//------------------------------// // 6: Return to the Past // Story: The Key // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// “Hey, it's you!” Said Scootaloo. “We were looking for you for days.” Said the stallion, “We would have come sooner except we got distracted by two things, well three things, well three things and a pool of toothless alligators with a box of matches but that's not important.” “Just who you might be?” Princess Fluttershy asked. “Well, I'm the Doctor and this here is my assistant.” “A doctor who exactly?” Applebloom asked. “Just call me the Doctor.” He said, “And we're here to take the three of you home.” “Home?” the three fillies asked. “The three of you are not supposed to be here.” Ditzy said, “None of you were supposed to be taken out from where you were, to begin with. We just want you to take you back.” “So I reckon that Y'all were responsible for having them disappear from thin air?” said Princess Applejack as she approached them with a stern look on her face. “In a way,” said the Doctor, “that's why we're here to fix it.” “What are you going to do mister Doctor?” asked Sweetie Belle. “First of all, it's just Doctor, no mister, I'm not that old. Secondly, all we need to do is to take you back to the very minute that we were previously, to make it look like the three of you have never left.” Sweetie Belle was suddenly found herself engulfed in her sister's aura. She was flying from one wall to another into her sister's forelegs. “No! You can't take my Sweetie Belle! We just had been reunited after all.” “Um, Rares.” Princess Applejack flew over to her. “I think that's exactly what he's tryin' to do.” “But Applejack-” “Rarity, I think we should let them go.” “But why?” “We have been in mournin' over both of our sisters for the past thousand years because we had no idea what happened to them. Even if we did let them stay here, what difference would that make? Either way, we would just see them grow old and die. Don't ya think it would be all the better if we knew what happens to them a thousand years ago, then spend that time not knowin' what happened?” Rarity looked at Applejack, then at her sister. She hates to admit it, even to herself, but she was right. She nuzzled her sister for one last time. “Sweetie Belle, it's about time that you along with your friend should be returning home.” Sweetie Belle hugged her sister back. “Thanks, Rarity, this has been the best day ever. I'll never forget it.” “I'm sure you wouldn't. Now go, you too Applebloom and Scootaloo.” The three fillies made their way over to the Doctor and the mailmare, but before they walked out of Pinkie's home, Princess Applejack stopped her sister. “Just a moment.” She said, “I want to say somethin' to my sister before you go.” “We'll just wait outside.” The Doctor said as he, Ditzy, and the other two crusaders exited out. “Applebloom, when you go home, I want ya to do me a huge favor there.” “Sure, what is it?” “It's not gonna be easy at all, but if ya do, it would lead towards a better future for both of us.” “Well, what is it?” “Promise me, that when ya get home a thousand years back, when you have the time to talk to- well, me, I want you to tell me you like Scoots.” Applebloom eyes went wide and her cheeks redden. “W-why?” she asked. “Look, until Braeburn got hitch, I myself didn't tell Granny or Big Mac because I was afraid of what my own family would think. But if you told me, it might give me a reason not to be afraid. And besides, maybe I might have asked Rainbow out sooner.” “Um... O-Okay.” “That's my Applebloom. Now go home, ya hear?” She nodded before she left, she gave her sister a nuzzle, said her “Good-bye” and left. -*- It had only been five minutes since the blue box has disappeared in the junkyard on Trotting Lane. Then amongst the quiet, a strange noise rang out. It was the sound of a mix of a siren and a growl. But when it ceased, the blue box materialized back to where it once was. A moment later, the doors opened and the three crusaders stepped out. “Are ya sure this is our time?” Applebloom asked. “The same date as we left my dear Applebloom.” the Doctor said with reinsurance. “So, we just go home?” Ask Scootaloo. “That's it? We just walk away from what just happened?” “Yes, pretty much.” “Should we tell anypony?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Do you think they would believe you? The three of you stepped into a box that's bigger on the inside, got teleported a thousand years into the future with a Doctor and the local mailmare?” “Well, when you put it like that, it does sound rather ridiculous.” “Oh, and Der- I mean, Ditzy Do,” said Scootaloo. “Yes?” “Sorry about the key. We didn't know it was yours.” “That's okay. At least I got it back. Thanks anyway.” “So where are Y'all gonna go from here?” Applebloom asked. “I don't know.” Said the Doctor with a grin. “Miss Hooves, how does Titan sound?” “Where's that?” the mailmare asked. “It's one of Jupiter's moons.” And with that, the door was closed, and the blue box vanished from sight. Sweetie Belle couldn't help but stuck her hoof into the empty space where the box was once was. “Wait-a-minute!” Scootaloo said with a sudden realization, “If we just traveled into the future and back, does that mean we get time traveling cutie marks?” The three of them looked at their flanks. Still nothing. Once again, the three of them “Awed” in disappointment. The three crusaders called it a day. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle already went home. Applebloom was on her way home, back to Sweet Apple Acres.