Chapter 22
“How will we know if it worked?” the pegasus panted, the TARDIS door squeaking shut behind her. Nothing had happened on the way here, so she assumed the timeline hadn’t changed yet.
“The TARDIS will tell us,” the Doctor confidently called up the timelines from before. The wibbly wobbly one was slowly worming around again, so sluggishly that no change had yet come to the blip indicating their current location. “Good. Nothing’s happened yet. Let’s get out into the Time Vortex before anything DOES happen.” He frantically began pushing levers and spinning dials.
The TARDIS whirred to life. Ditzy clung to the railing as the timeship trembled, shook, squealed and creaked. Eventually, the horrendous racket quieted, and the TARDIS stopped. They were hovering out in the Time Vortex. “There. That should do it.”
“It’s awfully slow,” Ditzy noted. The changes still hadn’t reached their former spot.
“That’s most likely because the changes are still synced to the decisions being made by the Acrylic and Torchwood we just encountered... and the changes our presence caused.”
“So how long until things are put right?”
“Twenty years, most likely. Or however long the effected span of time was.”
“WE’RE STUCK HERE FOR TWENTY YEARS?!”
“Aren’t you forgetting, Miss Doo? We have a time machine. We’ll just travel ahead twenty years.”
“But didn’t you say something about it being synced to the present?” Ditzy’s wall-eyes crossed even more, her brain aching from the strain.
“It is synced to the present. But we’re not in the present, now are we? We’re hovering somewhere outside. The changes appear slow because the TARDIS is going off the last data input... never mind. Don’t worry about it.”
“Just get me home,” she groaned.
“Right. Off we go!”
As the TARDIS traveled ahead, the changes in the timeline became more radical and jumped around far faster than before. They did, however, begin to settle down at the base of the line, leaving the loose end to flail about like a noodle. It wasn’t until the end of their journey that the changes became more subtle and moved less, finally settling into a straight line right overtop of the original one. “Perfect! It’s working!” the Doctor cheered. “Are you ready to go home, Miss Doo?”
“More than ready,” she sighed in relief, and absentmindedly clasped his hoof. Normally, he wouldn’t have thought anything of the gesture, but recalling their conversation in the cave, her touch caused him to blush.
“Erm... Ditzy?”
“Hm?” She innocently and obliviously turned her attention over to him.
“I... um... nothing.” He left her be. He steadied himself on the console, and it wasn’t entirely due to the TARDIS’ rocking. He’d be lying if he said that he had been harboring feelings for the pegasus, but finding out she returned them...
He sighed. There had been a time when he might commit to such a relationship. But after Rose... he couldn’t bear to lose anyone like Rose. Losing her had ripped his hearts out. To prevent another such heartache, he had kept himself from finding another Rose.
‘Maybe it won’t be like that this time. Maybe...’
Fool. It was bound to happen. They always left in the end.
“What’s that, Doc?” Ditzy pointed to, well, everywhere, as a gentle, foggy white light began to fill the control room.
“That, Miss Doo, is home.”