that had so much wisdom in your eyes, and I saw the way the journey shaped you into such a compassionate pony. I saw the way you looked fondly back upon your memories. I wanted that for myself too when I grew up to be that age. I wanted to be the kind of mare who relished her life as well. Who looks back upon all that I have done, and will do, with no regrets because I knew I gave it my all.

“You made adventure seem almost romantic as if it can't possibly do anything less than spiritually uplift us. Just make us more whole than we could otherwise possibly imagine. I wanted that too. That sense of inner fulfillment that I saw in your eyes.

“I guess Naiveté should have been my middle name, though, instead of Yearling.”

I wince in disgust. I always hated my middle name. That's why I've always said my name was Agate Y. Keystone at most. It still haunts me how many times other cruel young foals teased me that I was as dumb and ignorant as a Yearling.

“I guess, in a way, it was true, though,” I suddenly realize as an epiphany dawns on me. “All this time, I've been the Fool on a Fool's Journey. That journey was always necessary for me to see The World, though. The journey of a thousand miles always begins with a single step. You taught me that, Grandfather.”

I grin fondly at the gravestone.

“Or, as I'd prefer to call it, my own personal Hero's Journey.”

I gaze above the gravestone at the expansive landscape in wonder. In the distance I even marvel at the mountains on the horizon. The whole land is flat up to that point, but there is a bump in the distance as if to hint that there is so much more to explore out there beyond that great boundary. Looking upon it has always tantalized me in my youth. Grandfather's stories of his adventures only added even more fuel to that inner fire.

“Weirdly enough, I guess I just assumed eveypony else would be as heroic as you were,” I eventually go on wistfully as I continue to gaze out to that distant horizon with tearful, shining eyes. “I thought that because you used to be the only example of a former adventurer that I saw. I could also tell that, in your heart, you didn't really fully retire. The yearning for the journey was always within you. It simply took a new form when you settled down with your family.”

I gaze back at his gravestone.

“But because of your example, I used to think every other adventurer was like you too. That the journey somehow enhanced and made them wise too. I thought that was the only conclusion everypony would make when they went through the same thing, but I see now that I was wrong. Being brave and heroic is always a choice. It is often a hard choice, too, for it's so easy to take a cowardly route and/or short cuts. That's why so few ponies take and stick to that path.

“Tanon took it reluctantly too, from what I heard, but he chose to follow you and I don't think he truly regretted it in his heart. Clearly there were some regrets from him but I think his most important decisions he would have repeated if given the choice because, once true wisdom takes hold of a pony's heart, it's too late to go back. One can't un-see something that expanded their world view in profoundly important ways. After that, the only direction they have left is to keep marching forward.”

I close my eyes and release a deep breath as I mentally skim over what I've learned on this journey.

“Clearly there is a difference between an adventurer and a hero . . . or a villain. They can be one and the same, but the two words are not always mutually exclusive. Some do the right thing for the wrong reasons and vice versa. Some want to do the right thing but they can't for some reason. Some could do the right thing, for it is well within their capabilities, but chose not to because the greedy path seems more lucrative and possibly even safe?”

I look back at the gravestone and Tanon's hat in particular.

“Some are very capable and really do do the right thing, but felt so burdened after struggling down that path for so long.”

I look over my right shoulder at the Doctor. When I do, he meets my gaze. When he does, I see that same look in his eyes that I once saw in my grandfather's. That same expansive wisdom that comes with a very fruitful journey.

“Then there is the rare few who do the right thing for the right reasons, is well capable of it, and is strong enough to endure that harder path for the long haul,” I say before looking back at the gravestone. “But I can't convince myself that it always takes some greater alien from outer space to pull that off. I think we can do it too. You proved it.”

I close my eyes and bow my head in a sacred moment of silence. A few minutes pass in this fashion before I look back at the gravestone.

“Something else that I've learned on this journey is I've been too dependent upon others. With every pony I met during this journey, I always counted on them to know better than me. I relied and even romanticized this idea that they'd rescue me whenever I needed them. I guess it was my fantasy to be this 'damsel in distress'. I guess I thought that if I could gain that experience and be successfully rescued then it would somehow prove that I am valuable too. That it would validate me, my beliefs, and my place in the world. That I'm worth saving.

“But every time I did that, I usually experienced folly in some form. I used to look up to Doctor Caballeron. I really did, but he wasn't really the pony I thought he was at heart. Sure, he's good looking. Sure, he is smart and educated. Sure, he was experienced . . . but in the end, all of those traits served an evil purpose because he chose it. A professional and competent pony does not guarantee that they'd be an ally. Sometimes their goals just sets them on a wholly different path.

“Then there are adventurers like Leg It and Doctor Grazy. I hate to speak ill of the dead, but the reason they are dead is part of the point I am making. Arrogance on one hoof and foolhardiness on the other. They bit off more than they could chew, but what really hurts me to notice is how desperately they really tried to do the right thing in the end. Whether it was out of love or a sense of guilt, they gave it their all. They were good ponies. They were really good souls, but that alone does not guarantee victory. It takes more than just that.

“After what I went through, I really can't decide what is worse or better. Is it better to have an incompetent but well-meaning fool who constantly puts the party in danger accidentally, or a cunning and competent companion who secretly plots evil agendas?

“Either way, there is something to be desired.”

With a quick glance back at the Doctor, I add, “It is too rare to expect the best of both worlds. To encounter a well-meaning pony who is also highly competent. Such individuals do exist, but I've learned it is foolish to rely upon them all the time. Even if they could be the dashing knight in shining armor, I've realized since how guilty I should have felt at that concept all along. Expecting and counting on being rescued also means putting undo burden upon somepony else.”

My eyes shift back to the gravestone. “So I've since come to realize that the most optimal path is to become that which I wish to see. To be the heroic adventurer I kept hoping somepony else would be instead. For one reason or another, sometimes no pony else can or would want to rescue me. In the end, I can only count on myself because I can be more confident of my abilities and motivation. In fact, I even learned that I'm far more capable of this than I previously thought possible. It really is possible that I misjudged my ultimate destiny. That is always something worth considering. Sometimes it can be very helpful to pause and inwardly reflect upon one's self. To take a moment and ask myself the big questions such as who am I really?

“I do know one thing for sure. I am a mare that likes to be confident in any journey I choose to take. A map in one hoof and a compass on the other. If the map is currently blank then so much the better. I'll gaze forward with bold excitement at what I might discover upon that next horizon. It is time for this pony to be daring. Maybe that is all I ever should have been.”

I lift and gaze at my hooves.

“But it also feels important to me to be remembered. If I explore uncharted lands then I'm going to chart it. If I encounter something new and exciting then I'm going to write it down. That way I know, at the very least, if somepony else ever encounters my corpse and my diary, they'll gain some glimpse into who I was. What's the point of exploration if I'm the only one who is benefiting?”

I gaze up into the cloudless sky with wonder.

“That's right,” I say passionately with a proud smile. “This is all about my journey and learning who I am. Outward exploration can be inner too.”

I fall to my knees then look back at the gravestone.

“I cherish you both as you have loved, guided, and supported me. You've all sensed greater potential in me well before I did. I think it's high time to live up to that potential. I thank you all for showing me the way. In gratitude for all that you have given me, I'm finally willing to explore that potential as well. Please keep watching me, and if you dare to try, try to keep up.”

I reach on top of the gravestone and pick up Tanon Burrows pith hat.

No. Correction. It is my hat now.

I remember the promise Tanon gave me before he died. He promised he'd invest all of his spirit into this hat. That he'd give me all of his strength, but he also warned me not to put it on unless I am serious about this commitment. He thought that my grandfather's strength was already within me. If I wear this hat, then the combined strength of both of these mighty and heroic stallions will be within me as well.

Do I Dare to live up to these lofty expectations?

I rise back up. I look beyond my new pith hat at grandfather's gravestone. A gravestone that I recently planted Tanon's topaz gem within when I first arrived here. It only seems fitting that these two reunite in every symbolic way possible.

I am beyond words now. I've said all that I feel I need to have said. There is just lingering feelings in me now. In that silent and sacred moment, I say my final goodbyes before I turn away.

“Are you ready?” the Doctor asks me simply when I approach him. As I do so, I don't look upon him yet. My gaze remains fixed at the new hat on my hoof. A hat that curiously feels like it has far more weight than it should have. Within that hat, there is a sacred promise. If I put this on then I'm making a very serious commitment. One that may very well deeply affect the rest of my life and destiny.

I then look up at the Doctor for a moment. He continues to gaze upon me patiently. He looks at me with expectant and hopeful eyes. Behind that, I see excitement in him. It is almost bursting within him. He must be wondering if this is the moment when my true legendary journey begins.

I look back at the hat as I reflect on that question one last time. Am I ready?

To help answer that question, I close my eyes and consult my inner compass for a brief moment. What it seems to tell me is I'll never feel ready before I take that final leap, but it also promises me that fate will favor the bold.

Feeling settled, I finally put the hat on. When I do, I feel a flood of magic and newfound confidence fill me. When I next open my eyes, I do so narrowly. I lift the edge of my new hat to reveal to the Doctor a bold and daring grin.

Author's Note

Last week was a little messed up and I accidentally posted this chapter instead of the last one, and even that was a day late. To the few who read this chapter before back then, consider to take a look at last week's chapter. It may be that chapter that is the actual new one for you.

But for everyone else going on forward, it should be a smooth transition from this point forward. I've never made a posting mistake like that before and perhaps I never will again. Certainly I won't do so intentionally.

As you can likely sense, this story is wrapping up soon. Next week's chapter is the full climax. The reveal of Daring Do in her full glory minus the training she'll later acquire. At this point her confidence in herself will be so strong that that alone may almost feels like a super power.

She'll occasionally be sassy too, just like in show canon.

Part 13: Decisions

Stern Wing's yawning and stretching helps to awaken Feather Wind in addition to the brighter conditions around them. Stirring too, he peels back the cloudbag he is in then turns about so that his stomach and legs are facing the bottom. By then, Stern Wing already is standing and stretching pretty much every part of her. Her neck is straight. Her tail is straight. Her wings are extended so much that it briefly offers Feather Wind three-quarters shade from the sun.

“So . . . what did you think of the cloud/sleeping bag?” Feather Wind asks brightly. “Pretty neat, huh?”

Finally finished stretching after leaning heavily forward then back, Stern stands up straight and regards her small blue friend in confusion as she asks, “What are you talking about? We slept on clouds before.”

“Yeah, but I made these this time,” Feather brags proudly a little. “I didn't used to have this much weather . . .” He pauses for a moment as he re-considers his words then decides to amend, “Control isn't the right word. I'd say influence is more apt. I speak to the air and it listens to me.” He looks around as he goes on to say, “But my influence was strictly known over the wind. It wasn't until shortly after I dropped out of the Wonderbolt academy when I realized I could influence all the rest of the weather too.” He pats the cloudbag he's on. “Which includes the creation of these.”

An affectionate and cunning grin grows on Stern's lips as she regards her friend and asks, “That came in hoofy while you were camping out in nature, right? I think some of your wind messages you sent to me alluded to that.”

“I'll admit, I eventually got a little creative with my influence,” Feather says with a slight shy blush. “When one is away from the rest of society for so long, it encourages adaptability.”

“Well that's fine for you,” Stern says with a dismissive flick of a large brown wing. “But I occasionally need my deep-tissue sports massage.” She refolds her wing. “And I can only get that by remaining closer to normal pony society.”

“That makes sense,” Feather agrees with an accepting nod while gazing up at his friend. Due to his angle and the brightness of the sun behind her mane, Feather ends up squinting a bit. His eyes aren't fully adjusted to the daylight yet. “You actually did work in a professional sport. Even the practice for such a game probably caused a lot of muscle tension so a deep sports massage probably helped to cure what ailed you.”

“You know what else helped me back then?” Stern asks as she aimed her left eye at Feather exclusively for a second and leaned her head down at him to put even more emphasis on the word “else”. She then straightens up and points to her mouth as she says instantly, “Food goes in mouth now. I'm starving.”

“Well let's get you some breakfast, then,” Feather decides as he stands up as well but still squints a bit as he looks up at his friend. “I'm pretty sure the Tribe down below will have some food to offer. If they don't, I think we have some still in our saddlebags.”

“Foraging for food doesn't seem that difficult in this area of the world and time either,” Stern figures as she looks straight forward. “Part of me is tempted to try that. I've been studying and learning under Daring's wings for a while now. I kind of like to put that into practice.”

“Well the rest of our friends are down there in the village right now,” Feather reminds his friend. “Before we take off, we should probably check what their plans are first.”

Stern nods in agreement as she looks back down at her friend then says, “Good idea.”

Since Stern Wing is so focused and driven by her hunger right now, she missed something that is, more or less, obvious to Feather Wind. That is, when he lands in the village, he notices the tribe is abuzz with excitement, activity, and for some reason they are regarding the both of them with excited curiosity.

There might be multiple reasons for that, but one of them is very clear to him.

“Oooooo! What's that?” excitedly asks some of the young foals as they shamelessly reach and touch Feather Wind's Mist Cloak moments after he landed.

“It's soft and squishy, yet also solid,” another foal marvels before pulling his green hoof closer to his muzzle then sniffs. Then his eyes brighten with delight as he reports to the rest of his friends, “It's moist too!”

Stern snorts in thinly concealed amused laughter for a brief moment while privately musing how so many sexual innuendos the foals just mentioned likely went way over their heads, but then her expression suddenly becomes serious when she notices her small blue friend's uncomfortable reaction to all of this sudden and focused attention. As a result, her expression and stance suddenly becomes firm and she spreads her wings dramatically and commands sternly, “Alright, you foals. Get back! All of you. You're crowding him and making him nervous.”

“Huh? Crow-ding?” asks a confused yellow pegasus mare with a mop-like green mane. “What does that mean?”

“It means you're being rude by standing so close to him,” Stern replies while lifting an eyebrow at the foal who asked. She's privately debating whether the foal's confusion over that word is really serious.

To get away from them, Feather lightens his body weight somewhat and hops up. A small tingle of magic envelopes his hooves since it is the least sensitive part of his body. He uses that magic to briefly assist his jump. He ends up landing on Stern Wing's back then looks back at the crowd of foals around them. He uses his magic to lift the hood of his cloak forward then over his horn in order to rest at his neck.

“This is my mystical Mist Cloak,” he explains to the foals around them as bravely as he can. “I made it myself to help me fly.”

Most of the crowd of foals around them gasp in delight then erupt with too many questions spoken at once for either Feather or Stern to understand them.

“More like gliding with style,” Stern corrects as she flashes an amused grin to her friend on her back.

“Details,” Feather replies with a casual shrug but he shares a similar amused grin too.

Stern giggles a bit then regards the foals with renewed seriousness again. She decides that, instead of answering their dizzy array of questions, she'll distract them by asking one of her own.

“Okay. SILENCE!” Stern cries aloud as she spreads her wings dramatically again. That momentarily rewards her with their silence and rapt attention. Feeling satisfied, she refolds her wings and says, “We can get to the rest of your questions later. For now, I'd like a bite to eat and reconvene with the rest of our friends. Do any of you know where they are?”

To both Feather and Stern's surprise, they all pointed to two tents immediately. Absolutely all of them were not even remotely uncertain where the rest of their friends presently are.

“The one called Daring Do is over there,” the eldest red earth pony foal announces. “But she's busy.” He then nods to where the other foals are pointing. “The rest is over there.”

Feather Wind suddenly grew tempted to ask these foals what was going on with the tribe this morning, but he ends up too shy to ask. His hesitation also costs him his moment to ask.

“Then we'll meet with the rest of our friends,” Stern decides. “If Daring is too busy, we'll ask everypony else what's going on.”

Stern Wing brushes aside the curtain leading inside one of the tents and steps inside. Feather ends up joining her because he's still on her back. From within, they can see Derpy Hooves, Margret Wessle, and Doctor Kelly Saddler.

“There you are!” Derpy expresses with delight when Stern and Feather enter the tent. “I was about to go out looking for you.”

“I probably would have found you two faster with my instruments if I was allowed to use them,” Margret says just a little bitterly.

“That's not wise for the moment,” Doctor Kelly argues. “We're in the middle of the village of the Earthbound and I think they made themselves clear that certain things are taboo to them. Let's not be rude guests.”

“I could have found them,” Derpy assures a little insistently. “I deliver mail in my time, so I have practice finding other ponies and delivering their letters.”

“What's going on around here?” Feather asks as he hops off Stern Wing's back. Since he floats gently down to the ground, the others can tell he lightens his body weight to that of a feather during his fall.

“Oh that's right! You two don't know yet,” Margret says in a tone of realization. “Where were you two anyway?”

Feather looks confused as he asks Margret, “You didn't get my wind message?”

“I did,” Derpy assures as she raises a hoof.

“So did I,” Doctor Kelly agrees.

“Oh!” Margret looks amazed. “So that was your voice in the wind.”

“I explained that I could do that during our travels together,” Feather reminds. “I think I even proved it to you a few times.”

“Right. Sorry,” says Margret as she closes her eyes, applies a hoof to her forehead, and shakes her head. “I'm a little scatter brained right now.”

“Welcome to the club then,” Derpy expresses to Margret. “I'm like that literally all the time!”

“Well, anyway,” speaks up Doctor Kelly after she momentarily fake clears her throat to signal for attention. She looks back at Feather Wind as she answers, “To answer your question, the tribe is abuzz with activity because they are preparing for a special ceremony tonight, and the reason Daring is absent among us is because they are currently giving her temporary tattoos in preparation for that ceremony.”

“Oh wow.” Feather looks taken aback, but not completely. “So she really plans to go through with this? To join the Tribe so that they'll trust her enough to take her to see this Quetzalcoatl?”

“You mean she was serious about that request?” Stern asks as she looks down at her small blue friend in surprise.

“Apparently,” Feather replies up at her with a light shrug.

“Qwatzy … what now?” Derpy asks with a confused tilt of her head. “I never heard of that.” She straightens her head. “Is that a name of an individual or an entire species?”

“Quetzalcoatl,” Feather repeated for clarity. “Or courtal for short and it is the name of a species.”

Doctor Kelly lifts a hoof half way, up to the level of her chest, as she announces, “For once, this is information I am lacking.” She lowers her hoof again. “Either this is something I haven't read yet among my kind, or this is information that got lost through time so the Magi have no records of this anymore at all. I'm kind of leaning on the latter theory, too, since studying history is a hobby of mine and I've been doing that for centuries.”

Feather Wind suddenly feels a little shy when he notices the attention of all of his friends are suddenly focused on him, but he swallows that reaction down since he does, indeed, have some information on this subject.

“Well, fortunately, records like that are not so lost in my time yet,” Feather Wind announces. “A Quetzalcoatl, or courtal,” he adds with an emphatic nod to Derpy in particular then scans among all his friends again, “is said to be a powerful, mystical, and majestic legendary creature with god-like magic. It is an ascended being probably not unlike Princess Celestia,” he adds with a glance up at Stern Wing. He resumes scanning among them all as he resumes his lecture. “It isn't confirmed whether or not this creature exists in my time, but there are statues and carvings of these creatures in some ancient cultures. Of those, they seem particularly prevalent in any culture in which the kirin had strong influence.”

“Oh!” Derpy exclaims in surprise but also some recognition. “You mean those horned creatures I unconsciously danced with?”

Feather nods at Derpy as he confirms, “The same, although in my time, the kirin seem more talkative and sentient.” He shrugs. “At the very least, their culture was evolved enough to have some form of writing.” He lifts a hoof. “It should be noted, though, that sightings of the kirin are very rare in my time.” He lowers his hoof. “Most of the general populace of Equestria, again in my time as well as Stern Wing's, haven't even heard of the kirin. Of those who do, they will most likely be members of either highly educated scholars, or social elite.”

“And you're both,” Derpy recalls.

“Correct,” Feather agrees with a neutral nod.

“There isn't any sightings of these creatures in your time?” Margret asks Feather curiously. “Not even rumors of such sightings?”

“Oh, that?” Feather gives Margret a dismissive wave of a small blue hoof. “Rumors abound with pretty much any subject. Whether they are true or not is up for debate. From my perspective, I'm simply announcing what we have formal records on and what I happen to come across.”

“Based on those records, can you tell us anything else about these creatures?” Doctor Kelly asks. “The courtal, I mean,” she clarifies.

“According to our records and pictures of them, they are very tall serpent-like beings but with colorful wings. They are highly intelligent, beyond the caliber of mortal kin, and probably also telepathic. It's been suggested that they can change their forms too and that includes the ability to become incorporeal. Because of that, scholars have speculated that, if any of these creatures actually existed and weren't part of some ancient cultures wild imagination, then the Quetzalcoatl are most likely magical spirits not unlike that of a draconequus. Some even believe that the Quetzalcoatl also have similar reality-bending powers.”

“Oh Sweet Celestia!” Stern Wing groans, closes her eyes, and slaps her forehead with a hoof. “Not another one of those creatures.” She opens her eyes and returns her hoof to the floor. “We have Trouble enough as it is.”

Feather regards Stern Wing calmly as he assures, “Actually, Stern, if it's true, you might like this one because it is also said that Quetzalcoatl are highly benevolent creatures. They are more likely to push for harmony rather than against it.”

“Oh? Really?” Stern asks in surprise and delight. “Well that doesn't sound so bad, then.” She applies a hoof to the bottom of her chin and rubs it thoughtfully. “In fact, if you're right, then I hope it is true because that means there is a balancing force out there to keep beings like the draconequus in check.” She returns her hoof to the floor. “Call me crazy, but I rather like the fact that there is something out there that can stop a single bored draconequus from saying, 'You know what? I'm bored now.'” Stern Wing lifts her left wing and makes a snapping motion with two feathers. Somehow she successfully produces a snapping sound from it. “'It's time to turn the whole world into a cupcake today.'” She then carefully looks among her friends as she asks them, “I'm not alone in this, right? Are any of the rest of you comforted by the idea there are other beings out there that can say things like, 'Nope. That ain't happening,' and use their own powers to successfully thwart such an outrageous attempt?”

Derpy rubs the back of her neck as she expresses with a slightly shy blush, “Chances are, if there are such beings out there that can keep a draconequus in check like that, then that might just be the only reason the rest of us aren't extinct right now.” She lowers her gray hoof back to her folded lap. “Silly whimsy like that could've gotten the rest of us killed even if the being who did it didn't specifically intend those results.”

“Try breathing when the entire world's oxygen supply suddenly turns into something as silly as pink soap,” Doctor Kelly expresses grimly. “It might sound fun to the being in question for a moment while little realizing the consequences that would have upon the rest of us, so I think it's true. There must be something out there that keeps the world from suffering overwhelming consequences like that.”

The group is quiet for a moment until broken by Feather Wind.

“Well, anyway, another thing I can say about the courtal written on ancient tablets is what seems to be their primary mission, and that is pushing for the evolution of other species into higher states,” Feather announces.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Stern asks stiffly. “It doesn't seem wise to leave a term like 'evolution' to remain ambiguous. After all, I heard terms like that often used by those who wish to excuse something as heinous as genocide.”

Feather looks up at Stern as he says, “To tell you the truth, I do not know for sure, but the Quetzalcoatl are said to be highly wise and compassionate beings so their perception of 'evolution' likely isn't anywhere near that dark. Try to imagine best-case scenarios instead because their aims are more likely to be in line with that.”

“Eh . . . well.” Stern Wing shrugs. “I suppose I can let the issue rest at that if they really are aiming towards everypony's highest good, but I'm not sure if that's something I personally wish to be involved with. I much prefer to be in charge of my own destiny. So much so that I'm gladly willing to accept the consequences, if any, thereof. I wouldn't want any other being meddling with me no matter how kind they think they are.”

There is another pause among the group but this time it is broken by Doctor Kelly as she fake clears her throat again.

“Be that as it may, it does leave a certain important decision among us.”

“What decision?” Stern Wing checks with Doctor Kelly cautiously.

“It's been heavily implied that the Tribe is interested, or at least open to the idea, of the rest of us joining their Tribe with tonight's ceremony,” Doctor Kelly announces. “If any of you chooses to accept, then there are a few things you should know first.” She gestures out the exit of the tent they are in. “Step one is informing them of your intentions, obviously. After that they have to accept. Step two, at least on our part, is fasting till after the ceremony. After that there shall be a grand feast.”

Stern's shoulders slump as she asks, “Fasting, huh? Bummer. I'm already hungry.” She gestures to herself with a hoof. “As you can see, I am still a very large and growing mare so I need my eats on occasion.”

Doctor Kelly shakes her head slightly as she announces, “Fasting will only matter if you accept their invitation to participate in their ceremony, but if you do, there is something else you need to know.”

“The tattoos, right?” Stern guesses. “Somepony here said those things would be temporary so I don't see that as a problem.”

“I said that earlier,” Doctor Kelly reminds, “and yes, that is another step in the process but it's what occurs after that which has me concerned.”

“Oh?” Stern asks in a bit of alarm since she hasn't forgotten that Daring had already decided to move forward with this process. “What else is involved?”

“Just before the ceremony takes place, which seems to be some kind of ritualistic dance from what was explained to us earlier, many of the tribesmen, which must include the new participants who wish to join them, shall ingest a substance which shall induce a hallucinogenic state.”

“Oh,” Stern replies with a spooked expression.

“Well I, for one, am not surprised to hear that,” Feather announces. “For I have read that such things often are part of indigenous, tribalism practices. Such traditions often go way back for them.” He shakes his head. “And I highly doubt that this tribe would offer anything that they would consider dangerous. Something like this is most likely a sacred rite of passage for them which means they've been taking such substances for a long time now. That's a long track record to prove what they are offering is most likely safe.”

Doctor Kelly nods as she says, “I agree, but there are other factors to consider here even if their intentions are benign, and in this case, they most likely are.”

“Like what?” Stern Wing asks cautiously as she squints one eye at Doctor Kelly.

“I have no doubt that such substances will have their intended effect,” Doctor Kelly informs. “There are plenty of records stating that certain substances often induce altered states of consciousness and, in this case, that is most likely their intent.” She lifts a hoof. “However, there are other factors to consider like the side effects. There might be some debilitation before, during, and after the ceremony.”

“True,” Derpy agrees. “I haven't thought of that.”

Doctor Kelly lowers her lifted hoof then levitates a lollipop out of her coat pocket even though that technically is relying on her 'technology' a bit. She sucks on the lollipop as she says, “Another thing to consider is if any of you have an allergic reaction to the drug. In the worst case scenario, it could be lethal if untreated. Just because a substance doesn't have a particular hostile effect for most ponies doesn't mean you'll have the same reaction.”

“You're a credit to your profession, Doctor,” Feather Wind says with emphasis to Doctor Kelly. “It's just like you to wisely realize chemical substances can have unintended side effects like that.”

Doctor Kelly nods in professional agreement at Feather Wind then goes on to announce, “The last issue that concerns me is if anything else tries to take advantage of us in our moment of weakness.” She waves a hoof. “Let's put aside the possibility that such a thing would happen by the tribesmen because the chances of that are decently remote, but they are not the only forces in this world and time which could be a concern.”

“Oh yeah!” Derpy gasps in realization. “What if one of the Chaos Beasts attacks during the ceremony? That would be one very inopportune time for us.”

“Agreed,” Doctor Kelly replies as the stem of her lollipop switches sides in her mouth. “Which is why I have a formal announcement.” She scans among her present friends. “I shall not, under any circumstances, willingly take in any substance that shall impair my judgment. As such, I shall abstain from their offer.” She lifts a hoof again. “But for that same reason, it is safer for the rest of you to participate if you wish.” She lowers her hoof again. “Because I shall remain safely at the sidelines and monitor the rest of you. And, if indeed an emergency comes up, it is within my power to detoxify the rest of you from being debilitated from this drug during such a moment of crisis. Keep in mind, however, I might have to use some of my technology to execute that plan with precision.”

Feather sighs then says, “Under those circumstances, The Tribe might not mind.” He shakes his head. “I can't say that for absolute certainty but something tells me they'd rather rely on taboo methods rather than totally die outright. After all, there has to be a future for them to defend later.” He shrugs. “If only one option is left at that point, they might not begrudge you for it.” He stands up straight. “Just to be certain, though, you can ask the elders what they would think under that hypothetical scenario.”

“I don't plan to ask them,” Doctor Kelly replies.

Taken aback, Feather Wind asks her, “Why?”

Doctor Kelly shakes her head slightly as she says, “Because, at that point, it doesn't matter to me what they'd say. I'd rather have all of you, and them, alive and mad at me rather than dead but satisfied. I took an oath not to harm anypony and I meant it when I made it.” She squints. “And sometimes that might mean making tough calls on occasion.” Her expression straightens to one of dignity. “At the end of the day, I have to live with myself and the decisions I made. I'm not saying that there won't be any regrets, but I have to follow my rational mind and personal moral decisions. In this case, I wasn't planning on joining their tribe anyway. We're about to leave after this, aren't we?”

Doctor Kelly regards Margret as she asks her, “Speaking of which, did you give any reports to Commander Viraxis lately? Specifically after we encountered this tribe?”

“Um,” Margret cringes with discomfort. “No. Not yet. Truthfully, I'm not certain what to do in that regard. After all, if he isn't really the kind of pony everypony thinks he is then let's just say I have my reasons for feeling conflicted.”

“Fair enough,” Doctor Kelly accepts with a nod. “What's important here is deciding our next move. At the moment, only Daring Do has one other agenda with The Tribe before she, too, departs from them.”

“I wonder what she's going to ask him?” Derpy asks curiously as she lifts a hoof and gingerly touches the side of her gray cheek.

“We may never know,” Feather replies solemnly. “That's between her and that being . . . if they meet. Keep in mind, though, that Daring is a very experienced adventurer in her time and she must have run into all kinds of various issues in her travels. Questions that need answering and/or advice for various problems.”

“So, in other words, there could be many reasons why she'd want to meet this being,” Stern Wing concludes.

Feather squints slightly as he says, “It seems to me, though, she knows this one personally. She knows this one by name, but I forgot what name she said specifically.”

Doctor Kelly frowns then says, “If I were allowed to keep my drones active, I could have recorded that conversation precisely for moments like this. Daring, or even the Tribe, could have found that kind of information useful from time to time.”

“Let's not get into this debate again,” Margret discourages.

Doctor Kelly looks at Margret in surprise as she says, “True, but it's kind of surprising to hear that advice coming from you of all ponies.”

“Let's just say I've been a little more open-minded about the idea since the time we first started,” Margret informs. “Plus I've grown tired of the debate.”

Feather Wind stands up straight as he says with dignity, “Alright, then. So here is the situation we're currently facing. Participation in the ceremony before we depart; yay or neigh?”

“Before deciding something like that, you all should consider your personal motives about this,” Doctor Kelly puts forward. “Daring Do actually does have something she wishes to accomplish with this move, but what about the rest of you? We're about to leave soon, aren't we? The consequences and benefits of this action aren't going to endure for long so keep that in mind.”

“I've already made my decision,” Feather announces, which surprises the rest of his companions.

“Which is?” Stern Wing checks.

He looks up at his large brown friend as he replies, “I plan to do it for personal reasons.” He then looks at Doctor Kelly. “But believe it or not, you are the primary linchpin of my decision. Because you decided to refrain from taking the drug and also because you are a trained medical professional, I think the benefits outweigh the risks in this case.”

“If you don't mind, care to elucidate on the reasons for your decision?” Doctor Kelly offers to Feather Wind since she's interested in his psychology.

“Ah . . . what now?” Derpy asks in confusion.

“To clarify the reasons for his decision,” Doctor Kelly counter offers then shrugs. “Sorry. It slipped my mind that you're not likely to command that level of vocabulary.”

Derpy sighs then says, “That's okay. I'm used to it.”

“I think I can,” Feather brings up. “That part I am comfortable telling you is I suspect they might have a way to deepen my bond to nature. These ponies have been living close to it for centuries and it has become something sacred to them. I can't help but be curious if this is one of the reasons why it is so. Perhaps, during their rite of passage, they all experience this . . . for lack of better words, spiritual transcendence as a result of the ceremony and that does interest me.”

Feather Wind shakes his head. “It actually wouldn't surprise me if they told me that a ceremony like this is exactly what spawned their initial cutie mark awakenings. If, indeed, this ceremony can have an impact that profound then I don't wish to go on living the rest of my days forever wondering what would have happened to me if only I had the courage to participate when I had the chance. I leapt off a cliff before in my youth because the sky once insisted it would catch me. I took an enormous leap of faith back then and it eventually paid off.” He waves a hoof. “If there is any chance that this ceremony could have the same impact then I have to take it, but only because you're offering us a fail-safe strategy.” He nods to Doctor Kelly.

“In that case, I will participate as well,” Stern Wing announces.

Feather Wind is so surprised to hear that he actually does a double-take at Stern Wing then asks, “Really? You, Stern Wing? But . . . why? Doctor Kelly aside, you honestly are the last pony I'd expect to be interested to do this in this party.”

“I agree,” says Derpy to Stern Wing. “You seem so concerned with security all the time that I would never expect you to do something that might deliberately debilitate yourself. You seem like you wouldn't want to leave anything to chance if you can help it.”

“But then I wouldn't be here in the first place if that were true,” Stern Wing counters. “I'm not a coward, Derpy. I'm willing to take risks too if it feels like it's worth it.”

“No pony here said you are a coward, but I think we're still confused why you consider this worth it,” Feather clarifies.

“Lots of reasons,” Stern replies. “Beginning with you.” She nods at Doctor Kelly. “I never would have considered it if there wasn't somepony here to watch our backs in our moment of weakness but, in this case, it turns out you're the perfect pony for the job because you can return the rest of us to our senses if need be. Because of that, I'm more willing to press forward with this particular risk.”

“What else?” Feather checks. “You said there are multiple reasons. I welcome you to share them if you're comfortable with it.”

“Another reason is to show support to my friends,” Stern Wing announces with a soft and affectionate look in her eyes. “During our travels, Daring Do has become a very important pony to me. The exact way is different from the relationship you and I share.” She gestures between herself and Feather Wind. “I'd rather not go into details about that in public, but when it comes between me and Daring . . . there is a bunch of things I see. A sister. A mentor. A friend. A kindred spirit. Somepony that I share a deep and unspoken level of understanding for some reason.

“To be clear, I'm not perfectly certain why that is true but I don't tend to overthink things either. Sometimes I just go with my gut and, in this case, it feels right.

“Still another reason is I regard it as polite to these ponies here. They are offering to let us into their tribe and welcome us as an honorary member of it. Something feels downright rude to me to take that offer and reject it. To me, it feels like ingratitude. To spit in their face when they made a deep and symbolic offer that comes from a place of trust. In my eyes, they already made a risk by inviting us in and I don't want to seem like the kind of pony that would be unwilling to push myself just as far.”

“But we're about to leave,” Doctor Kelly reminds. “Why is it important to you what their lingering impression of you is?”

“Because, no matter what they think of me, I still have to live with myself and my own decisions,” Stern Wing replies as she places a hoof on her broad chest for a second. “More than them, I want to prove to myself that I am willing to go this far for a friend, even ones I just met. Loyalty is very important to me and I need that rock-solid foundation to feel firm under my hooves. Risks be wind-blasted when I know something is right in my heart. I need to know that integrity is solid for me to remain confident in myself and all of my decisions, so that is why.”

Doctor Kelly floats out her yellow lollipop in front of her, regards it thoughtfully, then floats it back in her mouth as she nods in respect to Stern Wing and says, “Fair enough.”

“I think I want to participate too, then,” Derpy puts in. “If the rest of you didn't then I'm not sure if I would, but since you are, it feels like moral support to me and I want to be equally willing to share it back.

“Plus, it just sounds fun!” Derpy says so brightly that she closed her eyes for a second. Then she opens her walleyes again as she goes on to say, “Plus I think something like this happened to me while I danced with the kirin. Ever since then, I felt like something has awakened inside me but it kind of sat dormant since then and it's kept me wondering at times. I feel like they gave me a gift but I don't know what it is yet. Perhaps the ceremony might help to clarify that for me?”

“I suspect it would,” Feather says to Derpy. “Furthermore, I think you're right that the dance with the kirin helped to awaken something inside you, or at least plant a seed of potential of sorts. This ceremony might give you the chance to put that into better perspective and it seems to me that you don't have much to risk in this case. Fun is enough for you anyway. I won't argue with that.” He smiles in delight. “And I love seeing you happy, Derpy. If this has any chance to cause it then I say it's worth it.”

“Aw! Thank you!” Derpy replies cheerfully but also a little bashfully.

“As for what comes next,” Feather says with sudden seriousness as he looks back at Doctor Kelly sharply. “We should decide something like that after Daring rejoins the party. She's our appointed leader, after all, and even if she wasn't, she is our friend and fellow member of our party. I think she should be included in whatever decision that will also affect her life. That's only fair.”

“Agreed,” Doctor Kelly concurs. “The main reason I pointed this out was for the rest of you to keep this in mind. We're probably not staying here so we need to factor that in our own decisions with regards to this ceremony. Honorary Tribesman or not, we're still leaving. We still have things to do and ponies to see.”

“And possibly confront,” Stern Wing adds grimly but also sadly.

“Indeed,” Doctor Kelly says back to Stern then announces to the whole party, “Well then . . . if that is your decision, you should announce it to the others of the Tribe. Preparations will need to be made before tonight's ceremony.”

“Which includes fasting. Ulg,” Stern Wing winces in disgust but then cheers up moments later. “But then we'll have a feast tonight. Looking forward to that. I'm as hungry as a horse.”

Hearing that, Feather Wind scratches his head and privately wonders what the etymology of that particular idiom is.

Part 5: A Step Ahead of the Law

While I was caught off-guard by the arrival of the guards in a very hidden location, I have reached the part of my adventures where I am on much more familiar territory. I parkour through the city with the kind of graceful flourish that leaves even me baffled at times. After all, these skills are not derived from the empathic memories of anything I am wearing. Instead they are my own skills which often makes me wonder about my mysterious past.

Those who chase after me aren't nearly as skilled but they are numerous. I have to watch out for shot arrows, telekinetic attempts to grab hold of me or any object I reach out to grab in order to try and dislodge it and thus ruin my parkour attempts. Leaping towards and among the rooftops doesn't help me from successfully evading other pegasi either, and once again I find myself baffled why a guard captain is devoting so many forces against only me while he literally has a very important visiting dignitary to watch after instead. He's not even trying to go after the other members of my guild either that I notice. For some reason this really does seem to be a personal vendetta for him. I feel compelled to wonder if I somehow personally insulted him in my mysterious past or if this is somehow a grudge from a past life.

Whatever the case may be, it's almost comical to me, at this point, if it wasn't simultaneously so annoying too.

Evading that many forces is quite a challenge. I have to dodge and weave through so many rooftops, alleyways, buildings, and I even accidentally knock over a wagon full of cabbages which prompts the seller to scream in frustration as he grabs his turban, “OH NO! MY CABBAGES!” I wish I had enough time to apologize to him but I'm barely able to keep ahead of the law-ponies as it is.

As I continue to race ahead, I get an empathic instinct that the reason the seller's frustration is so keen is because this isn't the first time this has happened to him.

I finally catch a break when I leap off a tall building and snatch a clothes line along the way down to break my fall. It slows me down a bit but ultimately the clothes line does snap. I do, however, manage to snag a shoddy-looking cloak and wrap it around my hooves to form an improvised parachute. When I land, I also notice that the other law-ponies have not spotted me yet so that gives me enough time to slip into a crowd while putting my new disguise on. At that point I slow down considerably to match the pace of the rest of the crowd to avoid drawing any further suspicion.

The guards, however, continue to hold their pace but it is clear to me, as one of them passes me, that they have lost sight of their target. They are racing desperately to get eyes on me again.

“OUT OF MY WAY!” a guard roars at me in anger and shoves me aside so hard that I end up knocking down another table full of clay pots.

“Pardon me, Sir,” I say in a shaky and shriveled tone of a very old mare. Incidentally that actually is who normally wears this cloak. I empathically sense that and that helped me to modify my voice and body posture to mimic her almost perfectly.

The guard spits at me in disgust as if revolted by the mere idea that he touched a “dirty old mare” like me for even a moment. I even get the feeling that he'd normally unload even more harsh words towards me, or perhaps even commit further physical abuse as well, but he's on a mission so that propels him to rush on and reluctantly dismiss this encounter.

That causes me to shake my head. My memory certainly isn't what it used to be but I get the feeling that the guards didn't used to be this bad.

The merchant of the table I just knocked over comes about the table and trots next to me. At first I thought he was going to attack me too in frustration for knocking over his wares, but instead he kindly reaches a hoof down to me to help pick me up.

“Oh! Thank you, young man!” I express to him in delighted surprise. Once again I continue to hold the voice and poise of the old mare who normally wears this cloak. “Sorry for knocking over and-”

“Nah-nah,” the yellow earth pony stallion with trimmed black beard and mustache says dismissively as he waves a hoof in front of him. “I know it's not your fault. That guard should've watched where he was going.” He grunts as he adds in frustration, “I swear, this city isn't going like it used to. Back in my day, we used to be kind to our elders.”

“In my day too,” I agree when I sense that's what the mare of this old cloak would have said in my place and meant it. “It does my heart good to see some chivalry survive to this day and age.”

“Are you hurt?” the stallion asks me in concern.

“Oh, I'll be fine,” I tell him with a dismissive wave then sigh in lament. “I'm used to it.”

“That makes it worse,” he says with a regretful shake of his own head. “Well, in any case, you take care of yourself.” He gives a courteous bow to me. “I bid thee health and good fortune.”

“Thank you, kind Sir!” I express to him brightly. “And I return the . . .”

I trail off when I suddenly sense something amiss. A new empathic impression is given to me by this cloak. Contrary to this stallion's bidding, the lady who wore this cloak last is actually not doing so well. She is ill. Alarmingly so.

“You sure you're alright?” the yellow stallion asks me in renewed concern when he notices me trail off.

“Ah . . . oh, yeah. I'll be fine,” I try to reassure him. “Thank you for your concern. I'll be on my way now, and if I ever get a chance to repay you, I'll be sure good fortune returns your way too.”

“Thank me by returning to your home safely,” he bids me kindly in return.

I nod to him once again then make my way away. As I proceed, I secretly secure the coin pouch I pilfered from that rude guard on my person more tightly.

“There you are,” whispers Red Star as the young red pegasus colt crawls into an empty wagon I'm hiding within for the moment. When our eyes meet, he gives me a cocky grin as he tells me, “I heard you had more trouble with the law-ponies chasing after ya. A bunch of ma gang were concerned about you but I knew you'd make it out.”

“Where is the Princess now?” I check with my young friend.

“In the Mon Amarie Inn,” Red Star reports to me. “She should be making her way to the main Palace tomorrow.” He then winces at me as he asks me in confusion, “One thing I don't get, though. Princess Celestia has several pegasi among her and, failing that, she can fly herself. Why doesn't she just fly her way straight to the Palace? That certainly would have saved her some trouble, I assume.” A devious grin spreads on his face. “It would have spared her from tonight's theft too.”

I shrug as I tell him, “Don't ask me. I'm not her, but I'm sure she has her reasons.” I shrug again as I add, “Maybe she really wanted to see the other ponies along the way. I get the feeling she really is as kind as the rumors say.”

“Kind?” Red Star scoffs. “Maybe, but certainly stupid too.”

“Stupid enough to leave the Inn undefended?” I ask skeptically.

“Ah . . . no. She ain't that dumb,” Red Star replies. “Even if she was, though, that Inn has plenty of guards of its own plus the Vizier assigned several extra guards to defend her.”

Red Star suddenly looks worried as he asks me in concern, “But you're all not going to challenge her directly, are you? I ask because I get the feeling that the most formidable one in that Inn right now is the Princess herself. That babe is a bleeden alicorn who is over four centuries old.” He shakes his head. “I don't think one gets that old without learning a few tricks.”

“No.” I shake my head. “Obviously we have no plans to confront the Princess directly. That wouldn't be smart. I got a few tricks up my sleeve just in case it does come to that, but that's not part of our plan.”

I look around at the shadows of the moon carefully then nod to myself as I say aloud, “The others of the Red Sands should be in place by now. If they aren't, they should be soon. I'll need to get into position as well.”

“Well you can count on me too!” Red Star says to me proudly as he gives me a firm salute. “Just say the word and I'll do whatever I can too.”

“Actually, I do have a mission for ya,” I confirm as I look back to my brash young friend.

“Anything!” Red Star reaffirms proudly.

I slip him the pouch of coins. When he holds it and shakes it, it only takes him a second to not only deduce what is inside the bag but he has the uncanny ability to tell how many bits it is as well.

“Just a little something one of the guards dropped,” I tell him.

“Aww! How sweet of him!” Red Star mocks in amusement.

“Keep six coins to yourself,” I instruct him. “But the rest needs to go to a Doctor named Albetzier. Tell him to make a poultice medicine for the Hay Fever. Once you have it, deliver the medicine to the old lady at this address,” I add as I slip him another note which has a map of a certain section of this city.

Red Star is caught off-guard for several reasons. First because he probably expected me to make a request related to my upcoming mission and secondly because of my uncanny ability to sense unusual details about others. Red Star has never directly asked about that either, but I can sense that some of his theories are very close to the truth. He is also touched that I care for others so much.

“Can I count on you?” I prompt when I get tired of waiting for him to respond to my request.

“Ah . . . sure. Easily done,” he assures me when he recovers his wits. “Consider it done.”

“Thank you,” I express to him gratefully. “Be quick about it too. That old mare won't have long to live without that medicine.”

“Then I'll do it right now,” Red Star decides as he starts to climb his way back out of the wagon. At the last second he hesitates then glances back at me with a bit of a worried expression. He's very confident in my skills, but what we're up against tonight is beyond the scope of anything I had ever done with the Red Cleft Sands. I already have some enemies hounding me, too.

In return, I give him a shooing motion while giving him as confident of a grin as I can muster right now. Seeing that and feeling a little more reassured, my precious little guy continues his way onward.

Which, in turn, is a great relief to me. This keeps him away from the greater challenge I will face, and Red Star can be courageous and loyal to a fault. He'd gladly be willing to do anything for me, even if it puts him in undue danger. To be fair, he can hoofle it far better than an average foal which is why the little gang of orphans he's in charge of look up to him so much, but he is still a foal and he does have his limits.

I'm also relieved to know that I've done the best I could for that old mare. There's no guarantee that she'll survive but I did what I could to give her an honest shot. It kind of helps to think that I'm repaying a debt to her, too. That cloak helped to save me from a lethal fall. It's only fair for me to try to return the favor.

With all of that out of the way, it'll be easier to focus on my next mission. That's good because I probably can't afford distractions at this point.

I look up to the moon which has the shadow of a mare's face on it. As I gaze upon it, I pray for it to wish me luck before I continue on my way.