My Little Detour

by Scroll

Chapter Two: Not What I Had In Mind

The last thing Star Breeze remembered was Discord snapping the fingers of his lion paw above his head then a brilliant white flash erupted all around her, but that “whiteness” didn't fade away nearly as fast as she expected it would. Honestly, aside from the stories she heard from her father and the memories she viewed through the Red Crystal of Discord, Star Breeze had only personally met Discord very recently but that was long enough to realize that his reality-bending powers could literally alter things in a “flash”.

Except this time. For once, reality refused to fade in as fast. Instead, it came in gradual steps. First, there was whiteness, then there was intense ringing in her ears; then she steadily became aware of the sensation of lying against a stone-cold floor. As her mind turned to the physical sensation, she gradually grew aware that she was lying on a physical floor and she also had her gravity back. She felt a bit lighter than she expected, though. Perhaps, wherever and whenever this new world was, gravity was lighter on it.

“. . . ther Win . . .” Star Breeze barely heard through the ringing in her ears. The voice also seemed to echo, too much to make what was said understandable. The voice itself was familiar, though. She listened carefully in case the voice repeated again.

“. . . eh-ther Wind! Come on! Get up!” the mysterious but also familiar voice cried out urgently. Very urgently! Like, emergency urgently! The voice still echoed, but it was steadily becoming clearer and sharper. Along with that, a new sensation started to get her attention. She gained the physical sensation of being turned around, the stone-cold floor now at her back. After that, she gained the physical sensation of being lifted a bit, then shaken urgently.

“This is no time to be sleeping! Get up!” the voice urged on frantically. At that point, Star Breeze could identify that the speaker was female, and also sounded older.

The echo continued to fade away, and Star Breeze's sight started to come into focus. The whiteness around her started to fade, and what replaced that were blurry images. That feeling of being shaken again resumed, but it actually felt quite odd. Kind of like being shaken in very slow motion, probably because that was how fast her brain could register the sensation.

“We have got to go!” another female voice urged, but it sounded a bit more distant and much younger this time. “They are almost here.”

“Darn it! We were almost there!” complained a male voice.

“DESTROY! DESTROY!” cried out a very loud robotic voice around Star Breeze. A robotic voice that sounded very raspy. “EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!”

Suddenly Star Breeze grew very alarmed. That was the first time she personally heard those kinds of voices, but she’d heard of them before. Her father once warned her that such voices belonged to one of the most hostile races the Doctor and his companions had ever encountered. If her hunch was correct, that would be a Dalek's voice she heard.

HOLY CELESTIA! If that is what I heard, then the situation is indeed very urgent!
Darn it, Discord! You said you'd go easy on me! Plus, I don't think there are too many Daleks in Ponyville. If I'm wrong about that, then I have been severely misinformed.

Due to the potential emergency, Star Breeze fought her way to consciousness. She tried to force her body to function. She shook her head, limbs, and body. Apparently, that must have gotten her companion’s attention because they seemed to have noticed.

“That's it! Come back to us!” the nearby feminine voice encouraged.

Just then Star Breeze suddenly realized whom that voice belonged to, and why it was so familiar before.

“Muh . . . mom?!” Star Breeze asked in an attempt to confirm her theory. When she asked, she inwardly winced a bit. Her voice sounded weird.

“What?!” her mother, Stern Wing, exclaimed in shock. “Nah . . . no. Your mother died years ago, remember?”

“We don't have time for this!” the other young feminine voice urged.

“I know!” the male voice said in a near panic.

After the voice spoke, Star Breeze heard a weird wavy-sounding noise. It momentarily made Star Breeze dizzier for a moment, then she heard.

“Of course! Stupid-stupid Doctor!” exclaimed the male voice. “We have those! Vision, let me borrow those glasses for a second!”

“Ah . . . sure, Doctor, but you know I can't see without them.” the young female voice reminded. At that point, Star Breeze suspected that the young female voice was Vision, and apparently the foal version of her. The male voice was likely the Doctor.

Okay, so . . . that accounts for my mother, the Doctor, and Vision. Where is my father and Derpy?

“I just need them for a few seconds,” the Doctor assured.

“Okay. Here.” Vision said back.

“DESTROY! DESTROY! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! THE DOCTOR AND ALL INTRUDERS MUST BE EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED!” the robotic raspy voice (or voices?) cried out, and it (or they?) sounded much closer.

The wavy sound issued again, but it had a much different effect this time. Instead of making Star Breeze feel dizzier, her senses rapidly recovered. The blurriness of her vision faded in seconds, and the sounds around her became crystal sharp. When her reality finally came into focus, she looked around herself. She was being held by her mother who clasped her right in front of her. Hovering above her, she finally saw the Doctor in person, a tan stallion with a deep brown mane who wore a green tie. For a moment he also wore round-rimmed glasses that were completely black.

The Doctor lifted up the glasses from his eyes and gazed down at her from below those glasses. At that point, he asked, “You alright now, my friend?”

“Feather Wind, use your magic to tear down those pipes around here!” Vision urged nearby who vaguely gestured to large steel pipes above them in a curved hallway. While she asked, the shadows of several tall weird things slowly encroached upon their area. Whatever they were, they had an apparent plunger on one side of the contraption and a straight stick on the other side. If what Star Breeze heard was correct, those straight sticks were actually deadly blasters. On the head area of these contraptions, there were two, about five inch longer cylinder things jutting up diagonally on their dome head. In front of that head was a long tube which was especially thick at the end. The long tube thing coming from their head seemed like it should be these alien creatures blasters, but they were actually a way for the creatures within to view the outside world. Now that she heard these things better, she also heard electronic sounds as those contraptions approached them.

“Feather Wind! Where?” Star Breeze exclaimed in surprise. She whipped her head about in an attempt to look for him, but he didn't seem to be anywhere in sight.

Except for the fact that her own voice sounded like her father's.

Star Breeze widened her eyes in shock.

“Oh no! Don't tell me!” Star Breeze realized in horror, then slapped her hoof to her face. “DISCORD! This is NOT what I had in mind!”

“Discord?!” her mother exclaimed in startled and horrified recognition. “Did you say Discord?”

Right after she said that Star Breeze heard Discord chuckle quite maniacally, much like a sinister villain, except the voice seemed to echo a bit like a telepathic message, followed by the telepathic statement: “Oh, you're welcome!” The voice said with evil glee. “I'd get up soon, if I were you! Those nasty Daleks can be quite sinister, but they are not without some personal charm, I feel.”

“We don't have time for this!” Stern Wing exclaimed, then grabbed Star Breeze and thrust her across Stern Wing's back. Star Breeze could feel her mother's wings on both sides of her body. “Let's just go! The Daleks are nearly here, but the TARDIS is not that far either.”

“Right-y, that,” the Doctor agreed then gave the black glasses back to Vision. “Put these back on, and follow my voice!”
“You don't have to tell me twice!” Vision agreed. The white filly with matching mane and tail galloped after the Doctor while putting the black glasses on which, quite frankly, fit her smaller facial configuration better anyway.

I can't believe this! Star Breeze exclaimed in her mind, then mentally called out: “Darn it, Discord, when I said I wanted to get to know my father better, I didn't mean to do it as him!”

Discord's only apparent reply was to laugh, but with a mental telepathic echo.

“Where is Derpy? We can't leave her behind!” Star Breeze complained, then winced again. Darn it, it felt so weird for her to have the wrong vocal cords like this.

“He really does have amnesia!” Stern Wing realized, then grunted. “Shoot! Just what we need right now on top of everything else!”

“No,” Vision objected in a spooked tone, sounding like she realized something. “It's something else.”

“Huh?” Stern Wing wondered, glancing back over her left shoulder at Vision for clarification. “You know what's going on?”

“A little less chatting and a little more RUNNING, PLEASE!? THANK YOU!” the Doctor urged.

Blaster sounds issued from within the narrow corridor the intrepid adventurers galloped through. The noise which greatly startled Star Breeze. “She” just couldn't help but billow a shrill scream when the blaster bolt hit a position nearby them which exploded into a shower of sparks.

“CHEESE AND BISCUITS!” Stern Wing exclaimed. “You picked one heck of a time to have amnesia, Feather Wind! You're among the very few that could possibly deflect those blaster bolts!”

Dozens of blaster bolts chased after them since more and more Daleks came into proper alignment. Most of Star Breeze's companions just kept on galloping frantically, but Vision actually attempted, and succeeded, to do a little bit of evasive maneuvering as she galloped. It was as if she had a sixth sense for where the blaster fire would be.

“EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANIONS MUST BE EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATED!” That last word just ended up repeating over and over again. The more times it got repeated, the more Daleks joined the chant. While that happened, they continued their blaster fire. Each shot got more and more accurate as the Daleks gained a better and straighter position to aim.

Until Star Breeze's companions suddenly made a left turn. Blaster fire hit and exploded on the corner they just turned from. Several more blasts hit that corner and exploded chunks of concrete off of it.

Very shortly after rounding that corner, Star Breeze noticed the environment and temperature change. She looked around and noticed that she was now in the TARDIS! The sight of this blue box's spacious interior was quite the welcome sight indeed for multiple reasons.

Looking back where they came from, Star Breeze noticed Vision quickly shut the doors to the TARDIS a second before Star Breeze herself was suddenly dropped to the ground after being bucked off her mother's back.

“Sorry!” Apologized the large but lean brown mare with brown ombre wing with black tips, a color scheme which was shared by her mane, tail, and hooves. “You alright?”

Meanwhile, the Doctor raced frantically to get to the controls of the center console of the TARDIS. He flipped, twisted and pulled at multiple switches and levers in a hurry. Seconds later Star Breeze felt a jerky motion as the TARDIS groaned to life and probably took off somewhere.

But that initial jerking motion was the worst of it. Gravity seemed to stabilize after that.

“Whew!” the Doctor said with very wide eyes as he brushed a hoof through tightly his mane. “Well . . . that was certainly an adventure!” He looked about at the other occupants in the TARDIS. “Is everyone else here alright?”

“Alright?!” Star Breeze exclaimed incredulously. “Of course we're not alright! Where is Derpy? How could you just leave her behind?!”

The Doctor looked stunned to hear that accusation. Everypony else in the TARDIS seemed the same way.

“But . . . Derpy is right here in the TARDIS,” the Doctor reminded. “Getting her the medicine we needed was precisely why we invaded that compound!”

“Oh? Really?” Star Breeze looked taken aback.

“Yeah,” the Doctor concurred. “Speaking of which, Vision,” the Doctor tossed her some kind of metallic-looking vial. Lead, it seemed, from what Star Breeze could tell from a glance.

In mid-flight Stern Wing exclaimed, “DON'T TOSS . . .” she cried out in panic, then sighed in relief when she saw Vision catch the tossed vial. After that, she glared at the Doctor. “Celestia darn it, you shouldn't go tossing our cure like that, Doctor! We worked really hard to get it! Even risked our lives for it!”

“Oh my!” the Doctor exclaimed sarcastically as he gripped his cheeks. “We've never done that before!”

Stern Wing grunted a little less. “True. Maybe we have done it before, but you shouldn't take security risks like that unnecessarily! What if she dropped it? What if we had to go back and get another one?”

“Then we go back and get another one,” the Doctor said matter-of-factly as he landed back on all four hooves. “But I had faith in my companion to catch it. Vision has a 'sixth sense' for such things.” The Doctor focused on Vision. “And she could use the medical practice. Go, and administer the cure.”

“Actually, I think we need to address another serious issue here,” Vision announced, then pointed in Star Breeze's general direction. “This is not Feather Wind.” Vision turned her head towards Star Breeze'ish. “It may look like him, but another personality has taken over his mind.”

“What?!” The Doctor and Stern Wing exclaimed simultaneously. Immediately after that, the Doctor stepped off the upraised platform leading up to the TARDIS's center control consoles. Now standing two feet away from Star Breeze, the Doctor reached a hoof out to Vision and demanded, “Vision, I need to borrow your glasses again for a moment.”

“It's not the Dalek virus this time,” Vision assured.

“Are you sure?” the Doctor asked emphatically. “Because Derpy caught it none too long ago. If Feather Wind here has caught the same thing then . . .”

“Yes, I'm sure,” Vision promised again but also tossed her black glasses at the Doctor. “Scan him yourself if you don't believe me, but I'm telling you . . . it's not the virus this time.”

“Then what is it?” Stern Wing asked with worry. “What's wrong with him?” Stern Wing looked at the Doctor as he proceeded to scan Star Breeze, apparently using the black glasses to pull that off. They didn't quite fit on his larger face, though, so he simply held it near his eyes with a hoof pressing it there. Everypony was silent while they waited for the Doctor with bated breath.

“Okay, confirmed.” The Doctor tossed the glasses back at Vision. Despite her being blind, she caught it like a boss and even put them back on her head with some stylish flair. “He doesn't have the Dalek virus. This is something new.”

“He did mention something about Discord earlier,” Stern Wing reminded. “Maybe this is another one of his sick and twisted little jokes!” Stern Wing said with intense disgust.

To which Star Breeze telepathically heard Discord chuckle with maniacal glee which sent a shiver down Star Breeze's spine. She remained pretty certain that Discord was not really the “bad guy”, but apparently it amused him to pretend to be sometimes.

That also informed her that Discord continued to monitor the situation from some higher dimension, apparently. That assertion she privately found reassuring because it informed her that Discord might correct the situation if things got too much out of hoof.

Actually, come to think of it, maybe he already did. For a few moments there, those Daleks had a straightforward shot at any one of us. Either they are the worst shots in the whole universe, or Discord secretly interfered with their aim.
I wonder . . . if that's true . . . what would have happened if I had not been here? Would the fact that Discord was not here and secretly not guarding his friends mean they would have died back there? Has my arrival indirectly already saved their lives in this timeline?
It seems to me this moment is before they all saved the world from the Dark Star, too. An event like that would have been so powerful that it would have affected Discord adversely too, so he had a stake in keeping his friends alive, at least until they fulfilled their destiny back in Equestria.
It feels kind of weird to stand among them all with so much knowledge of their future, and yet possess such startlingly little knowledge of their past, including their recent past. For instance, what is this “Dalek virus” they keep mentioning, and is it contagious?

“Now that is a serious possibility,” the Doctor agreed with Stern Wings assertion that whatever might have changed Feather Wind had something to do with Discord. The Doctor looked at Vision. “Let's get to the heart of this issue. Since you, Vision, were the first to notice something is wrong with him then I take it you sensed something wrong with him empathically. Am I correct?”

“Confirmed.” Vision nodded.

“And I take it you sensed the change in him when he regained his consciousness?” the Doctor probed further.

“Confirmed,” Vision agreed again.

“May I also assume that the empathic impression you sense within him is that of a young foal, and a female one at that?” the Doctor checked.

“Female?!” Stern Wing exclaimed in shock. “Do you mean to tell me that Discord put the mind of a little girl in the body of my boyfriend?”

“Would you put it past him?” the Doctor reflected to Stern Wing. In response, Stern Wing growled in anger.

“Uh . . . confirmed.” This time Vision sounded quite surprised that the Doctor guessed that accurately.

“Okay, then.” The Doctor looked straight at Star Breeze then asked while looking straight into “her” eyes, “Is your name Star Breeze?”

Star Breeze widened her father's eyes with startling intensity.

“I take it, from your reaction, that the answer is yes?” the Doctor checked onward.

Star Breeze barely nodded numbly.

“Uh-huh. Okay, then.” The Doctor wheeled about and headed back to the center control consoles. “Time to change course.”

“Where are you taking us now, Doctor?” Stern Wing asked his retreating form.

“To Ponyville,” the Doctor answered after he arrived at the controls and started fiddling with them. “I'm not escorting yet another child into our hostile adventures. We'll take 'her' someplace safe until we get this new business sorted out. In the meantime, would some pony please give Derpy the injection she needs before she is completely converted into another Dalek? I like to keep my companions clean of any filthy Dalek artificial viruses, thank-you-very-much, and I strongly assume she'll be pleased to pay her hometown another visit once she recovers from this recent ordeal.”

“THE INJECTION! OF COURSE!” Loudly exclaimed Stern Wing. “Poor Derpy! She's been suffering this whole time while we've been busy arguing.”

“Actually, I put her into blissful sleep before we left the TARDIS,” the Doctor informed. “But that does not solve the core problem. I see no useful reason to delay the true solution to her more recent problem now that we finally worked so hard to get that medicine into our hands. Hint-hint!”

“On it.” Vision started to trot out of the room. “I'll see to it she gets the injection, and I foresee a full recovery after that as well as a deepened appreciation for being restored to her old self again.”

“A master seer indeed,” the Doctor concurred with a gracious bow near the console which was full of flourish.

“Is it Discord who put you up to this?” Stern Wing checked at Star Breeze. When Star Breeze looked back, Stern Wing recalled something that widened her eyes for a moment. “Oh my Celestia! Didn't you call me mother none too long ago?”

“Ah!” The Doctor raised a hoof in objection. “I wouldn't look too deeply into this if I were you, Stern Wing. Would you really feel comfortable with the prospect of this situation if the answer to that particular question is yes? Believe me, the less you know about your own future, the better.”

“And yet you invited a seer into your journey,” Stern Wing reminded. “Please don't be a hypocrite.”

“Hey! I didn't want to invite her along into danger, remember?” the Doctor objected. “It was all of you that kept begging me to let her tag along, especially Derpy.” The Doctor jabbed a hoof pointing in the direction she was resting. “Besides, what was I supposed to do? Leave her behind so she could get snatched up by Puppet Master or the Dark King? No thank you! You’ve seen for yourself what just one of those magic-wielding psychopaths could do to those guards at her temple.”

Stern Wing looked down in depression at that reminder.

“Sometimes my hands are tied in my adventures,” the Doctor went on. “I do whatever I can in each and every situation I face. Life is always one giant puzzle to me, and I solve it the best I can with the available pieces that I've discovered, so don't you go accusing me of being a hypocrite!

“Notice the fact that I changed our course to Ponyville the moment I realized that I was dealing with another child on board my ship. A child who possesses the body of your boyfriend, by the way, and my friend as well.”

The Doctor looked around the TARDIS and sighed as he leaned one hoof on a rail beside him.

“At the moment it actually does sound like nerves are frayed here so I think a pleasant vacation in a quiet and friendly town is just what the Doctor ordered in the wake of our recent ordeal,” the Doctor added.

“You do know who she is?” Stern Wing checked while using her head to nod towards the body of her boyfriend. “She isn't a security risk on board this ship? She won't hurt our friend?”

For a moment the Doctor glanced at Stern Wing as she spoke, then glanced at Star Breeze when Stern Wing nodded to “her”, then looked back at Stern Wing with confidence as he said, “She is most assuredly not an enemy of ours. On the contrary, I think she is in dire need of our protection. Someday she'll be old enough to stand on her own four hooves and be a more useful companion in our adventures, but for the moment we're stuck on babysitter duty, compliments of a certain mischievous draconequus.”

Stern Wing growled with hatred at the reminder of Discord's involvement, but her gaze softened considerably when she looked back at Star Breeze.

Gazing back at the past version of her mother, Star Breeze finally had enough time to let the details of this situation sink in. She gazed at her mother in wonder at how much younger she appeared. This was before her mother got stuck in ancient Equestria for over ten years. This was her mother before Star Breeze herself was born, and this was her mother before raising her as far as she had.

“I want to make something perfectly clear to you, dear,” Stern Wing began at Star Breeze. “I most certainly am upset at what has happened to you and my boyfriend. In fact, I'm downright livid on what that contemptible draconequus has done to you both . . . but I don't blame you for that, sweetie. This is not your fault,” Stern Wing said in a reassuring tone.
“Ooo! Your mother has such passion! No wonder your father fell in love with her! Oh my!” Discord telepathically said then snickered. “How ever am I to handle the wrath of this woman scorned?”
“Ease off, will ya?” Star Breeze mentally requested. “That's my mother you’re talking about!”
“I noticed you have yet to look down upon 'yourself.' Afraid your tiny little mind and heart can't handle it?” Discord taunted. “Oh-ho! I guess I should be careful with my wording, then. In fact, you are smaller now than you have ever been in years, my dear!”
“If you start making 'short' jokes, I swear to Celestia . . .” Star Breeze mentally threatened.

Discord snickered for a brief moment, but his tone changed drastically when he mentally spoke next. This time it was far more soothing.
“But seriously, don't forget to have a little bit of fun on your trip! You requested an adventure, and an adventure you have received! I think you can take it from here. Ta-ta for now! I'm sure this will be a most educational experience for you.
“Oh, and by the way . . . YOU'RE WEEEEEELCOMMMMME!”
“Wait, you're leaving me?” Star Breeze asked in frantic fear.

No response. Instead, it was the others that spoke around her that nabbed her attention.

“Star Breeze, are you okay?” Stern Wing checked as she placed a hoof on Star Breeze's shoulder, or rather to say her father's shoulder. “You zoned out there for a second.”

“Oh, uh . . .” Star Breeze shook her father's head to clear it, then assured, “I'm fine. I'm just . . . processing all of this. I'm here in somepony else's body and I'm here on the TARDIS and traveling with all of you . . . sort of. It's a lot to process.”

“I know, my dear. I know,” Stern Wing said sympathetically. “By the way, just to be clear, just how old are you, anyway?”

Star Breeze widened her eyes for a moment, then looked down with a thoughtful look.

Well, this is it. This is the line. The book, “Sky Dancer, the First Flying Unicorn” never did cross that line, quite possibly on purpose. The fact that she asked me right now means that this scene is either written in yet another story, or this scene will be skipped in that story, or . . . something or another. Well . . . okay. Finally the moment of truth. My life is not defined by some book out there that some nameless pony wrote. As my father is quite fond of reminding me, I write my own story, thank-you-very-much.

Star Breeze focused back on the past version of her mother and answered, “I'm twelve. Twelve years old. As in . . . I was born twelve years ago before I possessed your boyfriend’s body.”

Stern Wing gained a dull look as she continued to regard Star Breeze. “I know what age means, my dear. I'm not that much of a dunce.”

Star Breeze widened her eyes in objection, then said, “I never said you were!”

“Calm down!” Stern Wing commanded soothingly. “We'll get through this. Trust me. I've been in plenty of dangerous and odd situations. This is just another day in the TARDIS to me.”

Star Breeze's eyes softened lovingly. “I trust you,” Star Breeze assured warmly, then realized something. “Hey! Mind if I ask you a question?”

“Shoot,” Stern Wing invited.

“And this is just to give me a frame of reference, mind you,” Star Breeze assured, then pointed to herself. “How old is this body I'm possessing? How old am I for as long as I stay stuck like this?”

“Oh!” Stern Wing blinked. “That's simple. At the moment, you are . . .”

“And we're here!” the Doctor inadvertently interrupted as the TARDIS materialized at their destination.

Comments

[Nitro Indigo]

I’m going to be blunt: a lot of your prose is pointing out the obvious. For example:

For a moment he also wore round-rimmed glasses that were completely black. Nopony would be able to see through those glasses, which seemed to be the precise point. It informed everypony else who saw them that the wearer of the glasses was blind.

The last two sentences aren’t necessary. Most people would be able to figure that out on their own.

[Scroll]

10253215
Thank you for the tip. I went ahead and made those corrections.

That said, it isn't the only example that needs correction in the story, is it? I thank you for your honestly. If you wish, I can offer you the link to the google document that is the source of this story. From there, you can offer any corrections, questions or comments directly within the story itself and also highlight the parts you are talking about. This is not a demand, it is an offer.