Chapter 74
Love Doctor
King Trident was infuriated when he learned of the mole, and it took the combined efforts of Shining Armor, Trixie, Glitter, Gilda, Time Turner and Ditzy to convince him not to barge in and exterminate the changelings then and there. They only managed to appease him when Shining Armor proposed to host another meeting in which they would discuss a new strategy. According to Trident’s terms, no changelings would be permitted anywhere near the conference, and would even have to be guarded in the suite where they were currently recovering. He insisted on posting two of his own hippocampus guards at the doorway.
When Glitter offered to fetch Charcoal, Shining Armor advised against it, reasoning that he needed the rest. Trident was also quite sure that they could function just fine without him, so it was decided that the meeting would also exclude the colt. The session commenced almost immediately thereafter, allowing the leaders just enough time to gather. (This mostly meant rousing Nana from sleep, which she was not happy about, considering how early it was.) This time, the debates and discussions lasted for hours, from just before dawn to well after the sun had risen.
Meanwhile, Charcoal rested peacefully, completely oblivious to the decisions being pronounced without him. Garble’s wing even shielded him from the first rays of daylight, so he even had the luxury of sleeping in.
“Hey. ‘Morning, sleeping beauty,” Garble yawned, finally stretching out his wings and folded them in by his sides.
“What time is it?” Charcoal groggily groaned, blinking against the harsh light of the sun.
“Dunno. Probably ten or eleven, by the looks of it,” Garble estimated, glancing up at the sun overhead. Charcoal’s eyes bulged.
“I’ve got to get back! See what they’re doing about a new strategy, and check on Fink!” Garble was just climbing to his feet by the time Charcoal was bolting across the beach.
“Hey, Char!”
“Yeah?” Charcoal paused, skidding on the sand.
“Take it easy, will you?” Charcoal smirked.
“No promises. And Garble? Thanks.”
“Anytime, bro.”
Charcoal’s wings took him soaring over the wall of rocks and back to the town. The town was already bustling, and especially crowded due to all the newcomers. Yet, out of all the ponies Charcoal saw down below, he couldn’t pick out Shining Armor, Trixie, Glitter, Gilda, or even King Trident. Well... Glitter had said that Water Mark had offered them rooms. Perhaps he would find them at the Unbridled. With this new destination in mind, Charcoal changed course.
“Hey, Charcoal!” He was just approaching the hotel when Spectrum called him down. Without anything else to do, the pegasus was currently chatting with Hawk Stripe, Winter Green, River Rush and most of the hippocampus girls near Time Turner’s blue box. Charcoal acknowledged the call by diving down into their midst.
“What’s up?”
“The opposite of down?” Winter slyly grinned. This cracked Jet Stream up, and she was soon clutching her stomach as she rolled on the ground. Whirl Pool rolled her eyes and tried to sit her back up. Charcoal furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Seriously, though, what’s going on?”
“Nothing around here,” Spectrum shrugged. Apparently, the pegasus had inherited the responsibility of watching Charcoal’s pets. Heckley and Bandit had both been relishing the attention from the hippocampi, but now returned to their master. “We figured you’d know what was going on with the new plans.”
“New plans?”
“Yeah, we heard about the meeting. How’d it go?”
“There are rumors going around that King Trident has the changelings under lockdown. Is it true that he’s is taking over?”
“What?! What meeting? Who’s taking over? What are you guys talking about?”
“Oh dear,” Kelpie covered her mouth. “I take it you weren’t invited.”
“Shining Armor called another meeting to discuss a new battle plan, seeing as how the last one was blown and all.”
“We thought that you of all ponies would have attended!”
“No one told me about any meeting.” Charcoal wasn’t sure how to take the news. This was precisely what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? To step down and let the adults take care of things? Yet, being excluded from the conference made him feel... unimportant. Useless.
“Have they come out of the meeting yet?”
“I don’t think so,” Hawk shrugged. “No one’s come out of the hotel yet.”
“Then maybe I have time,” Charcoal thought, turning to head back to the hotel.
“Charcoal? You aren’t going to bring Heckley and Bandit, are you?”
“Huh? Oh. Sorry guys, but you’ve got to stay.” Heckley hissed indignantly, and Bandit likewise chattered his complaint. Charcoal had to manually pluck them off.
“You know, Charcoal,” Kelpie spoke up, “I don’t think it’s healthy for them to be changing hooves all the time. They’ve already lost their home and most of their family... you’re all they have left. Just spending one night away with somepony else stressed Bandit pretty badly.”
“Yeah! Just look at all the fur he sheds!” Spectrum ran his hoof over the ferret’s back and offered a thick clump of discarded fur. It was a wonder the creature had any hair left!
“Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t take them into the meeting with me,” Charcoal hastily pardoned. “Just... take care of them a little longer, will you? I’ll figure out what to do with them later.” Before anyone could argue, Charcoal vanished through the hotel doors.
The conference room was also guarded, and one of the hippocampi soldiers stopped Charcoal from entering. “The meeting is still in session,” he informed.
“I’m Charcoal. Charcoal Stormwood. I should be in that meeting!”
“We were instructed to inform you that your presence is not required,” the other guard stated.
“What? Who told you that?”
“King Trident himself passed the order. Though, Shining Armor also agreed it was best if you were excluded from this conference.” Charcoal’s heart fell.
“Oh.” Charcoal slowly turned away with a heavy heart. Was it something he’d said? Even Shining Armor thought it was best to omit him from the decision-making. Perhaps he had been a bit out of line last night... but what had happened to the, ‘I’m behind you’ attitude? It really was beginning to sound like King Trident was taking over. Charcoal thought the sea king had undergone a genuine change of heart, but was it possible that he was only seeking more power, trying to expand his realm?
Charcoal wasn’t aware that he’d been walking until he arrived at the changelings’ room, also guarded. Charcoal moaned in aggravation.
“Don’t tell me this room is off limits, too!”
“I received no such order, sir,” the guard confusedly replied. “I’m to keep the changelings here, but they are permitted visitors.” He wriggled aside for Charcoal to enter.
“Well, I guess that’s a plus,” the green pony grumbled before fiddling with the door handle. He found Fink still in bed and Shift still occupying the arm chair, though it had been moved a bit closer to the bedside. Shift turned around to see who had entered, and his eyes lit up upon spotting his friend.
“Charcoal!” he bounded out of the armchair and up to the colt. “Has it been decided, then? A new plan?”
“I don’t know, Shift. Everyone else is still in the meeting.”
“But you are not,” Shift pointed out.
“I wasn’t invited.” Charcoal pushed through to occupy the other armchair.
“Oh,” Shift sympathetically muttered.
“Has there been any change?” Charcoal examined still-sleeping Fink.
“No. I fear he will not wake.” Shift joined him by the bedside. “Shining Armor detected traces of a termination spell.”
“What’s that?”
“Shining Armor likened it to a magic poison, transmitted over a mental link.”
“So whoever was spying on us through Fink tried to kill him?”
“It would appear so.”
“Someone sure wanted to keep him quiet...” Fink must have valuable information! That meant keeping him alive was a top priority. Charcoal slid out of the chair and leaned on the bed to get closer to the changeling. “You said the spell acts like a poison?”
“That is how Shining Armor explained it. I myself am unfamiliar with such magic.”
“Hmm.” If Charcoal could detect the poison in Fink’s system, it might just be possible to separate it from his bloodstream and safely burn it away by means of thestral fire. But it would take an incredible amount of concentration and precision to destroy only the poison without damaging anything else. It was a good thing he was well rested!
Charcoal briefly ran his fire over the changeling, looking for any discrepancies. He didn’t find anything wrong the first time, furrowed his brow, and tried again. He was unfamiliar with changeling anatomy, so Shift allowed him to scan him for comparison. It took Charcoal much longer to find the afflicted area than Shining Armor, but it was still there at the base of his skull.
“Found it!” he proudly declared. The area felt... charred, even brittle. This had obviously been the delivery point of the poison. When he compared a sample of Fink’s blood near the delivery point to Shift’s, he thought he detected a foreign substance, most likely the poison. “Now...” Charcoal stuck out his tongue as he struggled to locate traces of the same substance in the rest of his body and get an idea of how extensive the damage was. He found evidence that the poison had made its way through his entire circulatory system and was now infecting his bones and organs, killing off the cells. Luckily, not enough of it had been transmitted to kill him right away, which was why he had managed to hang on until now. However, it also meant that it was sparsely spread, and difficult to isolate.
“If I don’t do this right...” Charcoal spoke more to himself than Shift or even Fink. “It could potentially kill him.”
“I don’t think he has anything to lose, Charcoal,” Shift pointed out, motioning to his comatose state.
“Right...” Even so, if Fink died now, it would be on his conscience.
“Please try, Charcoal. I believe you can save him.”
“Really? Even though I’m a kid and a blank flank?” Charcoal hopefully asked. Shift appeared confused.
“I do not see what your age or lack of a cutie mark have to do with anything. It is your ability that matters. I have seen that you are capable of great things, which leads me to believe that you can do it again.”
“You all keep saying that I’m great. Why?”
“Because... you are, Charcoal.” The changeling was unable to come up with a more specific explanation.
“Right. Thanks, I guess. And Shift... you know I didn’t mean what I said last night? I know you aren’t spying or anything, I was just upset.”
“I know,” Shift nodded understanding. A smile twinged at his lips as Shift felt the flow of love resume.
“Okay,” Charcoal sighed, turning back to his patient. “Here goes nothing.”
Beads of sweat popped up on Charcoal’s forehead as he strained, brow furrowed, eyes set in determination. He stared blankly forward, focused on picking out the invisible poison in Fink’s body. At first, it felt like he was destroying the toxin one molecule at a time, the work was so tedious. Not only did he have to get rid of the poison, but also provide the healthy cells enough energy to quickly regenerate and replace the dead ones. It was quite the difficult assignment.
Charcoal targeted the vital organs first- the brain, heart and lungs. By that time, he was beginning to get the hang of the process, and worked a little more quickly. Still, it was impossible to say how long he’d been working. An hour? Two? Three? It felt like an eternity. Yet Shift never budged, hopefully waiting, eyes glued to Fink’s unmoving body.
Charcoal had just rested- in fact, it had only been a few hours since he woke. But the procedure was requiring so much energy, he was drained again before he was even halfway through. The poison had been eradicated, but it was regenerating his cells that was so taxing. Charcoal didn’t know how else to encourage the growth of new cells but to provide them with his own energy. The tactic worked, but was inefficient.
“I can’t keep it up,” he panted. “He isn’t getting enough energy. I don’t have any more to give.”
“He needs love,” Shift realized. “If he feeds, he will be able to produce his own energy. Through the hive mind, small amounts of love were shared through the hive mind to sustain us. Now it is gone.”
“Then how are you sustained?”
“My friends provide my love, now.”
“You’ve been draining us?!” Charcoal finally lost his hold on the fire altogether, and disbelievingly stared at the changeling.
“Not intentionally,” Shift hastily assured. “You have all extended love of your own free will. I have no control over the love I absorb.”
“But... if you can’t control the love you absorb, shouldn’t Fink be absorbing that same love?”
“It is possible that Fink’s affiliation with Kindling, or whomever he was spying for, caused some to cut off their love.”
“I guess so,” Charcoal agreed. “But how do we get them to love him again? Or even just like him? He’s comatose, and probably won’t be waking anytime soon, so he can’t convince them himself. At the same time, what he did was pretty awful, and getting everyone to forgive him is going to be pretty tough.”
“If he does not receive love, he will die.”
“I wish Mom was here. She’s the Element of Forgiveness. She’d know what to do.”
“Well... what do you think she would do?”
“Oh, I dunno. Usually she’d go ask Twilight or one of her other friends. In this case, she’d probably convince her friends to provide love, and between the six of them, it’d be enough love to get him back on his hooves.”
“Then that is what you must do.”
“Huh?”
“Convince your friends to love Fink!”
“I...” Charcoal paused. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, she’s the Element of Forgiveness, not me. And secondly... I don’t know that they’d consider me a friend. I don’t talk to many ponies at home; I don’t know them that well. I only met most of them a day or two ago. My best friend was Pound Cake, and he’s gone now.”
“I am sorry about Pound Cake, and your aunt, and all the rest who were lost. But here is one that we can save. You may have known the hippogryphs only a few days, and the hippocampi only a single night, but you have been through much together. Those experiences have helped you form a bond.”
“They were all sitting together outside the hotel this morning,” Charcoal recalled. “They tried to call me over... I was too busy trying to get into the meeting to join them.”
“Whether you acknowledge it or not, Charcoal, you have more friends than you know.”
“You know a lot about friendship, for a changeling,” Charcoal grinned.
“Thanks to you, I am now able to think for myself,” Shift modestly dipped his head.
“Well... I guess I better go round up the gang, again. I’ll be back.” Charcoal gave up the armchair to the changeling. Leaving Fink under Shift’s careful watch, Charcoal took a shortcut out the window.
Charcoal must have been in there for hours, so he wasn’t surprised when he found that the group had moved. He was a bit amazed to find that the meeting between the leaders had just now ended; Trident was storming angrily out of the hotel, tail irritably flicking as he dragged it behind him.
“Stubborn mules! Bullheaded, stiff-necked, unreasonable dimwits! This is why I have never come up to the surface! Land ponies are impossible!”
“King Trident, your highness!” Charcoal made a pit stop by the king’s chariot as he was mounting. “What happened?!”
“Your ‘leaders’ are completely ridiculous, incapable fools! For six long, toilsome hours we discuss strategies and solutions, yet they refuse to make me a reasonable offer! I will not expend all my troops to fight while theirs remain safely harbored behind my line of defense. I am not a crutch for you to rely on. I will not fight your war!”
“King Trident, I assure you we’ll do our part! We just ask you to do yours.”
“You wish to exploit my kingdom’s assets! I will have none of it! I withdraw my troops! The changelings are your problem- take care of it yourself. Perhaps we will speak again when you learn to stand on your own four hooves!”
“But your majesty-!” Charcoal was cut off when the soldiers towing the chariot finally built up enough momentum on the pavement to take off. Time Turner and Shining Armor appeared in the doorway just a moment later.
“Fine! Stay out! We didn’t want you here anyway!”
“TIME TURNER!” Charcoal stormed up to the obnoxious pony. “What did you do? What happened in there?”
“It wasn’t him. Trident is convinced we’re relying too heavily on him,” Shining Armor sighed. “I just asked that he use his trident to wash out the changelings- you know, cause a distraction, at least enough confusion to give the rest of us a head start. He said it would drain too much water from the river. I suggested a few other methods that wouldn’t drain the river, and now he’s convinced I want him to fight the war for us. Nothing I say can convince him otherwise.”
“We need him!” Charcoal slumped to the ground.
“I’m sorry, Char. I did my best.”
“I’m sure you did.” Charcoal met his gaze. “We’ll have to worry about it later. Right now, we’ve got bigger problems. Fink is dying.”
“I know, Charcoal. I think he was poisoned with a termination spell. There’s nothing we can do.”
“You’re wrong. There is something we can do. You were right about the termination spell- I even managed to clear out all the poison from his system.”
“Really? How’d you do that?” Time Turner appeared fascinated.
“Long story. The problem is that his cells won’t regenerate fast enough to replace the dead tissue. Shift says he isn’t getting enough love.”
“Gee, I wonder why,” Shining Armor mumbled.
“We have to help him, Shining Armor! He can still help us!”
“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s save the changeling! Ditzy, where are you? Ditzy!” Time Turner returned inside to seek out his missing companion.
“I can’t help you, Charcoal. I can never love a changeling. They almost took my wife from me, once.”
“You love Cadance, don’t you?”
“More than anything, of course!”
“Fink can help us get her back. If you want to see Cadance again, you’re going to have to put the Canterlot incident behind you.”
“Well... I’ll try.”
“I can’t ask for more. Now, can you help me round up the others?”
“Gilda, Trixie and Glitter are inside. I’ll go tell them and see if Gilda knows where to find her hippogryph friends,” the prince nodded, retracing his steps. Meanwhile, Charcoal took to the sky in hopes of catching the hippocampus girls before Trident called them back to the sea.
“So what exactly are we all doing here?” Whirl Pool inquired, trying to find space to slither into the crowded room. Gilda had indeed been able to locate her hippogryph friends, and arrived back with them and Spectrum promptly. The pegasus had even brought Heckley and Bandit back, who were more than happy to nap on their master’s back. (As Charcoal didn’t have the heart to turn them down again, had finally resumed full responsibility for the creatures.) Though Charcoal had a head start in rounding up their friends, the hippocampi were much slower on land, and it took them a while to make their way back to the Unbridled Inn. Now that they had arrived, though, sixteen ponies (not including Fink himself) were crowded around the bedside, awaiting instruction.
“Fink needs our help,” Charcoal grunted, climbing over feathers and plumage as he attempted to make for the bed. “In changeling terms, he’s starving. Changelings feed on love, and now that he’s not connected to the hive mind, he can’t share the hive’s love. He’s on his own.”
“You want us to let him feed on our love?!” Hawk shrieked.
“Yes and no. Yes, I’m asking you to let him feed, but it’s not that simple. Changelings can’t just intercept your love... Shift, you’re better at explaining this.”
“Love must be directed at a changeling specifically in order for them to feed,” he clarified. “Right now, not enough love is being directed at Fink.”
“Oh, you poor thing!” Kelpie hopped up onto the vacant side of the bed to clear floor space and also get a better look at him. Shift sensed a trickle of love from the mare intended for Fink. Shift nodded at Charcoal.
“It’s working.”
“What’s working?”
“I sense love flowing from Kelpie to Fink. He is regaining strength.”
“But... I didn’t do anything,” she confusedly protested.
“So do you want our love or our sympathy? He’s got my sympathy alright, but he can’t have my love.”
“Charcoal, you do remember what landed him here in the first place?”
“He was spying, yes, but he didn’t have any control over it. Changelings are practically slaves when they’re connected to the hive mind. And Kindling is a pretty tough master to please. What’s important is that he tried to do something about it. That’s what landed him here. Because he decided that friendship so important to him, he was even willing to risk his life for it. Now his life really is on the line. He took the leap of faith... we aren’t going to let him down, are we?”
“Well... when you put it like that...” Winter smiled at the creature he once dreaded.
“Guess we should do our part,” High Tide agreed.
“He sounds like the kind of friend we all need... I hope he wakes up so I can meet him,” River Rush put in.
“I do find changelings to be a fascinating species! Wouldn’t you say, Ditzy?”
“Well... they definitely don’t look so mean when they’re asleep.”
Shift felt more and more love pouring from the collected ponies. He was almost jealous- only Chrysalis had ever been allowed to gorge in such quantities. A healthy glow returned to his face, and Glitter reported that his pulse was growing stronger. Still, he did not wake even when Kelpie tried to rouse him.
“It is not enough,” Shift assessed. “He needs more love.”
“Not enough?!” Trixie exclaimed. “I feel it draining me- how much more do we need?”
“Who else could we get?” Charcoal concurred. Shift’s gaze shifted to Shining Armor, the only one he could not sense contributing love. One by one, the others in the room also turned to him. The unicorn sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he shrugged. “I just can’t do it. Don’t get me wrong- I’ll... tolerate them...” he said, looking at Shift, “but I can never fully accept them. Not after what they did.”
“Shining Armor, you have to let it go!” Charcoal pleaded.
“They tried to steal my wife and sister!” he protested. “How do you ‘let go’ of that?”
“These changelings are different than the rest. And they’re our best hope at getting Cadance, Twilight and the Elements back, maybe our only hope. Here, close your eyes,” Charcoal directed. Dubiously, Shining Armor did so. “If you can’t see past the changelings, then focus on Cadance. They’re going to lead you to her. Right, guys?”
“Fink will know more than me,” Shift nodded.
“Fink is the connection. Just pretend he’s the conduit to transferring your love to Cadance. It should actually stop at him, right?”
“No. The love must be intended directly for him. Your ‘conduit theory’ will not work,” Shift corrected.
“Okay...” Charcoal desperately racked his brain for another solution.
“Prince Shining Armor,” Hawk interrupted. “Your highness... from what we’ve heard from Spectrum and Gilda and the news, it sounds like Princess Cadance is sort of like the Princess of Love.”
“Heh. I guess you could say that,” Shining Armor chuckled, a smile finally creasing his face as he thought of the beautiful mare he was lucky enough to call his wife.
“Well then, it sounds to me like she’d want you to help Fink,” Winter spoke, catching on to Hawk’s train of thought.
“Yes, do it for Cadance,” River agreed. Charcoal hopefully nodded. Shining Armor’s gaze again turned to the wounded changeling.
“For Cadance’s sake,” he slowly began, “I suppose I could make an exception.”
“Alright!”
“So... how do I...?”
“Once you have completely put the past behind you and open up your heart, you will feel the love begin to transfer,” Shift explained. Winter did his best to keep from laughing.
“That’s not cheesy at all...”
“The point is, you’ll know when it happens,” Charcoal rolled his eyes.
“It helps if you think good thoughts about him,” Glitter advised. “Focus on his best traits instead of the bad ones; what you would want in a friend.”
“Well... he’s brave, for sure, risking his life like he did...”
“Right! Go on.”
“And I suppose he follows orders well, even if it was for the other side.”
“What else?”
“Now that he’s free, he’s going to help me get my family back.” His voice faltered at the last one.
“He will help us now, Shining Armor,” Charcoal promised. “If we help him first.”
“Are you absolutely sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’ll trust you on this. He will help me get my family back,” he repeated, with much more conviction this time. Shift sensed the tiniest trickle of love begin to escape the unicorn.
“It’s working! He is healing!” This vote of confidence must have triggered something, because the trickle steadily grew until it became a steady flow, perhaps even a bit more aggressive than what anypony else offered.
Slowly, the shallow rising and falling of Fink’s chest became stronger, deeper. The onlookers barely dared to breathe for the next full minute as they watched in anticipation, eyes expectantly locked on their patient. A couple gasps did escape, however, when Fink’s eyelids began to flutter.
“He’s waking up!” Kelpie announced, pressing closer. High Tide and Jet Stream, who were also on the bed, had a fair view, but Cascade and Whirl Pool were having a hard time seeing, and crowded the others until they were literally straining over top of each other.
“Is he okay?” Cascade wondered.
“Is he up?” Whirl Pool asked.
“I can’t see,” Jet Stream pouted, now buried at the bottom of the dog pile. When Fink’s yellow eyes finally did blink open, he found himself nose-to-nose with Kelpie.
“Hello,” the shy mare grinned. Fink merely furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Ha! It worked!” Time Turner cheered, trying to take Ditzy for a victory spin before realizing there wasn’t enough room. The hippocampi pressed even closer, squealing with excitement and flooding the changeling with questions.
“How do you feel?”
“Are you alright?”
“Are you warm enough?”
“Should I get you something?”
“A glass of water?”
“Maybe he’s hungry. What about seaweed?”
“Changelings feed on love, smart one,” Whirl Pool lightly cuffed Kelpie.
“Oh.”
“Give him room, girls,” Current scolded, yanking them all back to the floor.
“Fink!” Charcoal cheered, jumping up from the other side of the bed, Shift close on his heels.
“Master Charcoal?”
“We talked about this, remember, Fink? It’s just Charcoal.”
“Fink!” Shift practically leapt on top of him on the bed.
“Shift.”
“Your spell worked, Fink! I no longer hear the hive!”
“Nor... do... I,” Fink realized with a start. “But... the termination spell! Why am I not dead? And what are all these ponies doing here?”
“We cut you loose before enough poison entered your system,” Glitter explained.
“They provided you enough love to heal, Fink!” Spectrum inserted.
“They... did?”
“All of ‘em,” Whirl Pool confirmed. “Even this guy,” she winked, leaning on Shining Armor’s shoulder. He nervously coughed, brushing her off with a blush.
“Then... I thank you. But... why? I... tricked you.”
“Eh... what’s a little trickery between friends? All’s well that ends well, right?”
“But I exposed your plans.”
“Which is exactly why we need your help to come up with new plans,” Gilda interjected.
“Who were you spying for, Fink?” Shining Armor spoke, more business-like now that he had regained his composure. Fink flinched as if accused. “It’s... uh... it’s okay. I know it wasn’t your fault.”
“Shining Armor provided most of the love to heal you,” Shift quietly offered. Fink’s eyes widened in disbelief. Wasn’t he the one that hated changelings more than anyone?
“Kindling,” he finally managed. “I was spying for Master Kindling Pyre.”
“I knew it!”
“Well, he’s not your ‘master’ anymore,” Glitter smiled, placing a friendly hoof on his shoulder. “We’re all friends here, now. And we’re all equals.”
“Right,” Charcoal nodded. “So as your friends, will you help us defeat Kindling?”
“I... will do my best,” Fink dipped his head.
“Are you feeling up to it? You nearly died!” River exclaimed.
“I will be alright. You should be more concerned about yourselves. The amount of love required to heal me must have proved very taxing.”
“You can say that again!” Glitter elbowed Trixie.
“Uh, hate to interrupt,” Time Turner piped up. “But don’t you think we should find someplace a little more secure... and spacious? This room is awful cramped.”
“Even the conference room will be a little tight with this many ponies,” Charcoal thought. “But we shouldn’t be out in the open where everypony can listen in. Where else can we go?” Time Turner smirked.
“I have a place.”
“You don’t mean-?!” Ditzy gasped.
“Why not?” the pony shrugged.
“What?” everyone else chimed in unison. The stallion’s devilish grin grew wider.
“Anypony interested in visiting my TARDIS?”