//------------------------------// // Back to the Castle // Story: Destiny Book 2: Time Traveling Foal Sitters // by SirScribe //------------------------------// The Doctor yawned as he awoke from his dreamless sleep. Since he didn’t make it a habit of sleeping, he didn’t know what to dream about. His mind was rushing as his past lives debated the structure of the plan. He knew that this plan needed to go perfectly, otherwise Celestia and Luna will never reach the throne and Twilight will never reach her destiny. Maybe that won’t be so bad, especially with what Starswirl saw, he thought to himself. The Time Lord shook his head. Twilight’s future isn’t set in stone…yet. She has 2,000 years until she decides whether or not to accept her fate. I hope you were wrong, Starswirl, because the world isn’t ready for the End to come. The Doctor sighed. He rose from the hay he shared with Applejack. He walked out of the room and out the door leading to the balcony. The door creaked as it opened, but the Doctor didn’t mind. Greeting him was the rising sun. The colors of red, orange and yellow danced above his head, welcoming a new day. The Time Lord knew, however, this day was going to end in one of two ways: victory for the Alicorn Empire or the end of all magic in Equestria. The Doctor sighed as he replayed yesterday’s events. Celestia and Luna managed to watch as their parents were destroyed and the castle they thought was safe was attacked. It is sad that there will be plenty of chaos in their lives before they can find peace. Just the idea of it made the Doctor wish he could alter their timelines, but even couldn’t do that. Behind him, the door opened. The Doctor turned to see his companion standing at the doorway without her Stetson. She had bags under her eyes and her mane suggested that she didn’t sleep well. “You look awful,” the Doctor said. “Ya look worse,” Applejack responded. The two chuckled. “You look like you had a nightmare,” the Time Lord pointed out. Applejack bowed her head and kicked the straw on the balcony. “Do you want to talk about it?” Silence came from the companion. “Problems don’t go away when you keep them to yourself, you know that right?” “Well, yeah but—” “I understand if you don’t want to share what’s been bothering you. I won’t pry, but I just want you to know that if you isolate yourself with a problem, the problem will grow into a situation, and it will be difficult to remove. My door is always open,” he said. Applejack looked up. Her heart started to beat faster than one of Rainbow Dash when she performs a Sonic Rainboom. “Ah need to ask ya somethin.’” “Go ahead,” he said. “Do ya find yerself feeling regret when ya lost yer family?” The Doctor sighed. “Yes.” Applejack looked up. “I’ve felt regret, mainly because I was too scared to use the power I had to save them. Instead of using my brilliant mind to save them, I used an old weapon that destroyed them. I had to face a difficult choice. Either stay in the war and watch the Universe burn and later die, or destroy both my people and the Daleks with me at the heart of the explosion. Either way, I died that day. Stay and die or fix everything and die.” He paused. “I wanted to die that day. I wanted my body to erupt in flames as my regeneration kills me but the Universe didn’t give me that salvation. I survived when I didn’t want to. I guess in the end, the Universe saved me. Because I survived, I base every action on what happened on Gallifrey that day. Either everybody dies, or everyone goes home and lives another day. Gallifrey falling is my strength that I use every day to ensure it never happens again to any civilization.” Applejack looked down. “What about ponies ya lost, like family or companions?” The Doctor smiled. “Every companion I’ve ever had brought something incredible to the TARDIS. Losing them over time has taken a toll on my hearts, but what they bring in the TARDIS never leaves. They turn me more human, in this case pony, every day. Their strength is my strength. The strength of your parents is your strength as well.” Applejack looked up. “Ah didn’t mention mah folks.” “You didn’t need to. I sensed what was troubling you yesterday.” The farm pony sighed. “Either ah stay with ‘em and die, or ah run and die inside. Either way, ah died that night.” The Doctor smiled. “Your parents saved you from an early death. They knew you will become somepony simply amazing. Let’s prove them right.” Applejack smiled. Then from the doorway to the house, Sea Crest cleared his throat. The time travelers looked up. “Good Morning Sea Crest. Sleep well?” “Not really, but I think I can manage.” He looked out toward the Everfree Forest. “Today is the day, isn’t it?” “Well, tonight is probably the best time. There’s a storm coming, and I do believe it is the best time to hit the Changelings hard,” the Doctor said. Sea Crest sighed impatiently. “I just want this nightmare done and over with.” “And it will end, we just need to go over the plan.” “He’s right,” Applejack said. The alicorn guard sighed. “Very well.” The Doctor smiled as he looked out toward the Everfree Forest. “Time is in flux. That means anything can happen and the future can be changed. This is where we are: we have the Princesses, the last of the royal family sleeping in the house. We have a castle filled to the brim with Changelings and maybe the king himself. We have a doomsday device that, if it is unlocked, can cause a magical blackout that can destroy the future for all of us, and we have the Draconiqui Empire silent as the grave somewhere in the world. Am I forgetting anything?” “Yes, you’re forgetting the fact that if this does not work, I have the full power of the Alicorn Empire to activate the Cataclysm as a Plan B,” Sea Crest said. Applejack sighed. “That is not an option,” the Doctor said. The alicorn approached the Time Lord. “I’m sorry, but which one of us is a royal member of the Alicorn guard? Which one of us actually fought in the war against the Draconiqui? ME!” “And which one of us knows that if the Cataclysm doesn’t work, the whole future will be doomed? Celestia and Luna have a great destiny ahead of them, one that will span eons and be remembered as the Time of Peace that lasts over 6,000 years. If Celestia and Luna die because the Cataclysm was never tested, you destroyed the future,” the Doctor said. Sea Crest growled. “Doctor, I am acting on orders—” “From a dead empire! Face it, the Cataclysm is a weapon that can be used against anypony and everypony. It will be taken apart once we get inside,” the Doctor said. “End of discussion.” Sea Crest huffed in annoyance. “Ok, Applejack I hope you remember how to use the organ inside the castle. Now, I bet there will be guards both inside and out. Once you are clear of the guards inside, I need you to take the ones outside. I checked the castle last night and I saw two on the towers. I assume you can deliver.” Applejack smiled. “Ah promise ah’ll always deliver,” she said. “Ok. Once the guards are gone, Sea Crest and I will enter through the front. I’ll give you some earpieces so we communicate. I will give you the hallway number of where the guards are the heaviest. You take care of them, we get inside, and we wing it from there.” The alicorn sat up. “Whoa wait a minute. Did you say ‘wing it’?” “Yup,” the Doctor said. Sea Crest facehoofed. “Wing it? You are going to infiltrate the most heavily guarded structure in the whole world and just wing it??” He laughed. “I must still be asleep right now, because there is no way on any world that winging it is considered a plan!” “Well guess what? Not everything in life is planned. There is room for improvising in anything in life. We can get this all done with no problem, I guarantee you. Nopony else will die tonight,” he promised. Applejack looked at the Doctor. She knew when ponies were lying, and the Doctor was lying through his teeth. While he was, he was trying his hardest to tell the truth at the same time. This pony is really confusing, she thought to herself. Sea Crest looked back to the house. “What about the girls?” “I say leave them behind, mainly because what we are about to do will pretty much declare war against the Changelings,” the Doctor said. The alicorn guard chuckled. He looked at the Time Lord with darkness in his eyes. “They started a war when they attacked and killed my comrades. Trust me, they will be begging for mercy once we are done,” said. Applejack took a defensive stance. The Doctor only shook his head. “We move at nightfall.” Thunder crashed as lightning ripped the night sky apart. Over the course of the afternoon, clouds coming from the Badlands began rolling into the kingdom. The winds picked up, making flying a challenge for pegasi and Changelings all over. Changelings, who had no control over the Sun and Moon, allowed the cycle to resume naturally instead of forcing their will upon it. The Changelings had every corner of the castle well-guarded, including the TARDIS sitting just in front of the bridge. Hidden in a bush near the South Wall was Applejack. Her mission was as simple as it was: sneak into the castle. While she was with the girls when they fully explored the castle, she managed to find some secret entrances all over the place. The 400th torch handle in the lower levels of the castle opened a secret room that led directly to the throne room and so on. Twilight had fun with those. Applejack snuck up to the wall and pushed a stone. Immediately, a section of the ground near her gave way to a staircase that led into the castle. With a wild grin on her face, the earth pony ventured off into the interior.