Chapter 2
“963”
“Most people think that time is like a river, that flows swift and sure in one direction. But I have seen the face of time, and I can tell you they are wrong. Time is an ocean in a storm…”
Prince of Persia
I was lying on the grass somewhere. I slowly opened my grey eyes and realized it was still night time. How did I survive getting caught in that time vortex? I tried to get up but pain shot through my legs. They felt incredibly stiff, like somepony had packed me into a box for three days.
After about a minute of lying down I stiffly climbed to my hooves, groaning. I was in the middle of a park of some kind. It looked like one of those nature hike areas that you would take school children to. Wherever I was, hopefully it couldn’t be too far from civilization or at least somepony with a phone.
I started to walk off the stiffness in my legs, memories of the storm racing through my brain. I hope I’m not too far from Canterlot; Twilight would kill me if I didn’t come back. What time is it anyway?
I looked at my watch and raised an eyebrow, “3:00 A.M.? How is that possible? It was just after midnight when I left. Where the hell am I?”
After a minute of walking down the trail I felt a slight warmth in my trench coat. I reached inside and pulled out the Tardis key from before. It felt hot in my hooves and I almost dropped it. I picked it up in my magic and I felt my horn pull against my head. It was like something was dragging me because I held the key.
I knew weird things happened when the Doctor’s tech met Equestria’s magic but this takes the-
Bump!
I crashed into something solid after a minute of getting dragged. The key fell to the ground but continued to glow softly. I felt in front of me, there was definitely something there, but I couldn’t see it. I bent down and picked up the key in my hooves. It did seem to be cooler than before.
Suddenly a door opened in front of me. I couldn’t see what the door was attached to; it just opened into… the interior of the Tardis!
I walked inside and saw the interior was almost completely torn up. I used my horn as a flashlight and looked around. Some of the equipment was destroyed and screens were smashed in. The main consul had several wires ripped out and some of the gadgetry was broken and ripped apart. Somepony was looking for something, but what?
I tried using my magic to talk to Tardis again but I got no response. She was shut down, she had to be. But then, I saw a blinking light on one of the intact screens. Upon closer inspection I saw it had a single question on it.
“What hat is coolest?”
I looked below it and saw that there was a space for a password. It was a riddle, and I needed to figure it out. Well it shouldn’t be too hard…
I pulled an intact keyboard and, remembering the typing lessons that dad had me go through, started typing in my answer.
Fedoras
WRONG!!!
Stetsons?
WRONG!!!
Fezzes….
DING!
The screen fizzled to life and I saw the Doctor tapping the screen. “All right, is this working? Right, Private, now you’ve probably got a billion questions.”
That’s the understatement of the year…
He took a seat and looked directly at me “Now, let’s get one thing out of the way first. You are in fact, standing in Canterlot, but not your Canterlot. According to this newspaper I got from a trash can,” he explained holding up an old newspaper, “We are currently in your year 960 years after Princess Luna’s banishment. In other words, forty years ago.”
My grey eyes widened in absolute shock. I was stuck in a time not my own. I’m a time traveler! This is amazing!
“Now before you geek out,” he said with a snicker, I flushed in embarrassment, “we have a bit of a problem. You see, according to the Tardis’ scanners, you haven’t arrived yet. That singularity storm sent you to a different point in time ahead of me.” His expression turned grim. “Also, the storm wasn’t natural.”
“What do you mean not natural?” I muttered to myself.
“Essentially,” the Doctor explained, slipping into full on professor mode, “a singularity storm travels like a normal hurricane would, except it travels through time and space. Under normal circumstances they're easy to predict and the Tardis’ systems would’ve tracked a means to avoid it. However, this one was somehow redirected from its normal course and made a path straight into the Tardis.”
I tried to wrap my head around it, but I was suddenly back in high school physics again. Only this time I didn’t have Potso’s snoring to entertain me.
“Anyway,” the Doctor continued, “because that storm wasn’t natural I can’t stay as me. I’m going to use this,” he said, as he held up a small silver pocket watch, “to temporarily hide everything that’s Time Lord about me. I’ll just become a regular pony under the pseudonym Clockwork. He won’t know he’s me but he’ll believe he’s lived his whole life in Canterlot. He’ll never leave because he has an abnormal fear of leaving the house he was born in. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find me and once you do,” he said, pointing to the watch, “get me to open this.”
I nodded, almost understanding. He could hide his time lord part in that little watch? If the Doctor had to use these means, he was definitely being hunted by somepony. I had to find him. He was my ticket to getting home.
“Now Private,” he said firmly, “before I leave, here’s a list of instructions for when I’m a pony. Number one, don’t let me hurt anybody, we can’t have that but you know firsthand…or hoof ha ha, sorry, what ponies can be like.”
He went on, “Two, don’t worry about the Tardis, I have her on a setting where nopony can see her. The reason she’s all cluttered is on the off chance somepony finds her and gets in. She has to look abandoned; I’ll fix her up when we meet up again.”
“Now four, no…three! Try not to get involved in any big historical events.” His expression softened a little. “Four, don’t let me abandon you.”
Then his expression became one of untold fury as he stated, “And five! Private, this is very important! Are you listening to me? Five is that don’t let me eat pears! I HATE PEARS! Clockwork is just a character I made up, but he won’t think that. He’ll think he’s me and he might do something stupid like eat a pear.” His face took on an expression of disgust. “I don’t want to wake up after being a pony with that horrible aftertaste in my mouth!”
I stifled a laugh through his whole rant about pears. The way he reacted was completely crazy. At least it was just a silly fruit like pears.
Not like pineapples, they are the devil fruit…
“Also, last thing, I have all of my gear hidden in a compartment that should open in three, two, one.”
The consul opened in front of me and I gave a jump. “Geez!” I shouted. “Didn’t anypony read the memo about the weak heart?”
“Anyhow, gotta run and start my new life,” the Doctor said. “Private, whatever you do, be careful. This thing, whatever it is, knew I was going to be at that point in history. Find me as quick as you can so I can repair the Tardis and get you home. Hurry, Private!”
The screen blacked out and I spoke frantically to it, “How will I find you? Doctor, where are you?”
No video came up and I sighed in defeat. I looked in the compartment. Inside was the famous sonic screwdriver, which I placed in my trench coat for safe keeping, and a wallet. I opened the wallet and saw that the inside only had a blank piece of paper on it. How the doctor expected this to be helpful was beyond me.
I stored the second device in my trench coat and walked out of the Tardis. I looked around outside and closed the door behind me. Maybe this was all a dream or something? I’ll wake up and find Tailspin bugging me to watch cartoons with-
“Keep yer hooves where Ah can see em pal!” I heard a voice say as I felt a muzzle of a gun being pressed against my back. “I’m not afraid to shoot any crazy alien ponies.”
I spoke nervously, “Um, I’m no alien.”
“Horse shit,” the gruff voice said, “I saw you come out of thin air. What are you some kind of invader or something?”
“May I ask who is holding my life in his hooves?” I asked, trying not to sound too coy.
“Name's Cranky,” I heard the voice growl.
Cranky? “Cranky Doodle Donkey?” I asked out loud
“How’d you know my name?" he shouted. “Turn round so I can see you!”
I slowly turned around and found myself gazing at a much younger looking Cranky. His mane was a full brown and his pale blue eyes were glaring at me. I was more focused on the shotgun he was holding in his hooves, however. “How’d you know my name? I’ve never seen you before.”
Okay, if this was a dream, it was a very lucid dream with an extremely real gun. I knew Cranky from the present, however. Tailspin had to do some volunteer work for school and he got assigned to the donkey. Tailspin respected Cranky and liked to listen to his stories about travel. Right now though, I had to convince him I wasn’t an alien from the future. Even though I kind of am.
“I’m an agent in her majesty’s royal service,” I said, trying to sound convincing. “Agent um, Rider, yeah agent Storm Rider!”
His pale blue eyes narrowed in suspicion “What’s an agent doing all the way out here?”
“I’m investigating something top secret,” I said, trying to sound official, “I am on very important business for her majesty Princess Celestia and I need to get to Canterlot as soon as possible.”
“Well, Canterlot’s just up the road,” he said, pointing with his tail, “a bit of a ride, considering we’re in the forests below the terraces.”
That explained the trails down here; they must be alternate roads to get around the area leading up to Canterlot.
“However, I’m gonna need to see some proof you are an agent,” Cranky said, his pale blue eyes still narrowed.
I was going to flash my badge but for some reason I went for the blank wallet instead. I levitated it out and Cranky examined it. He took a little longer then he should have for a blank piece of paper. He nodded and gave the wallet back to me with an apology, “Sorry, Agent Rider, it’s just hard not to be suspicious of strange ponies on the roads.”
I raised an eyebrow and tentatively picked up the wallet. Only the paper wasn’t blank, it had a completely legitimate ID on it. My picture was on there and everything, but then the paper faded to its usual blank state as I put it back in my trench coat.
I smiled at the donkey and said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go to Canterlot.”
“I'll go with ya,” he offered, as he gestured to his wagon. “I’m heading that way anyway and its best if we stick together.”
So that’s how I ended up walking down the pathways of a dark wood with Cranky by my side. I’ll admit, I never expected this when I got up in the morning.
___________________________________________________
It was early morning by the time I arrived in Canterlot itself. I stopped at the gate and looked at my donkey companion. “This is where we part Cranky; it was nice talking to you.”
“Sorry bout pointin' the shotgun at you,” Cranky said apologetically. “Can’t be too careful in this day and age.”
“No problem,” I said with a smile. “Where you off to?”
“I'm just in town for The Grand Galloping Gala tonight,” he said pride. “I got lucky and landed a ticket from my cousin because he couldn't make it. I can’t wait to go there!”
This is where things got complicated. Cranky didn’t know he was going to meet Matilda at the gala. He had no idea what was in store for him after he met her either. I debated in my mind whether I should tell Cranky, but how would I even begin to explain it?
I just kept my smile and said, “I hope you have fun up there.”
“See ya around, Agent Rider,” he said with a jaunty wave as he walked away, dragging his wagon behind him. “Tonight, I've got a date with destiny.”
Destiny and a certain donkey, I felt a little sad that I couldn’t prevent Cranky from having to search in vain for Matilda for all those years. Sadly, there are some things I guess I just had to let happen.
I walked down Canterlot Lane and saw several changes. The city was cleaner, and smelled better too. Ponies walked around their business and many of the mares seemed to be fond of rather big hats. I walked by a movie theater that was premiering “Doctor Yes” the first James Pone film to debut outside of Trottingham. Dad would go nuts if he saw that in theaters.
He was a big James Pone fan, but don’t tell him I said that. He would firmly deny it and have a legal team ready to cover the fact he clearly does not have a shine hidden somewhere in his study back home.
I watched as a pony threw a newspaper away. When he passed I picked it out of the trash can and read the date to myself “Saturday, 12th of Neighvember…963!”
The Doctor’s recording was made three years ago! He’s been trapped here for that long? He was never going to let me live this down once I found him. First though, I needed some means to find him. I looked to my right and saw a small diner with a sign out front that said public phone available.
I stepped inside and heard a loud rendition of “My Coltfriend’s Back” playing on the jukebox. Several ponies were sitting around, just enjoying a lazy Saturday morning with coffee and fountain drinks. I was trying to comprehend a coffee that cost under four bits a mug when I heard the owner speak from behind the counter, “Hey, Detective.”
“Who me?” I asked, giving the owner a shocked look.
“Your coat,” he said, gesturing with a hoof at me. “What do you think you’re Sam Spony or something?”
Close enough, I just shrugged and said, “Well, do I need my detective skills to find the phone or can you just tell me?”
He laughed a little and pointed with his hoof. “It’s in the back.”
I walked to the phone and dug into the “C” section of the notebook. I scrolled down the list of names and found Clockwork there. There was only one Clockwork in the whole of Canterlot, and that was not even his name. I tossed a few cents into the slot and dialed the number.
Nopony picked up, so I sighed and copied down the address. Ripping it out would be kind of rude and I didn’t want somepony to sue me for property damage.
I walked back to the counter and asked the owner, a rather stocky, jade green, earth pony stallion, “Can you point me to 1546 Bad Wolf stree-“
“Look, are you going to order something or not?” the owner demanded rather rudely.
I sighed and pocketed my notebook, taking a seat next to a blue unicorn stallion. “You got any diet cola?”
“Diet?” he asked with a confused blink. “Look if you wanna go on a diet, you shouldn’t be drinking soda in the first place.”
I’m guessing that hasn’t been invented yet. I blushed in embarrassment and said, “Just give me some coffee, and be liberal with the sugar.”
After last night’s walk I needed all the caffeine I could get. Why the hell would I want diet?
“Hey, Night Light, I thought I told you never to come in here!” I heard a voice speak up behind me, a very familiar voice. I turned around and saw a much younger Graff glaring at the unicorn next to me. He stood there with a small gang of ponies; they all appeared to be teenagers.
He walked right past me and to the blue unicorn, was this Night Light? They certainly looked the same, although this one was much younger, probably a teenager as well. “I’m talking to you, you little Lyrish Bug.”
Night Light looked up at Graff as the ponies surrounded him and swallowed nervously saying, “Oh hi Graff, great to see you.”
Graff would have none of it. “Did you finish my homework like I asked?”
“Well,” Nightlight replied taking on that familiar look of attempting courage, “I thought, since it isn’t due until Monday I-“Graff conked him on the head.
“Hello! Anypony in there?” Nightlight laughed nervously as he got hit repeatedly on the head while the gang laughed. “Think Nightlight, think! I need time to recopy it. If one of the teachers looked at my homework and saw your hoof writing on it, I’d get expelled” He held a steely glare at Night Light. “You wouldn’t want that would you Night Light?”
Night Light had a brief moment of hesitation, before he gave in, “No, of course not, Graff.”
Graff then caught me staring and asked, “What’re you looking at, butthead?”
I’d say what I was looking at, but I knew I wouldn’t feel good about myself if I said it aloud. Mom would glare at me from beyond the grave until I felt eternally sorry about even thinking about it.
“He thinks he’s like one of 'em detectives” one of his gang has with a sneer tugging on my trench coat. “Too bad he can’t solve how much of a dork he is.”
Luna was about to get some friends to play with on the moon if they didn’t shut up.
Graff just looked back at Nightlight and said, “So what about my homework?”
“I’ll finish it up tonight,” Night Light replied weakly. “Then I’ll give you it first thing tomorrow morning”
“Not too early though, I sleep in on Sundays,” Graff said before suddenly pointing down “Look at that big spider!”
SPIDER! WHERE? I leaped over the counter before peeking over again. Everypony in the room gave me an odd look. Graff looked at Nightlight and said with a loud laugh, “That guy’s even more gullible then you are, Night Light.”
Smooth, Private…
I got back into my seat and stared over at Night Light. The bullies left after having a good laugh at my expense. I just stared at Nightlight for a few seconds. He looked so… young. His long blue mane was straight and kept well. His gold eyes looked down at the cereal he was eating. This was Twilight’s dad, from the past.
“What?” he asked, suddenly turning his gold eyes to me.
“You’re Night Light,” was all I could say.
“Yeah, who are you?” he asked, before returning to his cereal. Suddenly a newspaper hit him upside the head and I looked up.
Holding the newspaper was a tan colored mare with a long pink mane and blue eyes. She was clad in a worker’s apron and frowned at Nightlight. “What’s the matter with you? Why do you always let those boys push you around?”
Night Light sighed and said sadly, “They are bigger than me.”
“Night Light if you let ponies walk on you now,” she replied, taking on a firm tone, “you’re going to let ponies walk over you for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t know,” Nightlight mumbled.
“Take me for example,” she said, pointing the newspaper at herself, “you think I’m going to spend the rest of my life in this donkey shed?” She then looked at a group of nearby donkeys, “Uh, no offense.”
“None taken, Scrolly,” they chorused.
She went on, “I may be a waitress now, but I’m going to night school. One day I’m going to make a name for myself!”
Scrolly? Wait wasn’t that her name before…”She became Mayare?” I said out loud.
The mare smiled at the thought and said happily, “Now that’s a great idea! I could run for mayor!”
The owner laughed. “A Mare as mayor, now that’ll be the day.”
“You just wait!” she retorted “I’m going to be the most powerful mare in a town one day! I’ll clean it up! Make it look all pretty, and then we’ll see who’s laughing.”
“The only town that’ll take a mare as crazy as you is some small farm village ways out in the middle of nowhere.” He laughed “Now, why don’t you start cleaning this diner,” he ordered, tossing her a broom.
She caught it and started musing to herself, “Mayare, I like the sound of that…”
Farming village? Is that what Ponyville is now? I’m guessing it hadn’t really hit its stride ye-
I looked back and saw that Night Light already left. I looked outside and saw him trotting somewhere in a great hurry. Was he going to meet Velvet? This could be interesting, to see love bloom at its very beginning.
I paid my tab and ran to catch up with Twilight’s dad.
_____________________________________________________
Following Night Light’s trail I eventually came into a small street of neighborhoods. I walked down the street for a bit, kicking myself for losing track of him. Just where did he go?
A leaf fell on my nose and I looked up. There in a tree was Night Light with a pair of binoculars around his neck. He didn’t seem to notice me as he climbed out on a branch towards one of the nearby houses. An early morning rendezvous?
I followed his binoculars and saw that he was watching a mare take a shower. I looked away just as she was about to push up her tail. My jaw dropped in a bit of disgust “Twilight’s dad is a peeping tom? That might explain Twilight’s rather…through analysis of me in that book she made about me.”
Nightlight slipped from his perch and held onto the branch over the road. After a few tentative minutes he couldn't hold on any longer. His hooves gave out and he fell onto the main street, right in front of a speeding wagon heading his way!
“Night Light!” I called out as I shoved him out of the way. The ponies pulling tried to stop the carriage but the weight of the carriage continued pushing them forward. I don’t remember exactly what happened next, all I know is that somehow I ended up on the ground, dazed and very dizzy.
I heard some voices shouting, and then fell into unconsciousness.
______________________________________________________
I was somewhere comfortable and warm. I felt a pain in my horn from getting hit, but that was only a dream right? It was very dark in here, maybe I’m back home. I unconsciously said, “Mom…”
I heard a soft female voice say, “There, there, you’ve been knocked out for almost nine hours now.” I felt something cool being pressed against my horn. It felt nice…
“I had the craziest dream,” I said with a smile. “I dreamed I went back in time. It was nuts…”
“Well,” the voice said, “at least you’re safe and sound here in 963”
“963!” I shouted, sitting bolt upright. The light came on and I saw….
She looked almost as pretty as Twilight. Her mane was a richer color and was tied back in a ponytail with a bow on it. Her blue eyes gazed at me with a worried expression that reminded me of her future daughter. Her grayish white coat seemed to glow in the lamp light. She sat on a bed next to the one I was in, looking worried, but at the same time, intrigued.
“You’re Twi…Twil…” was all I could muster up in the shock of the situation.
“Yes, I’m Twilight Velvet,” she said, encouragingly.
“You’re so…” I fought for the right word, “thin.”
“Just try and relax, Carousel,” she said, gently levitating a damp cloth to my horn again. “You got a nasty bruise on your head. You're lucky your horn didn’t break off.”
I was suddenly conscious of the fact I was naked. Unlike other ponies I just didn’t feel comfortable strutting around naked. Guess it came from wearing the trench coat all the…”Where’s my coat and hat?” I asked.
“Over on the hope chest” she said nervously, pointing. “It was filled with all sorts of stuff, but I didn’t look inside it, Carousel! I respected your privacy!” she babbled frantically.
“Carousel,” I asked curiously, “why do you keep calling me that?”
“It was on the tag of your trench coat,” she answered. “Carousel Boutique?”
“Actually ponies call me…” I couldn’t use my real name; if I did it would be very awkward when I got back home. So, I used the first name that came to mind. “Eclipse," I blurted out, "they call me Eclipse Eye.”
“Eclipse Eye?” She tilted her head and said, “That’s an odd name.”
It was better than Carousel that’s for sure. Wait, the bed was shifting.
I looked over and saw Velvet was sitting beside me on the bed. Her blue eyes giving me an odd look. “Do you mind if I sit here with you?”
“Um, I, uh,” I said flustered. That seemed to be happening to me a lot today.
She reached over and tried to touch my horn. “That’s a nasty bruise you got there, and your horn is so…”
I felt suddenly nervous about the prospect of Twilight’s mom touching my horn that I fell backwards onto the floor. I heard a voice shout from the floor below “Twilight! Are you okay up there?”
“Sweet Celestia, that’s my mom!” she said frantically, before getting my trench coat and hat. She levitated the clothing over to me and I started slipping it on. I couldn’t deny the look she was giving me right before she left.
I dismissed the thought and went outside once I was fully clothed.
_____________________________________________________
Velvet’s mother walked down the stairs before asking, “So Eclipse, are you some sort of detective?”
“Uh yeah,” I said, trying to avoid the looks Velvet would occasionally cast my way.
We reached the bottom of the stairs and an older, violet colored stallion was behind a television set, doing some tinkering. “Hey, what were you doing out in the middle of the road?”
“Just ignore Turner,” Velvet’s mom said with a sigh before walking towards the kitchen. “He’s just in one of his moods.”
I walked into the kitchen with Velvet at my side before she took a seat with the rest of her family. Her mother pointed each of the three kids, two fillies and a colt, out “This here’s Raven, Bubbles and Dil,” with a smile she pointed at a crib in the back, "and over there is little Shield Wall.”
I looked over at the baby colt and couldn’t believe that this colt, whom was sucking on his hoof, would go on to be the most formidable member of Celestia’s guard. He gave a toothy grin at me from behind his crib bars. “Let’s just say you’ll give criminals… poetic justice,” I mused to myself.
“He seems to like you, Eclipse,” Velvet’s mom observed. “I hope you like Hayloaf.”
“Listen, I really should go-“I said. Before I could start to leave, my tail got yanked violently and I fell into a seat.
“You can sit here next to me, Eclipse,” she said, smiling innocently, as she took her seat beside me.
“For the love of Celestia,” her mom called back into the living room, “Turner, get in here!”
“I’ll be right there, Barbra!” he called back. “I’ll just leave my tools here, but you’ll be thankful that you get to watch those soaps of yours in color!”
“Whether or not I can see Mclaugfity’s mane color isn’t going to help stave off your hunger!”
Turner came back in and sat on the seat across from me. He gave me an odd look and asked, “So Eclipse, where you from?”
“Uh,” I said, trying not to meet Velvet’s eyes, “Manehattan.”
“What are you doing all the way out here?” Bubbles asked in a rather squeaky voice. “Canterlot is a long way from there.”
Farther away than you would believe kid.
“Well, is there someone we can call for you?” Barbra asked.
“Um,” I came up with a half-truth, “actually I’m visiting an uncle of mine, stallion by the name of Clockwork.” I reached into my trench coat and pulled out my notebook. “Could you tell me where Bad Wolf Street is?”
“It’s by East Celestia Street,” Turner said. “You go outside and just follow the road and you can’t miss it.”
“East Celestia Street,” I muttered to myself, drawing up a route, “that’s not far from East Luna Street.”
“Who the hell is Luna?” Turner asked.
“Um, mom,” Velvet spoke up for the first time, "since Eclipse doesn’t have anypony else he can stay with, can he stay over for the night?” She gave me a quick glance and her cheeks turned the slightest pink. “I mean, dad did hit him with his carriage.”
“That’s true, Eclipse,” Barbra said. “You are our responsibility.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to impose,” I said humbly.
“He can stay in my room," Velvet offered as I felt her tail trace the line of my flank.
I jumped up suddenly and said, “I gotta go! Thanks for the food, Clockwork is waiting, bye!” I ran out the door and didn’t look back.
______________________________________________________
Man that was weird. Unbelievable that Velvet would say all those things about me in the future. Here, however, she is trying to feel me up under the table like that! I rounded a corner and came to my destination. 1546 Bad Wolf Street, the home of Clockwork.
It was a relatively small house with a large garage attached to it. I knocked on the door twice but didn’t get an answer. I turned around and there was the doctor, looking the same as he did normally. I was about to open my mouth when he covered it “Don’t say anything! I want to know absolutely nothing about you!”
Suddenly I was dragged inside by him and set down on a chair. The Doctor suddenly began pacing in front of me and said, “Um, you’ve travelled a great distance!”
“Yes,” I shouted, “Exactly I-“
“I told you not to tell me anything!” he shouted back, he tapped his hoof on his head as if thinking of something. “You want me to buy a subscription to the Canterlot Post?”
“No!” I hollered. “Doctor, listen-“
“Not a word I said!” He waved his hoof in front of me. “Um, Donations! You want me to make a donation to… the Parasprite awareness fund?”
“Doctor,” I sighed and then spoke slowly, “I’m from the future. You and I travelled together in your Tardis and only you can fix it. That way we both can go back to the year one thousand and three.”
The Doctor blinked, gave me a long stare and then said, “Do you realize what this means?”
“Um…”
“That Sapina from next door was lying about me being a psychic!” he exclaimed and began pacing around everywhere. “Unbelievable! I knew that mare was lying to me!”
“Doctor, listen, you gotta snap out of this,” I said frantically. “You have a time machine to fix!”
“Time machine?” he asked blinking at me. “Why would I have a time machine? Sure I make clocks, but that doesn’t mean I can travel through time.”
“I’m telling the truth,” I pleaded as he walked away to tinker with a watch.
“Look, if you’re not selling anything to me you can get out,” he said, not trying to hide his annoyance.
I reached into my wallet and pulled out my badge. “Look at this, issued in 997, thirty years from now!”
“Easily doctored or stolen,” he said dismissively.
“Doctor, you've gotta believe me!” I pleaded again.
“All right, future boy,” he said, looking up at me. “If you really are from the future, then who is princess of Equestria?”
“Celestia and Luna” I said without thinking.
“A ha!” he shouted. “You must’ve read that crazy book called Mare in the Moon, only a fool would think that future.”
“Wait!” I cried as he started to walk out. “The Tardis! I know all about it! You’re not Clockwork! You’re a Time Lord from planet Gallopfrey!” He stopped in his tracks. “You told me last week in my time that you were 1200 years old! You have companions! These names should mean something to you! Rose Tyler, Sarah Jane Smith, the Brigadier! K9, for crying out loud!”
He slowly turned to me and asked, “How do you know those names?”
“You told me a while back,” I answered. “Now, do you happen to have a silver pocket watch around here?”
“You know about that?” he asked in shock, pulling the watch out of his pocket. “Sometimes when I go to sleep I have these dreams. This watch, it told me the names you mentioned…”
“Open it, Doctor,” I ordered.
Slowly but tentatively he opened it, a flash of light came out and I heard voices come from the watch. The light seemed to enter the Doctor’s eyes as various voices went off.
Hello Sweetie,
EXTERMINATE!!!
Come along, Pond.
Doctors, splendid fellows, all of you
Hey, watch it, space man!
Affirmative!
When it was over the Doctor stood there, a slow smile came over his face and he laughed. “Ha Ha! It worked! Brilliant, Private!”
“You’re back to normal!” I exclaimed happily.
“Well, I should be normal,” he said looking at himself. “Still got four hooves, a nose…still not ginger though.” He frowned. “Blast!” Then he got close to me and cried, “Come on, Private! We got a Tardis to fix!”
____________________________________________________________
“Now the Tardis is mostly a self-repairing vehicle,” The Doctor explained as he was moving some wires under the central consul “I just need to reconfigure some wires here and…boom!”
The lights suddenly filled the Tardis interior and various screens repaired themselves like skin over a cut. Well, it is a living being so I guess that’s how it would work.
The Doctor came to the central consul and actually stroked it. “Oh, it’s good to see you too, sexy.”
“You call your Tardis sexy?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Personal preference really,” he said in his trademark vague tone. “Now let’s see if we can’t head ba-“
He pushed a lever and sparks started shooting all over the place. I ducked as a random piece of machinery almost took off my head. The Doctor swore under his breath as he tried to fan smoke away from his face. “Well, this puts a damper on things.”
“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.
“Well,” the Doctor replied, sounding a little worried. “Somebody came in here and sabotaged the Tardis.”
“How’s that possible?” I asked. “I was the only pony here.”
“They may have come before you,” the Doctor said gravely. “The question is, how'd they get in?”
“So, can she fly?” I asked.
“Well, she can fly, but she can’t time travel,” he explained. “Somebody sabotaged the power supply so that she’s not running right. Have you guys invented the combustible engine yet?”
“The what now?”
“Answers my question,” he said with a sigh. “Anyway, it’s like you’re trying to start a fire, you have the wood, the kindling, everything you need, except the spark.” He started typing on a nearby computer. “Now we just need to figure out how much power we would need to start up…”
His eyes grew wide as he saw the results on his screen “ONE POINT TWENTY ONE GIGAWATTS!”
“What the hell’s a gigawatt?” I asked.
“It’s a measurement of electricity!” he said, slamming his head on the consul. “There’s no means to create that kind of power in this day and age!”
“Why don’t we just take a Pegasus cloud?” I asked. “We can take a storm cloud, zap the Tardis with it and boom! Back to 1003 like you wouldn’t believe.”
“The problem is,” he said firmly, “how the hell are we going to explain it to whoever gives us the cloud. Also, neither of us are pegasi so we can’t get one ourselves.”
“I guess you have a point,” I nodded glumly. “So what do we do?”
“If only we knew a point in time where a lightning bolt would strike naturally,” he mused, crossing his forelegs in thought, “then we wouldn’t have to worry about stealing a cloud. Problem is, lightning is almost impossible to predict on its own.”
A light bulb went off in my head; I reached into my trench coat and pulled out the flier “What about this?” I held it in front of the Doctor who took the flier and examined it closely.
His blue eyes lit up “This is it! According to this, the lighting will strike the clock tower at exactly 10:43 P.M. next Saturday night!” He started pacing excitedly “We’ll just figure a way to harness the power of the lighting! The channel it directly into the Tardis which will override the sabotage on her power systems and then Allons-y!” He slung a foreleg around me and exclaimed excitedly “Next Saturday! We’re sending you Back to the Present!”
“Um, don’t you mean back to the future?” I asked.
“You want to break copyright anymore then we already have?” he asked flatly.
“No.”
“Then we are golden!” He let go of me and sat on the consul, smiling wide. “Oh this is simply brilliant!”
“This is great, Doctor,” I said with a smile. “We’ll come up with the plan, see the sights and maybe run into...” The Doctor suddenly got within inches of my face.
“Private, it is absolutely imperative that you interact with this time period as little as possible.” His voice was deathly serious. “Now, have you encountered anypony during your time here?”
“Well, I met Cranky, but he was on his way anyway.” My grey eyes grew wide. “Twilight’s dad… I met him…I saved him from getting hit by a…”
“Private?” he asked, “do you have a picture of Twilight’s family?”
“Well, I got a picture of all of us during the Alicorn summi-“ My jaw dropped at what I saw. “Shining’s head, it’s gone,” I cried.
Sure enough the alabaster unicorn was headless in the picture. There I stood standing next to him and Twilight. Shining’s head didn’t rub off; it was just like he’s…
“Been erased…” The Doctor said, “From existence…”