The screams died down little by little, but Roseluck was still reluctant to move away, at least not until the Doctor moved to stand beside her.
"We can open the door now."
"We... we have won?" Rose asked, still a little uncertain.
The Doctor nodded and, with Roseluck's help, cleared the door, opening it with the sonic screwdriver. On the other side were the ponies that had followed them, although there were more than the mare remembered, most likely they had increased their number during the chase. A few were getting up, and although they still looked sick, their eyes were no longer bloodshot.
"What happened?" one of them said, looking around and stopping at the Doctor.
"That you remember?"
"I…I remember being at work when my boss…" His eyes widened and a shiver ran down his body. "Holy Celestia, his eyes...he had...he had tentacles in his mouth and..."
"It's over, you're safe, and your boss won't have tentacles in his mouth anymore" said the Doctor with a hint of a smile. "Can you help them?"
The pony followed the Doctor's gaze to the rest, nodding slightly.
"Good, we have something to do, come on Rose."
Roseluck hesitantly followed the Doctor, going down the stairs much more calmly. There was something wrong with him, it didn't look like they had won.
"Something happens?"
"We have to see the queen."
Roseluck blinked and looked at the Doctor in confusion.
"But we got it, I thought she..."
"She's the queen, she can survive the sonic waves much better than the rest of the hive, but she won't last long."
The TARDIS landed, and when Roseluck got out, she noticed that they were in the small room just before the Jacuzzi, where the changing rooms were. The Doctor left, closing the door, and advanced, followed by an insecure mare. The room was now empty of ponies, most likely having left after regaining control of themselves. The waters were almost completely clear, except for a few areas with that black mass.
"She's dead?" Roseluck asked, not daring to approach.
"No," replied the Doctor, stepping closer to the edge. "But she will be in no time, right?"
The black masses began to gather, and the queen showed herself again, but this time, she was not as terrifying as the first time Roseluck saw her. Her head no longer resembled that of a dragon at all, she had no fangs, no scales, not even a snout, just those red eyes, much duller now than when her hive lived. She looked like she was going to melt at any moment and her height had dropped to the level of the Doctor.
"And it's your fault, Doctor... Our hive... our family... annihilated at your hooves..."
"I warned you" replied the Doctor, without changing his expression. "But you can still save yourself, accept my offer now, before it's too late... but keep in mind that you won't be able to take control of my mind."
"How could we take the mind of a Time Lord?" the queen grunted, causing Roseluck to look at the Doctor in confusion, who kept his face impassive. "We were stupid not to see it, not to predict it. Your ship is not only superior to that of this world, is higher than that of thousands of species in the entire universe, right? The technology of the gods."
"Your time is running out, come with me, and regenerate your race. Symbiotes don't have to die."
"We will not obey the orders of a Time Lord. We would rather die than continue a peaceful legacy that brought us extinction."
The queen roared with all her might one last time, her body melting and merging with the water, until she disappeared. They both stared at the Jacuzzi for a few moments before Roseluck dared to speak.
"She's...?"
"No, not yet... It will take a while, but she doesn't have the energy to create more of her brood or start a new hive, and at dawn, the filters in the pool will take care of removing the remains of her."
The Doctor fell silent, Roseluck at his side, none daring to speak, looking at the remains of the Symbiote queen, the last of the Symbiotes... and soon there would be no more.
"She... she call you a Time Lord, what is that?" Roseluck asked, looking at the Doctor.
He was silent for almost a full minute before speaking.
"They are my race."
"Then you are..."
"An alien, yes," the Doctor looked at Rose with a faint smile. "Do you have something against that?"
"No, no" Roseluck replied hastily. "You saved us, I can't have anything against you just because you're from another race."
The Doctor let out a bitter laugh, taking one last look at the Jacuzzi before turning around.
"Come on, I think your friends should be waiting for you."
Roseluck took one last look at the black masses, despite what she had done, she felt sorry for the queen. With a sigh, she followed the Doctor to the TARDIS, eager to see her friends again.
Roseluck came out of the TARDIS, on the same corner it was on the first time she entered, the Alicorn Palace hotel nearby. The mare turned to see the Doctor leaning against the door, giving her a smile.
"Well, here we are."
"Thanks for bringing me" Roseluck said with a smile, causing the Doctor to shake his hoof.
"Don't thank me, it's the least I could do. If it wasn't for you, I would have discovered the queen's location tomorrow."
Roseluck raised an eyebrow at that.
"Really? I remind you that you told me you had been looking for a week."
"Precisely why I said I would have discovered it tomorrow. I have a prodigious brain, I would have discovered it in time."
"Sure, and I'm sure you would have done everything else without help" Rose replied with a small laugh.
"No, not that, you did a good job, Roseluck."
They both looked at each other for a few moments, the Doctor smiling at the mare with sincerity and gratitude. After a while, Roseluck bit her lip and spoke.
"Now what are you gonna do?"
"I'm going to look for traces of the Symbiotes in Equestria and the rest of the world, just in case" the Doctor replied with a shrug. "A single one of them in good condition can reproduce and, over time, create a new queen."
"In that case, you should go now."
The Doctor looked down, thinking, before nodding and returning a weak smile.
"You're right. It's been a pleasure, Roseluck, I hope we meet again."
"Me too..."
They both looked at each other before the Doctor entered his TARDIS, and after a few moments, the small light bulb on top began to flicker to the rhythm of the whisper she had heard inside, and before long, it began to fade away, as if it was being erased from reality. In the end, the whisper grew distant before disappearing forever, leaving Roseluck alone, who bit her lip uncertainly. Had she done wrong? Should she have asked him to let her travel with him?
Roseluck shook her head, she couldn't go with him, she had responsibilities, and one of them was to go back to her friends. With a sigh, she turned and headed for the hotel, entering the lobby. As she expected, it was empty, the guests had surely already gone upstairs to their rooms. Going up in the elevator, she went to her room, taking a deep breath before opening the door. Inside it, her two friends were still awake, Lily in her bed and watching Daisy, who kept pacing the room.
"Hi" Roseluck said nervously, closing behind her.
Her friends turned their heads quickly and, in the blink of an eye, they had caught her in a tight hug.
"Holy Celestia, you're alright!" Lily yelled, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
"We were starting to get worried!"
Roseluck didn't say anything, instead she accepted the hug, letting out her own tears. Her friends were safe. When they parted, Daisy gave her a guilty look.
"We should have listened to you, if we had, none of this would have happened."
"You don't have to apologize, really."
"Of course we have," Lily protested, her face showing guilt and fear. “I… I attacked you… I… I…”
"You weren't going to do anything, the Symbiotes controlled you."
Her two friends looked at each other in confusion before focusing on Roseluck, who realized she would have some explaining to do. It was going to be a long night.
"And the second prize for the intermediate category goes to...!" the unicorn stallion in charge of giving out the prizes paused briefly as he read the card, a perpetual smile on his face. "Roseluck, Daisy, and Lily Valley!"
The ponies in the room cheered loudly as the aforementioned mares rose from their assigned table, well, two of them. Grimacing, Daisy nudged Roseluck, who had been staring blankly at the stage but not really paying attention. With her cheeks turning a little red, she followed her friends to take her prize, a silver trophy. Despite the almost successful invasion, the organization didn't cancel the Equestria Flower Show, partly because it was already paid for, partly because there wasn't much damage (mostly because much of the hotel was infected before the invasion, so the Symbiotes had no reason to destroy anything) and partly at the insistence of the participants.
After collecting the prize, the three of them returned to their table, and as they sat down, Rose looked at the stage again but without really paying attention to it.
"Well, Pinkie is going to be disappointed," said Daisy. "The poor mare had surely prepared a party for us to achieve first place."
"But it's not that bad" Lily argued with a smile and a comforting tone. "That's a higher ranking than we got last year, next year we will get the first prize, isn't it, Rose?"
"Sure" answered the mare with a shrug, absentmindedly.
Her two friends looked at each other before Daisy growled.
"Okay, it's over."
She nudged her friend, causing her to snap out of her thoughts and look at her friends in confusion.
"What's happening?"
"That's what we should ask ourselves," Daisy said narrowing her eyes.
"You've been more distracted than usual, what's wrong with you?" Lily asked with concern.
Roseluck looked between her two friends doubtfully. A part of her wanted to argue that she was fine, but seeing their face, she knew that wouldn't work. With a resigned sigh, she began to speak.
"It's just that I haven't stopped thinking about the Doctor."
Her two friends looked at each other, sighing to themselves. Daisy gave her friend a smile.
"Okay, I get it, surely that was a lot more exciting than taking care of our plants."
Roseluck's eyes widened and she looked at her friend, beginning to shake her head.
"I never said...!"
"Rose," Lily interrupted calmly but firmly, "we've known you since we were fillies, and we knew you were getting stuck in Ponyville. Why do you think we suggested going on vacation on your own so many times?"
"It's quite understandable that you mortify yourself for the stupidity you did."
As Lily punched her friend in the side, Roseluck looked at her in confusion.
"What do you mean with that?"
"Do I really have to explain it to you?" Daisy said, still massaging the area hit by Lily. "You had one opportunity for adventure after another within reach of your hoof, and you let it go."
Roseluck growled at that memory, looking away from her.
"I couldn't leave you here, besides, I doubt he would have left me…maybe…"
Lily was about to say something, but her eyes drifted behind her friend, towards the entrance to the ceremony and dining room they were in, narrowing her eyes to get a better look.
"Just to see if I remember correctly, you said the Doctor was an earth pony?"
"Yes, but I don't know what that means now..."
"And he had a green tie, right?" Daisy continued, also looking in the same direction.
"Yeah, but seriously, I don't know why you guys are telling me this now."
"Because a stud like that has been watching us for a while, and if he is who I think he is, you can ask him yourself and see if he will let you travel with him or not" Daisy commented with a shrug and a smile.
Roseluck blinked and turned her head. Sure enough, at the door was the Doctor, who was staring at her, smiling and greeting her before turning and leaving. Immediately after, and after looking at her friends, she went after him, following him through the corridors to the outside, already illuminated by moonlight, seeing how he approached the TARDIS, in the same place she remembered. Rose started running with all her might, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
"DOCTOR!"
The Doctor stopped by his TARDIS and turned around, waiting for the mare. Roseluck arrived at last, panting a bit before speaking.
"You… you're back…" she said hesitantly, as if turning around she would disappear.
"That's right, I wanted to see if you won the first prize" said the Doctor with a smile. "Unfortunately it didn't, but hey, second place is still very good."
Roseluck looked at the Doctor for a few seconds before a small laugh escaped her mouth.
"Yes, you're right" her smile was soon replaced by a frown. "Are there more Symbiotes?"
"No," the Doctor said quickly, a somber tone to his voice. "No Symbiote in sight."
Roseluck nodded, thinking to herself before speaking.
"Why did you come back? I know you said it was to see if I win, but... why?"
The Doctor weighed his response for almost a minute before smiling and tapping the TARDIS.
"I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me, I didn't last time."
Roseluck's eyes widened, her mouth opening and trying to say anything, but to no avail.
"Wh-what?" was the only thing she managed to say after almost two minutes, making the Doctor laugh.
"You're smart, Roseluck, brave, and what else? Oh yes, you saved my life, that's reason enough to invite you on a little trip."
"Where?" Roseluck asked with wide eyes.
"Anywhere in space, the TARDIS can go to any corner of the universe."
Roseluck was speechless, unable to say anything, but she didn't have to either, as Daisy's voice did it for her.
"Stop thinking about it so much and go with him!"
Roseluck blinked and turned her head to see her friends approaching her, the trophy placed carefully on Lily's back, who she maneuvered not to drop.
"But... I can't just leave you here..."
"Of course you can" Lily said with a smile. "You deserve it, not only for saving us, but also because you need to escape the routine of Ponyville, and urgently."
"Just make sure you bring us a souvenir."
Roseluck looked from her friends to the Doctor, her heart had already decided days ago, but her mind still resisted.
"I can't leave all the work to you for Celestia knows how long."
"If it helps you decide" interrupted the Doctor, "the TARDIS also travels through time" that made Roseluck and her friends look at the stallion with wide eyes. "You can be gone for months and when you come back only a day will have passed."
Roseluck was silent, then looking at her friends, who after recovering from their initial surprise, nodded in her direction.
"Go ahead" Daisy said with a huge smile.
"We'll take care of everything until you get back."
Roseluck was silent a bit longer before walking over to her friends and giving them a big group hug.
"Thank you" she whispered. "I'll be back as soon as possible."
Parting from them, she approached the Doctor, who was waiting patiently, and gave him a huge smile.
"Anywhere?"
"Anywhere in space and time."
With a shared smile, and after saying goodbye to her friends one last time, Roseluck entered the TARDIS. A few minutes later, a whisper filled the silent street and the blue telephone box began to disappear, leaving Lily and Daisy alone, who looked at each other with a smile before turning to go back to the hotel. They didn't know when they would see their friend again, but they did know that she deserved that trip.