Ask a member of the Equestrian Royal Guard if they considered their job to be difficult, and you’d get a number of potential answers, depending upon whom you spoke to and where they were assigned. This was especially true for Guardsponies assigned to Canterlot. If pressed, some would find themselves reflecting upon how mind-numbingly boring their duties were.
Sunrunner found herself wondering exactly how such ponies ended up in the armor. Attitudes like that were part of the reason why the Royal Guard had gained something of a reputation for being a joke of late. Guards in the Crystal Empire at least seemed to have taken it upon themselves to not repeat previous mistakes, either because the native crystal ponies had clear memory of being enslaved and brainwashed by Sombra or because the transfers from elsewhere in Equestria felt that they had to measure up.
Still, things like this were part of the reason why she and other officers were patrolling the halls of the castle, to make sure that the NCOs on duty were doing their jobs. Two such were standing before her, guarding the door to Princess Luna’s chambers, and stood at attention as she approached. The pair looked clear-eyed and attentive as they briefly looked her over, and one curtly greeted her. “Ma’am.”
“As you were, stallions.”
She would have gone on her way, had it not been for the numb feeling in her wings and hooves. That pause lasted long enough for her to hear a pained scream from the other side of the doors. One of the two Guardsponies immediately radioed in to report what was going on, while the other moved to unlock the door to investigate.
A list of possibilities went through Sunrunner’s mind the instant she heard that scream, with the most optimistic one being that the Princess of the Night had simply fallen out of bed. She hoped that it was something like that, but expected something worse as she shook her wings to get the numbness out of them.
The doors were thrown open, and Sunrunner rushed in with the stallion who’d greeted her as fast as she was able, the numb feeling having thankfully subsided. “Princess Luna, we heard…!” She paused at the sight before her and found herself thinking that this was hardly what she had expected to see.
Before them, by all appearances, stood Nightmare Moon. Mane and tail flowing like a shadowy cloud, fanged teeth, coat and feathers black as night, and every bit the terror of many a foal’s bad dreams. This, however, was not the fearsome Nightmare Moon of legend – her catlike eyes showed clear signs of shock, her body language that of alarm and surprise, and not a trace of malevolent laughter had escaped her lips. Her position suggested that she’d rolled out of bed in shock, and she painfully regained her footing as they watched. Either they were dealing with a changeling who was horribly out of date, or…
“Lieutenant Sunrunner. Corporal.” The tone of voice made it clear that while her outside was Nightmare Moon, the inside was Princess Luna, and she was just as freaked out as they were. “I must speak with my sister at once. As you can plainly see, something is terribly wrong.”
-
Clara took no pleasure from being blinded. She took even less pleasure from being ground zero to Rarity screaming. The cause, however, was apparent, though she didn’t quite share the sentiment.
“For goodness sake, Miss Rarity, was that really justified?” Where the Doctor had been was now a larger, bulkier stallion with a short, curly yellow mane and blue eyes, wearing what had to be the most eye-searing, attention-getting coat that anypony had ever seen.
“Um, Rarity?”
“One moment, Spike.” The fashionista’s attention was back on the apparent newcomer as she hissed, “Justified?! It’s more than justified! Have you seen yourself in a mirror?!”
“Yeah, you kinda look like a clown barfed all over you.”
“Thank you, Pinkie Pie!” She turned away from her grinning friend, produced a full-sized mirror and demanded, “Who the devil are you going around in a coat like that?!”
“Rarity!” More voices had joined Spike’s beckoning call.
The oddly-attired stallion raised an eyebrow and gave the fashionista a stern look. “I think perhaps you should tend to your friend before critiquing my fashion choices, young lady.”
“Spike can more than look after himself, good sir! I…!”
“Rarity!” Quiver’s roar immediately caught her attention. “It’s not Spike that we’re all fussing over!”
She rolled her eyes. “Really Quiver, you needn’t…” She gasped as she realized the problem. “Good heavens, Twilight!”
Sprawled out on the floor and groaning in pain was Twilight. No apparent harm was done to her, but her current state was visibly different from her norm. She was smaller, albeit by a slight margin, and her wings were missing. Spike had already moved some pillows beneath her head, but that seemed light comfort at best.
The apparent newcomer scoffed as he examined himself in the mirror. “Speaks rather poorly for you that you prioritize my fashion choices over your friend’s well-being, Miss Rarity.”
Clara then gave him a light slap with one hoof. “Oy, Doctor, not helping.”
Before the stallion could protest, Lyra looked up. “Wait, ‘Doctor’? He’s the Doctor?!”
The Doctor stood with a proud grin. “The one and only.” He glanced at himself in the mirror once more and explained, “And I imagine that whatever’s caused my reversion to this handsome, noble state is also responsible for the brief numbness we all felt, as well as Twilight’s transformation.”
Before Lyra could question further, Minuette spoke up. “Remember what the Doctor said about Time Lords being able to regenerate? That’s the pony version of one of the Doctor’s earlier regenerations, from before the Time War.”
“Indeed.” The Doctor stepped forward as Twilight weakly attempted to return to her hooves. “Though why she’s changed as well…”
“Twilight’s not a natural-born alicorn,” Spike explained. “She was born a unicorn. She ascended and became an alicorn a few months back. It’s rare, and not every pony can do it. Those who do need a spell and access to specific magic artifacts. The only other pony we know who ascended is Cadance.”
“And clearly, it was meant to be permanent.” The Doctor knelt down as best he could. “Don’t overexert yourself, your Highness. Your biology isn’t meant for rapid changes like that, not like mine.”
Twilight weakly turned her head to notice her missing wings. “And I was just getting used to having them.” She then turned to the Time Lord. “Doctor, I don’t suppose you have any ideas about the cause?”
“No, but as I said earlier, both of us changing can’t be a coincidence.” He looked about and asked, “And we all felt that numbing sensation, correct? Hooves, horns, wings?”
“Me too, only it wasn’t really in one specific area.” Spike turned sheepish as he admitted, “Ponies don’t really know much about the internal anatomy of dragons, so…”
“Regardless, the likely explanation is simple. Someone is manipulating this world’s thaumic field, and we’ve just felt the…” The Doctor was interrupted as another blinding flash fired off from horns and ponies cried out once more.
-
“Shut it down!”
The equipment surrounding them powered down, but lights remained clear on the two ponies as they regained their footing. The stallion regarded one of his hooves as he reasoned, “It seems the results were less than impressive.”
The mare regarded him scornfully and retorted, “Science is about experimentation, as you well know, and one can learn a great deal from failure.” She made her way to a monitor screen as it scrolled through data from their test. “We simply need to adjust the thaumic flow.”
“That will be a very time-consuming procedure, my dear.”
“Indeed.” She sharply turned to face him and declared, “Then we’d best get started.”
-
Spike rubbed his eyes once more and complained, “Not again!”
The gathered ponies in Golden Oak Library recovered themselves, the numbness they were feeling passing swiftly. Quiver rubbed his eyes and looked to Twilight to see her still sprawled on the floor, but thankfully no longer bereft of her wings. He turned to the Doctor to see him back to his initial state. “Okay, everything that just happened is definitely connected.”
“Unfortunately, we still don’t know the cause.” The Time Lord offered a hoof to the Princess, who carefully regained her footing. “We…” His summation was interrupted as Spike barfed up a scroll, which he quickly unfurled and opened up. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Enchanted dragon flame. It’s the fastest way we have of keeping in touch with Princess Celestia.” The dragon read over the message, and his eyes grew wide with alarm. “Oh no. You two weren’t the only ones affected. According to this, Princess Luna briefly turned back into Nightmare Moon!” Alarmed expressions crossed the faces of everyone present save the Doctor and Clara, and Spike amended, “Long story.”
“Princess Luna spent a thousand years possessed by an entity called the Nightmare,” Quiver explained as he stepped forward. “While possessed, she was forcibly transformed into a being we know as Nightmare Moon. Celestia was forced to banish her to the very moon that she controlled, but she was freed a little over a year ago and then had the Nightmare purged by Twilight and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony.”
“Two of whom are present and accounted for,” Rarity elaborated as Pinkie waved a hoof and grinned. “But it’s impossible for Luna to revert like that! The Nightmare was fragmented, and those fragments are either locked away or destroyed!”
“Well, she didn’t totally go back to being Nightmare Moon.” Spike showed her the letter. “She turned back into Nightmare Moon physically, but she still called herself Luna, so…”
“So it was purely a physical change, no possession involved.” The Doctor considered this in his mind. “Does the letter say anything else?”
“Only that Celestia will write us…” Spike gagged, then barfed up another letter, which he quickly read. “Oh great, it wasn’t just Luna and Twilight who got affected by this. According to this letter, the Crystal Empire vanished again for like a minute or so.”
Twilight was suddenly more alert than before. “What all does it say?! Is everypony there…?!”
“They’re fine, as far as they know. But from what they’ve gathered, not everypony in the Empire vanished with it. Just the native crystal ponies.” Spike looked up and continued, “Anyway, the first letter also said that Celestia wants us to investigate.”
“Spike, write back to Princess Celestia and inform her of what happened to Princess Twilight. Tell her in very clear terms that Twilight is in no position to investigate what’s happening.” Sour Sweet looked to the alicorn and admitted, “With all due respect, ma’am, we have no idea what’s causing this and no clue if it will repeat. I can’t risk you going into danger.”
“And even if we were in a position to investigate, we’d be going at half-strength.” Twilight looked to Rarity and Pinkie, well aware of the absences among them. She doubted that whatever was going on would immediately endanger Applejack, Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, but however long that lasted was still an issue. “And that’s assuming we even knew where to start looking.”
Time Turner cleared his throat. “Princess, I do believe that Minuette and I can point whoever is investigating in the right direction.”
“Well, that sounds like us.” Heads turned to Clara as she and explained, “Me and the Doctor deal with this sort of thing all the time, and he’d volunteer us anyway. Can’t turn away when people need his help.”
“Couldn’t live with myself if I did, but the two of us can’t do this alone.” The Time Lord looked about hesitantly. “I’m afraid…”
Moondancer stepped forward. “I’m in.”
“Whoa, Moonie, hold on!” Minuette looked to her old classmate in shock. “You don’t know what’s up here! Don’t you want to think twice before you go rushing off into danger?”
“I know there’s danger involved here, but…” She gave Twilight a quick glance, then pleaded with the Time Lord and Time Ponies, “Please, I need to do this.”
“Do you need to do this alone?” Lyra took up position beside her and grinned. “Because I’m not letting my friend go marching off into danger without a familiar face by her side. Count me in too.”
“And me.” Quiver stepped forward and added, “Some raw earth pony strength might come in handy, and that’s ignoring me being a wealth of useless information.”
“No information’s useless in the right case, Quiver.” The Doctor glanced around. “Anyone else?”
Sour looked hesitantly between her cousin and her charges, then shook her head. “I’m sorry. I might be needed more here.”
The Doctor nodded. “Alright then.” He then turned to Time Turner and asked, “Now, if you’d be so kind.”
-
“Understood.” Shining Armor gave a worried frown as he removed his helmet and turned to his wife. “Everypony in the Crystal Guard’s finished checking in. As far as they can tell, anyone who became a resident here in the Empire didn’t vanish along with the natives. Cadance, I know you don’t want to hear this…”
“I’m not leaving the palace, Shining.” The alicorn’s expression was firm as she declared, “All of the ponies of the Crystal Empire are under my watch, not just those of us who moved here after the Empire’s return. Whatever they’re going through, I’ll face it with them.” She gave her husband a raised eyebrow. “But shouldn’t you be seeing about getting the rest of us who aren’t crystal ponies here just in case?”
The door into the throne room opened, and a familiar blue-maned pegasus entered. “Sir? Ma’am? There’s a civilian who wants to speak with you about what’s occurred. He thinks he might have a means of protecting us in case the Empire vanishes again. I’ve got him with the rest of the civilians we’ve evacuated.”
“Take me to him, Lieutenant.” Shining took a second to give his wife a smile. “Figured it would be a good idea to have an evac procedure ready just in case. It’s not much, but at least everypony who isn’t native to the Crystal Empire is all in one place.”
Cadance smiled back. “Never doubted you for a second. Now go, do your job.” As her husband and his subordinate departed, the alicorn quietly hoped that the disappearance of the Empire wouldn’t repeat. That minute or so where it had disappeared had been frightening as it was, and the reintroduction to the unpleasantness of the weather outside the protection of the Crystal Heart hadn’t helped.
She knew that good ponies were at work to deal with it, however, and she had faith in them, just as she did her husband. And hopefully, answers would come for all of this very soon.
-
If the residents of Ponyville were aware of any disasters to come, they showed no sign as Time Turner and Minuette led the Doctor and his four companions through town at a swift run. They swiftly arrived at an unassuming house, where the spiky-maned stallion produced a key before the door opened for them to reveal another, familiar unicorn mare on the other side.
“Dad! Minnie!” Alarm was clear on the pale magenta mare’s face as she ushered the group into the house. “Am I glad to see the two of you! The wireless has been going nuts and…!” She spied the two unfamiliar ponies and asked, “Who are these two?”
“Sorry, we’re new in town.” The Doctor offered a friendly smile as Time Turner dashed to a nearby squared-off object and began fiddling with it. “I’m the Doctor, this is Clara, and you are?”
“Amethyst Star, call me Sparkler. Now…” Comprehension dawned on her as she put things together. “Wait, you’re not…the Doctor?”
Clara smirked. “The one and only.”
The mare barely restrained a squee before she explained, “I have heard so many stories about you!” She turned to more familiar ponies and asked, “You all know?”
“We’ve gotten the rundown.” Quiver’s eyes flicked briefly towards Sparkler’s flank. “I’m guessing that’s your real cutie mark?”
The mare rolled her eyes. “Can’t blame you for asking. No, being related to a Time Pony doesn’t automatically mean you’re a Time Pony. Call it cross-pollination, call it the magic of cutie marks, but either way, I’m not complaining.”
Clara looked at her with confusion. “Wait, so the refugees from Gallifrey interbred with the locals?”
“Some of them!” Time Turner finished fiddling with his device as he explained, “We think that’s one of the reasons why the average pony lifespan has increased in the last thousand years!” With a quick ‘thwack’ to the side, the device came online. “There we are!”
Quiver and Lyra briefly exchanged a glance at the implications of that revelation as a screen rose up out of the device and panels opened up, revealing something that looked decidedly more advanced than either of them had seen. The minty green unicorn let out a low whistle. “Nice.”
Clara’s view was otherwise as she looked over the switches and dials on the panels. “Bit retro except for the screen.”
“You do the best you can with what you have.” Time Turner pulled a switch or two as he looked upon the screen. “Time Turner reporting in, Minuette is with me.”
:“About time you reported in!”: A window popped up on the screen depicting a greyish-blue unicorn stallion, the collar of a red jacket just visible around him and his orange eyes showing some irritation. :“Now please tell me that I’m not going to have to fill you in on everything!:
Time Turner grimaced at the other Time Pony’s remark. “Royal, something tells me that I’m going to be filling you in on a few things before this is all done.”
:“Don’t make any promises that you can’t keep, cousin.”: Another window opened beside the first, this one with another stallion of similar coloring but lacking a horn. His gold eyes were more relaxed than that of the other pony as he urged, :“But by all means, please share.”:
“Happy to.” The Time Pony turned back and gestured for the Doctor to step forward. “Royal, Pace, this is someone you need to talk to.”
Royal scowled. :“Turner, now is hardly the time to be introducing us…”:
The Doctor cut him off by pulling his sonic screwdriver from his coat and using it on the device before him. A third screen popped up that flashed through a multitude of images and text, none of which the various normal ponies could decipher or recognize. “Sorry, needed a second to present my credentials.” The information stopped, and the Time Lord smiled. “Now then, I’m the Doctor. The two of you are?”
Both stallions were awestruck, and it took a second for the blue earth pony to identify himself. :“Perfect Pace, sir. I’m reporting in from Canterlot.”:
:“Royal Pin here in the Crystal Empire.”:
The Doctor smiled, glad for the cooperation. “Good. Between all of us, that’s all the locations that have suffered the effects of these temporal shifts. Now, the cause has to be somewhere on this planet. Do we have any way to triangulate, confirm a location?”
“I imagine that’s partly why they were so eager to get in touch with me.” Time Turner adjusted a few more controls. “Ready to transmit. Where are we sending the data?”
:“Oh, sorry!”: Another window flashed on, this time depicting a strange, exotic-looking creature with golden fur, large ears and thin, wisp-like antennae. :“I’m still getting used to all of this! Hello everyone, I’m Tsuki!”:
“Aw, adorable.” The Doctor turned to Time Turner and asked, “Who is she?”
“Tsuki must be our new liaison with the Nyx. They’re a race of creatures that live on our moon.”
:“And we’ve been hit by this too. Poor Doran almost passed out when she saw what happened to her, but that’s beside the point. Anyway, ready for transmission.”:
Time Turner nodded. “Sending now.”
Clara leaned back towards Quiver and asked, “Your moon’s inhabited?”
“I’m guessing that yours isn’t.”
“Not officially. One of the Doctor’s old companions is working on a moonbase back home. Met her once.” Clara nervously grinned and admitted, “Hope I look as good as she did at her age.”
Quiver kept mum as information came back and the window with the information the Doctor had provided was replaced with a two-dimensional map of the planet, which quickly focused on the western hemisphere before tightening in on the areas to Equestria’s south. :“Looks like the focal point of this is located somewhere south of Equestria. Best guess? The Caves of Conundrum.”:
“Bit of a ways to travel, but at least we know where to go. Thanks everyone. I’ll do my best to keep everyone in the loop.”
:“Turner.”: What irritation he’d earlier displayed was gone as Royal Pin gave his relative a worried look. :“Be careful out there. Even we don’t have as much information about that area as we’d like. And I don’t want your daughter to be without a father.”:
“Neither do I. I’ll keep safe.”
As the transmission cut off, the Doctor turned about and took in everyone present. “So, the Caves of Conundrum. That sounds twisty and turny and confusing. Anyone here know anything about them?”
“They’re on our border with Abyssinia, but I don’t think anypony can tell you much beyond that. As far as geography and history go, the Equestrian educational system is a little lacking.” Heads turned towards Quiver, who shrugged. “Excuse me for being bitter about past experiences.”
“Let’s table that.” Lyra turned back to the Doctor and continued where her friend left off. “Getting there’s a problem. The railroad tracks go past it towards Silver Shoals, but there aren’t any stops along the route. And even if there were, it could take the better part of a day to get there, at minimum.”
Minuette gave her cousin a smile. “Well lucky for us, we might have a solution.”
-
“And here I had thought we had solved our problems with Nightmare Moon.”
Luna gave her sibling a raised eyebrow, one clear despite her groggy state. The throne room’s windows had been magically tinted to ease light levels, but what remained left her with something of a headache. “Given I didn’t attempt to block out the sun, I would think that matters have been fairly well addressed.”
“Still, I don’t like the idea of you getting anywhere close to having to relieve that trauma, especially given everything that you’ve been through with the Tantabus.” Celestia poured herself another cup of tea. “And that’s not the only thing that’s occurring today that I’m uncomfortable with.”
“Yes, how tragic it is that you no longer have your go-to solution to a particular problem available to you.”
Now it was time for the elder sister to give the younger a hard look. “Luna, you’re exaggerating. I don’t pass every problem along for Twilight to solve, and besides, the ones I have sent for her to deal with were beyond my ability to address.”
“Most were, sister.” The sarcasm was gone as Luna continued, “You and I both know that we could have easily dealt with that dragon.”
“And you and I both know that I’d rather not have the citizens of Equestria relying upon its princesses to solve all of its problems. Besides, negotiating with a dragon is much different than fighting an ancient foe from legend and lore. Twilight and her friends were more than up to the task.”
“Perhaps, but that still leaves the other issue that you’ve relied upon her to solve.” The younger alicorn’s tone was stern as she explained, “As pleased as I am at her success, you did little to improve her odds.”
Celestia groaned. “Luna, we’ve been over this. How many times did we have to deal with a situation without having complete information? Twilight had to figure things out on her own. She couldn’t just rely on what she learned from a book, or been told. For all she knew, the information could be faulty or incomplete.”
“You’re doing little to help your case given you were the one who gave her incomplete information, Celestia.” She frowned as she added, “And Maker only knows that it’s a matter of time before somepony encourages her to think things through.”
Celestia bowed her head just as the door opened, and she found herself grateful for the distraction as a blue earth pony stallion entered. “Perfect Pace. Do you have any news?”
“Well, we’ve assessed the situation and discovered the potential source of the temporal and thaumic disturbances.” The stallion halted as he reached the throne. “The source appears to be the Caves of Conundrum. Beyond that, all I can say is that ponies in the Order and associated with it are investigating.”
“In other words, we currently have nothing.” Luna scowled. “Who is investigating?”
“Time Turner and Minuette, as well as a few others in Ponyville. Also, I think we might have something in our favor.” The stallion brightened. “The Doctor’s with them.”
Celestia’s eyes widened with recognition. She’d had occasion to speak with members of the Order of Gallopfrey and knew exactly whom the stallion before her was speaking of. “That’s probably the best news I’ve heard since this all started, but how did he get here?”
“I’m afraid Time Turner didn’t get the chance to elaborate on that, ma’am.”
“An accident.” The stallion jumped to one side in shock as a grey, maneless stallion in a fedora appeared beside him. “A crack in the fabric of reality. What caused it, is beyond mine and my order’s sight.” He turned to Perfect Pace and curtly greeted him. “Time Pony.”
“Observer.” The blue stallion took several labored breaths. “You do that just to scare me, don’t you?”
“Stallions, please.” Luna turned to the Observer and asked, “Seventh Moon, is this ‘crack’ you speak of a danger?”
“No, but we suspect its presence is being taken advantage of by those responsible for the situation Equestria currently faces. Beyond that, we know nothing.” He took off his hat and bowed his head. “I apologize, Highnesses, but we do not have the answer.”
Celestia pursed her lips. “Perhaps. But you may well have provided a clue to the complete one. Still, I have to wonder how they’ll get where they need to go.”
Perfect Pace grinned. “Knowing Time Turner, I think he’s already come up with something.”
-
“Admittedly, this is a little embarrassing, but, well…” Lights flashed on as Time Turner unveiled what was likely his most closely-guarded secret. “Drax told a number of us about you, as many as he could before he finally passed on. And those stories were passed along from one generation until the next. Left quite an impression on me and, well, somewhere along the line…”
“You didn’t grow that, did you?”
“No.” The stallion turned about and looked upon the object in question. “I inherited it.”
Before the gathered ponies was a sight already familiar to most, though Moondancer looked less than impressed. “It’s a big blue box with writing on it.”
“Looks can be deceiving, Moonie.” Lyra approached with a smile as she asked, “What did you call it, Doctor? A TARDIS?”
“It’s an acronym.” The Doctor stepped forward and explained, “My granddaughter Susan coined it, and it caught on. Stands for ‘Time and Relative Dimensions in Space’. Doesn’t look special on the outside, but on the inside…”
Time Turner produced a key and opened it up, and the group entered to find themselves in an expansive control room, colored in varying shades of bronze and the walls lined with decorative circles and hexagons and details and motifs that brought to mind clocks and clockwork gears. Right at the middle was a hexagonal control mechanism, each side filled with controls meant to be manipulated by hoof surrounding a central glowing column that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. Doors were interspersed beyond, indicating further corners.
The Doctor beamed with approval. “On the inside is everything. This is a vessel, capable of traversing time and space.”
“This is impossible.” Moondancer’s eyes were wide with terror as she tried to comprehend the sight before her. “There are spells that can permanently alter the dimensions of one room, grant it more space than it would seem to have from the outside, but this…this…”
“Transdimensional physics, Moonie.” Minuette grinned as she approached the console, a click behind her signaling that the door had been sealed and locked. “When we entered this TARDIS, we effectively stepped into a pocket dimension inside the craft.”
“But the power requirements…”
“Drax managed to build a bond with a certain unicorn who managed to craft a spell that would create an artificial gravitational singularity.” Time Turner grinned as he stroked his chin and teased, “Might’ve heard of the fellow, what was his name, Star Field? Star Swing?”
Belief finally came onto the bookworm’s face as she realized, “Star Swirl the Bearded! Of course! I found notes related to a spell that could create something like that in his athenaeum, but I didn’t understand what use he could have for them! And even if they could be stable…!”
“Trust me, Time Lord science is far enough ahead that we’ve figured out all of the details to get around stability issues.” Time Turner turned glum as he amended, “The trouble is that the old girl’s got a few small problems, ones that we’re still trying to fix.” He turned to the Doctor. “I’m hoping you can help on that front.”
The Time Lord nodded and considered things. “Well, those stories of yours likely said something about me pulling off the impossible here and there.” He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and grinned. “Light maintenance? Perfectly possible. Just show me where I need to go.”
As the two got to work, Quiver approached Minuette. “Okay, stupid question, but do all TARDISes look like big blue boxes with writing on them?”
The unicorn shook her head. “Nope. I think Great Grandpa fixed his into that shape as a tribute to the Doctor. As for his…”
“Broken down chameleon circuit,” Clara explained. “Some stealth thing. Apparently the TARDIS is supposed to blend in with its surroundings, change its outward appearance. But the Doctor’s TARDIS is an older model, and the circuit broke down on his when he was visiting my world back in the sixties.”
Quiver raised an eyebrow. “And those ‘Police Boxes’ were common back then?”
The transformed woman shrugged. “Common enough. Once the police started carrying personal radios, though, they started getting phased out. Doctor’s tried to repair the circuit, but…”
“Gave up! Got to love the look of it!”
“Oy, quit showing off!” Clara laughed as the Doctor went back to work, clearly more amused than annoyed by his antics.
Quiver couldn’t help but chuckle himself until he turned thoughtful. “Minuette, got another stupid question for you.”
The unicorn laughed. “The last one wasn’t stupid.”
“Well this one might be. When your ancestors integrated with the Equestrian population, just how far did that integration go? I mean, there had to be a few who refused to mix with us ponies.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “You kidding? There were tons. Thankfully for us, Great Granddad had a kid who wasn’t among them.” She then smirked and added, “But don’t get too excited about it. There’s a little bit of Time Lord swimming around in the Equestrian gene pool, yeah, but like my cousin just showed you, it’s not enough to all their descendants to manifest as Time Ponies. Even those of us who didn’t interbreed still had kids who didn’t manifest.” She gestured to her cousin and added, “Of course, some of us got luckier than others. Time Turner’s way older than he looks. More than old enough to have a daughter go to school with his cousin, anyway.”
“Well that can happen even without a long lifespan getting into the mix.” Quiver glanced at her cutie mark and added, “Still, I’m glad that just because somepony’s descended from a Time Lord doesn’t mean they’re going to end up as a Time Pony.”
“Nope, and I’d be worried if it did.” The mare smiled. “Like I said, free will is totally a thing.”
A thrum of energy sounded all around them as lights came on, the center column itself lighting up like a Hearth’s Warming tree. The Doctor idly spun his sonic screwdriver on his hoof before tucking it away. “Bingo. All set.” He turned back to the gathered group of ponies and said, “Now then, this is the last chance if anyone wants to get off. If you’ve got doubts, then now’s the chance to leave the ride before things get troublesome.”
“You kidding?” Moondancer had a gleam in her eyes that Quiver regularly saw in Twilight’s as she exclaimed, “I’m not missing out on this for anything!”
“And no way am I letting my friends go into this alone.” Lyra’s grin turned determined as she called, “So come on, let’s light this candle!”
Quiver laughed. “Afraid you’re stuck with us, Doctor.”
The Time Lord nodded. “Alright then.” He nodded to Time Turner and Minuette and instructed, “Set us down at the nearest safe place to the Caves as you can. If something goes wrong, I don’t want them noticing this TARDIS. If this fell into the wrong hands… hooves…”
“We know what you mean.” The two Time Ponies went to the controls, each of them going back and forth between three sections of the console as Time Turner declared, “Alright then, short hop! Hang tight!”
Quiver looked about and asked, “Don’t suppose there are emergency belts around here?”
The Doctor rolled his eyes. “I wish.” As the last commands were placed, he called, “Geronimo!”
-
Silently, the pony-piloted TARDIS faded in and out of view as Amethyst Star watched her father go. He faintly heard a door creak behind her, then familiar hoofsteps. “Afraid you missed him.”
“He got it working.” A familiar laugh sounded behind her. “He’s not going far, I hope.”
“Nope. He’s just giving some friends a lift.” She turned to the mare and filly beside her and smiled. “I wish we were with him, though.”
“Me too.” Derpy ran a hoof through Dinky’s mane and grinned. “But he doesn’t need the distraction. If he’s going out there without us, then it’s not for fun. Something’s up.”
“I’m not telling you.”
The wall-eyed pegasus grinned. “You say that now, but I have a secret weapon.”
Dinky looked up eagerly. “We gonna make muffins, Mommy?”
“Yep. And Sparkler isn’t getting any.”
The magenta mare’s head whipped towards them in shock. “Oh that’s just not fair!”
-
“Now, despite all of this advanced technology, travel via TARDIS isn’t instantaneous. At least, not regularly.” The Doctor gestured towards the console and explained, “Often it’s due to a number of factors. Here, the fact that this TARDIS hasn’t been used for centuries is probably the big one. Still, we should get there reasonably quickly.”
“Especially considering you aren’t the only one driving.”
The Time Lord smirked at Clara’s remark. “Anyway, should only be a few minutes or so.”
As the other ponies among them settled into gawking about, with Minuette doing her best to ride herd on her two former classmates, Quiver opted instead to approach Clara. “You two must be really comfortable with one another for you to snark like that. Sounds a lot like me and my marefriend.”
“Wouldn’t put it that far, but he does need deflating every once in a while or he’ll make a mistake.” She then turned to Quiver and wondered aloud, “Anyway, you’re taking all of this awful well, even for someone who lives in a world of magic.” She gestured to the three unicorns and added, “Only one here who’s shown any skepticism is Moondancer, and that faded pretty quick.”
Quiver shrugged. “As much as I appreciate arbitrary skepticism, I know to keep an open mind. Besides, I’ve lived a good chunk of my life being told that things were impossible, only for those who said so to be proven wrong and absolutely refuse to acknowledge it.”
“Anyone in particular?”
The stallion frowned. “My father.” He gestured at their surroundings, now aware that their conversation had gained some attention, and explained, “You press his face into these walls, and he’d still insist that all of this was horseshit. Smoke and mirrors. Lies upon lies and trickery. And anyone who believed in it was a retarded idiot.”
Minuette gave the stallion a surprised expression. “Quiver, don’t you think you’re exaggerating things?”
The stallion gave the Time Pony a half-lidded expression. “Minuette, the day I earned my cutie mark, he told me straight up that Nightmare Moon, Sonic Rainbooms and windigoes were all horseshit. When Nightmare Moon came back, he thought it suspicious that Celestia had somehow produced a sister seemingly out of thin air and decided that anyone who believed the official story was a retard. When Rainbow Dash pulled off a Sonic Rainboom, he decided that the papers had made it up, and anyone who believed it was a retard. Glared at me each time he made those proclamations.” He turned back to Clara and explained, “You get raised by a cynic who dismisses you as worthless, you find yourself wanting to prove them wrong. Even if it’s just for your own satisfaction.”
“That doesn’t mean you want to see actual windigoes, do you?”
Quiver shook his head. “No, I’m not stupid.” He turned glum. “But I wouldn’t say no to my father admitting that I was right. Nopony should feel like their parents aren’t in their corner.”
He felt a hoof on one shoulder, then turned to find Lyra giving him a sad look. “Well he was still wrong either way. No way are you worthless.”
He smiled as the TARDIS halted. “And here we are.” Time Turner manipulated a few controls and brought up an image on a small monitor linked to the console via a metal arm. “Coordinates put us about twenty minutes’ walk from the Caves. No one’s out there waiting for us, and I’ve set us down somewhere with some concealment.”
“Good. Better that they don’t know we’re coming, whoever they are.” The Doctor made his way to the door even as he suggested, “Time Turner, I think you and Minuette had best stay behind, keep guard over your TARDIS.”
“And be ready when you get back.”
“Exactly my thinking, Minuette.” With an eager grin, the Time Lord put a hoof to the door and called, “Come along, ponies!”
The doors opened to a harsh landscape, arid and unpleasant. Quiver raised a hoof to block the sun from his eyes as he emerged. Time Turner hadn’t exaggerated about their concealment, as they were surrounded nearly all around by rocks. The way through was thankfully navigable, and their band of five soon made their way through into open desert, the Caves within easy view.
Lyra let out a low whistle. “Furthest south I’ve been before this was Appleoosa. I don’t even think Twilight’s been out this far.”
“Good for us, we get to be trailbreakers.” They soon found their way to their destination as Quiver declared, “Heads up, everypony. Here’s where the fun starts.”
Before them stretched a rocky collection of caves and caverns, the entire mess bringing to mind gigantic gopher holes or rabbit warrens. Holes dotted the landscape, leading into dark depths that none of them could clearly see.
“Don’t suppose anyone thought to bring torches?” Clara asked. “Maybe some string?”
“Light won’t be a problem for me or Lyra.” Moondancer stepped into the cave and lit her horn by way of demonstration. “As for marking our path…”
“Let me worry about that.” The Doctor brandished his sonic screwdriver and ran the tip along one end of the cave entrance. “Light radiation marker. Nothing harmful, but I’ll be able to pick it up.”
Quiver nodded in approval, but hung back slightly as the rest of the group entered the cave. He idly laid a hoof on one rock, then lifted the hoof with the rock still clinging to it. He smirked, then set the rock back down and followed as Moondancer asked, “What was that about?”
“Pony see, pony do,” the stallion explained with a shrug. “Makes me wonder why I didn’t try it sooner.”
“Might’ve been doing it unconsciously and not realizing it,” the Doctor offered. “Anyway, best quiet down. We’re inviting trouble as it is, don’t need to make it worse.”
The group continued on in silence, with the Doctor occasionally pulling out his device to mark their path and check it in the light that two unicorn horns would allow. As they continued on, however, it seemed an unspoken consensus that an ambush of some sort was likely, if not inevitable, and they kept their attention on everything around them, particularly a high-pitched sound that became clearer they deeper they went into the cave network.
A low growl caught the group’s attention, and before the two unicorns among them could throw up shields, large dark shapes charged out at them from the shadows with mad howls echoing all around. Quiver lashed out with one hoof and snarled as he pushed one attacker back, “Diamond dogs!”
“You’re kidding!” Clara quickly reconsidered as she found herself forced to the ground by their attackers, and she looked up into a face that brought to mind some bull terriers that she’d met. “Okay, not kidding!”
Despite some efforts at resistance, the ponies were at several disadvantages, thanks to both the darkness surrounding them and the sheer numbers of their opposition. Within minutes, the party was bound and held up by the scruffs of their necks. “Pony intruders! What we do with them?!”
“Take to Boss Pony! She know what we do with them!”
The members of the party were stuffed into bags and carried through the tunnels. After what felt like an eternity, a buzz was heard. “Boss Pony! We find intruders!”
A feminine voice answered back, rendered tinny due to whatever means were used to convey it. :“Bring them inside. I have use for them.”:
Heavy doors moved aside, and after another short trip, the five were unceremoniously chucked from their bags and tossed to the ground. They let out assorted moans and groans in the process, and tried their best to collect themselves despite still being bound.
“Well, it seems the Equestrian tendency towards indolent ignorance has its limits.” The Doctor in particular paid close attention to the voice from the bearded stallion before them as their captor gave them a toothy grin. “Though it seems a little disappointing that we didn’t get the more famous among their number as guests.”
“I somehow doubt their presence would make much of a difference at this point.” Standing nearby at a large device stood the mare who’d spoken earlier, her mane curly and red and her face severe. Without another word, she pulled a switch on the console before her, and the machinery all around her roared to life.
The five had a fair guess what was coming next as they closed their eyes and tried their best to block out the effects. Lyra and Moondancer grit their teeth as their magic worked against their will and their horns lit with their respective auras, but could do little to prevent whatever was coming as they and their associates let out pained cries.
The pain faded, and Lyra blinked. The first thing she discovered was that her bonds were gone, seemingly unable to withstand whatever forces had been unleased upon her. The second thing she discovered was that said forces had quite an effect, and she was overcome with awe at the sight before her, her minty green hooves now minty green hands.
“Success at last.” Lyra’s attention went back to the severe mare, now a severe woman with a slender build and dressed like a college professor, albeit one with a leather blazer. Her gaze turned back to the ponies, but it was cold and clinical, like that of someone inspecting a specimen in a jar. “Though it seems some refinements are still required.”
“My dear, I would take this as a victory.” Attention went back to the bearded stallion, now a man dressed in formal clothes topped by a Nehru jacket. “Our guests are going to fumble with their new anatomies, whereas we and our servants have no such trouble.” He raised a gloved hand and snapped his fingers. “Lock them away until we have further use for them!”
With harsh growls, the party was once more set upon, and Lyra was brusquely held again by what she assumed was one of the diamond dogs. She caught glimpses of the others, instantly recognized the Doctor and Clara in their true forms, and identified Quiver and Moondancer readily enough. It helped that the latter still had her hair pulled up by a scrunchie and still wore that baggy sweater. “Whoever you are, you’re not getting away with this!”
The man let out a malevolent chuckle. “Brave words, my dear girl, but I’m afraid you find yourself dealing with beings whose understanding of the universe far outstrips your own.” He locked eyes with her, and his intense expression burned into her mind. “And as for my identity, well, if you must know, I am universally referred to as the Master.”
The severe woman scoffed. “Must you boast so?”
“My dear Rani, it’s been so very long since I’ve had the chance! You must allow me to indulge!” What amusement he had vanished as he noticed the guards had failed to heed his orders, and he snapped again. “Well?! Go!” As the prisoners were dragged away, he shook his head. “Diamond dogs. We’d have been better off with the cats as our servants.”
-
Back in Ponyville, the doors to Golden Oak Library opened as Rainbow Dash entered. “Hey guys! Hope I missed most of the boring egghead…!” Her joking attitude vanished as she cottoned on to the dour mood and saw her friends seated around a table, idly munching on snacks. “Whoa, what happened? You guys look like someone died.”
“Fortunately, that hasn’t happened yet.” Rarity gestured for her friend to join them. “Have a seat, darling. We’ll fill you in.”
Rainbow listened as the group filled her in on what had happened in her absence, and let out a low whistle. “I go to visit my folks in Cloudsdale and things go really crazy. Aliens from other worlds and time getting warped and us getting benched from an awesome adventure?”
“Like Sour said, if I went, I’d just put us in danger.” As Spike moved to comfort her, Twilight frowned and considered her drink. “I don’t know if that would be worse than knowing my friends are in danger. Quiver might be able to handle himself, but Lyra and Moondancer are another matter.” She turned to Spike and idly said, “I wonder if Shining Armor ever felt this way. Or Celestia.”
“I’m certain they both did at times, Twilight.” Rarity offered an encouraging smile as she continued, “And I’m also certain that they’re more than up to the task of dealing with what’s ahead of them. The Doctor and Clara accompanied them, after all, and from the sounds of things, this appears to be well within their experience.”
“Well I’m with Twilight.” The pegasus gently rapped a hoof on the table for emphasis as she explained, “Just sitting around waiting for somepony else to get things settled’s never been my thing. Besides, how do we know that stuff won’t…?” She caught sight of the three unicorns’ horns glowing and uttered, “Aw crap.”
The three non-unicorns barely averted their eyes in time as a bright flash once more enveloped the room and Twilight cried out in pain. As their vision cleared, they found the alicorn slumped forward, once more bereft of her wings.
Rainbow Dash shook her head in disbelief. “Yikes.”
“And from the sounds of things, we’re getting off light.” Sour frowned as her thoughts turned to her cousin, and she quietly hoped that he could handle himself, wherever he was.