//------------------------------// // A Glimpse of Future Past // Story: The Pony With the Pocket Watch // by WritersBlock //------------------------------// Episode 2, Part 1: A Glimpse of Future Past The TARDIS rattled and rolled through time and space, bearing it’s two passengers to eras unknown. Unknown to one of them, that is. The golden-maned Pegasus could only look on in confusion as her time-travelling friend manipulated all manner of levers, switches, and knobs, as well as a few things she normally would not have expected to see on the dashboard of a time machine. The mare’s name was Derpy, and she was beginning to have the vaguest suspicion that her travelling companion, the Doctor, had no idea where he was going. “Want to remind me where exactly we’re headed?” She asked as she dodged a potted plant that chose that moment to whizz through the control room, disappearing down a hallway. I have to remember to properly explore this place later…, she thought as she watched it go. “It’s not just a matter of where”, said the Doctor as he manipulated what appeared to be a pinball table. “It’s also a matter of when. This is your first time-trip, so I want it to be really memorable.” He stopped in his tracks and spun around three times, then dashed around to the other side of the console and flipped a number of switches. “I’m just having a bit of trouble deciding when and where we should go, is all. Here, hold this and move three steps to your left.” Derpy looked in surprise at the golf club that had suddenly been thrust into her hooves, then shrugged and took three steps to the left. “So, in other words, you have no idea where to go.” The Doctor’s face was that of pure indignation. “Of course I have ideas! I just have so many, I don’t know where to start!” He slumped a little as he stared at the console. “I’ve never really felt like I had this much freedom to do what I want, and there’s just so much to do…” Derpy looked at her friend with pity. Then she had an idea. “You know, I’ve always wondered what the future is like. Maybe just a few thousand years?” After a moment, the Doctor looked up and grinned. “I’ve got the just the time in mind.” He grabbed the golf club from Derpy and raised it over his head, then brought it down on the console with a resounding clash. He then tossed it aside as the TARDIS gave a final shudder and came to a stop. He began to head for the doors. “I hope you’ve got your fancy shoes on, because we’re about to be passengers aboard one of the greatest luxury cruise liners in all of history, the Starship Titanic!” ********** “Doctor, this is a storage room.” Derpy looked around the large, dismally lit room full of crates covered in tarps. “Well of course it’s a storage room! I can’t just park my big blue box in the open, can I? Ponies would get suspicious. Especially if they know what a TARDIS is. That could be very bad news.” The Doctor began looking around for an exit. “Odd, these cruise liner storage rooms are typically larger…” Derpy peered at one of the crates. “Um, Doctor, I’m not sure that this is the Titanic...” The Doctor, however, was not listening. “Aha! There’s the exit.” He started making his way towards a flight of stairs. “Anywho, it’s currently the year…” He stopped a moment and checked his pocket watch. “3017 A.E., stardate 694346.66. Although, I suppose for you it would be 5514 A.N.M.” “Why did they change it?” Derpy asked, a little confused. The Doctor winced a little, and spoke sadly. “About 2500 A.N.M., some stuff happened that forced every sentient creature on Equus, as well as most of the non sentient ones, into a massive exodus from the planet. I can’t really give any of the details, but ponies and many of the other residents of Equus now wander the stars, settling where they can. Obviously, they thought this was important enough to reset the clock, and they now date everything by After Exodus.” Derpy was horrified. She couldn’t imagine ponies living anywhere but on Equus. Then a thought struck her. “Why can’t you tell me what happened? I’ll be long gone by the time the 2500 A.N.M. comes around.” The Doctor looked about nervously. “Well, that’s true, but even the tiniest bit of knowledge could affect everything.” He looked her right in the eyes. “Besides, trust me when I say that you really don’t want to know what happens. It’s not something anypony should be burdened with knowledge of.” He stopped walking. “Ah, here we are.” The pair had reached the top of the stairs and stood before a small metal door just large enough for two ponies to walk through side by side. There was a small control panel just to it’s right, which is what the Doctor had trotted over to and was examining, rubbing a hoof on his chin. “Hm, what an odd security system to have on a cruise liner. Oh well, good to see they’re updating their security.” He waggled his eyebrows at Derpy as he retrieved his sonic screwdriver. “Not that it’ll stop us, of course.” He pointed the device at the control panel and it lit up with a buzzing noise. Derpy suddenly remembered what she had seen earlier on a crate. “Actually Doctor, I’m not so sure that this is the Titanic. Some crates down there said E.R.N. Celestia. Doesn’t that stand for Equestria Royal Navy?” The Doctor jerked his head around, eyes opened wide as a click emanated from the door. “What did you just say?” However, Derpy did not have a chance to answer, as at that exact moment, the door slid open with a mechanical hiss, revealing four stallions in silver armor, their eyes concealed by black visors. The soldiers stared them for a moment, their mouths in a tight line, before one of them spoke up in the most authoritative voice he could muster. “Doctor, I’m going to have to ask you to come with us. The captain wishes to see you.” ********** Derpy was nervous. Very nervous. There were guards both in front of and behind her, and they hadn’t spoken a word since they had left the storage room. The only comfort came from the fact that, aside from his initial surprise at learning the name of the ship they were on, the Doctor seemed to be taking this rather well, actually whistling as they walked down the metal halls of the ship. However, there was still something weighing heavily on her mind. “Doctor,” she said quietly. The guards didn’t even glance at her. The Doctor stopped whistling and looked over at her with an enthusiastic smile. “Yes?” “I was thinking. They usually only name ships in the Navy after dead ponies, right?” The Doctor’s smile faded. He could see where this line of questioning was headed. “Yeah,” he said in reply. It was the only way he could answer. Derpy looked at him with concern in her eyes. “So why is this ship named the Celestia?” The Doctor was at a loss for words. I searched desperately for the right way to answer her, but he faltered every time he started to begin a sentence. In the end, all he could do was hang his head and say was, “1014 A.N.M.,” in a low mutter, leaving his friend with more questions than answer. “What do you-” began Derpy, but she was interrupted by a soldier as they approached a large cream colored door, very different than the silver metallicness of the rest of the ship. “The bridge is through here.” He said tersely. Two of the soldiers went and stood on either side of the door, while a third went and punched a button beside it. It slid open to reveal a large, elaborately decorated room with lights and buttons everywhere. There were also several ponies inside sitting on chairs in front of computer consoles. There were several different species of pony, including a few Derpy had never seen before. To begin with, off to the right of the room, was a Pegasus with the darkest grey fur that Derpy had ever seen. His mane was black like the night, and a single white strand ran through it, the only bit hanging in front of his face off of an otherwise slicked back manestyle. But perhaps his most prominent feature was that instead of the feathery, bird-like wings most Pegasi possessed, he bore two jet black bat wings with silver hooks at the joint of each. His golden eyes noticed Derpy staring at him, and he smiled, revealing two fangs in the front of his mouth. Derpy quickly averted her gaze. The next pony she saw was a stark contrast to the dark bat-pony. Casting a strange light on the room around her, a glowing, light-pink Earth Pony sat hunched over her keypad, typing up a storm. Most of her light came from her pure white mane, which was longer than Derpy had seen anypony other than a Princess wear it, perhaps even longer. The white mane seemed to be constantly flowing in some soft, unseen breeze, and through it Derpy occasionally caught glimpses of her cutie mark; a cluster of stars mid-explosion. Derpy did not want to find out what her special talent was. Derpy turned and saw two more ponies sitting before a raised platform. One was an Earth Pony, mint-green in color with a leaf-green mane. Oddly, her eyes seemed to be glowing blue as she looked expressionlessly at the new arrivals, and Derpy thought she could see strange… crack in her skin. She looked quite unnatural. Beside her sat another Earth Pony, a stallion orange in color with a red mane. He gave her a compassionate smile, seemingly understanding her nervousness. She smiled back, and turned her eyes up toward the raised platform. She gasped. Sitting above all the other ponies, in what could only be described as thrones, were three of the most regal, yet outlandish, ponies Derpy had ever seen. On the right, A milky white mare sat tall in her chair, regarding the new arrivals with warm green eyes. What was fantastic about her was that, while she was quite clearly pony in shape, she possessed no fur, and had instead carefully polished scales. On her flank was cutie mark depicting a heart shaped ruby wreathed in blue flames. Upon her her svelte, faintly draconic head, she wore not a mane, but blue-purple spines that had been carefully coiffured into looking like a mane. The exception, however, was a white spine on her forehead that stood up at an angle, twisting around and reminding Derpy of a unicorn horn. In fact, as Derpy stared at her beauty, she was reminded of a certain fashion designer she knew back home. But that’s impossible, she thought to herself. I’m thousands of years in the future. It’s probably just a coincidence. To the right sat another draconic pony, this one less friendly looking and more dragon looking. His bright blue eyes were narrowed into slits as he observed the two before him, causing Derpy to tremble a little. His scales were a fiery green, and his flank bore a golden shield wrapped in white flames. His spines were a shade of purple, lighter than that of the other’s, and less molded than the white one’s, but they still had a unique style surpassing that which you would see on most dragons. Unlike his sister (Derpy had decided that they must be siblings, due to their similar shading and cutie marks), this one had no spine reminiscent of a horn; instead, protruding from his sides were two powerful looking dragon wings, which he kept unfolded. Not upright, like royalty often did, but instead low to the ground, as though their own weight was keeping them down. But perhaps even more amazing than these two was the vision of majesty that sat between them, in the largest throne of the three: an Alicorn Princess. Tall, svelte, and beautiful, she was bestowing upon Derpy and the Doctor what felt like the kindest, most compassionate smile in the universe. Upon her purple breast, she wore a golden necklace with a star-shaped, purple-pink gem inlaid in it, and she wore elaborate golden horseshoes upon her hooves. Her mane, unlike that of the Princesses Derpy was used to, was not flowing and amorphous, nor did it seem to be made of an indefinable substance; instead, it was quite clearly hair, long and dark purple, with a pink streak flowing through it. In addition to this, it softly swayed in the breeze, only just keeping it from touching the ground. Upon her head, she wore a golden, crystalline tiara with purple gems inlaid. Derpy, realizing that she was staring, bowed low to the ground, mostly out of respect, and partly out of embarrassment. The Princess laughed, and to Derpy’s surprise, it did not sound very princess-like. Instead, it sounded more like the laugh of somepony laughing at a clever joke their best friend had just told, albeit soft. It made Derpy feel immensely better. “There is no reason to bow, my little pony.” Said the Princess kindly. “If you are with the Doctor, that makes you a time traveller. And, from the look on your face, I see that you do not recognize me. Thus, you are no citizen of mine, but an honored guest!” Derpy rose, blushing crimson. The Princess let out a small chuckle, then turned to the Doctor. “It is good to see you again, my friend. I trust my summons find you well?” The Doctor smiled back and replied. “Oh, I’m fine to be sure. Didn’t get any ‘summons’, though. Thought i was headed for the Titanic, actually. I just have a quick question.” He raised an eyebrow. “Who are you?” An audible silence filled the room; even the pink pony had stopped typing and was staring at the Doctor. Suddenly, the Princess began to laugh in earnest. The dragon-ponies at her sides could only look on in confusion and slight discomfort as she toppled over and laughed until she couldn’t breathe. She slowly sat up, her crown now precariously perched on the side of her head as she struggled to regain her composure. At last she was calm, and she straightened her crown. “So, this is your first meeting with me?” She inquired, a grin on her face. “Never seen you before in my long, long life.” The Doctor replied with an equally broad grin. “But apparently you’ve met me before. And we’re friends, which is always good.” He turned to Derpy. “Take a note, Derpy: Never make enemies with royalty. Very bad idea. I once got on the bad side of the Trottingham royal family, and they’ve made it one of their life goals to see me dead.” His gaze grew far away as his smile turned wistful. “Good times, good times.” He turned his attention back to the Princess. “Now, you still haven’t answered my question.” The Princess chuckled. “Of course. My apologies.” She drew herself in her seat. “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, Fourth Princess of Equestria, Navigations Officer of the E.R.N. Celestia, and Heir and Successor to Princess Celestia. Pleased to make your acquaintance... again.” Derpy gasped as a wave of recognition washed over her. Twilight Sparkle!?!? That’s the name of the new librarian! The Doctor turned and addressed Derpy. “Now Derpy, I take it you’ve recognized her?” Derpy could only nod mutely. The Doctor sighed. “Alright, listen. This is one of the tricky bits about time travel. You can, for absolutely no reason, go back to your own time, or any time, and tell Twilight that she is going to become a Princess. Do you understand?” Derpy grinned and gave a salute, almost whacking the Doctor in the head and leaving a small red mark on her forehead. “Okie-dokey, Doctor!” The Doctor smiled and turned back to Twilight, who was watching the scene with amusement. “Now then,” he began, “I assume that since you said the you sent me a ‘summons’, I regularly come to aid you in your time of need. However, you were expecting an older me, but the universe had other plans and diverted my flight pattern to here for reasons unknown.” “And here I thought you were just a bad pilot.” Said Derpy sardonically. The Doctor pointed a hoof at her. “You hush, I’m monologuing.” He began to pace around the room. “Now, where was I. Since I’m here, and the laws of time probably won’t let the me you were expecting to show up now that I’m here, and, finally, from what you’re saying, I generally help you out whenever you call. Those are the facts. THEREFORE!” With that, he whirled to face the Princess and made a large, theatrical bow. “How may I serve you, your majesty?” Twilight clapped her hooves. “Well done, Doctor. I see you haven’t lost your acting chops.” She pushed a button next to her throne, and a glowing display appeared in front of her, showing what Derpy assumed to be the Celestia. “Here’s the deal. About 12 Equestrian hours ago, we ran into what can best be described as a flying saucer. Not recognizing the model, we immediately hailed it in order to ascertain its origin. To our surprise, they immediately opened fire.” She looked away from the screen at the Doctor. “As we are not equipped for combat, we turned tail and ran. And we’re still running..” The Doctor studied the screen carefully. “So where are they?” “One moment.” The Princess nodded to the white dragon-pony, who swiped a hoof across the keypad before her. The view on the screen enlarged to show, like the Princess had said, a flying saucer pursuing them. “Do you recognize the model?” asked the Princess. The Doctor furrowed his brow. “Surprisingly, no. I don’t suppose they ever sent a return transmission?” “Actually, yes.” This came from the strange green pony sitting before the thrones. Her voice had an oddly tinny sound to it. “It is only audio, but I can play it for you, if you desire.” The Doctor nodded. “That would be wonderful. Could you?” The strange green pony nodded and closed her eyes. The display on the screen changed to show a number of bars with a line crossing them. The line began to become erratic and jagged as the transmission, in the form of a deadly sounding mechanical voice, began to play. The Doctor’s face turned white as a ghost as the transmission played. Once it was over, he stood stock-still for a few moments, then turned to the green pony. “Could you play that again?” The pony nodded and closed her eyes again. This time, the Doctor mouthed the words along with the recording, trembling the whole time. “Can you make any sense of it, Doctor? It’s just that word, over and over again.” The Princess looked concerned. If something could scare the Doctor… The Doctor adjusted his tie and mumbled to himself under his breath in a language nopony present understood. He looked as though he had just seen a ghost. Derpy reached out and touched him lightly on the shoulder. “Doctor? Are you alright?” He looked at her, and in his eyes she saw an unspeakable fear. He cleared his throat and spoke with a surprisingly calm voice. “Derpy, stay here on the bridge. I need to get some things from the TARDIS to make sure I’m right.” He looked down at the ground. “O great Chronos, please don’t let me be right…” he muttered as he left the room. Everypony looked after him in confusion and fear, wondering what he had heard in the transmission to scare him so badly. The Princess looked at the green pony and said softly, “Mint, could you play that again?” This time, everypony strained their ears to see if there was any hidden message in the transmission, but in truth, there wasn’t. There were only the three words. The words that could plant fear even in the hearts of the Doctor ********** There was silence on the Bridge as the gathered ponies contemplated the message. Most of them were, that is. The grey Pegasus in the center of the room was still confused, and just a little bit bored. Why would he just leave me here? She thought to herself. I suppose he was just really scared… But of what? Derpy shivered at the thought that something could scare the Doctor, drawing the attention of Twilight. “Forgive my manners,” she stated. “I have neglected to inquire as to your name.” Derpy, realizing after a moment that she was being addressed by the Princess, blushed as she bowed. “My name is Derpina Ditzulous Hooves, mailmare of Ponyville, your majesty.” She looked up with an embarrassed smile on her face. “But most ponies just call me Derpy.” A smile lit up Twilight's face. “I thought you looked familiar! It’s so good to see somepony from the old days..” She cleared her throat. “Now, you already know me, so allow me to introduce you to the rest of the crew.” She gestured toward the bat-pony. “The funny looking fellow over there is Medical Officer Cold Blood, finest doctor this side of the Chimp’s Head Nebula.” Cold Blood gave a lazy salute with a goofy grin on his face. “Pleased to meetcha’, miss Hooves.” To Derpy’s surprise, he spoke with a southern twang. “You get in trouble, I’ll patch you up good.” Derpy waved back as the Princess continued. “Sitting beside him is our Science Officer, Supernova.” The glowing mare looked up coldly from her work and nodded at Derpy. Derpy, feeling a bit awkward, asked, “You know, I’ve never seen a pony that glows like you before…” Supernova replied in a voice that was full of music, yet oddly cold. “I am a Star Pony. Our kind has been rare for thousands of years, and I surmise that we have yet to reveal ourselves in your own time.” Derpy nodded mutely as Supernova returned to her keypad, and returned her attention to the Princess. “Sitting before me are Communications Officer Mint-O-Green,” the green pony inclined her head in greeting, her face still expressionless, “and Armaments Officer Jonagold Apple.” “Welcome aboard,” greeted the orange stallion in a sophisticated voice that Derpy would never have expected to hear from anypony with the last name Apple. Derpy was confused. “I thought this ship was unarmed? Why would you need-” He laughed. “Well, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean that the ponies on board aren’t.” He gestured at the guards around the room. “In addition to us officers, there are also a number of soldiers stationed on board for when situations get hairy.” “Finally,” the Princess interjected, “We have First Mate Skyfire,” She nodded toward the green dragon-pony, who was still glaring at the Pegasus, “and Captain Flameheart.” The white dragon pony seemed much friendlier. “Bonjour, mademoiselle.” she said with a sophisticated voice. “Welcome aboard the good ship Celestia.” She beamed with joy at having a guest on board her ship. “I hope that your stay with us will be très agréable.” She suddenly looked worried. “Then again, what with us being under attack, you have come aboard under… less than agreeable circumstances.” “Well, it’s a very nice ship all the same,” smiled Derpy. Flameheart smiled back, relieved, as Derpy returned her attention to the Princess. “And that’s everypony!” she said with a smile. “I’m sure you won’t be onboard with us for very long, but I find it helps to know everypony’s name. Especially during a crisis like this.” She looked around as she stood up out of her throne.. “Alright everypony, Derpy and I are going to go check on the Doctor. Stay the course, we should be reaching safety soon.” As the two left the Bridge, Derpy was in awe of the Princess. This was certainly the last thing she was expecting when she had jumped into the TARDIS with the Doctor, not that she was disappointed, of course. I wonder if all of his adventures are like this… she thought, before being startled out of her reverie by Twilight. “So, have you been travelling with the Doctor long?” she asked. Derpy noticed that she seemed more relaxed outside of the Bridge. Derpy, a little embarrassed to be talking to a Princess, took a moment to muster up the courage to reply. “N-no, your majesty. This is the first time I’ve ever gone travelling with him.” She giggled. “We were supposed to be on the Titanic.” The Princess laughed as well. “Yes, when I first met him, I had to convince him that he wasn’t in the Royal Canterlot Archives.” She lowered her head conspiratorially. “His aim can be a little off sometimes.” The two mares laughed as they entered the storage room and headed for the TARDIS. The door was wide open, so they just let themselves in. Twilight looked surprised. “Hm, he’s redecorated.” She said thoughtfully. Then she frowned. “Or, I suppose he will have redecorated. Lousy time travel…” Their eyes fell upon an open hatch in the floor, out of which various objects could be seen flying out of, and through which a familiar spiky brown tail could be seen. Derpy dodged a wind-up mouse as she approached the hatch. “Doctor?” she called, “You okay?” They heard a muffled, “aha!” and the Doctor raised his head up out of the hole. He looked much better now. “Yes, I’m fine. In fact, I’m better than fine! I’m absolutely wonderful!” He held up an old purple book with strange symbols on the cover. “I found my old nursery rhyme book!” The mares simply looked at him with confusion and concern. The same thought ran through both of their minds. That’s it, he’s lost it. Twilight stepped forward and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Um, Doctor, are you sure you’re feeling alright? Maybe you need to take a break-” He waved her hoof away. “I told you I’m wonderful!” he jumped out of the hole and plopped the book down on the console. “This should tell me exactly what I need to know!” He flipped it open to reveal more strange symbols that only he could understand. “This book should prove my suspicions wrong. And oh, how glorious that would be!” He flipped through the book until he came to a picture of something Derpy had never seen before. It resembled a garbage can, with strange half-spheres attached to it’s roundish base. A little above it’s middle, there were what appeared a whisk and a plunger protruding from it, and above that, a dome. Extending from the dome was a long shaft ending in an oddly shaped bulb. It looked like no natural thing Derpy had ever seen. “Derpy, did I tell you that I’m not a pony?” Derpy looked at the Doctor in surprise. “I’m sorry, what?” He smiled as he looked at the book. It was a very old, sad smile. “A long time ago… or perhaps it was a long time to come? Ah well, in a very long time that may either be past or future, there was a war.” He looked at her and she saw a strange look in his eyes. “My species, a type of pony called the Time Keepers, fought the greatest evil in all of time to prevent the universe from ending. We won, but our home planet was destroyed, and my ancestors were flung through time, somehow all managing to land in Equestria, at about 500 B.N.M.” He looked at Twilight and smiled. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were happy to welcome us to their homeland, and we pledged our services and our mastery over time to them, in order for them to properly protect their country.” He looked back at the book, and at the strange picture. “This was long before my time. By Time Keeper standards, I’m very young. So I never actually saw this great evil. But I heard stories.” He tapped the book. “My elders said that these being were pure evil, that they would stop at nothing to insure the destruction of everything. That was the reason they were created; annihilation of all things not… them.” “And, according to this, although I wish I was wrong, that transmission carries their battle cry. Their favorite word, if you will. Exterminate.” He looked at the mares with a grave look on his face. “Ladies, we’ve just run into the most dangerous being of all time. Daleks.”