Sure enough, sitting in the center of the meeting hall was a tall blue box of mysterious purpose and origin. Everypony was more than a little startled at that. Whatever this strange blue box was, it was unlike any spell they had ever seen before. Only the Doctor, Trixie, and Star Swirl himself knew for certain that the glow surrounding his horn was only for show, as he appeared to be in deep concentration, just to the side of where the box materialized. The small lights that tipped the box continued to blink, almost seeming to dim the glow of the torchlight.
“Stay calm, everypony. I know this spell looks strange,” Doctor Hooves called above the frightened politicians, “but you are not in any danger, no matter what happens. I am sure most of you have heard of the time manipulation spells that Star Swirl the Bearded has been studying. This is one such spell. As I said,” he made a flourish, drawing everypony’s attention to the staggered visage of the grandly-attired unicorn, “it takes all his concentration to maintain. Now, do not be afraid, but the next stage may be rather shocking.”
Of course, everypony was so focused on Star Swirl and the flickering of the blue box, that no pony noticed the newfound look of concentration upon the Doctor’s face. In an instant, the ceiling of the hall was filled with a cloud of images. Each and every pony in the audience looked up to bear witness. It was like viewing a scene from the underside of a glass floor.
Within the cloud of images they saw a town of ponies, different in many ways, but not so much unlike their own. Until everything went to hell. Happy-go-lucky citizens cowered in fear as the sky turned red and opened above them, cracked like an egg. Out of the crack flew countless monsters, some similar to the beasts just outside their own walls and others unlike anypony had ever seen. Otherworldly creatures. They stomped, they snarled, they destroyed, and they vanished.
Just as soon as the monster would disappear, the house they destroyed or the cart they wrecked would restore itself, literally becoming destroyed in reverse. And then it would keep restoring. It would rework itself ever more quickly through time, down to its base materials and out of existence itself.
Ponies left and right screamed and ran in a panic. With hardly a second thought they would abandon their vanishing homes, flying away as quickly as possibly, only then realizing they did not previously have wings. Fillies grew old, stallions grew young, unicorns lost their horns, and pegasi fell straight through clouds. It was a world out of balance, by every definition the ponies in the meeting hall could fathom.
“This,” Doctor Hooves yelled above the shrieks of the visions, “is one possible future that Star Swirl has seen. This is a future in which the Elements of Harmony have ceased to be, due to improper tampering, such as what has been discussed here today.” He cleared his throat with one eye open, making sure all attention was focused where it should be. “Star Swirl does not mean to frighten you, though. He only wishes to advise you. To help you make the right choice. A time will come when the Elements of Harmony will be vital to Equestria’s future, but, in this future, the hasty handling of them will become Equestria’s end. This is the risk you take, by allowing this decision to pass.” With that, the Doctor’s face slackened and the images projected on the ceiling vanished. Everypony was baffled, still shaken from the horrific scenes. Slowly, each of them ventured a look at Star Swirl or the box or even the Doctor, but could not help returning their eyes to the sky, lest anymore visions take form.
“If nothing you have seen today has given you cause for alarm, then do as you see fit,” Star Swirl said sternly, the concentration of maintaining his fake spell broken. “But, I assure you these visions are true. Time can be changed, but only under the right circumstances. Now that you have seen an example of the risks I speak of, I implore you, allow the right circumstances to take shape. Do not doom the future of Equestria.”
The rest of the conference was relatively uneventful. It seemed the ‘spell’ that Star Swirl cast had been enough to convince nearly everypony in attendance with each representative reporting something along the lines of, “In light of Star Swirl the Bearded’s ‘some big adjective here’ spell, the ‘whatever’ delegation has decided not to support the forging of the Elements of Harmony.” Even the ponies who had not been entirely convinced by the display, or rather, had not been entirely dissuaded from their lust for power, opted to at least postpone the decision. When the assembly had been asked if Menlo the Mustachioed had any new insights he wished to add, not only was the unicorn mysteriously absent, but the ponies so persuaded by his speeches before could hardly remember what he had said.
The only hiccup came when the mysterious blue box did not immediately vanish after Star Swirl had concluded his spell. Embarrassingly, the reality was that Trixie did not know how to teleport the TARDIS away on her own, even if she had not been too fatigued to do it. Of course, Star Swirl, without any previous exposure to the TARDIS nor the time vortex, had no idea what to do. Fortunately, most of the assembly seemed to buy that the ‘Future Box’ spell was very complicated and it would take Star Swirl a while yet to unwork the magic that materialized it. While most of the ponies were capable of focusing their attention on finishing the proceedings, there were still those who couldn’t stop looking at the box and back up to the ceiling, waiting for anything else to appear.
An eternity later, at least to the eternally fatigued Trixie, the meeting was finally complete, with the decision not to forge the Elements succeeding by a wide margin. With a vague understanding that his friend needed some privacy, the master of ceremonies encouraged the delegates to evacuate Cantaerloth Palace while the hall was cleared.
“Doctor!” Star Swirl called excitedly, after everypony had left. “That was incredible! How did you achieve such a feat of magic? Was it real? I must know.”
Doctor Hooves shrugged awkwardly, casually trying to work a knot out of his shoulder. “Oh, it was real. No magic. That was a memory. My memory. Psychic transference. Usually it can only be done one to one, but once Trixie got the TARDIS here, I was able to use it like a transmitter, literally boost the psychic wavelength and project my thoughts directly into the heads of everypony here. Had the added benefit of my psychic transmission canceling out the subliminal signal Menlo was using, which is why all his influence seemed to just dry up. Didn’t work perfectly, of course, never does. Things slip in. Lot more Daleks than were actually there. Least I didn’t remember any Blorgons. That would’ve really scared them!” He grinned maniacally, like the joke was obvious.
Star Swirl just stared back blankly.
“Basically, I thought at them. Really, really hard.”
“I don’t understand,” Star Swirl finally replied, wisely deciding to ignore all the words he didn’t quite grasp, “how can those be your memories?”
“That’s where we’re from.”
“The future.” Finally, Trixie had enough energy to join the conversation, moving over to where the two stallions stood by the TARDIS.
Revelation. A look of clarity appeared in Star Swirl’s eyes as he looked from one time traveler to the other, stopping on the Doctor after the third pass. “Is that what I see in you? That is why you feel so different? You’re from the future.”
Doctor Hooves made a face like he could avoid the question if he looked at something else long enough. “Among other things. Haven’t felt very chatty about myself lately, to be honest. Ask her. Loves to talk about herself. Never stops, really.”
Trixie was almost angry until she realized she was the center of attention once again. “It’s true, the Great and Powerful Trixie is a master of chatter. You may ask her anything.”
“This is fascinating, but all so much to take in.”
“Really? Now you’re done with the questions? Amazing magical time traveler right here and you suddenly clam up? Trixie has not been the star for, like, six hours!” She actually began sobbing. It was kind of embarrassing.
“Remember when I said ‘talk to her?’”
“Yes?”
“Forget that I said that. Didn’t mean to say that. It’s been a long day. Not as much running as I’m used to, but there’s time yet.”
“Doctor,” Star Swirl began, but quickly found himself at a loss for words, “you are impossible. And that is coming from the unicorn who invented the ‘Impossible Spell.’”
Doctor Hooves winked, clicking his teeth. “You haven’t seen anything impossible yet.” With one swift move, he had a key in his mouth and clicking in the lock of the blue ‘Pony Box.’
“Star Swirl the Bearded, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you. Even with all you’ve done, you have no idea how much good you will do for this world.” His smile was warm and kind and older than any Star Swirl had ever seen. “Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
The aged unicorn felt like a toddler as this young stallion spoke to him. All his praise was stunning, suggesting acts of which he might not yet dream nor predict. There were nearly tears in Star Swirl the Bearded’s eyes, but he had no words.
“Come along, Trixie,” the spikey-maned stallion called as he ducked inside his box. The still sniffling Trixie was short in following him. She nodded to Star Swirl as she passed, adding a sniff to make sure it was not too deferential.
When the magic wand on Trixie’s flank passed inside the TARDIS, the door shut behind her with a click. It stood there for a moment, its quiet hum reverberating around the large hall. Bells jangled as Star Swirl drooped his head, curious what would happen next, but exhausted. Only now had he been given the chance to realize everything that had happened to him today.
“Oh, Star Swirl?”
His ears perked up, followed by the rest of his head. There, he saw the Doctor, just barely peeking out the doorway of his magical mystery box.
“Yes?”
“Earlier, at the conference, did you say your apprentice was named ‘Clover the Clever?’”
“Yes?”
“Clover the Clever.” His mouth stretched broadly, shaping itself over each word. “That is amazingly fun to say. Clover the Clever. I hope I get to meet her some time.”
“Ha ha ha!” Calm and composed Star Swirl the Bearded guffawed like a foal. “I am sure she would like that, Doctor!”
Another nod. Another smile. Another creak as a blue wooden door swung shut.
Once again, Star Swirl waited and this time he was not disappointed.
VWOOOOORP! VWOOOOOORP!
A final flicker and then they were gone.