//------------------------------//
// Chapter 11 
// Story: MLP: A Favor Returned 
// by WorldWalker128 
//------------------------------//

	As it turned out, it did not work, but after a phone call to the royal palace and a frantic apology from the woman in charge both The Doctor and his adorable Pegasus assistant were allowed inside, to the outrage of everyone else outside, and their shouting increased in volume as the door swung shut once more behind them.
As they crossed the reception room several of the working staff whispered to one another, each one glancing at their boss escorting the two equines. A few tried to ask her what made them so special when so many others were being kept out, but she did not answer, her face annoyed.
They passed through three small rooms, once of which including a metal detector and a screen for detecting anything being inter-dimensionally smuggled. Both The Doctor and Ditsy were pulled aside and searched, but other than trying to confiscate The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, which took brief flashing of his Psychic Paper (which the machine failed to detect)  to allay, nothing out of the ordinary was found on them. His having two hearts however, drew stares of disbelief from the fat guy watching his security screen followed by a systems check for errors.
Once through the last security room they entered a long hallway. Every wall they'd seen so far was a boring white with a boring white tiled linoleum floor, and other than the occasional motivational poster or informative 'Dos and Don'ts' signs and the rare potted plant, nothing broke the dullness, and The Doctor voiced this.
“You've got entire worlds to draw cultural arts from, and all you've got is the standard office-building look? Really?”
“Art costs money.” Boss-lady explained. “This building is government funded.”
“Ah, I see. Makes perfect sense now.”
“It does?” Ditsy asked.
“Perfect sense, Ditsy. Most human government officials hate spending money on everything except themselves!”
“So then why is there a building here at all?”
“Security.” The Doctor replied, sighing. “Not every human is friendly, just as not every Pony is friendly or has the other race's best intentions in mind. In this time's past, there are several recorded incidents of various crimes committed by both worlds. This security building was built on both sides of the inter-dimensional doorway, with each building having the majority of their workers from the other world so as to best represent their home world's interests in safety and suggestions for interaction to those that wish to visit. This building also has several floors under our feet for educating first-time visitors on the finer parts of Equestrian society. There is another building for teaching Mythica's residents how to interact with some of Earth's cultures on the other side of the Gateway as well, and they also search everyone coming in too.”
“They search those that go through the doorway? But we just-”
“Yes, well,” The woman said in a voice that suggested she'd heard this argument hundreds, if not thousands of times already. “Our equipment isn't perfect, and it's not built for looking for magical devices. OBOMAR's headquarters is on Earth, so their tech for detecting magical objects or enchantments is on that end. Cheaper that way.”
They stopped before a large and heavy metal door and the woman swiped a plastic card that she took from her back pocket and pressed five numbers on a keypad below the card reader. The door made a few grinding sounds that sounded as if they came from inside the door itself, and then it swung outward into the next, and final room. Inside stood both the stone doorway that was the original Inter-dimensional Gateway, and next to it an area that was ringed with blue paint on the floor that surrounded a hole in the air that revealed on the other side a room of similar design.
“Earth awaits you, messengers.”

Earth did indeed await them, and it was eager to learn why Celestia had decreed that all travel between the worlds was suddenly forbidden. Just as there were a crowd of Humans and Ponies and other races on Mythica trying to go across, so too were there a mix of races trying to go to Mythica, and many of them were angry, or afraid. So great was the group of protesters gathered outside the building that had been constructed around the Gateway that Ditsy and The Doctor needed to be escorted out of the building and across the parking lot.
Several news crews tried to get through, jabbing their microphones at both the guards and the two Ponies they escorted, but none of them said a word until they were sheltered within a helicopter that had arrived half an hour later at The Doctor's request. He might not have held as much influence in the history of this Earth, but that did not mean that he'd not saved several groups of individuals or even the planet several times over already and that those that knew he'd saved it weren't grateful.
Ditsy pressed her face against the plastic window of their helicopter and looked down at the weird (in her opinion) vehicles the locals of this world were using to get around.
“Wow! They have carriages that move on their own!” She exclaimed into the mic of her headset. For all the advancements Humanity had made, they still had not managed to successfully completely muffle the racket a helicopter produced as far as the cabin was concerned (nor had they managed to build flying cars that were purely technological). Muffling the noise outside would likely be impossible without magical interference.
“Indeed they do, Ditsy. They also have sea-vehicles that allow them to travel to the bottom of their oceans and others that let them journey to their moon and beyond.” Though they still won't find out Mermen and Mermaids really do exist for another hundred and sixty-three years! He chuckled. That encounter was going to be a doozy!

An hour later their ride landed beside a building that looked far from being anything official. Seeing this, The Doctor tapped the pilot on the shoulder.
“Correct me if I'm wrong, but we seem to be out next to a power station. You're supposed to be taking us to the CGC (Central Government Center) for this part of the world.”
The pilot looked over his shoulder at The Doctor wearing a poker face and then looked out of the window where several fourteen men dressed in stereotypical government-agent uniforms had exited the building and were now surrounding the helicopter. They were not pointing guns at them, but they did not look very friendly either. “Oh, dear...”
“If you'll step outside the helicopter, they'll take you to who you need to see.” The Doctor frowned
“Who I need to see are this world's leaders, not a secret organization. I've already gone through this sort of thing at least five times, and it rarely ends well for anyone! What I need to say is far more important than you can imagine!” The pilot did not respond other than to say that he and Ditsy needed to exit the vehicle again. “Fine.”
With a little creative maneuvering of his hoofs both Ditsy and The Doctor opened their doors and climbed out of the helicopter and stepped down onto the landing pad. Once they were both on the ground the helicopter's blades sped up enough for liftoff once more and it flew away. While Ditsy watched it go The Doctor trotted up to the nearest of the men in black and looked up at one. “Alright, you've brought us here. Now hurry and say what you wanted to say; we've got a lot to arrange to happen, and very little time to do it in!”
“I have nothing to say, Doctor.” The Doctor raised his eyebrows. “Yes, we know who you are. And your blond friend, as well. The one that wants to speak to you is inside that building in her office. If you'll follow me?”
“I take it that's not an actual request?” The man turned away, as did the others, and surrounding the two Ponies, began heading back to the building they'd exited from.
One brief explanation on electrical elevators to Ditsy and two dozen floor down later their group exited the large elevator they'd stepped into out into a large room filled with people, echoing footsteps, and the hum of machinery.
Scattered around the room several people were using magic, but they were few and far between, and those that were using it were all making use of it for moving something far larger than themselves. Also, the majority of them wore single-colored outfits of yellow, blue, red, and black.
“What do the different colors mean?” The Doctor asked, for there seemed to be nothing that really separated one from another. Nothing they carried, their physical condition, nor the pace at which they moved from one location to another seemed to indicate anything special about their arrangement.
“At the moment, because we are in a time of peace, nothing. Should we once more enter a state of combat, however, each color-group will be assigned to perform a specific task.”
“And those would be...?”
“I am not at liberty to say.” The Doctor nodded with an expression of mock-understanding on his face.
“Ah yes, I see. Completely understand! Well then, take us to your leader!”

^  ^  ^  ^  ^

I blinked at the bright sunlight shining down through the clouds and raised an arm to block it from shining into my face and continued blinking until my eyes had adjusted. When they had I turned around so that I'd be facing the edge of Everfree forest. To my confusion I found that I'd appeared more than forty feet away from it rather than the ten I'd been aiming for. I guess a few trees have been cut down since my time. I shrugged and Blinked to the actual edge, and then pushed a low leafy branch to one side and stepped into the forest.
I'd been told to go to the path that had been cut through the forest from the Gateway, but where'd I'd teleported to was not far from that place, and I would be there in less than five minutes, though with the trees blocking my way I'd likely not know it until I stepped out onto the road that Celestia told me was now there.
The forest had not really changed much from how I remembered it being from my time other than there being less birds singing and the mild ominous feeling that normally settled in seconds after entering the shaded areas was gone. Upon looking at the decomposing leaves on the ground I also discovered that much of it had been recently disturbed, and not in the 'running for their life' disturbed. If they had been running, there would have been a lot more ground kicked around than there was. There's another difference: someone's been willingly walking in these woods! I guess the forest has been tamed. Lifting my head from the eventually-to-be dirt I added my own footprints to the forest floor and with only a brief magical inquiry as to which way I needed to go I set out and continued walking, glancing about occasionally.
Once, I paused briefly, thinking I'd seen a phoenix flying by, but after a second glance I saw that it was only the movement of some flowers on a vine that almost completely covered a tree bobbing in the breeze. After that one distraction, however, another did not come until I reached the paved road and nearly got had one of my feet run over by the right rear wheel of a motorized carriage modeled after a horse-drawn carriage. This same carriage was pulling along a cart behind it piled high with several types of digging tools as well as a few small machines I did not recognize. Wouldn't a pickup truck have been better for that?
“Watch where you're going, you moron!” Yelled an irritated blue Unicorn, who stuck her head out of one of the wooden doors. “Didn't your mother ever tell you to look both ways before crossing the street?!” I opted not to answer and instead stepped off the road once more and followed it in the same direction she was driving. I did not have to walk long before arriving where they had found their destination. And given that a second vehicle had arrived shortly after I did, I took them to be the team that I was assigned to join up with.
Not wanting to waste any more time than I already had I walked closer to them and cleared my throat when they seemed to ignore me. Of course, the first person to say anything was that same Unicorn from before. She narrowed her eyes and trotted up to me and poked one of my legs with her hoof. “So, the would-be roadkill has followed us. What do you want?”
“Is this the retrieval team tasked with retrieving the 'object' from the Everfree Forest?”
“And you are?” asked a man old enough to be my grandfather (if my actual grandparents weren't dead). He did not sound grumpy, but not willing to tolerate foolishness either. If I had no business being present he'd no doubt have made sure I'd left post-haste.
“Jacob Pharaoh Lighthand the Ninth.” I stated in a clear, loud voice so all those whom were not still speaking to one another could hear. “First Human student to Princess Luna, and time traveler.” I extended my empty hand. “And yourself?” I kept my face serious so as to not incur any ire, but other than the old man no one looked like they believed me, and most thought I was mocking the old guy. Several members of the retrieval team opened their mouths, most likely to tell me to get lost, but gramps took my hand and shook it.
“You're a little early, but that's a good thing.” He did not look impressed, but not doubtful in the slightest, which I found a bit refreshing. To him, I was just another man here to work. “So, do you have any idea what we're looking for?” he asked, turning away from me and walking to the tool-laden cart. He spoke to a younger man and an earth Pony about the shovels, and then walked to a large cooler and removed a bottle of water from it.
“Sorry, no. I'd hoped that you all would.” He shrugged while he uncapped his drink.
“I know that we're to be digging something big up. Supposedly an ancient preserved city or something of the like.” The earth Pony and younger man walked between us carrying five two-hand chainsaws. The man carried two in his hands and the Pony three on his back. “Unfortunately, the area where it's supposed to be is overgrown with thick forest, so we'll need to clear that area first. We've also only been able to about ten actual chainsaws on such short notice, though so the rest will be up to you magic-users.” He gestured to a group of six all-adult Unicorns who were carrying saw large round power-saw blades with their magic by their sides. The blades were larger in diameter than the length of their legs and the teeth were small in comparison and close together. “If it were up to me I'd simply set that area of the forest on fire and let it burn down and then just sweep the ashes out once they cooled off, but I was rather firmly instructed not to.”
“So now we do this the safer, yet longer way.” He nodded, then his face became one of nervous anger and he began waving his arms and looking over my shoulder.
“Careful, you idiots! Some of that equipment is worth more than you'll make in the next five years!” Moving surprisingly quickly for one that looked as old as he did he shoved me slightly to one side and walked quickly back to the truck where a pair of Pegasi were haphazardly juggling a piece of equipment a little larger than a full-sized watermelon but not quite as heavy between the two of them and trying frantically not to drop it. In the end they dropped it anyway and I caught it with magic and lowered it to the ground where someone or somepony could get it later. Looking and no doubt feeling sheepish, the Pegasi flew away from the truck and the old man's ranting.

The rest of our day was spent, for the most part comparing the forest's current size with the crude map drawn and sent to us by Celestia's parents of the forest in their time. It was not until the following morning that the group came to a decision on where to start cleaning the forest. I myself gave no opinion as I still was not certain what we were looking for. I had a theory, but it was only that, and given how much time had passed since the Magi-Time Lords had changed themselves into what they were today it was highly unlikely that their first home was still intact. Especially given that the forest had grown over it, meaning the roots could have effectively destroyed or disabled whatever it was the royals hoped to retrieve.
The following week was spent cutting down tree after tree after tree and removing them from the chosen site, and even with everyone available working all at the same time progress was slow in the making. For the sake of saving time I'd asked the people in charge why I could not simply rip the trees up with magic. They'd replied, however, that most of the trees in this area of the forest were very old, and it was very likely that their roots had intertwined with one another over the decades (if not centuries), which would have made trying to rip a few of them up similar to trying to pick up a blanket from its middle; the whole thing goes up, or none of it. In the end I was given the duty of teleporting the trees that were being cut down outside of the forest before they could completely fall. What was to be done with the unneeded lumber when we were finished here, I had no idea.
Once the trees were cleared we began digging down to expose and remove the roots, which proved to be an even more drawn out task, and finally, after another four days of digging, clearing away what we'd dug and yet more digging, we finally hit a flat surface. That surface turned out to be made of stone, and after finding its edges and more digging we discovered that it was a house. A house almost completely filled with soggy dirt. More houses in various states ranging from well-preserved to rubble followed the first until we had a small dirty town in a hole several feet below the modern surface in which the Everfree forest grew upon.
Our finds were documented and sent in a report at the end of every day to the royalty, with little reply other than to 'keep digging down' until even our expedition leader was becoming annoyed. His annoyance vanished when some excitement in the A16 digging square drew onlookers from other areas.
“Oi! What are you all doing over there?” He yelled from the collapsible table that had been set up on the current era's ground level. Several workers near the 'overseer' stopped what they were doing and looked up at him, and then followed the direction his arm pointed until he yelled at them to get back to work. Though I too was curious as to what they'd found, I knew far better than they that our time was short and kept at the task I'd been assigned and teleported the pile of dirt before me into the gorge that Twilight and her friends had needed to cross in order to get to the ancient castle that the royals had once called their home. Once it was disposed of and I had little else to do and joined the small gathering.
What the people in square A16 had uncovered seemed to be a metal door completely without a trust or rust or tarnish (if you ignored the dirt) lying flat with the ground we stood upon. Etched into the door (which we discovered only after cleaning it) were several symbols that none of us recognized, as well as an indentation in the general shape of a hand, though the fingers were too long. A rubbing of it was sent along with the daily statues report at the end of the day. With this find, a sudden eagerness filled the other members and their tasks were taken to with an enthusiasm that lasted the rest of the day.
On the tenth day Elpis arrived in the company of Celestia and (once formalities were out of the way) then were quick to ask where we had uncovered the door. Amplifying her voice, Celestia called me to them, though I had no idea why given that none of us had managed to open it no matter the method we'd tried (that the excavation leader would allow). If the door wasn’t jammed, then we were obviously doing something wro-


%  %  %  %  %


“Why are you rushing this part?” Twilight interrupted Jacob. “You've given almost no details such as how humid it was or anyone’s names and appearance or how dry or cold the dirt you were all digging in was, or anything! You're just jumping from event to event to event!”
“It's a trait that many Humans share when they're eager to talk about a particular event, Twilight.” The Doctor explained. “Besides, do you really want to know what kind of dirt or chunks of stone they were digging through?”
“That’s no excuse!” Twilight, ever the detail-obsessed scholar, complained. “Besides, isn’t the Human race’s version of battles usually horrible?” The Doctor sighed and looked sad.
“Twilight,” he began. “Your planet may be the only one in this entire galaxy that calls extended food fights a battle; yes, the confrontation was far from pleasant. Countless hundreds, if not thousands combined from both sides, died that day and night.”
“Then why is he eager to discuss it?”
“Because the brains of most Humans normally gloss over particularly bad memories so as to preserve the sanity of the individual experiencing it. It also helps that Jacob paid very little up-close-and-personal role in it. Nearly all that he knows about it he heard from others.”
“Why is that?”
“It was not until near the end that he joined the fight directly, but you'll find out more later.”
“So stop interrupting, Twilight!” Rainbow scolded. “You're slowin' them down!”
“I don't much like all the violence or the idea of digging a filthy hole in that dreadful forest, but I would still like to know the rest, Twilight.” Rarity added.
“And the longer this takes them ter tell, the more you and the other girls will have 'ta tell me when I need to go home. Not all of us have an entire day's worth of free time, sugarcube.”
“Alright, alright! I'll hold my questions until they're done!” Twilight promised, annoyed, holding up one leg.


^  ^  ^  ^  ^


“Yes, your highness?” I asked. “What do you need?”
“One of two things: either for thee to open the door, or for thou to give thine staff to another Human and let them open it.”
“What?” I asked, puzzled.
“What you hath uncovered is an outer hatch that leads into the star faring craft that we used to travel from our home world to this one. We built our town on top of it so as to conceal it from both the over-curious locals as well as hide any energy signatures that it might still be producing. By now its power sources will hath been long-since exhausted, so it will need an outside source to make it function again.”
“But what does my staff, or even me for that matter, have to do with it?”
“All of our more high-energy consumption machinery possessed two separate energy storage units. One stored electrical energy as a backup system, and the other stored and made use of our own magical energies. Both storage units are no doubt empty by this time, but if energy is applied to the door directly then it should still operate.”
“And if time and natural wear and tear have locked it in place and it's inoperable?”
“Then thou shalt need to dig down deeper until thee reach the hanger doors and then thou shalt try those doors as well. Should they not function, however, it shalt not matter if we can get inside of it or not.”
“Why not?”
“Most of this vessel's firepower comes from a dozen single-pilot fighters that are inside. Our journey to this world was meant to find someplace to live in peace, so we did not take a warship. It hath its own defenses, yes, but given that they are most likely filled with the surrounding soil they will like as not fail to function.” I made a face at this new information. If those doors don't open then all this effort digging down to the dang thing will have been a waste and we'll still be screwed!
“But wait a minute,” one of our dig members began. “If more of your firepower is in these ships, then why are we going to remove the coolant fluid from them? Won’t it be better spent inside their ships?”
“And how doth thee propose to remove the ships from a hanger with inoperable doors that is buried beneath the ground?”
“Magic.” The pony digger replied. “Just teleport them to the surface!” Elpis tilted her head to one side, studying the dirty digger with a raised eyebrow.
“In thy mind, citizen, is it better to have a large target to distract thine enemies whilst the smaller ones do the real damage, or to have all the smaller ones targeted and quickly destroyed leaving the lesser-equipped part of your forces almost defenseless?”
“Uhhh….” He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.
“If we can power up this ship first and the Heart is still alive then we can Travel to another place and gather more coolant for the other craft.”
“The Heart?” I asked. “You mean like with The Doctor’s TARDIS?” 
When I made the mistake of asking how the TARDIS worked on our way from my ‘present’ on my second trip through time (before we internally spun out of control and were tossed all over the room) the time-pony launched into a lecture not unlike a certain purple unicorn I knew that quickly made my head hurt. He stopped with a knowing smirk two minutes later and gave me the highlights and one of them was that the TARDIS was more than just a machine. It had a heart and soul of its own, and if the TARDIS’ Heart were to die then it would cease to function.
“Yes.”
“But mother, was not your home world destroyed?”
“All life was, yes. But the planet itself was left intact, as well as, I hope, the automated repair station inside our third moon. We shall not be likely to discover any weapons within it, but we art not going there for guns.”
“And if the moon was destroyed?”
“Then we shall travel backwards in time until we arrive at a point that it was still intact, and relocate ourselves within it then. If we are to save your worlds, we have little other choice.”