//------------------------------//
// Chapter Twenty Two: I Brought Some Friends With Me 
// Story: Sky Dancer, the First Flying Unicorn 
// by Scroll 
//------------------------------//

{I know it has been a very long time but, on the first day I arrived on this planet in this time era, I remember something the older version of Vision told me about our options to bring back the TARDIS. She said one of those options was to eliminate or neutralize the source of energy that's keeping the TARDIS at bay, and the second option was to create a safe space for the TARDIS to land.  Since that time I learned something about the force that keeps the TARDIS at bay. I learned that it was an overwhelming, god-like source of evil that was consuming our world, and that it was a challenge no mortal creature could face on their own. Quite likely that was true even for the Doctor, but he had access to resources that I lacked. I'm sure if we could put our heads together, we could come up with a solution that could actually solve this dire problem. It must be possible. The Dark Star would eliminate all life before it had a chance to be born in the future. If I came from a timeline where it hadn't eliminated all life then it proved there must be a way to beat this thing. As my uncle once said, nothing is impossible. Beating a challenge is only a matter of personal perception. Every wall we encounter in life is actually just a door.

{I knew that The Dark Star was an overwhelming force without proper backup, but I also knew that the resources of the TARDIS included the ability to look at the situation from a different angle. With access to all of time and space at the tips of our hooves, surely there had to be a way to brainstorm a solution here. 

{So, in short, we needed the Doctor.

{Oh . . . and Derpy too, of course. We can't forget the adorable little mare.

{The thing was, I had this plan in mind for years now, crystallizing in the back of my mind. The thing was, crystal was actually the answer, but only half of the equation. Raw crystal by itself is as valuable as an empty jar. It's useful as a container, but what it's filled with could be far more valuable. 

{For years now I had been facing dark magic corrupted creatures and we protected ourselves by wearing crystal armor, and we fought against it using crystal weapons. Both were charged with positive energy which, in turn, was used to combat the negative energy. Well . . . the TARDIS was also being kept at bay with negative energy. It literally made the machine sick to be in this time period while the corrupting energy continued to radiate. The area we crash landed on did not even seem that bad off at the time, but I know now that the area has since got swept up in black ice. The Dark Star's influence had already buried that area in corrupt snow at that point but, even back then when we first arrived, its influence was felt by the TARDIS enough to drive it away. 

{The solution was to make a safe zone for the TARDIS to land upon, and the way to do that was to surround the area with crystals that was charged with positive energy. That, in turn, would ward the area especially well from The Dark Star's influence and, in turn, gave the TARDIS a time and a place as a window of opportunity to land on.}

“But even if you do that, how is the Doctor going to know where and when to land?” Star Breeze asked in confusion.

{To solve that problem, I decided to tackle two birds with one stone. I told the the others in this time period that I had an alien ally out there that could be very effective in helping us solve our problems. Naturally General Slekcorza was initially suspicious, but I've earned enough brownie points with him for him to give me the benefit of the doubt and, if I told him that I endorse this ally, then he was more inclined to believe me. Besides, given how desperate our situation was growing, he wasn't about to ignore a potential solution when it was presented. 

{To get the TARDIS to show up and be able to land, I told every creature willing to listen to my stories about the Doctor. I wanted every creature to know why I trusted this ally. I told them about your mother's and my adventures in the TARDIS over the first two years that we traveled with him, and I told them about other adventures I learned during my research in the TARDIS's hidden library. That gave me access to some of his past adventures, and he had done many incredibly heroic deeds during those times as well. 

{The Doctor, the TARDIS and his companions . . . teleporting all over time and space to solve dire problems. We had a dire problem and, if ever there was a time we needed an experienced and resourceful hero, now was that time. 

{I also told them about the Doctor's psychic paper and how it would read mental energy projected at it. Usually it just shows the viewer whatever they expected to see but, if we focus, we could control what it said and, the next time the Doctor saw it, he could be sent a message.}

“Ah-ha! That's what you told me earlier about how to get the Doctor's attention!” Star Breeze recalled.

{Right. That was one of the reasons why I told every creature I encountered about the Doctor. I wanted them all to concentrate with me to send him a message. A message about where and when to show up. This was a group project, and multiple minds working as one sends more psychic energy than a single mind as long as all of those thoughts were united towards a single goal and they all did it at the same time. I also told them about his adventures to help inspire positive energy and I instructed them to imbue this positive energy in the crystals we dug up specifically for this one project. It would be used for nothing else, at least not at first. We dug up raw crystals and kept them immediately shielded so that they would not be imbued with any energy except what we wanted it to be charged with. I wasn't taking any chances. I wanted this energy and its message to be totally pure. We all had to be on board with this, and we had to do it right.

{Once I told the story, I instructed those I told to spread out and tell the story to others. I told them to charge their Gratitude Stones with positive thoughts of the Doctor. I told them to tell others that we needed him to show up, that he would help us save this world like he had countless others. 

{This project took about a couple of months. It actually went better than I expected. Gratitude Stones were flooding in with immense amount of positive energy altogether. I carefully examined each one to make sure the energy was pure before pouring it into a set of crystals we specifically set aside for this project. While that was going on, I looked around and noticed, to my delight, a sense of hope had returned to the community. We needed that. We needed that very badly. This newly inspired hope was our shield against despair. 

{Spreading word of the Doctor by word of mouth probably was not the most effective strategy when it came to accuracy. With each telling, it probably got more and more exaggerated but I did not complain because, in this case, it was actually helpful to our project. I did not need creatures to know exactly what deeds the Doctor should be famous for. All that really mattered was the thoughts to be of him and for it to be charged with positive feelings. As word of his deeds expanded beyond what he actually did, it made the listeners even more grateful for things the Doctor didn't do, but fine. Whatever. As long as it worked, I'd let this train keep on chugging. 

{On the day we decided to try to summon him, I remember looking down from a high wall and witnessed many creatures gathered from all over our world. They were told to focus on the Doctor at a certain hour and send that message out into the universe with their minds charged with positive feelings. It was evident that they were going to do precisely that, but I also remember thinking I may have accidentally created a new religion here. With exaggerated tales of the Doctor being widespread at that point, it wouldn't surprise me if more than half of these creatures thought they were summoning a god, and . . . well . . . he was technically immortal in a way, and he was a lord of time and space so I could understand why they thought that way. I dealt with the same problems when I first showed up to this time period. Those who worked with me and knew me better soon realized I was mortal too and I had my own flaws to deal with. That could happen with the Doctor as well. 

{I may have accidentally created a mess for him to clean up later, but at least he'd be here to help us with our bigger problem. After that we had all the time in the world to focus on smaller issues but, knowing him as well as I do, it was far more likely he would flee back into the TARDIS and abandon an annoying situation after he dealt with the most critical threat.}

“The Doctor,” Star Breeze chanted as she closed her own eyes and concentrated just like the creatures in the story had done so very long ago. It was her attempt to add her own energy to theirs so she could claim, in her own little way, that she helped to save the world long before she was born.

Her father smiled at her fondly for that. He waited until she opened her eyes back at him and nodded to signal her readiness to continue to listen to his story. 

{As the appointed hour drew near, I dismissed my concerns about the crowd and instead turned towards bigger problems. I, too, concentrated on the Doctor with the will of gratitude and hope that he would come and save us. I struggled against my panic that this plan might fail after all. It had to work! It just had to! Everything came down to this. All that I had been through, all that I've learned, all the friends I have made here in this time who helped me send out positive energy towards one very specific colt, and summon him at one very specific time and place. 

{The crystals were in place, charged and ready. There wasn't a safer area on the planet from The Dark Star's influence on that day. In the back of my mind, I even imagined a black thunder storm raging in outrage at the plan we were enacting. We were about to summon the world's greatest hope, and not even The Dark Star could stop it. It tried to stop this and succeeded for over eight years but, since then, the hearts and minds of every creature it didn't kill or corrupt yet came together to summon their ultimate hero. 

{Doctor-Doctor-Doctor-Doctor-Doctor. 

{We thought and chanted this over and over again. His heroic charges. His screaming sonic screwdriver. His faithful companions. The screech of the TARDIS. It all came down together, in one spectacular moment. My heart flared with hope when I started to actually hear the TARDIS's groans. It meant we nearly succeeded. The Doctor was almost here. Just a little longer . . .

{Then it was there. That now famous blue box that said, “Police Call Box” had appeared. I opened my eyes and collapsed to my knees, incredibly relieved to see that beautiful, magical box again. I actually felt exhausted from all of my efforts and hopes, and it was likely that the whole city felt a similar way then waited with bated breath for an answer to their hope. 

{Then, at last, it came. The door to the TARDIS swung open and the Doctor emerged from the TARDIS. He pulled out of his pocket his psychic paper and flashed it to reveal the message imprinted upon it which showed coordinates to this time and place, and he boldly asked, “Did someone call for the Doctor?”}





xoxo





“Doctor!” came Stern Wing's elated cry as she flew into him to give him a warm and desperate hug. Once she had a lock on him, she cried on his shoulder with intense relief and gratitude to see him again. She almost knocked him over in the process, but he managed to swing her around him to throw off most of her built momentum.

“Whoa-ho there! Easy, girl. It's good to see you too,” he told her with an affectionate pat. “Ooo! I see you got new armor. It's shiny! You have to let me study it some time.”

Stern Wing continued bawling on his shoulder more intensely as time continued, but it was in a good way. He continued to pat her to calm her down. 

“It's okay. I'm here. I'm back, and I'm never going to leave you again unless you want me to,” the Doctor assured her.

“You better not!” Stern Wing menaced within her sob.

“Anyway . . . if you just learn to settle for a moment . . . I can introduce you to some friends I brought with me,” the Doctor encouraged.

Upon sighting Derpy, Stern Wing launched from the Doctor to Derpy. In this case, however, Derpy launched back. They both flew into and collided with each other in mid air then started spinning while grasping each other. It had not been nearly as long for Derpy but, upon seeing the emotion of the other mare, it made her emotional too so Derpy ended up crying on Stern Wing's shoulder about as much as Stern Wing cried on hers.

“I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! We tried everything we could to get back!” Derpy apologized and explained.

“It's okay. You're here now. I'm glad you're back,” Stern Wing said gratefully on Derpy's shoulder blades while her gray wings continued to flap.

“I take it it's been awhile for you two,” the younger version of Vision realized as she stepped outside the TARDIS. At that moment Feather Wind realized this was the moment that would come full circle for the future version of her that he encountered over eight years ago. He also realized that, because her younger self had returned, her older self would likely be nowhere to be found. Her older self would know where and when to avoid based on memory alone. Feather Wind worked extra hard lately to get that time and coordinates memorized for himself and many gathered here. It was quite likely the younger version of Vision would soon memorize it as well enough to linger into her adult years.

“Yes, kiddo,” Feather Wind replied. “For us, it's been a long time.”

Vision held up a hoof. “Then don't tell me how long it's been. I've already had enough spoilers as it is. If you tell me how long it's been then my older self in this time will also know.”

“You already know about her?” Feather Wind tilted his head in surprise. “But I thought you said you can't see into your future.”

While replacing her upraised hoof back to the ground, Vision said, “Let's just say that's not the only kind of hint I can get about the future. Trust me, the less details I know, the better. While I am here, however, I can help you solve your Dark Star problem. Unlike my future self, I could use the challenge to help me get stronger.”

“Then you already know about The Dark Star!” Feather Wind realized as he regarded the Doctor again with surprise.

“Indeed, I do,” the Doctor informed, “and I have come prepared. Behold!” He gestured to the TARDIS with a dramatic wave of a single hoof. “I brought some friends with me.”

The next pony to emerge from the TARDIS was none other than Princess Celestia herself. Immediately upon sight of her, Feather Wind bowed while a lump got stuck in his throat due to the shock of seeing her here.

“Your Majesty!” Feather Wind exclaimed. “I did not expect to see you here.”

“Relax, my subject,” Celestia bade with fond amusement in her voice. “The Doctor has told me everything about the problem we face that threatens Equestria and my subjects, and I'm here to do whatever I can to help alleviate the situation. You may rise, dear Feather Wind and, as I have told you so long ago . . . please call me Celestia.”

“Yes Princess . . . Celestia,” Feather Wind said while rising from his bent knee position. He glanced back and forth between the Doctor and Celestia. “You two know each other?”

Celestia's amused and fond smile transferred to the Doctor as she regarded him. “We've had multiple encounters together.”

“Don't tell me how many,” the Doctor requested towards Celestia. “Some of those encounters may probably be in my future.”

“Indeed. I have encountered no less than three of your future incarnations to date, at least in my personal history that I'm aware of so far, though it remains possible you also approached me in other forms and never informed me about it,” Celestia informed, then looked at Feather Wind. “However, this is the very first time I have actually traveled with him in his most remarkable box . . . sort of. Before now, I did not see the necessity to follow him in his adventures, but I'm afraid this challenge seems too formidable for me to ignore. The Dark Star is likely the source of all dark magic in Equestrian history and I cannot, in good conscience, let you face this great evil alone. As I stand here with you now, it is with my most humblest hopes that you realize we face this threat together. If this evil is not opposed, none of us will even exist and that is a possibility I cannot afford to ignore.”

“Well, you've always been welcome,” the Doctor told Celestia casually. “There has always been enough room for you in this box, contrary to outward appearances. I could not draw you from certain points in your history because you were too busy writing history during those moments, so I chose to invite you when you were . . . shall we say . . . a little more available.”

“We hope you don't consider our vacations as a golden opportunity to sweep us all up in your adventures every time, my good Doctor,” said the next feminine voice. “Vacations exist for a reason. My sister and I need some time to relax every now and then.”

Hearing her voice, Celestia fully emerged from the TARDIS to make room for the next occupant to emerge. Stern Wing and Feather Wind were shocked again to see that it was Princess Luna this time.

“Your Majesty!” Feather Wind exclaimed with another bow. “This is also most unexpected.”

“Enough with the bowing, please,” Luna requested with a little bit of irritation in her voice and a quick roll of her eyes which she did while she said the word “Please,” then went on to say, “Both my sister and I are on vacation. We get enough of this treatment back in Canterlot as it is. Please don't make us endure this with our friends as well.”

Feather Wind rose from his bow and looked back and forth between Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. He noticed that neither of them were surprised to see each other and neither of them appeared very young, which led him to another conclusion.

“You're from my future, and pretty far at that,” Feather Wind realized as he regarded Princess Celestia. “At least one-hundred years, maybe more.”

“Indeed,” Celestia confirmed. “For me it has been a very long time since we last saw each other. I imagine it's quite a bit longer than you've seen your own friends.”

“Did you get my message explaining why I needed to rush off to save the oracle?” Feather Wind asked Celestia anxiously.

Celestia paused for a moment as she thought back. The time he referred to was quite a long time ago for her. When she did recall, it caused her to burst out laughing for a moment. When she calmed down, she explained, “Yes. I got your message. It burst through my window while I was busy bathing. It startled me pretty strongly at the time, but I did get your message.”

“Forgive me for startling you, Princess, and for disturbing your privacy. I just wanted you to quickly know the truth, and I hope you'll also forgive me for ignoring your orders. I was the one called upon by Vision's mother, and I was the only one fast enough to respond at the time. Please forgive me!”

“You had my forgiveness a long time ago. This is not the first time we've had this conversation, at least for me,” Celestia said back. “I understood your reasons and, moreover, I commend you for it. You helped to save a pony who helped me save other members of my subjects, including yourself. I'm not mad at you for that. I'm grateful.”

“This seems like a reunion,” noted the next feminine voice within the TARDIS, “and you know what that means. It means . . .” a pink pony with fluffy, cotton candy-like mane and tail suddenly burst out of the TARDIS with an explosion of party confetti as she declared “. . . a PARTY!”

“Pinkie Pie?” Feather Wind queried with a queer look to the peppy party pony.

“You know my name! How wonderful! That saves me half the work.” Pinkie Pie suddenly zipped right up to Feather Wind's face with the speed of a blink of an eye. Upon arrival, she said, “Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! You know me, but I don't know you so I endeavor to change that. Now that I do know you, we must be friends, so prepare to be welcomed!”

“Now hold on there, Sugar Cube,” said another pony who emerged from the TARDIS. This adult mare was orange-colored and she wore a cowboy hat on her head. Below her eyes were a few freckles. Like Pinkie Pie, Feather Wind recognized her as Applejack on sight but he was still surprised to see her here. Since it had gotten that far, however, he started to suspect he would see the rest of the Mane Six as well and he also deduced the reason why they were here. After thinking about it for awhile, he realized the Elements of Harmony would probably be a good weapon against the force of ultimate evil. He was starting to understand what the Doctor meant when he said he came prepared.

“I'm sure your welcome celebration would be heartfelt, but we do have some things to take care of and I imagine that maybe we shouldn't overwhelm the poor boy upon immediate sight,” Applejack went on. Her next statement went to Feather Wind and Stern Wing directly. As she spoke, she also tipped her hat to them in a gesture of polite country greeting. “Greetings, y'all. I'm Applejack. Pleased to meet'cha.”

“Applejack, please!” complained another mare behind Applejack. “You're holding up the line. As remarkable as this place is divine, some of us would prefer to have a little bit of nice sunshine, thank-you-very-much! Such things do wonders for a lady's complexion.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Applejack moved to get out of the way and she also gestured to the next mare to emerge from the TARDIS. This one was a mostly white mare but she had long and elegantly curved purple mane which was covered by a wide hat which had a circle of diamonds on it. She also wore a pink, flowing scarf and wore sunglasses shaped like hearts with encrusted powder diamonds around the rims of the glasses. As she emerged, Applejack waved a hoof to her fanciful friend and said, “This here is Rarity.”

“Applejack, please!” Rarity complained again. “I am a lady and a lady can introduce herself.” She gestured dramatically to herself. “As Applejack has said, I am . . . oh my!” This time she interrupted herself as her glasses glowed a cerulean aura color which she used to tip her sunglasses further down her muzzle in order to peek over them more clearly. “My, my, you're a small little pony, aren't you?” she noted in surprise as she regarded Feather Wind, then quickly added, “But still handsome, of course. Yes. I'm sure you can woo any lady that you want to.” Her glasses got shifted back up her muzzle with the same aura color. “As I was saying, I am Rarity . . . and it is a pleasure to meet you.

“Oh my!” She looked up and placed a hoof over her forehead, just above her white horn. “If we had access to a time and space machine, couldn't you have the decency to invite us to a day with a little more sunshine? 

“Rainbow Dash!” She whipped her head to look back into the TARDIS. Upon doing so, a blue mare with striking rainbow mane and tail quickly dashed right out of the door to the TARDIS, exactly like her namesake. 

“Yes Rarity?” Rainbow Dash asked upon rather quick arrival as she flapped in the air and spun about to regard Rarity.

“Could you be a dear and clear up some of those clouds for me?” Rarity requested politely with a dismissive wave of a hoof.

Before replying, first Rainbow Dash regarded the sky with a professional eye, then she gave a cocky grin. “Sure! No problem! I can do that in six seconds flat!”

“This isn't a race, but whatever works for you, Darling,” Rarity accepted. “Now get to it before my mane gets all soggy from all this boggy shade.” As she said that, she bounced her mane with her hoof as if to test its texture and see if it was still satisfactory.

{When I first saw Rarity from a distance while I visited her timeline in my future, it was pretty obvious to me that she was vain, but somehow she still surprised me how bold she was about it in public. There we were, standing in living history and about to save the world and the thing she complained about upon exiting an actual working time machine was the weather?}

Star Breeze giggled. 

{I know, right?

{I've got to admit, though, Rainbow Dash was really quick in clearing up that weather. I wasn't counting exactly, but I had a feeling she actually did manage her own time limit. Something told me she timed herself often enough to know for sure how long it would take to manage her accomplishments, and I also had a feeling she wouldn't resist bragging about it when she got back.}

“Wow! She is good,” Stern Wing said with a low whistle as she trotted up to her fiancé while the both of them had their gaze zip back and forth, following a rainbow streak in the sky as the clouds got erased line by line. “Now that's a good flier! Do you think she could have made it in the Wonderbolts?”

“I'm pretty sure she is one,” Feather Wind figured confidently as he watched her fly back and forth, erasing the clouds. “I recognize the flight technique.”

“Huh. I suppose you would know,” Stern Wing figured with a proud grin towards her friend.

“Hi there! Pleased to meet you!” greeted another mare who emerged from the TARDIS. 

Feather Wind did not even have to look back to know who this was. “Greetings, your Majesty, though I heard you would prefer to be called Twilight Sparkle.” He looked at the newcomer to emerge from the TARDIS and confirmed his suspicions. It was indeed a purple mare with purple mane but a lighter streak of purple running through her mane. Similar to the other princesses, what stood out about this mare was her wings and horn, but she was quite a bit smaller than the other two princesses. Twilight Sparkle also had very friendly eyes and, for some reason, she seemed a bit giddy too. She stared at Feather Wind with the kind of recognition one might expect upon meeting a celebrity. Since that was a bit strange, he decided to call her out on that one. “Do you recognize me?”

“Not in person, no,” Twilight admitted, “but I've read your work.” Unable to contain herself any longer, she burst out, “I'M A HUGE FAN!” She looked positively adorkable with that declaration and stared at Feather Wind with very wide eyes that kind of did sparkle, much like her namesake. During that time, her mouth hung open just a bit which eventually started to drool a little bit. 

She's probably referring to my poetry, Feather Wind privately suspected but, instead of that, he said to her, “So with you here, I guess Fluttershy is the last to emerge. It figures she would be, from what I can tell of her and surmise from her name.”

Twilight actually could not speak. She was still frozen in fan girl mode.

“Not just her,” Luna pointed out, “but yes, indeed she is here.”

“Come on, Fluttershy! I'm sure it's plenty safe out there,” finally a male voice tried to calmly assure another pony still hidden within the TARDIS. “Besides, all of your friends will be out there and I'll also personally be with you every step of the way.”

“B-b-but there's . . . big scary dinosaurs out there!” Fluttershy's tiny, fearful and adorable voice complained. “And big scary monsters . . . and other mean, nasty creatures.”

“Well, yeah but . . . isn't that why we're here?” the reasonable and kind young male voice asked back. 

“That's Spike,” Feather Wind guessed aloud to his fiancée. “He never leaves Twilight's side.”

“Good guess,” Applejack commended, “but, the other thing you said isn't always true. Spike has been away from Twilight at least a couple of times, I reckon.”

“Listen to that. They're calling my name out there. We have to go,” Spike said encouragingly to Fluttershy.

“No . . . I . . . don't!” Fluttershy insisted. “I don't have to do anything I don't want to do. You can go out there in that awful, scary place if you want to . . . but I'm staying right here where it's safe.”

Spike sighed then headed out towards the exit, but there he paused and proceeded no further. There Feather Wind saw the familiar three foot tall purple dragon with green spikes trailing up his spine, back of his neck and head. Feather Wind had never seen that dragon up close, however, and the wings on the dragon's back was totally new. Furthermore, Feather Wind recalled that there was a giant crystalline statue of Spike in the Crystal Empire as he triumphantly held up the likeness of the Crystal Heart with a single claw outstretched above him. According to that statue, it confirmed the fact that Spike used to lack wings. Feather Wind wondered how Spike spontaneously grew that body feature, then it occurred to him to wonder why it was missing in the first place. 

“I'm sorry, everyone,” Spike apologized at the doorway to the TARDIS.

“There is no need to apologize, Spike,” Celestia said smoothly with a glint of amusement in her eyes and voice. “Just give her time. I'm sure she'll find the courage in herself to come out eventually. She'll do anything to be kind to her friends, after all. In the meantime, why don't you keep her company and help calm her down?”

“That's exactly what I was thinking,” Spike agreed. He then looked over to Feather Wind and Stern Wing. He gave a brief wave hi. “Hi there! Pleased to meet you! I'm Spike, and I am . . .” he sighed, “. . . a little busy right now so if you'll kindly excuse me.”

“So dragons can be polite! Good to know,” Stern Wing remarked, then she said under her breath so only Feather Wind could hear. “As you well know, it can be dangerous in the TARDIS too sometimes.”

“Of course we can be polite!” said another feminine voice who emerged from the TARDIS's exit. Feather Wind and Stern Wing were surprised to find it wasn't a pony this time, but another dragon. Older than Spike in this case. Fortunately for her, she was still small enough to fit through the TARDIS main exit and entrance. Like Spike before her, this dragon stood upright on two hind claws. She was blue-scaled but with white on her belly area which extended down to her waistline. The horns on her head were curved down then bent forward. Just beyond the exit of the TARDIS, she struck a bold pose by putting her claws on her hips as she said, “Generally we don't need to be, however. When a dragon comes by, most creatures have the decent sense to just stay out of our way.”

“Everyone, this here is Ember, Lord of the Dragons,” Applejack politely introduced while still standing to the side of the exit and gesturing to the one who just exited the TARDIS. 

Stern Wing gave a quizzical look to Applejack. “Don't you mean Lady of the Dragons?” 

“Yeah. I was wondering that too,” Star Breeze added in the future.

Ember gave a careless wave. “Lord, lady, whatever. Either way, it still means I'm in charge,” she announced as she thumbed to herself.

Feather Wind sighed. “In that case, I wish I had your assistance eight years ago when I had trouble with another dragon.”

Vision gave a pouty face at Feather Wind for mentioning how long it had been for him and Stern Wing.

“Really?” Ember looked slightly taken aback. “You had some trouble with another dragon? How old was he? Or she?”

“He, and considerably older than you, most likely,” Feather Wind answered. “He was about the size of a small mountain. Do you think you could have hoofled him if you had been there?”

“Eh.” Ember shrugged. “Back in my time I am Lord of the Dragons because I won the Bloodstone Scepter in the Gauntlet of Fire, though I did have Spike's help.” Feather Wind privately took a note to research that little fact later if he could. “However, in this time, I kind of doubt other dragons will answer to my authority. I'm afraid I can't help you out with that little problem here, although I probably could have whupped his butt myself anyway. I am pretty strong and clever, you know.”

“Considering the kind of competition you likely had during the Gauntlet of Fire, I do not doubt the sincerity of your claim,” Feather Wind assured with a small, polite nod to her.

“And with that in mind, I could use some grub,” Ember announced as she rubbed her belly then called to some other creature inside the TARDIS. “Hey! You with the scarf! Come here! You promised to feed me with your crystal magic.”

Feather Wind's eyes exploded wide and passed that same astonished look to the Doctor. “You didn't!” 

The Doctor returned Feather Wind's look with a sly grin of his own.

“I'm coming,” assured a male stallion who emerged from the TARDIS and, sure enough, it was Sombra. He did not look corrupted, however. Instead of glowing purple and black eyes and flaming black mane, he just looked like a regular pony with a long red scarf tied to his neck. His dark gray coat, crimson eyes, black mane and sideburns on his face was unmistakable to Feather Wind.

“I'm with you on this one,” Applejack said nervously. “This one makes me more nervous than a rattlesnake caught in a barnyard full of hay and extra irritated to boot! Shoot! You can just strap me up and stretch me across the field yard with the way he makes me feel like a young filly.”

“So that's what Crystal Sage looks like,” Stern Wing whispered to her  fiancé quietly. “You should have told me he was so handsome.”

I peered sharply at your mother for that comment, wondering if she was teasing me.

Star Breeze giggled.

“Whatever my history with you was, I assure you I have not done so yet, nor do I intend to harm you,” Sombra assured Applejack kindly. 

“Begging your pardon, Sir.” Applejack backed off from him while giving him a tip of her hat. “Now I know you're not . . . mean at all yet but I have had a history with y'all and it ain't too pretty. Just give me some time to get the hang of this. I'm sure I'll warm up to y'all eventually.”

“Eh. I have no judgments,” Ember assured with a careless shrug. “Any pony that can conjure crystal like he can is okay in my book, and speaking of which . . . get cracking with my dinner!” Ember demanded.

“As you wish, my Lady,” Sombra said to her politely with a pleasant bow of his head to her. While keeping it down, his horn ignited a ruby color and a large ruby spike tore upward from the earth near her position.

“Now that's more like it!” Ember said happily. “You're useful . . . for a pony, that is.” 

“I endeavor to serve,” Sombra humbly assured as he lifted his head.

“Beware!” Crystal Sage telepathically warned Feather Wind from within the Red Crystal. “He is of my history, but just after he started to get corrupted.”

“If he's from your history, don't you recall standing here at this very moment?” Feather Wind internally asked back. 

“Mysteriously, no,” Crystal Sage answered. “Maybe the Doctor erased my memories of this encounter after it is completed. That still doesn't make sense, though. I do sense the dark magic already starting to infect him. If he's been pulled into this time, that only gives him more time to be corrupted, and that would mess with history quite dramatically. I'm not sure what the Doctor is up to or how he's pulled this off. That is a question I'd very much like an answer to before I feel I can relax again.”

“You were the one who ruled the Crystal Empire before in the distant past, right?” asked another creature to emerge from the TARDIS. This one took Feather Wind and Stern Wing aback. Neither of them recognized his species entirely let alone the individual. He kind of looked like a colorful cross between a bug and a reindeer. “It's hard to believe that you were the one who once ruled with an iron hoof. That place was and still is so full of light and hope that it drew me from miles away from it back when I was . . . umm . . . different. That's actually where I met Spike for the first time.”

“This is Thorax,” Celestia introduced, easily reading Feather Wind and Stern Wing's shocked expression. “He and his brother are changelings closer to my time. Don't worry. He's very friendly, or at least Thorax is.”

Noticing his name being introduced, Thorax fully emerged from the TARDIS and gave a friendly wave hi to Feather Wind and Stern Wing. “Hi there! It's nice to meet you both, um . . .” he suddenly looked confused then looked at Celestia for help.

“This is Feather Wind and Stern Wing,” Celestia answered his silent query without missing a beat.

“Feather Wind and Stern Wing,” Thorax repeated. “Pleasure to meet you. My name is Thorax, and I'm the leader of the changeling pack in my time. We mostly just hang around, play games and put on plays. It's very nice, actually.”

“Nice for you, maybe,” complained the next occupant to emerge from the TARDIS. He, too, sounded male. Like Thorax, he looked like a weird combination of a reindeer and a bug, but he had a much darker color scheme and he seemed a bit more menacing. “But some of us don't like your manzy-panzy little games and sideshows.”

“You said it!” Rainbow Dash agreed as she dove nearby the new changeling and offered a high hoof. Because of what she said, he did not leave her hanging on that hoof bump. “You're like me! You'd rather be battling monsters and cool stuff like that.”

“Can we talk about this later, Pharynx?” Thorax asked with irritation towards his brother. “You're kind of embarrassing me in front of my new pony friends.”

“Embarrass you? You are the embarrassment, little brother,” Pharynx trotted up to his brother and gave him a noogie, “but that's why I love ya.”

“Ow! Cut it out, Pharynx,” Thorax complained about the noogie as well as the disrespectful treatment he was receiving in public.

“If you don't like how I treat you, prevent it,” Pharynx dared. “You invited me because you needed me, right little brother? Everyone knows you would not put up much of a fight against this Black Star or whatever.”

“I didn't invite you. You volunteered, remember?” Thorax reminded. “And besides, I can fight. You saw that yourself sometimes. Remember? When someone I care about is in trouble, I become a beast.”

“Hmm.” Pharynx pretended to be thoughtful about his brother's comment, then asked everyone else around him, “Hey. Anyone else around here want to hear about the time I made my brother Thorax here hit himself?”

“Do I?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly. “I'm all over it! You've got to tell me all about that. I'm all ears.”

Thorax gave Rainbow Dash a mixture of a confused and annoyed look, then he asked her, “Please remind me . . . which Element of Harmony do you represent again?”

“Loyalty,” Rainbow Dash answered immediately then gave a dismissive wave, “but, like . . . twenty-percent cooler than that.”

“Cooler than loyalty?” Thorax reflected doubtfully.

“Yeah. Duh,” Rainbow Dash replied flatly then waved at Pharynx to continue. While he did that, two more mares emerged from the TARDIS, both of them unicorns in this case. 

One of them was a blue mare with a white mane. What stood out about her most upon first impression was actually her attire. She wore an almost gaudy looking purple pointy hat with lots of stars on it. She wore a matching cape to go along with it. By her side was another mare of very similar age. She had a very light purple hide with darker purple mane that was curved to the side of her head at two points, one of them being longer than the other. She also had a small very light blue streak running through her mane. Between the two, it was the blue mare that was the first to announce herself and she also did it quite boldly.

“Well, I heard that story before and, to be honest with you, it's not that great,” the blue mare with the star hat and cape announced upon arrival. “If you want a real story then Trixie has got you covered, and it's not just an ordinary story but a GREAT . . . and POWERFUL STORY!” She almost chucked an object straight at the ground but the one standing beside her caught the object in a light blue aura glow and forced it to float up above her companion's reach. The one Feather Wind assumed was named Trixie glared at her companion for that. “Do you mind! You're interrupting my great and powerful show, and this is my process.”

“Actually, yeah. I kind of do mind. That's why I stopped you,” the light purple mare said with a light, playful chuckle. “I know you only get one chance to make a first impression and I understand why you would want to make it a good one but remember when we are. These smoke bombs might not be as easy to replace as you might think, so it might be time to consider being more frugal with them.”

“Twilight? You okay there, Sugar Cube?” Applejack approached and waved a hoof up and down in front of her still frozen friend who was still stuck in a fangasm. 

“What? Frugal?” Trixie looked appalled by her friend's suggestion. “Why I never! Trixie always goes big, or not at all!”

The light purple mare with darker purple mane rolled her eyes then telekinetically gave the smoke bomb back. “Alright, but don't come crying to me when you finally do run out of smoke bombs.”

“What? Have you ever met me, Starlight Glimmer?” Trixie asked her friend. “I am Trixie! The GREAT and POWERFUL magician! I never run out of smoke bombs! It's part of my charm, after all.” When she said that she fluffed her mane with an arrogant pose for a moment then looked at the ground with an almost evil smile. “Witness as I perform for your amusement . . . the great and powerful Trixie . . . disappear!” She chucked the bomb at the ground but it had an unexpected effect. It burst into a huge cloud of what almost looked like tiny ponies the size of butterflies but they had butterfly wings and curled antenna and they all looked like a very miniaturized version of Trixie. They quickly scattered away from the area. “What?!”  came Trixie's shrill shriek in shock, then she looked back into the TARDIS with an angry face. “Discord!”

Stern Wing suddenly looked alarmed. “What did you say?”

A very mixed up racial individual which had a deer antler on the right side on top of his head, a blue goat horn on the left, one long fang in his mouth, different-sized eye pupils, a snake tongue, a goat beard, and white bushy eyebrows. He had the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. In addition, he had a bat's right wing, a pegasus' left wing, a horse's mane, and a dragon-like snake's tail with a white tail tuft. The shape of his body resembled that of a snake. He appeared from out of nowhere and coiled himself several times around Trixie. When he was finished, he flicked her muzzle with his left eagle claw while regarding her with a very trollish grin.

“You know, it's funny,” Discord said upon arrival at Trixie. He needed no introduction for Feather Wind or Stern Wing. “I do recall a time when we were in the changeling hive back during a time when they were still hip and cool. Since our magic didn't work there at the time, we used your smoke bombs as a distraction at one point. Later on we reached another gate that had another group of changelings in front of the door. You reached into your saddlebag and pulled out nothing, as I recall. Now what was it you said about your smoke bombs back then? Oh wait! I think I recall.” Suddenly his face turned into a mocking resemblance of Trixie but it was clearly still him except he now had a white mane and wore a copy of her star purple hat, although a closer examination of that hat by a very observant creature would have revealed a bunch of images of Discord in various poses on the hat instead of stars. While imitating her very badly, he said, “'And I'm fresh out of smoke bombs'.” He then sneered at her as his face suddenly returned to, well, what would pass as “normal” for him. “Do you recall this?”

“Get out of my face, Discord!” Trixie demanded irritably, then closed her eyes as she explained, “Back then I was under a lot of pressure. I was awakened in the middle of the night by,” she looked fondly and a bit smugly at Starlight, “my dear and best friend,” then resumed glaring at Discord “for an emergency which, I also recall, you were party to and you were even more useless than I was! I may have run out of smoke bombs that one time but you didn't have any to begin with so HA! I win!”

“You invited Discord?!” Stern Wing growled at the Doctor.

“Actually, no,” the Doctor admitted. “He's the only one who invited himself, and he's the only one different from the others in another way, which I'll explain later.” The Doctor regarded Stern Wing. “Since when in the past has my invitation, or lack thereof, ever summoned or prevented Discord from inexplicably popping into and out of the TARDIS? I swear to you, I am not accustomed to the TARDIS being that easily invaded but there you have it.” He shrugged. “Who knew?” 

“Wait!” Feather Wind narrowed one eye. “If Discord is here, he could solve this problem in an instant. One snap of his claw or paw and The Dark Star could be a forgotten memory.”

“I'm afraid it's not that simple,” Celestia said with regret. “The Dark Star has more power than any force that has ever plagued Equestria, Discord included. He probably gained his powers from a power source like this one, or got corrupted by it at one time. I doubt even he knows his own true history anymore, considering his nature.”

“What's more,” Luna added, “if The Dark Star learns of Discord's existence, it might try to corrupt him again, or perhaps summon some monstrous equivalent. For now its ignorance of his existence is protecting us because this dark force hasn't met Discord yet, but imagine if it did and that power were to be turned against us. As easily as you might think he can defeat this thing, it is even more likely it could be turned against us. He could defeat us all with a snap of his claw or paw.”

“My, my, my!” Discord smiled deviously at Stern Wing and Feather Wind. He suddenly disappeared around Trixie within a brief flash of white and reappeared behind the two in the same manner and bent over to look at them upside-down. 

“Yeah! You better run!” Trixie threatened at Discord while shaking a hoof above her head in dramatic anger.

Without looking at her, Discord snapped his lion paw and a flying pig suddenly appeared below Trixie after a brief flash of white beneath her. It squealed then flew off.

“Oh no! Not this thing again!” Trixie complained then screamed in panic as she started to fly off on top of the pig. 

Several things all happened at once so it was difficult for Feather Wind and Stern Wing to pay attention to them all. 

Starlight Glimmer groaned and kindly requested for Discord not to tease Trixie anymore. 

At the same time, yet another alicorn princess emerged from the TARDIS. This one was slightly pink but had a multi-color mane of dark purple, light purple, and white. Also her wings shifted to purple towards the tips. Her mane was much longer and thicker on one side which curled in a swirl towards the tips. She was also among the few to wear any kind of gear, jewelry in this case. She had a small necklace that clung tight to her neck, and she had horseshoes that covered the forward tips of her hooves.

Beside her was a regal white unicorn stallion with multi-color blue mane. The tips of his hooves were also blue, but it looked natural in this case. They stood very close to each other. Feather Wind could easily tell they had an intimate relationship together. Besides, he didn't even need to guess that. He had seen them before when he visited the Crystal Empire what felt like ages ago, and he knew their names as well. The mare was named Princess Cadence and the stallion beside her, also her husband, was Shining Armor. After seeing them, Feather Wind started to realize that pretty much every alicorn princess known seemed to be here. There was only one missing that Feather Wind was aware of, and she was probably in the TARDIS too.

At the same time Discord re-reintroduced himself to Feather Wind and Stern Wing directly.

“Well hello again, my friends! It's so good to see you once again. Off gallivanting on another one of the Doctor's insane and inane mystical adventures, I presume? Ah, but of course you are! How silly of me to ask. Why else would you be here? And oh look . . . you even managed to pull in a big gang this time.” He chuckled with mischievous glee as if he had an evil plan regarding that. “Isn't this wonderful? I feel like celebrating along with a certain pink party pony with peppy powers pulled by particularly peculiar . . . um . . . circumstances!”

“You don't have to ask me twice!” Pinkie concurred then mysteriously and very oddly pulled out an entire blue cannon out of her mane and dropped it right in front of her. Seconds later it burst out a cloud of party confetti.

While the party cannon exploded, the last alicorn princess had indeed emerged from the TARDIS except she was far older than Feather Wind had last seen her. As an adult mare, her color scheme was very close to her mother's except her mane was more curly and puffy. It had purple, blue and lighter pink in it. Her wing tips also shifted into purple, but it was much closer to the tip than her mother and that was a new feature her infant self lacked. Her cutie mark was also new. It wasn't visible yet but it did glow when she touched Twilight Sparkle. For some reason that finally calmed Twilight down.

“Oh, um.” Twilight looked back at Flurry Heart, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's daughter. “Thank you, Flurry Heart.” Twilight blushed a bit as she looked slightly embarrassed. “I needed that.”

“It's okay, Auntie Twilie,” Flurry Heart said with a soft smile. “Always happy to help.”

While that was happening, Discord continued to talk to Feather Wind and Stern Wing. While that was happening, even more conversations were occurring nearby outside and still inside the TARDIS. 

{I have to be honest with you, I think I started to zone out around this point. There was so much to absorb and so much going on around me. Even more ponies and dragons poured out of the TARDIS. They just kept on coming. I would have been more awed if I wasn't already so stunned to notice that one of them was Star Swirl the Bearded himself and he also had his own group of friends who were legendary members of Equestria so long ago. Along with them were several members of the Royal Legion that Flash Magnus served under, whom he was happy to see again and seemed like he had not seen them in a long time for some reason, and earth ponies of the Mighty Helm which Rockhoof was quite familiar with. Princess Cadence and Princess Celestia had also brought a contingent of their most elite guards to accompany them on this mission. Several members of the Wonderbolts also showed up, these ones native to Rainbow Dash's timeline.

{I vaguely recall the Doctor mentioning that to face ultimate evil on the planet required facing it with the world's best champions who were spread across the ages. After all, this was a dark force so powerful it could attack them across the ages as well, and right now it was threatening their existence entirely. He also explained something to us that was very interesting. He said that most of these guests, except for himself, Vision, Derpy, Stern Wing, myself and Discord . . . were all temporal time clones. What this meant was he borrowed them from a frozen, infinitesimal moment of time and made them an offer to help him battle ultimate evil back in this time period. By using this strategy, he made a time copy of each of them that would not affect their original selves. If they were killed or returned to their natural timeline, either way they disappeared and everything they did here in this time period would not be recalled by their original selves, regardless of what they do here. He explained that was how he was able to borrow them without damaging the many fixed periods of times that surrounded each of their lives, and this strategy had other advantages too . . . and some disadvantages. 

{Oh, I should also mention that certain members of my family showed up as well. Among them, it included my Uncle Ramadon, my father Author Scroll, and . . . my mother.}





xoxo





Star Breeze widened her eyes in astonishment. “You saw your dead mother again?”

“It was a time clone copy of her,” Feather Wind elaborated. “She was borrowed from a moment before she died.” Feather Wind rubbed his face with both of his hooves. “This was the kindest . . . and at the same time cruelest act the Doctor had ever done for me. You can imagine my father's and uncle's reaction as well. That was pretty . . . intense, but for them most of the emotional stuff was hoofled before they got to me. For me, this was crashing down on top of me all at once. I have a disciplined mind, too. I had been through a lot by that point in my life. I could even concentrate on multiple separate spells at once. That isn't easy. Try to imagine multiple separate walls in your head complete with a detailed picture of every brick of each separate wall. It gets tricky, especially to hold that image in your head and not let it slip.”

Feather Wind released a long breath, then said, “You know what, Honey, I need a bit of a break. This is a complex moment of my history and there was a lot going on during that point. It felt especially overwhelming in the beginning. I had more time to adjust and get to know them later on, but right then at the start, it was just one explosive surprise after another. To refresh my memory, I need to consult my notes that I wrote down in here.” He telekinetically lifted and shook the Red Crystal for emphasis. “I also need a moment to clear my head before I get back to the story.”

“Okay Dad. No worries. Take your time. I think I could use a break as well to help me absorb all of this too.”

“Absolutely, Sweet Pea,” Feather Wind agreed as he reached over and ruffled her mane a bit.

“Aw, Dad,” Star Breeze slightly complained but she also enjoyed the attention.

Feather Wind then stood up. “Be back in a bit. If you need me, call my name out in the wind.”

“I know the drill,” Star Breeze assured.

“Okay.” With that Feather Wind leapt off and put his hooves in the four pockets of the Mist Cloak. The wind caught and billowed it which propelled him up even faster.

Which left Star Breeze to dwell on her own thoughts as well. Early on during that time a startling revelation occurred to her.





xoxo





“I'm back. Did you miss me?” Feather Wind asked his daughter upon returning to her after a four hour break. “Oh, I see you're continuing your magnetic practice.”

Star Breeze was hovering a rock between her hooves. The rock was spinning various different directions. Which direction it spun depended on which way she was spinning the energy between her hooves. She abandoned her project seconds after he landed though. Honestly she had hoped he would return a while ago because she had a question burning in her mind for quite awhile.

“Dad.” As she spoke, she dropped the rock. “I want you to tell me honestly.” She looked squarely in his eyes. “Was I there in the past as a temporal time clone?”

Feather Wind paused as he considered his answer, then he answered her question with another question. “Do you want to be?”

“Dad! Just answer the question. Please,” Star Breeze begged.

“Your future is up to you,” Feather Wind said. “Whatever you do by then is your choice. Let me reflect the question. Pretend the Doctor came and claimed you right now. Just snatched you up from an infinitesimal frozen moment in time and then he offered the chance to go back in time and face ultimate evil in the distant past. Would you accept right now?”

Star Breeze blinked. “I, ah . . . don't know. It sounds scary, but at the same time I'd be super curious and excited. I mean, you met Star Swirl the Bearded in person! Time clone or no, that's a fantastic moment. I'm sure the others were very exciting as well, but . . . I'm just a young filly, Dad. What am I supposed to do against ultimate evil?”

“In that case, when do you think you'd be ready for such an offer?” Feather Wind probed onward.

“It doesn't really matter what I say, right?” Star Breeze checked. “I mean, at least from your perspective. If it will happen then it already has happened so tell me . . . was I there or wasn't I?”

Feather Wind sat beside her and gently stroked a hoof up and down her spine. As he did so he said, “I choose not to tell you. Whether you are there or not is up to you. I will never be willing to take that choice away from you. If you really want this at any point in your life, you might have been there. Otherwise, the answer is no. I advise you, as you listen to my story, to try to imagine what you might have said or done in that situation because, one day, it might become a choice you'll have to face. If you did meet Star Swirl the Bearded or any other famous pony that you care about and that pony happened to be among us . . . what would you say or do?

“No matter what you think you might say or do, you are always correct. Time is fluid. It's changing all the time. The past, present and future is always changing. I remember one version of history. You might experience another. If you do, it's because of your choices. Remember that, Star Breeze. It's always because of your choices.”

“If I played an important role in the past . . . how are you going to explain that to me without telling me if I was there or not?” 

“Regardless of your involvement or not, I will outright skip those parts of my story,” Feather Wind assured. “It's up to you to fill in those gaps. Decide now what you would have done if you had been there and, if you change your mind later, then fill in the gap with your new version of your choice. You could potentially be borrowed as a time clone at any possible moment, so the possibilities on what you would have done in the past is endless.

“I will say it would make more sense to borrow you from a healthier, older and more experienced version of yourself. The Doctor does not like to endanger young foals anyway. That's just his policy. He was quite reluctant to accept Vision for the same reason, as you may recall.

“If this will actually happen to you, it is far more likely you are borrowed from an older and stronger version of yourself, and I would personally agree with the Doctor on that point. It just makes more sense. In every second of your life from this point forward, think about my story on occasion, especially this chapter of it. If you were there . . . what would you have done? Whatever you decide, that's probably what you did.”

“No matter what I decide, even though I won't remember any of it,” Star Breeze realized with a frown. “For me, it's like it never happened.”

“That's exactly what it was like for almost every other creature in our party back then. Only I, Vision, your mother, Derpy, the Doctor and Discord remember the whole story. Well, at least the parts we were personally there for. Every one of us was at one place at a time except maybe Discord. Actually he had a frequent habit of making multiple copies of himself all the time.”

“Ah!” Star Breeze wildly pointed her hoof at her father. “You said his name! You said his  name! He might pop in now!”

“That's always possible, so I won't stress my entire life away at the mere possibility that he could show up. Yes, saying his name does increase the odds, but that's only because it might gather his attention. Even if you have it, he may or may not show up. Seems to me he rolls dice in his own head to decide things like that. Given how totally random he is, it's never wise to count on him from moment to moment. If he does show up, don't count on it being fun either. It will be fun for him on his standards. If you happen to share his sense of humor then lucky you, otherwise you might have a hard time with him. 

“I know your mother never appreciated his sense of humor. From her perspective, he's a cruel and sadistic bully and it gulls her that he's too powerful to do anything about it. 

“For me . . . I find him fun on occasion, but sometimes his jokes go too far. Sometimes I even think he regrets it. 

“Discord is like an immortal foal that's constantly struggling against boredom. With an eternity to work with, imagine how boring life could become if you make no effort to make it entertaining. Even with all of reality at your hoof tips, eventually you've done it all. I kind of feel sorry for Discord if he never learns to change, but honestly that was already happening when I met him. He claims he used to be worse, and he also claims Fluttershy motivated him to be a better draconequus, which is the name of his race, by the way. Until he changes it again, anyway. 

“I had a chance to meet Fluttershy in person at last . . . and I have to say they initially make an odd pair, but when I contemplate how a powerful and omnipotent being like him might feel the weight of eternity always pressing on his chest, looking at life from a new perspective could make everything feel new and fresh again. This time it happened to be Fluttershy that guided him to that perspective. Eventually it will be some other pony or creature. This is good for him. He needs to allow himself the flexibility to change as often as he feels he needs to. Indeed, he does it all too frequently, but being random certainly is one way to avoid stagnation. Boredom will always be his ultimate enemy, and if he didn't defend himself from it then he has enough time on his claw slash paw for it to get really, really bad.”

“How was this journey a challenge when you had an ally who could do literally anything?” Star Breeze wondered.

“I'll tell you flat out right now . . . he can do anything, but he can't do everything. I know that might not make much sense at first, but bear with me. He actually couldn't defy The Dark Star, for example. It was a semi-intelligent savage animal, but it was capable of almost any kind of power as long as it stems from dark emotions. It was capable of learning from its opponents by reflecting their greatest fears right back at them. Discord was not immune to that. He had fears of his own and, if he got tortured by them, he was at risk of slipping to the dark side again. 

“Also, he wasn't the kind of being that could be relied upon as a consistent ally. He'll do whatever he wants at all times and he prides himself at thumbing his nose at authority. He is and was normally the worst kind of team player. He even fought with his own copies of himself at times, but I heard he can be a good team player if he considers the cooperative game to be fun. 

“Fluttershy's influence and all others who genuinely call him a friend keep his antics more on the positive side but we were up against an enemy that could so easily switch him back to evil again. Just like he could pop in clones of himself at any moment, imagine if The Dark Star started doing that too. Learning from Discord's example, it follows suit. 

“No. The true weapon against The Dark Star here was friendship and all the positive feelings that came with it. It was a power The Dark Star couldn't copy, and the only way it could counter it was by throwing an overabundance of the opposite influence. It always worked to try to break us apart because that was where we were at our strongest.

“And that's why the Doctor brought my mother along. My mother, Silver Shine, was by no means a warrior of any kind. She could not think to harm even a bug. She wasn't the only pony like that in our group either. Derpy and Fluttershy were also like her in many ways. All of them had incredible innocence. They were all adorable, and they all lit up the room with their smiles. They were deeply in touch with their emotions. They were all easily scared but, when they grasped onto their courage, they exploded with it.

“Fighting The Dark Star didn't just require awesome fliers and warriors and spellcasters . . . it required mind and heart. My mother had a radiant heart. So did Derpy, so did Fluttershy, and I can probably add myself as well to this list. I very often have a sensitive side. I can lose control of myself many times because of it. I won't say I'm very innocent, but I often do lead by my heart. 

“That's how and why I made such an intense connection with the sky. I didn't master this by studying scrolls. I mastered this because I felt my way through it, and that was a habit I could never just suddenly drop no matter how convenient it could have been throughout multiple points of my life. It was also my strength many times as well, and it helped me to help my friends through this most arduous journey.

“The Doctor . . . he really didn't bring Silver Shine along for my sake or my father or my uncle. He brought her because she was the right choice to help us save the world from this particular threat. He knew this was an opponent that would require many kinds of varied skills and talents. It was just that challenging, and he also knew that, in the end, our emotions were the ultimate key to defeating this thing. 

“Flurry Heart was the Crystal Heart. I'll say it again. Flurry Heart was . . . the Crystal Heart. It was literally embedded in her cutie mark, and it's what helped to cause her existence. She was born an alicorn because of her connection to the Crystal Heart, and no other pony in the world could control it like she could. She even shattered it as an infant on accident, and that was why. She always had an intense connection to it. It was honestly remarkable how similar her cutie mark appeared to be when compared to her mother's.

“Now the Crystal Heart was a stored medium of emotion of all those who chose to imbue it. Because of that combined essence, it had the power to do amazing things, not the least of which was to protect us from negative energy and it could do it in a wide radius as well. By combining all those positive feelings, it also magnifies it. 

“So, what if that emotion was projected at the Elements of Harmony? Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle . . . they all shared an intense connection with the very force that was the biggest drive for harmony in our land. As The Dark Star is to evil, the Tree of Harmony is to good, and these six were the main branches of that tree. As such, they could tap into the stored energy that was gathered throughout Equestria, and the Crystal Heart could multiply that power like a magnifying lens. 

“One of the biggest reasons why every creature was there was to empower the Crystal Heart so that it, in turn, could empower the Elements of Harmony. Even they couldn't do this alone. They took out villains that almost wrecked the entire world, but they were nothing compared to the source of dark strength. This time . . . for once . . . the Elements of Harmony alone was not enough. It would take us all to overpower this overwhelming force, and we would have to do it in the right way.

“The Doctor was a genius. I said it before and I'll say it again. Before he showed up, he already had this brilliant plan in motion. He brought with him what it would actually take to defeat an opponent this powerful but, to do it, we would all have to work together on this one. There's just no other way to succeed. 

“But before I get to that part, let me explain more of the important things we went through that helped prepare us to face this enemy. Like I said before, friendship was the key to success in this case, but many of us met each other for the first time. That even included Princess Cadence and Shining Armor with their daughter. According to her parents, they had never seen the adult version of their child before. I don't know why the Doctor chose a younger version of Flurry Heart's parents. I dread to think it's because they died along the way, and I honestly can't reject that dark possibility, as much as I'd like to, but whatever the case may be . . . the three of them were getting to know each other for the first time. 

“Likewise, my mother never met the adult version of me either. On this journey I had the painful privilege to get to know how she would have felt if she encountered me as an adult. 

“The list goes on. Many, many of the creatures brought along each had a unique contribution to the group project and, for it to fulfill its greatest potential, we all had to get to know each other and care for one another deeply, even if they were temporary time clones. That does not make the feelings any less real and, against The Dark Star, that's all that mattered. 

“There were other advantages to being a time clone as well. Sacrificing their lives would not put their original selves at risk. They were also stuck in whatever condition they were in when the Doctor borrowed them so he made sure to borrow them from a moment they were fully awake and not hungry because, otherwise, they would be stuck constantly hungry and feeling tired. Their hearts did not beat either. That was an odd sensation for them. They never needed to sleep or eat, though they could do both if they wanted to which Ember proved earlier by demanding crystal from Sombra. In a way, they had infinite stamina as well because they were stuck in the temporal condition they were borrowed from. That's a lot to get used to, and a very different state of existence. The downside was they would remember none of this adventure, but that didn't mean they couldn't make a difference. Victory, in this case, was more important than the method. They didn't need to remember this to save the world, and their lives could thus go on like nothing happened. For them . . . it was all just a dream.

“But I remember. Me, Stern Wing, Vision, Derpy, the Doctor and Discord . . . we were all there to actually experience everything that happened. Also the natives of this timeline that we brought. They would remember this too. That also meant we could get sick, we could get tired, we could get hungry, we would need sleep, and we could die. We were actually there to experience every risk and reward and, remember, it was a very extreme risk. It wouldn't be a stretch to say we risked our immortal souls on this quest considering the nature of the enemy. It was all about corruption, so we truly faced that threat head on. None of us could do this on our own, so the efforts of all those time clones were absolutely vital. 

“Because we had a temporal copy of the Crystal Heart as well, it also meant we had the spirits of every pony who ever enchanted it with us as well. This is very important to understand. Every pony who lifts a boulder divides the weight equally between everypony who participated in the project. 

“We may have been less than bugs to this enemy, but bugs could swarm . . . and this was a group with a united cause and spirit.”





xoxo





{As I said earlier, our initial meeting was quite complicated. There were so many ponies meeting other ponies and other creatures, not to mention the natives that were already there. 

{General Slekcorza was just floored by what he encountered. I told him he could trust the Doctor and that alone was difficult for him to accept, but he trusted me to a point so he went along with the project I was proposing to help summon the Doctor . . . but, when the Doctor showed up, he brought a veritable army along with him. This was an overload for General Slekcorza's sensibilities. I think he felt like his city was being invaded by a bunch of powerful aliens from the future, ones that could clear the entire sky of clouds in six seconds flat. At that point there were too many targets to study. In the end, he basically just backed off, overwhelmed by this situation and he didn't know how to hoofle it. Honestly, I could well sympathize with him in this case. I was more familiar with these newcomers and even I felt overwhelmed.

{What I know that happened next was we were all moved to a large reception hall where we basically just mingled. As an odd curiosity of their temporary state of existence, none of the time clones needed to sleep . . . ever . . . so they didn't need beds either. Whatever they chose to do in this time period, they could do it tirelessly and constantly. 

{Actually, I take it back. Mental and emotional fatigue could eventually settle in. Doing the same thing over and over again leads to boredom, and the time clones were not immune to that because their minds and emotions were among the few aspects about them that were not frozen in time. The fact that their emotions could flourish was really the principle reason they were there, and emotions were capable of anything, including boredom.

{There were far too many conversations that took place for me to remember them all and, besides, I wasn't there for them all. Of the ones I was involved with, or at least overheard, let me give you some snippets to serve as just small examples of the kinds of conversations that took place there. Besides, some of these conversations led to important discoveries or decisions later down the road, so I'll need to cover those. 

{Let's see . . . what are some examples I could tell you? Hmm . . . Oh! I know!}

“So Feather Wind, Twilight tells me you were the first unicorn to apply to the Wonderbolt Academy. Why did you drop out?” Rainbow Dash broached upon approaching Feather Wind who was just talking to Star Swirl a moment ago. In fact Star Swirl was still standing there, waiting on an answer to a question he just proposed himself a moment ago until they both got interrupted by Rainbow Dash.

That statement honestly surprised Star Swirl so his wide-eyed look transferred from Rainbow Dash to Feather Wind. Normally he should have been almost completely ignorant about the Wonderbolts but this version of Star Swirl was actually borrowed from Feather Wind's future, not the past. Apparently he got locked in limbo with the Pony of Shadows for over a thousand years before being pulled out by Twilight and her friends. When that adventure concluded (luckily with a happy ending), Star Swirl had a chance to explore the “realm”, as he called it, of the future. During his travels, he encountered many things, including information of famous groups like the Wonderbolts. He knew, by then, what they represented and had at least an idea how difficult it should be to join such an illustrious group, so to hear a member of his own race had once joined the Academy was quite a shock for him.

{And, as a quick note of fill in, what Star Swirl and I were talking about just a moment before was my future role in the army as we march our way north to banish The Dark Star. He also spoke with my father and uncle a moment ago and they all concluded that I might be a valuable asset to the spellcasting team for this army, of which Star Swirl himself intended to be part of, naturally. Star Swirl came to me to gauge my intentions in the coming days ahead in this journey he called, “The Road to Darkness.” I didn't make an official decision yet before we got interrupted. I believe, at that point, he was about to discuss the options but then Rainbow Dash showed up with a question that put a quick halt to our previous conversation.}

“There were many reasons, Rainbow Dash,” Feather Wind answered. 

“You just couldn't hack it, so you quit?” Rainbow Dash asked with a little bit of an offended tone.

{Another quick note; at this point of our conversation I had yet to see Rainbow Dash ever land on the ground. Wherever she went and whomever she chose to talk to, she constantly did it while flapping in the air. I know that, as a time clone, she basically had infinite stamina, but come on! Even for a Wonderbolt, that kind of dedication to the sky seemed ridiculous. I've seen the Wonderbolts up close too and I know them well enough to realize this behavior was unusual. There were other members of the Wonderbolts also here in that room from Rainbow Dash's timeline and they were trotting about on the ground just fine. Not even I remain in the sky all the time, and I'm one with that element. I guess this habit was more distinctive of Rainbow Dash's personality specifically. She just liked to fly, period.}

“Life is rarely that simple, Rainbow,” Feather Wind announced. “It's a little hard to explain, but I'll try. 

“Picture your cutie mark and what it represents, then imagine trying to force yourself to fit in with the opposite environment. In my case, it wasn't nearly that extreme, but that does give you an idea how it felt. 

“I joined the Academy because the Wonderbolts were the best fliers in Equestria and I wanted to test my limits to its fullest. They also saved my life, so I wanted to repay the favor by teaming up with them. It turns out I don't work too well in a rigid environment. My element is the sky and, like the wind, I'm meant to be free of tight restrictions. 

“The Bolts rules and regulations proved too strict but at least I understood its importance. Pushing one's self to that level of skill, especially as a team, requires a lot of coordination and . . . I'm not saying I'm a bad team player, but I couldn't imagine myself matching the Bolts extreme standards for the rest of my life. I had to use the wind to fly because I don't have wings, and it didn't feel right to discipline the wind like that. 

“Plus, my methods of flying messed up the other cadets flying in close formation. I can't force the wind to become tight enough to prevent that from happening. 

“I love the Bolts, Rainbow, and I truly value all that they have taught me. They really have improved my flying skills far beyond anything I had ever accomplished before that point, but as a lifestyle choice . . . I'm just the wrong pony for that. 

“Doing this also ignored my other abilities as a unicorn. Everyday the Bolts told me not to use my magic because the other pegasi could not do that, so they did not rely upon those methods. I had to use magic to fly, but they restricted it and the wind does not do well with restrictions. Bottom line is, I needed more freedom than the Bolts permitted. 

“Also,” Feather Wind looked down sadly, “I had trouble fitting in with that crowd to boot. I don't like competition because I hate being either the winner or loser. I don't like hurting other ponies feelings. 

“As much as this might shock you, there were plenty at the Academy and the Bolts that took personal offense to me being there. In their eyes, it wasn't a unicorn's place so they teased and even attacked me in some regards.”

“Dude, that's rough,” Rainbow said with a bit of wide eyes, a little astonished by what she heard. “That's seriously wrong if any of the cadets and especially if any of the Wonderbolts teased you just because of your race. For what it's worth, I would have stuck up for you if you had been in my Academy.”

“Thanks, Rainbow,” Feather Wind said with a small, appreciative smile. 

“I mean it!” Rainbow insisted. “The Wonderbolts is supposed to be all about inspiring other ponies to be their best. If any of them had been spreading the opposite message, well . . . I would have a difficult time accepting them as my personal friend. I'd probably take a few extra steps against them. 

“That said,” Rainbow Dash flew a bit higher as she said, “I am curious about something. Twilight said you were one of the fastest, if not the fastest flying unicorn Equestria has ever seen, so I have a proposal for ya.” She flew in close to him with a daring grin. “Race me!”

“Were you not paying attention? I just told you I hate competition!”

“I'm, ah . . . going to excuse myself for the moment,” Star Swirl politely requested as he backed off with a bit of an uncomfortable look to him. “Good luck with your . . .” he looked corner-wise down for a split second then back to Feather Wind “. . . whatever this is. When you have an answer to my question, let me know.”

“I will. I promise I'll consider your offer carefully,” Feather Wind promised Star Swirl calmly.

“Promise what?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously with a raspy voice as she looked back and forth between Star Swirl and Feather Wind.

“Ah . . . he'll explain. Excuse me.” Star Swirl spun about and took off in a hurry. One could only wonder how he managed to go that fast without tripping over his own long robes.

“He's interested for me to join the spellcaster squad in the army as we make our way north,” Feather Wind announced to Rainbow Dash simply.

“Huh. A pony of many talents, huh? That's kind of awesome, so I like you. Actually, I have a proposal of my own, aside from the race.” 

“Shoot,” Feather Wind invited her.

“Twilight tells me your cutie mark talent mostly involves weather control. Is this true?” Rainbow checked.

“Correct,” Feather Wind nodded. “I am the Wind.”

“That is AWESOME!” For the first time Rainbow was finally starting to truly fangasm while she wiggled all of her limbs which was held very straight. “And really, really useful to my own team as well. As you know, some of the Wonderbolts from my own time have joined me on this journey. We also have Flash Magnus and his team of the Royal Legion, and there are a few fliers in Celestia's royal guard and Princess Cadence. They will also be part of the flying squad of this army.

“I have to tell you, with your ability to control weather, you can be a seriously strong asset for our team and you can still use your magic to do it. I'm not suggesting you reject Star Swirl's offer. I'm saying you should join both teams since your talents are a natural fit for both. If one team needs you more than another in any particular moment then of course you should mainly be with them, but since you like freedom anyway . . . why not keep your options wide open?”

“That's a good point! I may seriously take you up on that,” Feather Wind said with a grateful grin at Rainbow Dash.

“Trust me, kid, with you under my wing, I'll make sure no one gives you any guff,” Rainbow promised with a confident swipe of a hoof in front of her from left to right.

“Thanks.”

“As far as the race is concerned, don't think of it as a competition.” Rainbow gave a dismissive wave. “Instead, think of it as a bonding exercise. I've been told that one of the biggest points of this journey is to bond and get to know each other. That way you guys can help us out more, the Elements of Harmony! Well, I happen to be one of those elements and I'd seriously like to know what you're capable of. Now I've seen flying unicorns before.”

“You have?!” Feather Wind asked in pleasant astonishment. That news pleased him very much to hear.

“Yep! Not many of them, mind you. Just a few. One of them is here, actually.” Rainbow flew higher and scanned around carefully. After a few moments she could not locate the one she was looking for so she shrugged and flew in close to Feather Wind again. “Well she's here, and trust me . . . I've seen this before.

“However, what I have not seen is a serious competition to my maneuverability and speed in the air. Starlight is good, don't get me wrong, but she is nowhere near as good as I am. That isn't really to her discredit, however. Keeping up with me is waaaaaaaaaay high standards. Most pegasi can't keep up with me either, even at the Wonderbolt Academy, so it's no surprise that a unicorn would also struggle. Supposedly you're the best of the best, though, when it comes to flying unicorns, so I'm curious if you'll finally be a unicorn that can offer me a decent challenge.”

“I don't mind flying with you or bonding with you, but I don't want to race, Rainbow!” A bit of steel snuck into Feather Wind's voice.

“Hmm.” That made Rainbow Dash thoughtful. She tapped her lips for a few seconds, then came up with a new idea. “Okay then. Forget the race.” Rainbow waved both forward hooves away from her. “At least until you warm up to the idea. I'd still like to race you if you change your mind, but how about we change my idea to this one; let's just go for a fly and see where that takes us. I'd also like to see you at your fastest speed too so how about this. Instead of a race, whichever one of us is faster slows down for the other. If I fly faster then I slow down to match your speed. It's easier to evaluate you if I do that anyway because then I'll be right beside you. If you fly faster, which I sincerely doubt you will,” Rainbow said with a brief roll of her eyes, “but if you do . . . then you slow down and match with me. Either way, we fly together, I still get my questions answered, and there will be no winner or loser. How does that sound?”

“That's a better proposal,” Feather Wind agreed. 

“So you'll do it?” Rainbow Dash asked with rising hope. 

“If it will make you happy, then sure. Besides, the bonding part of your proposal actually sounds important, and it would give me an idea how fast you fly as well. Someday that information might become important, so I agree to your revised proposal.”

“Great! Let's go! On the count of three. One, two . . .”

“I didn't mean right now!” 

“Aw! Why not?” Rainbow Dash complained impatiently. 

“Because he said no, Rainbow Dash. Cut him some slack,” Applejack scolded as she trotted over to the two of them. She gave a sheepish grin to Feather Wind and tipped her hat to him. “I'm sorry about my friend here. I'm afraid she gets a little competitive. Truth be told, I've been known to be so as well from time to time.”

“Oh yeah! I remember some of our matches!” Rainbow said with a fond, competitive grin. “Those were some good times.”

“Hey! Feather Wind! Have you met my sister Maud yet?” Pinkie Pie asked as she showed up with a very extended limb that pulled close her dark gray sister with slight blueish/gray mane that was brushed back neatly and cut short. Maud was among the few in the room to wear any clothes at all, but it wasn't much. It was just a plain dark gray sweatshirt that almost matched the color of her mane. 

{Truthfully, the answer was no before that moment. I had not met her sister, and the contrast between her and Pinkie was almost startling. When I looked at Maud, I grew concerned for her because she looked like she was struggling to stay awake. The dead-pan look to her face indicated either boredom or exhaustion. If the latter was true, then that was really bad because, as a time clone, she was stuck in whatever condition she was drawn from. If she was exhausted, she would never be anything but exhausted.}

“I'm Maud,” Maud said very simply while looking at Feather Wind with a heavy dead-pan expression. “Hi.”

“Brilliant speech!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “Encore! Encore! Encore!” Pinkie Pie cried out while whirling one of her hooves above her in a rapid circle.

Feather Wind relaxed. He had Maud figured out now, at least enough to relax his concerns. She wasn't tired. She simply acted this way all the time. 

“Uh . . . Pinkie Pie . . . may I ask you something?” Applejack tentatively brought up since whatever this subject matter was made her uncomfortable. 

“You certainly may!” Pinkie said as she stood up straight and put both of her forward hooves on her hips while leaning forward towards Applejack a bit. 

“No offense, but . . . why did you bring your sister along for this journey?” Applejack asked as she regarded Maud with concern. “You know what we're up against, right?”

“Only the ultimate evil and the source of all dark magic in Equestria! Duh!” Pinkie said quickly with a roll of her eyes and a casual, dismissive wave of a hoof.

“Yeah. I know.” Applejack's discomfort grew even worse. “I know she can smash rocks and all but . . . come on, Pinkie Pie. Why Maud? I just don't want to see her get hurt, is all.”

“Because she is the most stupendously awesome, totally amazing sister and best friend ever! Duh!” Pinkie stated as if that should have been obvious.

“Actually, Applejack, I'm with Pinkie Pie on this one,” Rainbow Dash announced to Applejack.

“Really?” Applejack regarded her flying friend with surprise. “Why? Please tell me because I really want to know. I'm really concerned for her.”

“Don't be.” Rainbow waved Applejack off. “Remember the first time we met Maud?”

“Yes, I do,” Applejack confirmed. “She raced across an obstacle course in seconds and smashed a rock to pieces to save Pinkie Pie. I know, but those were very specific circumstances. I'm just not sure she can hoofle the rigors of war itself in all fronts.”

“Actually, I was going to bring up a different point. Remember that time we all spent some one on one time with Maud so she would not get overwhelmed?”

Feather Wind regarded Maud to see how she reacted to all these other ponies talking about her right in front of her. If there was any change to her reaction, it wasn't obvious. That just might be one of the best poker faces he had ever seen.

“I do,” Applejack confirmed again.

“Welllllll, when it came to my turn with Maud, she chucked a rock so hard and so large it flew for miles away and, when it landed, it actually created a mushroom cloud,” Rainbow informed.

“Really?” Applejack regarded Maud in confusion. “Well, that don't make a lick of sense. Maud,” Maud looked at Applejack, “remember that time I visited your family for Hearts Warming Eve for the first time and I, um . . . accidentally . . . knocked over Holder's Boulder to a lower quarry?”

“Yes. You planted your flagpole on a fault line,” Maud reminded very flatly.

“Yeah. That would be the one.” Applejack looked embarrassed, so she moved on with her point in the hopes to skip past that part faster. “Well, I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience I caused, but my point is this; I left the farm for a little while in shame of what I had done but later came back to apologize and make amends. When I got back, I saw you and your family trying in vain to push Holder's Boulder back up the quarry.  The thing is . . . you were among your family and I remember you specifically saying, and I quote, 'I'm pushing as hard as I can, too.' Well, according to Rainbow Dash here,” Applejack gave a brief gesture to Rainbow while she continued to regard Maud, “you can chuck a rock beyond the horizon far enough and hard enough to cause a mushroom cloud. I feel like she's exaggerated a bit, but if she's not then what gives? Why do you have super strength in one moment and yet you could not push a rock up a quarry even with all of your family in another moment?” 

Maud almost answered and opened her mouth to do so, but her sister interrupted.

“Because she's a Pie! That's why!” Pinkie answered.

“What does she being a Pie have to do with any of this?” Applejack questioned Pinkie Pie.

“Because, silly, she can only perform super feats of amazing strength and/or other feats that defy physics only during moments of comedic effect!” Pinkie explained. 

“What now?” Applejack looked more confused, squinting one eye shut as she asked. “So let me get this straight . . . she can only chuck a rock beyond the horizon only when it's funny to do so?”

“Yeah!” Pinkie agreed enthusiastically.

“I am funny,” Maud informed in a flat, deadpan way.

That comment made Pinkie burst out laughing then said while slapping her sister's back several times over, “Good one, Maud! Classic Maud.”

Star Breeze also burst into a snicker for five seconds.

“That was no joke, Pinkie,” Maud objected which made her sister laugh out louder.

“Remember how I told you never to question Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash reminded Applejack.

“Yeah,” Applejack replied.

“Wellllll,” Rainbow Dash briefly rolled her eyes then went on to say, “Probably a good idea to extend that definition to her whole family,” Rainbow amended.

“I'm just trying to understand this because it might become a life or death situation out there!” Applejack cried out. “So she can only perform unusual feats for comedic effect? To whom? The joke is aimed at whom?”

That question caused Pinkie to immediately cease laughing so she could roll back onto her hooves and answer, “To the audience, silly!”

Applejack squinted one eye at Pinkie Pie, and it was even twitching a bit. “What in the hay of Equestria are you going on about, Pinkie Pie? What audience could you possibly be talking about?”

“The audience that always watches us!” Pinkie announced with small, spooked eyes that quickly shifted left and right. “They're all around us. They're everywhere! In fact, some are reading about us right now!”

“What did I just say about questioning Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash reminded Applejack. “Maud Pie here is a living, breathing pony catapult. Just accept it and move on with our lives.”

“Did somepony here say catapult?” Discord asked as he suddenly appeared within a brief flash of white light. “I love catapults! They are so useful.” He snapped his paw and a catapult suddenly materialized beside him except there was one twist; the ammunition for this weapon was a large bowl full of cats that were meowing. Of those who stood there at that moment, only Applejack had a chance to notice that some of those cats originally belonged to the Apple family historian, Goldie Delicious. Rarity's cat Opalescence was also hidden among the bunch. “Doesn't anypony here think that this weapon has the purrrrrfect ammunition?” He leaned his face heavily forward and twisted it to the side so one eye aimed at them when he said the word “purrr” to put an even greater emphasis on that specific part of the word. 

Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash simultaneously slapped their faces with a hoof due to his bad pun.

“How punny of you,” Feather Wind said to Discord with an amused grin.

“At last!” Discord cried out triumphantly and ecstatically. “Somepony who actually gets me!” 

“Don't encourage him,” Rainbow Dash recommended to Feather Wind with a really dry look to him. “Just please don't.”

“You'd better not launch those cats, Discord, or Fluttershy will be mite upset at you,” Applejack warned Discord in a flat tone and a bored, narrow stare aimed at him.

Discord looked disappointed. “Yes. I suppose you're right,” he agreed reluctantly. He snapped the same paw and the catapult instantly disappeared. He decided to shift subjects while secretly in pursuit of a master plan. “By the way, did I overhear any of you ponies mention something about an audience?” He tapped the tips of his eagle claw and lion's paw together and raised his eyebrows together up and down when he mentioned the word “audience” as if that were a secret and naughty word. 

“Yeah! I did!” Pinkie answered. “I was just telling them about the spooooooky audience that is always watching us, judging us, shipping us, and staring at us in every single little detailed moment of every second of our lives!”

“Nevermind what she said, Discord,” Rainbow recommended with a dismissive wave of a hoof. “She's just being Pinkie Pie right now.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes then said under her breath, “A little extra Pinkie Pie right now, if you ask me.”

“Yessss!” Discord agreed with a hiss and a cunning, mischievous narrow-eyed look to Rainbow Dash. “But isn't Pinkie Pie here the one who can sense oncoming threats? I seem to recall a time when Twilight Sparkle tested that extensively until she eventually concluded that it must be true even if she could not understand it.”

“I don't like where this is going,” Applejack complained with nervous suspicion.
“How do you even know any of that anyway? You were still locked in stone back then,” Rainbow Dash pointed out. 

Discord chuckled evilly under his breath as he brought the tips of his eagle claw and lion paw together, then said, “I know this because . . . (plot twist) . . . I am one of your audiences!”

“You ARE?!” Pinkie gasped with intense astonishment. At that moment a three second long dramatic reveal music actually played around them which they could hear. Discord secretly caused that music, though some could assume that Pinkie was equally capable of summoning that sound effect from out of nowhere.

“What? That's crazy talk!” Rainbow objected. 

“Then how do I know all this, Rainbow Dash?” Discord challenged Rainbow Dash in a daring tone and a mischievous, narrow-eyed stare at her.

“Well . . . because . .  .” Rainbow rolled her eyes around as if checking around the room for an explanation, then she said. “Because you're Discord and you're just messing with our heads right now. You probably used your freaky powers to check back in time or something. That's it!” Rainbow Dash crossed her upper legs across her chest as she said, “I'm not falling for your tricks again.”

“Even if what you say is true, when I looked back in time, didn't I become one of your audiences?” Discord countered cunningly.

“I suppose that's true,” Applejack figured with a nervous glance to Rainbow Dash, then looked alarmed as she realized something else. She looked back at Discord with an accusing look. “Hey! You better not be spying upon us at all times. Like when . . . we sleep or . . . other things.”
Discord laughed out loud before answering, “Oooo! Wouldn't you like to know?”

“That's why I asked!” Applejack said with rising irritation. “You better not be spying on my little sister or I'll be real upset at you.”

“Well Pinkie Pie is right about one thing. We are being read about right now at this very moment,” Discord said with an evil grin towards Pinkie Pie to whom he also gave a sly wink. 

“Just ignore him, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash recommended to her friend. “He's just messing with us like he always does.”

“I'm serious!” Discord declared enthusiastically. “Here! I'll prove it to you!” He snapped his eagle claw and a book suddenly materialized out of thin air which he caught as it fell. He flipped through it at high speed. “It's a fascinating read. You really should take a look! It's mostly about a father telling his daughter about the amazing stories he lived through in his past in a manner similar to a flashback. What's curious about it is the title, though, for it is something of a misnomer.” He closed the book and regarded the front cover while rubbing his chin with his lion paw. “Despite the title of the book being, 'Sky Dancer, The First Flying Unicorn,'” Discord announced which immediately ceased Feather Wind's attention, “the book isn't actually about Sky Dancer,” Discord went on. “He is mentioned in there a couple of times, particularly in some of the earlier chapters of the book, but he's actually just a pegasus! How positively misleading and deceitful. I love it!”

“Discord,” Feather Wind broached tentatively.

“Yeeeeeessssss?!” Discord asked as he leaned in close to Feather Wind's face and asked that question with sinister cunning. Even the lighting on his face changed a bit to illuminate just how devious he looked when he asked that question.

“Can I borrow that book for a second?” Feather Wind requested. “I'll give it right back to you. I promise.”

“Oh! You most certainly may!” Discord said with intense delight then handed the book to Feather Wind. As he did, Feather Wind half suspected he heard a maniacal chuckle. He was definitely up to something and he wasn't even trying to hide that fact well.

Feather Wind didn't care. The title of this book definitely had his attention, and he wanted to get to the bottom of this eventually so he paused a moment and closed his eyes. He channeled his energy to the Red Crystal. Upon doing so, a red line went back and forth along the book, scanning it and thereafter creating a copy of it in Crystal Sage's virtual library. After that he opened his eyes again and offered the book back.

“Thanks, Discord,” Feather Wind said in appreciation.

“As I said, you're most certainly welcome. At least somepony around here appreciates me and my most terrible, terrible jokes.”

“You can say that again,” Rainbow Dash agreed with a roll of her eyes. “Seriously, Feather Wind, if you actually find his jokes funny then you lost a lot of coolness points in my book.”

“I admit he's . . . strange, but also really fun and he has a fascinating perspective on the universe,” Feather Wind said sincerely. “By discussing it with him, I feel I better understand the nature of my own reality. That might be one of the reasons I successfully defy the impossible so many times.”

“Yeah, we'll see about that,” Rainbow Dash said with a daring look to Feather Wind. “So far you're all talk. We'll see how fast you can really go.”

Feather Wind shrugged. “If you're flying with me then I'll see how fast you can go as well. That's fair.”

“Not if I have to slow waaay the hay down to match you,” Rainbow Dash pointed out, “then all you'd learn is how fast you can go but, if you want to see my full awesomeness in action after that, I'd totally be willing to show you. I'm a Wonderbolt, after all. Entertainment is my middle name. Rainbow Entertainment Dash.” As Rainbow Dash said that last sentence, she waved a hoof in front of her which paused at three points along the wave as she announced each name separately. 





xoxo





“Do you still have that book?” Star Breeze interjected. “You know. You said you made a copy of it in that gem. Is it still there?”

“Of course it is,” Feather Wind replied to his daughter. “Inside this gem, the book has no additional weight. While it could be erased since then, there was no reason to.”

“Well,” Star Breeze lightly tapped her hooves together three times. She asked after a moment, “Have you read it since then? It sounds like you were too busy back then, but since then you've had years to take a look at it.”

Feather Wind nodded. “Actually, I have. Several times in fact, but it's been years since I last read it.”

“What's it about?” Star Breeze asked curiously.

Feather Wind rolled his eyes and gave a low whistle. He looked at his daughter for a moment then looked forward. “This is going to sound really strange, but what the book is mostly written about is . . . this conversation we're having right now.”

Star Breeze widened her eyes. “Right now? As in right now, right now?”

Feather Wind nodded. “More specifically, the book actually opens up with you resting with your back on a cloud and wistfully gazing up at the stars. Reading further, we soon learn it's your birthday and, at it, you inquire into my past in the hopes of learning how you might defy the impossible as well. You were hoping . . . to learn magic.” Feather Wind passed his daughter a meaningful look.

“OH . . . MY . . . CELESTIA!” Star Breeze said in astonishment. “You mean to tell me the book is about you telling me about your past, as in the thing we're doing right now?”

“Indeed.”

Once again Star Breeze applied a hoof to her head and had it burst from her head with an explosive sound effect, then another question occurred to her so she looked back at her father and asked, “Did you eventually read it to the end?”

Feather Wind pressed his hooves together and leaned forward as he put his collected hooves under his chin while he said, “Eventually. I did read it back then but I stopped at this exact conversation we're having right now, or somewhere around this point. I did not want to read ahead into my own future back then, so rest assure I continued to behave like I was blind from spoilers, same as I always was. The only difference is, from that point forward, I learned that there was a book out there in existence that was written about my conversation with you in the future as I explained to you about my past.”

“Then you already knew you would have a daughter with Stern Wing, and you also knew what to name her,” Star Breeze realized in astonishment. “You knew that before I was even born.” She regarded her father again. “How did that make you feel back then?”

Feather Wind lightly shrugged. “Back then I had other hints leading to the same conclusion, but when I first reached that conclusion . . .” he paused as he shrugged again “. . . by then I had already grown accustomed to being a time traveler. That experience helped to teach me how we are all connected. I was stunned at the news but I also accepted the prospect. It was simply something to look forward to and, in the meantime, I had other things to concentrate on and/or enjoy. I could afford to be patient with the arrival of my daughter. I decided I'd let things play out moment to moment. I will say I did eventually finish that book. As I continued my life and the events of the future gradually became the past, I found it was finally safe to read on and kind of relive old memories.” 

Feather Wind looked at his daughter. “I have to say that it's curious how the book never did mention exactly how old you are now. I had to make an educated guess based on the information the book presented. By reading from it, I knew for sure you were not an infant. You could talk and fly far too well for that age but, at the same time, the syntax you spoke with, your general personality and grammar style of your speech as well as a few other hints also suggested you were neither a teenager or full adult yet. If I had to guess back then, I'd say you were somewhere between seven years of age and eleven. Of course, I don't have to guess now. Your birthday has recently transpired.”

“And we both know how old I am now. We don't need to say it,” Star Breeze pointed out.

Feather Wind nodded in agreement. “Right, but that kind of presented a problem for me back when I first read the book. While I knew that one day we would be having this conversation, I did not know exactly when it happened because the book never mentioned your age or the date straight on. I had to guess when this conversation would take place.

“One thing I did remember was the fact that you would ask about my past. That was the trigger condition I was waiting for. As soon as you asked that, I knew for sure the time had come to finally tell my story and bring this time loop to a full circle. The book told me this conversation would take place at the cliff where I first found my cutie mark, and lo and behold . . . here we are. Eh. I would have chosen this spot to tell my story anyway regardless of what I've read before. It just seems appropriate.”

“Did mom ever read the book?” 

“No.” Feather Wind shook his head. “She knew of it and she knew I read of it and had a basic idea what the book was about, but she didn't trust anything coming from Discord. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of playing into one of his little jokes. Besides, your mom isn't connected to this gem anyway. She couldn't read it even if she wanted to. At best I could have read it out loud to her or copy it down manually then she could read that copy, but that never happened.”

“So . . . Mom still dislikes him after all this time,” Star Breeze realized with a little bit of disappointment. 

“I wouldn't say she hates him as much as she used to. Our shared experience together as we made our way north to The Dark Star warmed her up to him a little bit. Instead of hating his guts now, she merely dislikes him and would prefer not to hang around him. She no longer puts her hoof down when it comes to others choosing to hang around him, however. Besides, there is little she could do to prevent it anyway.”

Star Breeze gave this some thought, then asked her father, “In that case, who do you think actually wrote the book? Did it say?”

Feather Wind shook his head. “The version I got, at least, didn't say. Well, actually there was one name I found but I suspect it's a fake. A pen name. Huh.”

Feather Wind leaned back. “There was something I always wondered for years about the book, and I narrowed it down to one of two possibilities. Either A; the book is genuine and some creature out there in the multiverse really did write my life's story as I told it to you, in which case I'm flattered at the interest as well as a little creeped out, or B; the book is fake and Discord made it up on the spot while pretending some other creature wrote it. 

“Either way, I'm pretty sure he showed it to me to mess with my head and that's the essence of the joke. Actually, I'd also have to call it an ingenious strategy for it did, in fact, shape some of my future decisions. 

“For instance, both me and your mother knew what to name you in advance, and it also informed me that it was important that I tell you this story someday. That, in turn, shaped future decisions for you. When time travel is involved, everything cycles around full circle. Discord ended up causing an intricate and complicated time loop full of whimsy and intrigue with just one simple action. Anything for a joke when it comes to Discord. Anything to help him prevent life from becoming boring.”

“Can I read the book? Does it say if I ever do?”

“The answer to your first question is yes with a but. I will only expose it to you after I finish telling you the story myself. Also, you'll have to learn to attune yourself to the Crystal in order to access the information dwelling within. That may or may not take you awhile, and the book itself did not specify how long it will take you. The answer to your second question is yes. It does say whether or not you ever do manage to read it someday, but I'll leave that part up to you to write.”

She sighed and said, “Okay. In that case, hurry up and finish your story.”

“Impatient little filly, aren't you?” Feather Wind teased.

“Yeah, well I'm just excited!”





xoxo





{By this point of the story . . . no, actually it occurred a little earlier before we went into the meeting hall . . . the Doctor filled me in on the fact that most of his new guests here were time clones. That realization made me feel curiously kind of guilty. I was among the few who would ever remember that all of this took place. As I watched them have a conversation with each other, I remember thinking that, in the long gallop, that action was pointless. It felt strange to me for them to try so hard to get to know each other when they were destined to forget it all later on and they all knew it as well, but they just didn't behave that way. They kept on doing and saying whatever their original selves would have said in their place. They were basically one and the same. In a way, you could say their original selves were temporary as well, because they would eventually die from one cause or another with perhaps just a few exceptions among the bunch.

{Even if I did not directly participate in their conversations, I kind of felt obligated to listen since I was among the very few who had the potential to remember it after the adventure, and these were such wonderful creatures. So deserving of being remembered. Their presence here was a testament to their courage and selflessness. I paid attention to them because I felt like they deserved the honor but, unlike them . . . I could get tired and exhausted. I could not keep this up forever. I did all I could but, in the end, I eventually had to fade away. Not participating in conversations directly did help to conserve my energy, but eventually I would be too tired to even eavesdrop.

My observations revealed a few interesting highlights. Let's see if I can recall a few of them.}

“So both of you had adventures with the Doctor?” Derpy asked curiously to both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.

“It was off and on,” Celestia answered, “and we never set hoof in his wondrous box until now. I tried to stay focused on my own time, you see. Since I am immortal anyway, I didn't see the need to skip across time to see it all. I figured living through it moment to moment would be more rewarding in the end. That way I would have the time to accumulate all the wisdom and experience that time offered along with it. The only reason I'm making an exception in this case is because the circumstances are so dire, and also because the Doctor explained to me that we would be time clones anyway. That basically means I never did join him in the first place. I'm still back in my own time period in Equestria, seeing to the benefit of my subjects. He borrowed a mere fraction of me for a purpose so important it would help secure our own existence.”

“Maybe you had only occasional adventures with him and only during your present, dear sister, but my experiences with the Doctor were far more direct,” Luna announced to her sister while gesturing to her chest with a hoof. 

This information surprised Celestia, so she inquired to her sister, “What do you mean?”

“Normally I would not be telling you any of this but, since we're destined to disappear anyway, I suppose I can tell you a little bit.” Luna replaced her hoof from her chest back to the ground. “I have had much more direct experiences with the Doctor back when I was still a young filly. The Doctor borrowed me, with my permission of course, to have a whirlwind tour of all of time and space. I had traveled with the Doctor directly as one of his companions, although it is not the same Doctor you see before you today. This is the actions of one of his future incarnations. I'm not sure which one, but it will eventually happen.”

“You never told me any of this!” Celestia objected at her sister with surprise. “This happened when you were still just a filly? That means you had plenty of time to tell me. Why didn't you?”

“I didn't have much of a chance to tell you while trapped in the moon for a thousand years,” Luna said with a dry, narrow-eyed accusing look at her sister but it quickly softened as she continued to speak. “I'm afraid I must confess that, even back then, I had some jealousy towards you and I was approaching my more rebellious phase in my life. You had the sun and all of your adoring fans, but few ponies remained awake at night to worship the moon as they had the sun. The Doctor provided me an outlet to my earlier frustrations. If it weren't for him, we might have had a quarrel with each other at a much earlier point in our lives.” 

Celestia rolled her eyes and looked away corner-wise up with a, “Yeah, whatever!” kind of look.

“Sister, please understand!” Luna beseeched as she faced her sister more fully. “I have made promises to certain ponies to keep this journey a secret.” Saying that won back Celestia's interested attention. “I could not break my vow, especially to those ponies who had given their lives to protect me. In honor of their brave sacrifice, I could not defy them. I fear I am treading dangerously close to breaking my vow already right now, but I wanted you to at least understand the fact I have a secret, even if I cannot divulge the full details. Surely you have your own secrets to keep. Please do not condemn me for having the same.”

By this point Celestia looked far more sympathetic. When Luna finished her point, Celestia actually approached to hug her sister and said, “Of course, dear sister. I did not know you were keeping these secrets to protect the honor of others who were dear to you. I am happy that at least you admitted to me part of your secrets and I invite you to keep the rest to yourself. It also pleases me to learn that you had your own special moment to yourself with the Doctor. After feeling rejected enough, it pleases me to hear that you found some joy in your life even way back then. Now I feel even more grateful to the Doctor.” Backing off a step and lifting her sister's face with a hoof, she then said, “How about, from now on, we be more honest and open with each other? Does that sound good?”

Luna sighed a little sadly and placed her own hoof on top of her sister's to lower it as she confessed, “Alas, there is still yet more secrets that I must continue to protect from you, and I cannot promise that it may not happen again, as much as I might like to be open with you.” Luna looked at her sister hopefully. “I just hope that that mere desire inspires forgiveness in you. I would also understand if you must continue to guard secrets of your own from me. We are both Princesses of Equestria and we have much responsibility to our name accordingly. Even if we must guard secrets between us, I dearly hope that we can still get along with each other.”

“Of course, Sister. I would like that very much as well,” Celestia replied. “You're right, of course. I do have other secrets I've accumulated over all these years that I must protect as well, but having to keep them and knowing that you have some of your own does not make me love you any less. You are my sister, and you will always be a part of me.”

“Sister,” Luna said with a bit of tears in her eyes. This time it was her that initiated the hug, and it was gladly returned.

{I smiled as I regarded this heart-felt union. So many ponies regarded them both like demi-gods to be worshiped only from afar, but the truth was they were ponies too capable of flaws and virtues of their own. I knew how uncomfortable it can feel to be put on a pedestal so in no way did I wish to treat them the same. Witnessing moments of openness between each other like that, each behaving like normal sisters would for good and for ill, helped remind me how normal they could be as well and that, in turn, helped me to feel a closer connection to them. It was an enlightening experience that I was glad to overhear. 

{It was likely Derpy felt the same way, except I suspected she was a bit stuck on the idea of Luna eventually traveling with a future version of the Doctor. That probably made her wonder what happened to herself during that time. Questioning that probably made her take a hard look at her own mortality.}

“Aye, Feather Wind was there,” said Hector from a distance that was normally too far to be overheard but, because Feather Wind could hear conversations from a distance through the wind if it included his name, it all of a sudden seized his attention. Feather Wind spent a few moments trying to visually track the speaker down and eventually located Hector speaking with Spike and Ember. Seeing them made him curious if Spike ever did manage to convince Fluttershy to bravely step outside of the TARDIS. Honestly, there were times in his own past when he could easily sympathize with Fluttershy.

“There he was, facing the dragon one on one!” Hector bragged dramatically. “The dragon stared at him, and he stared at the dragon. Both of them slowly narrowed their eyes at each other, each knowing that the next few moves could spell victory or disaster between them, then the dragon unleashed a brilliant torrent of fire that erupted from his mouth which could melt an entire mountainside, but Feather Wind just had the wind cyclone around him which protected him from the roaring flames. After that he sailed up into the air and taunted the creature to follow him with a weird beam blasting thing from his horn. The creature's scales were much too tough to be penetrated by such a beam, but it did manage to secure the creature's attention. So dead-locked was he that he completely ignored the giant crystal spike Feather Wind grew from the ground, then he sailed his way up into the sky. The dragon followed, burning with all the fury of all the layers of Tartarus. My friend measured his distance carefully, making sure to keep the crystal spike directly below the both of them.”

“Then he used a tornado or wind or something to push the stupid dragon down into the giant crystal spike,” Ember guessed with a droll roll of her eyes. 

“You were there?!” Hector asked in surprise.

“No, but your lame story is so predictable,” Ember complained. “That dragon deserved to die if he fell for such an obvious trap.”

“I don't know about that,” Spike countered. “Remember, Ember, this dragon was not accustomed to seeing unicorns at all. He had no idea what he was dealing with. Why would he suspect that Feather Wind had the power to just blow him down into the crystal spike?”

Ember gestured to Hector but looked at Spike. “Because he just said that Feather Wind conjured a wind shield to defend himself from the dragon's fire breath. If he could do that, then the dragon should have known that he might be able to throw the winds at his face far more directly. Plus, what dragon is stupid enough to ignore a giant crystal spike that suddenly emerged from the earth? If it were me out there, I'd be thinking three things. 

“Number one; mmm, lunch. Thanks for conjuring a giant crystal spike for me. I'm sure it's delicious. Maybe you and I should make a deal. You just created a giant crystal spike from out of nowhere that's probably ten times bigger than any crystal that those ponies back at the quarry mined for me in years. I mean, there goes the motivation for his anger right there!” Ember threw up her claws into the air in exasperation for a second. “He should have come to a stop immediately after that and said aloud, 'Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-WHOA! Hold it! You can do that? Can you do that again? If so, then we just became best friends.' 

“Number two; hello!” Ember threw her claws up into the air for a moment again. “He just conjured a giant crystal spike from out of the ground. Only an idiot would not question what else he might be able to do after that point. One would think displays of power on that scale would warrant at least a little caution. 

“Number three; who the heck keeps themselves directly above a giant crystal spike like that? Was this dragon blind or just plain stupid?”

“In my observation, anger often does have a way to make it harder to think clearly,” Spike figured.

“That's no excuse!” Ember argued. “This is a giant dragon, right? That means he was an elder dragon. He must have lived for thousands and thousands of years to get that old. Are you telling me, that in all that time, he never gained the common sense to pay attention to his surroundings when he was dealing with an obviously unknown threat? Either this dragon had rocks for brains or he never encountered a decent challenge once in his entire life.

“Either way, I don't care what happens to him anymore.” She stared off to her left side while crossing her arms across her chest and wore a huffy expression on her face. “If he really was that foolish, he deserved to die.”	

“I could not have said it better myself,” said a new dragon that approached the three of them which Feather Wind was not familiar with.

This was a tall teenaged dragon that was close to Ember's height but he was taller. He had dull red scales, yellow underbelly, pinkish freckles, and yellow spikes which end in a webbed crest. His wings were red at the back and yellow at the front, and they were a bit torn. 

“Any dragon who loses to a nanzy-panzy pony is not worth the egg shells he was born from,” said the newcomer as he approached which successfully drew Spike and Ember's attention but Hector was drawn elsewhere during this time when somepony else called for his attention. “Dragons of this era are probably just weak and pathetic creatures, much like your puny pony friends here.
“And lookee what we have here. If it isn't Sparkle-Spiky-Wikey,” the teenaged dragon deliberately taunted. Upon arrival, he rubbed the knuckle of his claw on top of Spike's head which obviously made Spike uncomfortable because he took a step back to be outside of reach a moment later. 

“Nice to see you too . . . Garble!” Spike said tightly in a very irritated tone.

“Well it's not nice to see you!” Garble said back aggressively while jabbing a point of his claw roughly into Spike's chest. “I don't like you! I don't know when you're ever going to get it through your thick little skull of yours.

“Why are you even here anyway? Don't you realize there is going to be an epic and rocking war out there?

“Meanwhile you,” Garble jabbed his pointing claw into Spike's chest again, “couldn't even smash one tiny little phoenix egg. You're so pathetic.

“You may have gotten your wings, finally . . . but that still doesn't make you one of us!”

He thumbed to his own chest. “Just stick to what you're best at and let your puny pony friends shield you. While they do that, leave the rest of the fighting to real dragons! We know how to party down, and all of those dark force creatures out there are going to rue the day they messed with Garble!”

When he said that last word, he brought a claw above him, clenched it then dragged it down. After that he walked off and waved goodbye to the two of them. “Later, losers!”

“Are you calling me a loser?” Ember challenged Garble which made him freeze then look back at her very nervously.

“Ah . . . no, Ma'am! I was talking to him and his puny pony friends,” Garble explained to Ember nervously.

Ember pointed two clawed fingers at her eyes then twisted it about to point the same two fingers at Garble. After she did that she said in a warning voice, “I'm watching you. Don't cross the line. Save your anger for those dark force creatures out there, not direct it at us.”

“Yes Ma'am!” Garble instantly agreed. “Can I go, Ma'am?”

Ember waved him off dismissively while looking away from him disdainfully. “You may go,” she bade.

“Thank you, Ma'am!” Garble said with nervous gratitude then quickly darted away.

After Garble left, Spike looked at Ember and briefly gestured to her with both of his claws while he asked, “Seriously, Ember, why did you invite him along? He's such a jerk!”

“Well,” Ember said as she regarded Spike a lot more softly than she did with Garble, “when the Doctor or this, 'Time Lord',” she said with claw quotes, “first approached me, he said he needed help with a threat which could destroy the world. The thing he did not make clear to me at first, however, was the fact he was borrowing us as timey-wimey time clone thingies. At the time I actually thought we would be risking our real lives so, with that in mind, I summoned the other dragons and I asked for only volunteers on a super dangerous assignment which would protect the world from an ancient evil threat.

“Not many dragons stepped forward, Spike, but of the few who did, Garble was one of them.” She gestured back at Garble's direction while still regarding Spike. “I couldn't afford to be picky, Spike, since I was asking only for volunteers.”

“That's strange, though.” Spike looked thoughtful as he placed a single clawed finger on his lips and looked off to his side a bit with a look of suspicion on his face. “Why would Garble, of all dragons, be willing to make a selfless sacrifice to protect Equestria?” Spike looked back at Ember and lowered his finger from his lips. “Normally I'd think he'd be the last one who would volunteer for such an assignment. I recall a time when he wanted to attack all of the ponies in Equestria if he managed to become Dragon Lord.”

Ember twisted to her right side a bit as she continued to regard Spike. She also crossed one arm across her chest and folded another claw draped over the other arm in a lazy fashion. “Well, Garble may be a jerk, but it's his planet too, Spike. When he heard that something was coming that threatened him and all he cared about, he was proud to volunteer.”

“Huh.” Spike looked impressed. “I guess there are redeeming qualities to him after all.” Spike sounded really surprised to hear himself say that.

“Well, he may be a jerk but he can also be a jerk to other jerks,” Ember added.

“That's another good point!” Spike realized.

“Plus, if he gets out of line then HELLO! I'm the Lord of all Dragons! I can keep him in line if he starts to cross it,” Ember said confidently. “Even if I do fall for some reason, then there are all these other ponies and creatures here to help keep him in line. Not even Garble is stupid enough to misbehave when he's this surrounded.”

“Wow, Ember! You really thought this through, haven't you?” Spike asked in an impressed tone.

“Eh.” She looked at the back of her right claw casually as she said, “It's what I do. I am the leader of the dragons, after all. If I'm going to stay that way, I need to think things through. A good leader always does.”

“A good one, perhaps,” Spike agreed. “I'm just glad to see that you are also here. Having you fight by our side already makes me feel much safer. I feel like we honestly have a chance to beat this thing with you around.”

“Aw!” Ember looked touched as she regarded Spike affectionately. “Thanks, Spike.”

“You deserve it. You really are all kinds of awesome!” Spike cheered while pointing at her with both of his pointing fingers for further emphasis.

“I am a little concerned for you, though,” Ember said back to Spike with a little worry. “Garble was right about one thing. You're the furthest thing from a true warrior. It doesn't seem like a good thing to invite you into a serious battle. Are you sure you'll be okay, Spike?”

“Any failings I have on my part, I have my friends to help make up for them!” Spike cheerfully explained. “And I, of course, help make up for their failings as well. I have always been Twilight's assistant for as long as I can remember, and she has relied on me many times to help her save the day. I did save the Crystal Empire twice on my own, and I also helped solve a friendship problem in Ponyville when the friendship map called upon me.”

Ember thought back, then realized something. “Wait! That friendship problem was me, and I was only upset with you that day because you kept ignoring me in the hopes of keeping me and Thorax from meeting each other which, by the way, was totally stupid of you. I'm still a bit upset at you for that.”

“Go easy on me!” Spike begged sheepishly with a wince on his face and a tight cringe in his pose. “I was under a lot of pressure that day.”

“Yeah, which you totally CAUSED!” Ember exasperated.

“Be that as it may, I still helped to solve the problem in the end by learning my lesson,” Spike declared which made Ember roll her eyes drolly. “Also I've been useful on many other occasions. Remember that time I helped you win the Gauntlet of Fire?”

“I do,” Ember recalled fondly. “I really owe you for that one.”

“My point is, I come in handy pretty often and in very surprising ways. I may be a baby dragon still, but I have ten times more experience than other dragons thrice my age. The lessons I have learned in Ponyville with my friends I'm sure will come in handy where we are going. Not everything we're going to face out there is just a physical battle. The Doctor said it would be a mental and emotional battle too, and if there is one thing I do very well, it's moral support. Plus, with these wings,” Spike briefly flapped to demonstrate, “I can at least scout for all of you. I can also deliver messages great distance using my fire breath.”

“Yeah, what's sup with that?” Ember asked curiously. “None of the rest of us can do that. Why do you have a unique gift of being a glorified mail carrier?”

“Eh, I'm not really sure.” Spike scratched the back of his neck as he glanced down and to the right. “Twilight thinks it has something to do with the circumstances of my birth. I was prompted to an early birth because of her magic on the day of Rainbow Dash's first legendary Sonic Rainboom and it was also the day she got overloaded with magic and subsequently got her cutie mark. She also thinks that is why I was born without wings. It didn't develop yet as a result of my early birth.” Spike looked back at Ember. “I think that's also why I've always felt so naturally loyal to her. It's kind of my dragon code, after all, to serve those who help save my life. Well, Twilight caused my birth entirely. Even though it might have been premature, I still made it thanks to her and I've always felt instinctively grateful for that.”

“I guess you have come in handy in unexpected ways,” Ember admitted. “We're about to fight a war, though. Time clone or no time clone, know your limits and stay far away from the front lines. Let someone like me take the lead. You're my friend too, Spike, and I will protect you.”

“Thanks Ember! I, meanwhile, got your back too.” Spike snapped both of his thumbs on his middle finger then pointed both pointing fingers at Ember while also giving her a cocky wink. “Old Spike The Brave and Glorious does not let his friends down. If there is one thing you can count on about me, it's that!”

“Oh you've let me down before,” Ember scolded, then softened, “but you always made up for it. I've known plenty of dragons in my time who would never consider apologizing to me like you would. We can really learn a lot from you, Spike.”

“Happy to help!” Spike cheered.

Feather Wind smiled to himself as he looked away and stopped paying attention to this scene. He found it a great comfort to have proof that not all dragons were evil. It really went far to prove to him that all species have redeeming qualities to them, and most individuals do as well. The first dragon he encountered in this timeline burned down innocent ponies without remorse, but along comes this tiny baby dragon and practically says, “Wait, wait, wait! We're not all bad. Look, I'll prove it!” 

A lesson Feather Wind had already learned earlier was reinforced on that day. Friendship could come from anywhere.





xoxo





Feather Wind wanted to stay awake and pay attention to all these new and potential friends who continued their bonding socialization in the meeting hall but there were some limitations he had not learned to break yet. Just because he defeated the impossible before didn't mean he could do it every time. He wanted to stay with them and learn as much as he could. He really did but, over time, the crowd in that room started to brush against his minor claustrophobia slowly but surely. Eventually he had to step outside the room and take in several deep breaths under the wide open air.

His vision was a little blurry at that point. He touched the side of his head near his eyes and shook his head in an effort to focus himself. It kind of worked, but this was clearly a losing battle. Inevitably he knew he had to go to sleep sometime. Normally that wouldn't seem like such a big deal. He'd done it before plenty of other times in his life but, during those times, usually not so many important things were happening all at once. The fact he was one of very few in that room who had the capacity to remember all of this made him feel obligated to try to pay attention and remember it all. In moments like this, he wished he could be like them and stay awake forever, or at least as long as they were here.

He sighed and leaned on a rail that he stood next to. He looked over the edge and saw an abundance of torches lit below in the darkness, each carried by one of the many creatures who came to this city and did everything they could to pray for the Doctor's safe arrival. He was assured by certain members of this city in high authority that they would make the effort to convey to all the other gathered crowds the success of their endeavors. If that had already come to pass, it made Feather Wind wonder what they were thinking about right now.

“Hey there. Mind if I join you?” politely asked a feminine voice. Both because he was too tired and because the voice was so new to him, Feather Wind could not place the voice by memory alone this time. He had to check over his shoulder to identify the speaker. When he did, he easily recognized her despite the fact he really met her in person only once before.

“You're very much welcome to, Princess Twilight,” Feather Wind invited. “You're not going to freeze in fan girl mode again, are you?”

“No, no!” Twilight assured with a glow of embarrassment. “I'm good now. No insane ravings for this little filly anymore. At least not at the moment.”

Twilight cleared her throat after a short and silent pause, feeling a little anxious to shift the subject matter away from herself. “There was a reason why I felt that way earlier. Your work is really very good,” she said as she trotted her way beside him. “You were born such a long time ago. This here is one of the opportunities I never expected to have. A chance to meet a pony I admire from old . . . I think I was just surprised is all. I'm sorry for my behavior earlier. I hope you can understand. I really didn't mean to be rude. I know how much you hate being put on a pedestal. Believe me, I feel the same way myself.

“That's probably one of the reasons why I felt such an intense connection with you. You're one of the most powerful and talented unicorns I ever heard of. It's such a surprise you managed to stay so humble about it. That really made me admire you for it.”

“I'm a fan of your work, too,” Feather Wind said softly. “I've traveled through time widely enough to encounter some of your work as well, some of which is probably ahead of even your time. I sensed, as I read your work, that we are kind of kindred spirits. We both feel that the weight of our power is a heavy burden and responsibility, and we both feel very afraid to let any pony down.”

There was quiet between them for a moment, then it was broken first by Twilight. 

“I noticed you trying your best to pay attention to everypony in there, and I think I know why you did it. You felt it was your responsibility to remember everything that's happening in there, didn't you? You feel that way because you know that the rest of us can't do that in the long gallop.

“I, myself, will disappear when this mission is done, and I'll have no idea I ever spoke to one of my heroes. I really wish I could remember.” She sighed as she looked down over the rail while also leaning on it, resting both of her fore hooves on top of it, one folded on top of the other then resting her head on her folded hooves. The expression on her face deeply set with regret. During that time a subtle breeze brushed softly through her mane. “At least now you know how I feel.”

{I was standing next to an alicorn princess from the future. I knew she was responsible for many pivotal moments in the future that saves our world. She was also considered the de facto leader of the Mane Six, the head of the Elements of Harmony. She was the pony of magic and the Princess of Friendship. I even suspected she was once far more than that. The source of all magic on this world, as I recently discovered, came from a magical dying star known in this time as the Twilight Star. I didn't consider the name a coincidence either because I saw what that star looked like with my own eyes thanks to the telescope in this city. 

{What was surprising about this situation, however, was how comfortable I felt around her despite knowing all of this. Maybe it was because I felt she could understand me in ways most other ponies could not. I both hoped and suspected she felt the same way about me after she recovered from her initial freak out. This relationship we had between us kind of reminded me of Sky Dancer in a way. Back then he and I both had a strong unspoken and instinctual bond. The bond I felt between Twilight Sparkle and I perhaps had different reasons for being there but the overall feeling was much the same regardless. It's just a kinship, pure and simple, likely because of our mutual love of magic, books and how we regarded life in general.}

“Twilight Sparkle, do you trust me?” Feather Wind asked out of the blue.

Twilight lifted her head off her legs on the rail then looked over at him. She was caught off guard by how forward that question was, but she had no motive to lie. Because of that she said, “Of course I trust you. I have no reason not to.”

“Then take my hoof.” Feather Wind offered his right hoof to her. “There is something I want to show you.”

Twilight continued to be caught off guard by his forwardness. It made her a little bit uncomfortable but, because of her fan girl crush, she also felt embarrassed and flattered. She was also curious and mystified what he was up to. There was something in his eyes that promised to show her great wonders if she chose to accept this. Twilight accepted his offered hoof in a daze while her cheeks burned bright red. 

“Come fly with me,” Feather Wind invited as he lifted off the ground with a silver telekinetic aura.

“Okay,” she said numbly, still staring into his eyes and felt momentarily entranced. She spread her wings and lifted off the ground.

{Together we flew over the city near the very top of it. I took her to Awalki's observatory. She was already impressed before we even set a hoof inside. In fact, the entire city was amazing to her. She never thought she would be flying here in an ancient city like this. Nevermind the surprise in how advanced it was considering the era.

{Along the way, she casually mentioned the fact she had time traveled twice before, but nowhere near this far back in time and both times it was due to a spell rather than a time machine. 

{I had the means to open the locked door of the laboratory. Awalki wasn't there, but I did encounter several of his assistants. It was funny how they initially mistook her for the Doctor at first since that was the one we were trying so hard to summon. I quickly corrected that misunderstanding but also explained we had indeed successfully summoned the Doctor. After a brief introduction, I told them to examine Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark for an explanation why I brought her here. They did indeed understand it after they saw it, then eagerly agreed to set up the telescope for the correct star. Twilight watched this all in bewilderment. I assured her that she would soon understand. While I said that, I was eagerly looking forward to her reaction.

{It took several minutes to set up the telescope. She actually delayed the process a bit with a lot of questions about the machine which also proved she had some expertise and interest in the subject. They sounded delighted to be addressing a fellow student of the stars so, when they replied, they did not talk down to her. Instead they gave their honest opinion as if she were an equal. I, of course, was already aware of her interest in the stars. That was one of my principle reasons for looking forward to her reaction in this case.

{Then, at last, she looked. I stood by her side and was brimming with anticipation.}

“Oh . . . my . . . CELESTIA! That's the Twilight Star?” Twilight asked ecstatically.

“It is, and it's the source of all magic on this world,” Feather Wind explained smoothly.

“What?” Twilight lifted up her head from the peep hole of the telescope and looked back at Feather Wind in confusion and amazement.

“That star has been projecting comets at this planet for a long time now,” Feather Wind lectured. “Each comet has been named, 'Starlight Dust', and each one is thick with magic. It's enchanted the land and every creature that has ever interacted with it. It's even caused the rise of sentience in the species that has interacted with it closely, which in this time includes the silurians and the arakroa and, more recently, a native species that call themselves horses which will evolve into the ponies we know and love from our day. The Twilight Star is the source of all of these changes, and the reason we don't see it in the night sky in our age is because, even now, it's being consumed by a black hole nearby it.

“While I would normally call it a natural phenomenon, this black hole has actually projected something from it, The Dark Star. It, too, has crashed onto this world as if chasing after its primary food source and it has proven to have malevolent, if primitive, intelligence.” 

Feather Wind approached closer to her to put more emphasis on what he had to say next. “Twilight Sparkle, I suspect you are, in some form, related to the spirit of that star. Its natural form matches your cutie mark almost perfectly, and that symbol has cropped up in numerous other ages across all time. It has always stood for magic.

“That star is being destroyed even as we speak right now, but it spread the seeds of hope to another distant world as if in desperation to defend some piece of it. That piece is you, Princess . . . and it is also in the magic of everypony who will ever exist now and on into the future.”

Feather Wind looked up to the upper tip of the telescope, or at least as far as the ceiling would allow him to see. “I believe that star has called us here to this time to help defend what it's trying to create, and I believe The Dark Star is the response to the Twilight Star's efforts, meaning to destroy all that the Twilight Star helped to create.” 

Feather Wind regarded Twilight again. Not only was she thoughtful, she was also crying a bit. He didn't completely understand why she felt that way in that moment. He suspected she felt overwhelmed by all this news but, deep down, he also thought it was because she felt he was right. She did feel a connection to that star and its desperate hope to defend life and magic. She probably cried to mourn a friend that died a very long time ago. One whose sacrifice helped to create everything she held dear in her life.

Both of them stood in silence for a long moment. Even the assistants in the background seemed afraid to move because it might make a sound. This was a pivotal moment they were witnessing, particularly because Twilight seemed to have such an intense symbolic connection with the very thing that gave their world magic and sentience. 

{Well, a temporal clone of hers, at least.}

“This discovery is too important to let it be forgotten,” Twilight eventually decided with some steel in her voice. “The brave sacrifice of this star must be honored.” She regarded Feather Wind. “You have to be the one to do this. You must write about this.”

Feather Wind narrowed one eye at her suspiciously. “Didn't you say you were a fan of my work? In that case, why aren't you already familiar with this if I obeyed your instructions and wrote about this star?”

Twilight realized he had a good point, which made her thoughtful again. “Hmm. It may be because that work got lost or forgotten somehow, or maybe it's simply rare and has yet to be discovered.” She looked down with a sad sigh and closed her eyes. “I really wish I could remember this discovery. It feels so important to me.”

“Then how about this. What if I write you a letter and post-date it to be delivered to you personally in the future?” Feather Wind offered. “When your real self gets a hold of this information, she can choose to do with it whatever she wants.”

Twilight widened her eyes, then lifted her head again to look back at him with renewed elation. “That's a great idea! Can you do this now?”

Feather Wind touched the Red Crystal hanging on his neck. “I can use this to write a virtual letter and store it in this gem then, at a later date, I can use it as a template to make an actual letter when I return to my time or some time close to it.”

“Sounds perfect!” Twilight cheered.

“Actually,” Feather Wind looked up as he thought of something else he could do. He took a moment to refine his idea, then looked back at her. “I'll do you one better. I'll let you write the letter right now.”

Twilight squinted an eye. “Come again? How can I write a letter to myself right now? We don't have any quill and ink with us now, do we? Or is there some in this laboratory we could use?” As she asked that question, she quickly glanced around the rest of the laboratory but looked back at Feather Wind when he answered her question.

Feather Wind grinned at her. “We can do this using a method really far up your alley.” He closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. His horn ignited silver then, a moment later, a ghostly hologram of a letter materialized in mid air along with a quill floating beside it. While still concentrating on maintaining this spell, he opened his eyes at her and said, “Take the virtual quill and use it to write yourself a letter to be delivered to yourself in the future. Be sure not only to include the details you've learned tonight, but also include something else in the letter that proves it's really you writing the letter. Your real self will likely be skeptical at first, so be sure to write down something that would convince yourself that you're telling the truth in this letter. Aside from your horn writing, make sure to write down something that only you would know.”

Twilight seemed amused. “Wasn't your original name Quill Scroll?” 

“Yes,” Feather Wind answered seriously. “I am of the Scroll family, and it is our family duty to keep records of anything important. I will protect your message with my life, Twilight Sparkle. You have my word I'll make sure your true self gets this letter, even if I have to time travel and deliver it to you in person.”

“Actually, that would be nice if you can manage that. So, um,” she regarded the virtual quill, “do I . . . just . . . write with it like a normal quill?”

“Yes, Princess,” Feather Wind confirmed. “I'll even not look if that is what you want, though I must eventually look upon it to transfer it to another real scroll.”

“No. It's okay. You can look. Hmm. Let's see.” She placed a hoof on her lips as she thought about what she wanted to write. When she decided, she lowered her hoof back to the ground and ignited her own horn which emitted a purple glow. She telekinetically seized the virtual quill and used it to write on the virtual scroll as if it were a real scroll. With each stroke of the virtual quill, light shone off the scroll for a second then settled into what appeared to be black ink, but there was about a two second delay process for that ink to show up. She needed a moment to get used to that but, after she did, she kept on pouring her heart into this letter to make sure this incredible message would be read and never forgotten.