//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: MLP: A Favor Returned // by WorldWalker128 //------------------------------// ------------ For any curious as to what The Doctor's actual age is according to the original story, good luck finding out. While we can safely assume that he's over nine hundred as of the most recent Doctor (not including Doctor Whooves, since he's fan-made), as the link below states, http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doctor%27s_age There are contradictions. So if something I've written seems a bit off (other than my own errors in which I've forgotten something I've previously stated, in which case, feel free to point it out to me), that's why. I simply could not find an approximate age. You know, if I were smart, I'd be saving these chapters on my computer as separate documents like I did for two fics I wrote a long time ago (granted, each chapter was twenty or so pages long back then). It would make editing back and forth from here to there SO much easier! -------- Chapter 3 Me and Trixie reappeared inside the bathroom of our bedroom and tossed our swim suits and towels into the laundry chute (after the first time I used it I found out later that each chute had its own laundry basket at the bottom that caught each individual’s laundry when, during a drunken dare from Trixie, I threw myself down the chute. After walking all the way back up to our room, as part of the deal, she did the same thing. We went for several more rides after that, which scared the crap out of a few servants when we dropped down out of the chute in front of them. We later were scolded by the guards for doing something so reckless and after Luna and Celestia found out they gave us extra-hard lessons as a punishment). “That was fun!” I declared as I briefly showered myself off and then dried off again. Trixie did the same. “Fun for you maybe! I got sunburned!” Trixie said, moving her arms and legs slowly to avoid pain. “I told you to put on sunblock before we got in the water, but you didn't want to!” I pointed out as I pulled on a shirt. My ears had gotten a little crispy, but that was because my hair had wiped the sunblock off them while we were in the water. Trixie had simply neglected to apply it to herself at all. “Yeowch!” She exclaimed as the hot water hit her. Heated water had been one of several advancements that my people had been permitted to bring to Equestria by Celestia and Luna. Nearly every home in Canterlot had gladly accepted it, including those in the poor district, whom had been given a large discount due to their lack of funds. “Try using luke-warm water, Trixie. It's more gentle on the skin.” I suggested. Trixie quickly did so, and sighed in relief as the cooler water ran over her flesh. Dressed again, I exited the bathroom and checked to see if any notes had been left for us by anyone (or anypony. Hardly any Humans sent us any messages except for the occasional fan mail or request to be taught magic). There was nothing, so I tossed my tired body onto the bed that Trixie often claimed. The sheets had recently been changed, and they smelled good. I rolled over and buried my face in it, inhaling deeply. A knock came at the door and I rolled over again and gave them permission to enter. The door opened and a Human dressed in a business outfit strolled in. Oh great. Another company wanting me to endorse something. I groaned inwardly. “Mr Lighthand, am I disturbing you?” he asked in a falsely apologetic tone. “No,” I lied. “is there something I can help you with?” “Why yes, actually. You see, I represent the Official Board Of Magics Study And Replication.” “OBOMAR?” ((Oh-Bah-Mar)) I pronounced rather than said in acronym form. He nodded enthusiastically, not noticing my bored expression. “Yes! You may recall a letter we sent you about three months ago.” “I was out of town three months ago helping a young Dragon hunt for gemstones around Tripple-Top Mountain for a week.” It had not been fun. Though we found what we were looking for, me and Spike had nearly gotten buried in an avalanche. “Ah. Well, no matter! We've already approached the princesses regarding the study of magic, and we've had several volunteers from the local populace. Unfortunately, even though we've learned much from them, we still have yet to discover what specifically it is that allows them to use magic itself. Given that you and the girl are the only Humans to have the ability to use the same magic that the Unicorns and Alicorns do, we'd be honored if either you or her would join us in our pursuit of knowledge!” “You can ask Trixie if you like, but I'm not interested.” “But surely you can understand the benefits that magic could bring Humanity overall!” He sounded surprised, shocked even, that I was turning him down. “We'd no longer need to burn fossil fuels for transportation and making electricity! We could heal almost any illness or injury without the need for surgery! We-” “You said that you've spoken to the princesses.” I interrupted. “What did they say?” “Well, they themselves declined to be part of the study which, giving their occupation is understandable, but gave us permission to ask others.” “I'll tell you what, if you ever find out what exactly it is that allows magic to be controlled, then I'll join you in your studies, but not before. I'm still a student myself, and most of my experience with magic is based more on instinct than actual understanding. I'd like to be sure I'm not going to destroy a town during a bad dream before I commit to anything else.” At my words of 'destroy a town in a dream' he swallowed and looked a bit nervous. He coughed and edged towards the door. “Well, if you should ever change your mind, we have a building just outside of Canterlot. Good day, mister Lighthand.” “Good day.” He turned and left, shutting the door behind him. I sighed. That man had not been the first representative of OBOMAR to ask me to join them in their study of magics, and I doubted that he would be the last of them. Once a year for the last five years that they had been bothering either me or Trixie to join their mission to uncover the secrets of magic, and while I could see benefits to magical integration with technology, there were also many bad things that could be done with it. Still, I meant what I said about taking them up on their offer if they could find out what made magic 'tick' if for no other reason than to see if I could find a way to keep my staff from decaying. As the years had gone by the color had faded a little, and I suspected that it would only become paler as time and use wore on. With the only other Alicorn horns being Melinda's and Thanatos' horns, (and Celestia and Luna's mothers if you wanted to get technical) and mine having given Melinda's to Trixie for her use and the others being the remains of the royal family I was not about to ask them for them as replacements. It would not have been right. Obtaining more Unicorn horns would not be a problem if I really needed to get a few, but once my staff was gone I'd never get the same level of power from a wand again, which was the reason that Trixie had used her wand for our transportation to and from the beach rather than having me use my staff. Trixie walked out of the bathroom still toweling her hair off. We both need haircuts. I thought as she removed the towel and tossed it to one side. Toweling off never took this long when it was shorter. “Who was that?” “Just a representative from OBAMAR trying to recruit us for their studies again.” “What'd you tell 'em?” “What do you think? I refused.” Trixie pulled a nightgown over her head, not bothering with a full outfit this time (because neither of us really cared), and then went to a pitcher to pour some water. She drank it and offered me some, I accepted, and also drank my fill (from my own cup). When we'd had our fill I looked out of the window. The sun was still high in the sky and from what little I could see from the windows there were few clouds to mar the rich blue open air. A Pegasus flew by carrying a mail bag on either side of it, performing a barrel roll as it did so. It's lucky that it's letters aren't scattering everywhere. Actually, that reminds me, I haven't seen that one mailpony in awhile...what was her name? Ditzy-something? I didn't know her personally, but she had delivered letters both for and to me on multiple occasions and she always seemed happy to be doing her job and always had greeted me with a smile even when it was pouring rain out and water ran from her body in streams after she'd landed in the mail sorting room. “I've got some mail for you today!” She's announce for all inside to here in a cheerful voice and a grin on her face, usually she'd also close her eyes (which I never saw a reason for, but it made her look cute). Maybe there's just been no mail? Yeah right. This is the Canterlot royal palace, and I just got some mail this morning! “Are you going to put your stuff away, or just leave it in the duffel bag like you did last time?” Trixie asked. “What stuff? All that I brought we tossed down the laundry chute when we got here. Just must swim trunks and my shirt and beach towel.” “What about that little blue pouch that you stuffed into that one pocket?” Oh! The dice bag! I slid off the bed and trotted over to the bag we'd dropped in the bathroom and dug through the pockets until I found it again and drew it out. The dice inside it clicked as I changed my grip from the drawstrings to holding the pouch itself and I suddenly felt the odd desire to pour them into my hand and send them bouncing across the floor. I rolled my eyes and pushed the silly impulse away and carried it back into the bedroom. “What's in that thing, anyway?” Trixie asked as I came back in. “Dice.” “Dice?” She looked at the bag doubtfully. “I never thought of you as much of a gambler.” “I'm not. Someone at the beach gave it to me while you were changing.” “Huh. Can I see it a minute?” I shrugged and tossed her the pouch. She caught it in one hand and loosened the strings around the mouth and dumped out- nothing. She and I both blinked in surprise. I knew that the bag was weighted with the six dice when I tossed the pouch to her, and clearly she had felt it too when she caught it, but now the pouch was empty. Trixie held it above her head and stuck a hand inside and felt around, but still found nothing. She gave me an accusatory look and asked me if I'd bewitched it as a joke. I answered that I had not and she tossed it back to me. As before I felt the weight of the dice and tipped the pouch over as she had. To both of our surprise six dice tumbled out into my palm, once again all facing up with sixes. Are they loaded dice? Wait, that's not important right now. “Well, you may not have enchanted it, but whoever gave it to you sure did! I have to wonder if it was done as a joke or if they're enchanted to do something.” I shrugged, and once more felt the urge to toss them from my hand and let them roll across the room as they would. “I guess there's only one way to find out.” I did so. They clicked as they impacted against the stone floor and tumbled forward, numbers whirling and spinning and scattering across the room. Each one of them eventually came to a stop in six different locations, but this time they did not all face up sixes. Each one faced up a different number, and each one stopped at six hexagonal points equally distanced. They did not all stop at the same time or in numerical order, and a few of them even bounced off of furniture first, but they all reached their places eventually. This of course, held no significance to Trixie since she had not actually seen the 'note' from this morning. “I guess they're just dice after all. Maybe it's just the bag that's enchanted.” Trixie said, probably thinking aloud. I walked over to where they'd stopped, having a hunch that the dice and the note were connected somehow, and scooped them up and returned them to the pouch, pulling the drawstrings tight again. I then walked them over to the writing desk where I'd left the 'note' and set the pouch down on top of it. I'll get back to this later today when Trixie's not around. It did not pour the dice out when she held the pouch, so it's likely that if the two are related that they won't react to one another while anyone else is here. Getting out of Trixie's company in theory should not be overly difficult, but keeping her out of my hair for a few hours likely would be. Pretty much all the fun stuff there was to be enjoyed in Canterlot was lessened in enjoyment by the rich snob Ponies that lived here. Most of the fun-type things that both me and her enjoyed could be found in the middle class district which most of the richer Ponies stayed away from, but they were almost always crowded with tourists from both worlds this time of year. It would not be until it was winter time again that the flow would stem off a bit and we could spend more time enjoying ourselves rather than standing in line for an hour just to get into the building. Of course, I could just buy her a movie ticket to that new video series she's into. That would make her happy, and I'd get plenty of time to try puzzling through this. Though really, neither the note, nor the dice will be going anywhere. I decided that they could wait. “We've still got plenty of day to burn, Trixie. Any ideas?” “Well, we could actually do what we're supposed to do, or we could play a prank on Celestia or Luna and make it look like the other did it, which could be funny as long as we didn't get caught. Or we could-” she listed off several other suggestions, including going down to the nearest freshwater lake and freezing it solid so we could ice skate out of season. “While that last one sounds cool, no pun intended, I've never been much good at ice skating.” “You roller blade easily enough, how is this different?” “You don't get brakes with ice skates, Trix.” “You've got magic!” Trixie argued back. “What better possible brakes could you ask for? Besides, it's not like you have to use your staff. Luna has been keeping all the horns from executed prisoners over the years just a just-in-case situation. She's got seven hidden away already. Just borrow one of them.” This was news to me. “She does? She never told me that.” “That's because they're not actually meant for me and you. She's keeping them for when your people figure out that having a Unicorn horn will grant them magic so they can study them for the purpose of making an imitation. I only found out because I followed Luna after one of the executions back to where she hid the other two because I was curious as to what she was doing with the horn she'd taken. When she caught me outside her door and I confessed that I was following her she made me promise not to tell anypony.” “But you told me. You just broke your promise.” Trixie smirked and shook her head. “Anypony, she said. You're not a Pony.” I laughed. Trixie had changed in a few ways over the years, but her mind'a talet for finding loopholes had not. “I appreciate the information, Trixie, but I'm not going to steal from my instructor, especially when she's a princess.” “A wise decision, Jacob Lighthand.” Came Luna's voice from our door. She had opened it soundlessly and stepped inside. She looked at Trixie sternly, and Trixie squirmed a little. “I shall speak with you later about 'splitting hairs'.” She promised. She turned back to me, her face no less stern. “I detect the remnants of a teleportation spell. Where are you two returning from? You were told to practice what you'd learned last week, today.” “We went to the beach while the weather was still good.” I confessed. “We would have invited you, but you were asleep at the time.” We might have done that given that Luna did not get out very often. Usually Luna was up and active during the night time hours rather than the day, and it was understandable why given her duties. “We might be up for another swim later tonight if you'd like to come then.” Luna had not expected the invite and for a moment she forgot that she was displeased with us. She said that she would consider it, then again recalled (to my disappointment) that she was still displeased. “I had been coming to tell you that you would not be having lessons tonight as a reward for all your hard efforts these last few months, but seeing as how you two already took it easy earlier today, I suppose that we can skip that and return to your studies.” Both me and Trixie groaned and Luna allowed a hint of a smile to appear at the corners of her mouth. “However, because you chose to be honest about it and not make something up, we shall only review last week's lesson, and then you'll be free to spend the night as you please.” We nodded and followed princess Luna out of the room. * * * * * “Oh. I see.” The Humanoid said after the Doctor had explained who he was, and how he'd come to be on Mythica. “So technically, you're not one of my people after all.” “I'm afraid not, miss Shield.” The Shield sighed and looked crestfallen. She kicked at a small rock and sent it bouncing across the ground. “Believe me, I wish it were otherwise as well.” She sat down on the ground. “So what's it like? Being a Pony, I mean.” The Doctor looked at his hooves and lifted one up as if examining it. “It is certainly different, and a bit inconvenient at times. I still haven't quite figured out how to grip things like Ditzy here can.” He pointed at Ditzy, who was drinking from a bottle of water with one hoof. Ditzy lowered the bottle and offered it to The Doctor, who drank the rest using both hooves. “Fortunately when I changed the TARDIS also changed and the controls became simpler for me to use. That's not to say there that it's easy. I still am the only one flying it.” Ditzy frowned at The Doctor, feeling unappreciated. “Well, Ditzy helps, of course, but she only knows so much.” “How long have you been traveling by yourself? Well, other than your companions, of course.” “Since I left Gallifrey. Over seven hundred years.” The Shield's eyebrows climbed to the top of her head. “Wow! You're way older than I am!” “Really? How old are you?” “I'm only three hundred and fifty years old, and a few extra months.” “You don't look it! When did the Time War end here?” “Oh, the Time War ended before I was born. I come from a family of refugees that made their home on an outdated abandoned defense space station in orbit around the only solid planet in the Fumas system.” The Fumas system was a solar system made up of ten gaseous planets, only two of which being giants. After researching via time travel the Time Lords discovered that this had happened when the central cloud of the nebulae that had formed the star ignited and the resulting shock-wave had pushed all the further-out gases away from it. Over time (a very lengthy amount of it) the remnants that had been pushed out formed several planets after being pulled toward chunks of rock caught in the star's orbit as it passed through the remaining cloud over and over (like rolling a small snowball down a snow-covered hill). Over time other passing solid bodies picked up gas as well or new worlds came hurtling through space and were caught by the sun's pull as well. For a time that system had been used as a fuel source for non-time traveling craft , but once alternatives were found the system was largely ignored except in children's science classes. “There we lived in peace for two hundred and thirty years before they found us again and-” She paused and hesitated before continuing. “I ran. There was no hope of victory, and an alarm to abandon the station sounded, so I fled to the hanger from my post, jumped into a Timux battle craft, and I fled before the station was destroyed. After that I wandered for a time, hoping to find other survivor colonies, but what places that I had found had already been destroyed or had been abandoned long before I got there. I suppose it's possible that they jumped into this dimension and are hiding elsewhere like I did after I saved your ship from them, but this universe is a bit different from the other one.” “So not only was this war fought throughout time, but also in both dimensions?!” “Yeah. From what my mother told me we were doing great and won nearly every encounter for almost half of it, but then our counter-parts in this universe had some kind of plague and nearly all of them died out. My mother said they had some kind of strange weapon that we couldn't replicate and only they could use. When they died out things went very badly for us and we started losing, and lost more and more often as linear time went by. Eventually we lost the home world, and you can guess the rest.” “A strange weapon only they could use...” The Doctor mused. “Were the Time Lords of this dimension the same as us in your dimension? That is, Humanoids?” The Shield shrugged and shook her head. “I have no idea. I was born after the end of the Time War, remember?” “I wonder...” He said, looking over his shoulder towards Canterlot. “What's on your mind, Doctor?” Ditzy asked, looking the same way out of curiosity. “Nooo...it couldn’t be...could it?” He muttered, thinking aloud with an intrigued smile on his face. “Does he do this often?” The Shield asked Ditzy. Ditzy nodded. “Usually before he decides to-” The Doctor started galloping back towards the beach without another word, leaving Ditzy and The Shield standing in the wilderness by themselves. “do that, and not tell anyone what's on his mind.” “Should we follow him?” “If we want to know what's on his mind, I think we should.” Ditzy turned and began galloping after him. The Shield did her best to keep up, but she only had two legs to their four, and she gradually fell behind. The Doctor did not leave Ditzy behind this time as he had recalled how irate she had been with him the previous time and left the door open for her. He was a little surprised when The Shield also came in behind Ditzy out of breath a minute and a half later. “Woah!” She said as she saw the inside. “It looks so...” “Much smaller on the outside?” Ditzy offered. (((Yes, I stole this line from Doctor Whooves and Assistant. For those of you who don't know about it, great show. Go listen to it on Youtube.))) “No, I was thinking of 'simple' or 'retro', actually. Maybe both. The space difference I had expected since this is actually pretty common. Every other room in my ship is like this if you're not in the cockpit.” The Shield pulled the door shut and walked over to the console, which, though the perfect height for The Doctor, was about the height of a child's picnic table to her. Unlike the controls of her own ship, which were reminiscent of Earth's fighter jets, this control system was much more complex, and looked as if a child had a hand in building it. There were a number of devices that had been put in place of buttons or levers that clearly did not belong in the original design, and there was even a carnival whack-a-mole above what would have been a manual activator for a stabilizer. “When was the last time you had this ship perform a long-term repair sequence?” The Doctor blinked, surprised. “I don't recall having ever done that. It can do that?” “My ship can. I'd assumed yours could as well.” The Doctor shrugged. “Is it the blue button here that's labeled 'Rest and Repair'?” Ditzy asked, pointing at a a button that had a plastic case covering it and a Hawaiian hula-girl bobble-head next to it. Both the Doctor and The Shield came around to where Ditzy stood. The Shield gave The Doctor an 'you're an idiot' look and he blushed a little and chuckled. “I had thought that was the 'vacation' button!” He lied. In truth, he had simply ignored it. “Riiiiiight.” The Shield said sarcastically. “Either way, if you've never done a repair sequence, then you really should.” “No need.” The Doctor stated confidently, returning to the coordinates computer. “The TARDIS recently regenerated itself about eight linear years ago along with my first regeneration into a Pegasus.” “But...you're an earth Pony.” The Shield said, pointing out the obvious. “Yes I am now, but When I first came here I had wings.” He explained. “It was quite fun actually, being able to fly, but unfortunately I had a run-in with a rather unfriendly Griffon just after the siege of Canterlot and it dealt me some injuries that I would not be able to recover from, including the forceful removal of one of my wings.” The Doctor grimaced at the memory. “Shortly thereafter I passed out from pain and woke up a new Pony.” The Doctor flipped a lever and his machine started transporting itself to a new location. “So where are we going?” Ditzy asked as the object in the center of the see-through column in the center began pumping up and down. “Already there!” The Doctor said as he returned the lever to its original position. “Come on!” He trotted toward the door and pushed it open again and stepped out without telling them anything more. Ditzy and The Shield followed to discover that they'd reappeared inside the back of what appeared to be an indoor crypt. The air was stale and thick with dust and smelled slightly of sulfur as if someone had once set off old-fashioned explosives inside, but at least they were alone for the moment. It was also very dark. “Well it's certainly out of the way...” The Doctor muttered, as he turned only the light on the end of his Sonic Screwdriver on to light up the area. The TARDIS had wedged itself between a large stone coffin and an Alicorn statue next to it, of whom he assumed the coffin contained. Feeling uncomfortable around full-body statues of any kind, the Doctor took a step back from it and eyed it warily. Ditzy and The Shield stepped out after him, and also looked around. “Where are we?” The Shield asked. “If I had to guess from the Alicorn statue on one side of the TARDIS, and the stone coffin on the other, I'd guess we've appeared in the royal crypt!” “I'm telling you, I heard something weird coming from the crypt!” Came a muffled voice from the other side of what appeared to be a stone wall. All three of them froze a second, looked at each other, and then ducked behind a stone support column, a coffin, and one of the doors of the TARDIS. A few moments later the sound of stone grating on stone came as two earth Pony guards pulled the doors open and stepped into the crypt, kicking up dust and lighting the room with small flashlights that had been installed on the tops of their helmets. They frowned as they swept the room with light, eventually catching sight of the large blue box. “What the?” “Where'd that come from?!" “And what the heck is it?” Oh, not good. It seems that I should have listened to The Shield! I forgot to take into account that the TARDIS was shot earlier by Dalek weaponry. It seems that the camouflage tech is malfunctioning! The two guards approached the TARDIS hesitantly, passing by The Doctor, who held his breath and then as quietly as he could crept around to the other side to watch. They'd never get inside it, of course, unless someone let them in, and he doubted Ditzy would do that. The guards began prodding at the walls and door of the TARDIS, running hoofs over the surface of it, and knocking on the door. At the knock, Ditzy opened the door, and asked if she had arrived in Canterlot's royal palace with a carefree smile on her face. The two guards looked at one another blinked a few times, and then answered that she was indeed in the palace. “Oh goody! I have some mail for the princesses, and several others too! Excuse me!” Ditzy pushed past the two guards with her mail bags on and pulled the door shut behind her. She looked around the crypt, her face becoming confused. “Um, I don't think I was supposed to appear here...dratted faulty Human teleport-machinery!” She stamped a hoof on the dusty floor and frowned. “Human teleport machinery?” The taller guard asked. “Yeah.” Ditzy sighed. “It was supposed to make the delivery of packages both large and small faster and easier, and this was what they called a 'prototype'.” She shook her head at the TARDIS, still frowning. “I think I would have been better off flying! Looks like I'm lucky i didn't end up inside a wall!” She looked at the two guards, who weren't sure how to react to this information. “Anyway, I've never been here before, so could one of you handsome stallions please lead me to the mail room? I'd be ever so grateful!” One guard looked at another and shrugged. “Sure, why not. I'll do it.” The two guards followed Ditsy out of the room and shut the door behind them, returning the room to darkness. Both The Shield and The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. “Will she be alright?” The Shield asked. “I don't see why not.” The Doctor replied. “Ditzy is indeed a mail mare, and Humanity has, as I'm sure you're aware, been trying to imitate magic through machinery for a few years now. As long as they don't research her claims about the post office trying a faster method of delivering mail involving Human tech, she should be fine. In the meantime, let's have a look around.” “But...what about the other guard?” “Oh, that's easy enough! Just claim that you're the pilot of the 'package transporter' and that I'm your assistant! Here, hold on.” The Doctor went back into the TARDIS and brought out his trusty Psychic Paper 'ID badge'. “Psychic Paper?” She asked, examining it. “Yep!” “I wish I had some of my own. Oh well.” Getting past the guard was easier than baking Pinkie Pie's cupcakes and in almost no time at all they were on their way through the palace looking for the mail room and Ditzy Doo. The Doctor had not yet been in the Palace yet and stopped form time to time to examine wall paintings and furniture. The Shield had been in here once before during the time when the palace was being rebuilt, but it was still under heavy construction at the time. Now it looked quite different. They passed multiple servants, and the occasional guard, and stopped one from time to time to ask if any had seen a gray mail-mare anywhere. Eventually they were directed to the mail room where Ditzy was busy at unloading her mail bag and sorting it. Most of what she had was for Canterlot proper rather than for the palace, but there were two letters and a dirty magazine that needed to be delivered here first. Once Ditzy was done sorting she replaced everything that was to be delivered elsewhere back into her bags and and held the three remaining items in hoof and flew out of the room. “Ah! Doctor! Miss Shield! Sorry to just leave you behind like that, but it was the only thing I could think of to get rid of those two, and I really did need to deliver these. They're a bit late.” “Oh, we're not upset Ditzy. That was absolutely brilliant, really!” “Yes, thank you.” The Shield agreed. “So I take it that you need to deliver those as well?” Ditzy nodded. “The magazine is two weeks late, but fortunately that's normal, so it's not likely to be missed. The other two letters are for one of princess Luna's students. He's a nice guy and I feel a little guilty about bringing him his letters late.” “I'm sure he'll forgive you, Ditzy. After all, the last time he had late mail, it brought him to your world.” The Shield said, trying to reassure her. “You know this student?” The Doctor asked. “Not personally, no, but I know of him.” “Well then I'll introduce you!” Ditzy declared. “Follow me!” ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ I flopped on the bed again and Trixie flopped down next to me. Even though it had only been a review of last week's lessons, it had still been a tiring experience. Last week's lessons had been about altering the position of celestial bodies. Long and complicated explanation short, we were being taught how to eventually be able to raise and lower the moon. When we asked why we would need to know how to do this when it was likely that we would never need to know how to do it, Luna smiled and said that she'd like to be able to go on vacation with her sister within the next thirty years and needed someone who knew how to do it while they were gone. “You know, Jake, I have to wonder who Celestia's going to get to raise the sun in her stead if we're going to need to work together to raise the moon!” “Yeah, especially when we struggled just to control the direction of a large comet! On Earth it's natural gravity that manipulates how things move about in space. Maybe we could try putting the moon in orbit around this planet rather than actually raising and lowering it manually.” Trixie and I both considered this a moment, and then shared the mental image of us somehow screwing up the orbit and having the moon crash into the planet. Our eyes met, and we both spoke our conclusion in unison. “No!” A knock came at our door and we both looked at it a moment before asking who it was. “Mail pony Ditzy here! I've got some mail for ya!” Came a cheerful voice from the other side. We sat up and told her to come on in. The handle on the door dipped downward and then the door was pushed inward. Sure enough, it was indeed Ditzy. She hovered over to me and hoofed me two letters. “Where have you been, Ditzy? Normally even when you don't have mail for me you at least stop in and say hello. I was starting to think that you'd gotten a new job!” I asked. Ditzy replied that she'd been busy for the last few weeks traveling just about everywhere I could imagine. A sparkle came into her eyes as she said it, and I had to wonder exactly where it was that she had gone, and what she had seen. “Oh! That reminds me! I've got some friends I'd like you to meet! May they come in too? They're just out in the hall.” I looked at Trixie, who shrugged. “Sure thing, Ditzy. We don't mind.” Ditzy nodded and flew out into the hall a moment and spoke to someone we could not see. A few seconds later a tan earth Pony with a dark brown mane and tail trotted in, followed by a lovely Asian woman. The Pony had a sand timer for a Cutie Mark, which I found a little unusual, but I did not mention it, and neither did he. The Asian women looked vaguely familiar, but I did not know where I had seen her before, which was not really saying much anymore. There were many Humans that I vaguely recognized and did not really recall. “Have we met somewhere before?” Trixie asked, saving me the trouble. “No, I do not believe so!” The tan Pony stated. “I've heard about you two, though. You're The Great and Powerful Trixie, formerly a Unicorn, and he's Jacob Lighthand, a former resident of Earth!” I snorted. Almost everyone and everypony knows that! “These are-” Ditzy stopped and thought a moment. She can't remember her own friend's names? “Smithers.” The Tan Pony finished with a friendly smile. “Johnathon Smithers. Just call me 'John'.” Bull. I fought the urge to snort. I've met or heard of only a handful of Ponies with Human names, and most of them were born within the last few years. I looked at the Asian woman and said, tone laced with just a tiny dash of sarcasm, “And I suppose your name is Janette Doe?” She opened her mouth, and then shut it, looking surprised. It seemed that was exactly who she was going to claim to be. “I guess it doesn't really matter what your real names are.” I got out of the bed and stood and extended a hand first to her, then to 'Jonathon'. “If Ditzy likes you, you must be good people. Welcome to Canterlot palace.” We had a short conversation, which mostly involved 'Johnathon' asking question after question about the princesses as well as a few oddballs. I found it a little odd, but answered as best I could. How old were they? Did they have any relatives? Were they always here, or did they come from someplace else? How long have you been their students? Oh, just Luna? Did Celestia have a private student? Had we ever seen any sign of aliens during our stay here? “Really? When?” “It wasn't too long after I'd first come to Canterlot. One night after a lesson in magic under Luna, I went for a walk and saw this weird box-shaped object whirling through the night sky. It flew through the air for about five seconds, and then vanished as if it had never been.” Ditzy, 'Janette', and 'Johnathon' shared a look that said they recognized it. “I had thought I was imagining things. Clearly not, though.” “What?” 'Johnathon' asked. “No, no, probably just imagination!” I focused my gaze on him. He didn't look away, but didn't drop a goofy innocent smile, either. I broke eye contact first. Something about his eyes unnerved me. They gave me the feeling that I was standing on a cliff's edge and looking down into a bottomless cavern filled with water. We spoke on a number more of subjects ranging from the weather to how the study on magic was going, the latter in which I had little to no information. Eventually Ditzy said that she needed to get back to work and left the room, and the other two said that they'd better be going too. “You never know when the worlds will need saving!” The tan Pony said as he walked out last, shutting the door behind him. Me and Trixie looked at one another. That guy was weird! % % % % % “So why did you ask him instead of asking the princesses those questions?” Twilight, this time, addressing The Doctor. “Several reasons, the main being convenience. He was there, Ditzy knew him if only because she delivered mail to him from time to time, and she was a student to Luna herself, which meant that he might have been able answer some of my questions right from the start.” “So what was it that you were suspecting?” Trixie asked. “Your questions at that time confused me, how you asked one after the other.” “You haven't guessed?” Twilight asked her. “He thought that Luna and Celestia could have been this dimension's version of Time Lords!” The Doctor grinned. “You are a clever one, aren't you!?” “Were they?” The Doctor continued to grin, and shrugged. “You don't know?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “They were, and they weren't.” “I don't get it.” “Don't worry, I'll explain in due time.”