//------------------------------//
// Episode Sixty-One Omens 
// Story: STAR TREK: EQUESTRIA 
// by Alicorne 
//------------------------------//


EPISODE SIXTY-ONE


	Omens


It is a rule of the Universe the All Good Things Come To An End. Entropy ebbs and flows and all a Pony can do is enjoy the Good while it lasts... this much I've learned from the Doctor, at least!
The picnic party wound down as the Gallopfreyan sun sloped toward the horizon. All too soon we found ourselves back in the Control Room of the TARDIS, tummies full, minds relaxed, resolves focused, and hopes running high. ...That's how things work in all the heroic adventure stories Sunny has, anyway. In reality only the Doctor and Tyllae were unruffled at the prospect of boarding a Klingon warship under the command of some sort of Eldritch Horror who was the henchpony for the Lord of Chaos himself!
Ditzy trusted the Doctor wholehearted and implicitly but, if the pair of bulging saddlebags she had lying on the deck were any indication, she was hedging her bets! Her eyes... well, one of them, was/were grim. The other one kept wandering off until she made an effort to call it into line.
Sunny had fallen silent and was keeping her anxieties to herself, the only outward indication of her concerns showed up in the form of a death-grip she kept on my right hoof.
I would have liked nothing better than to keep holding her tight with both hooves... but I had A Job To Do and, Augment Daughter of Equestris or not, I couldn't do it with  just one hoof. I gave her a kiss and my best reassuring look before disengaging her.
I smacked one fist into the other palm briskly and took a step to better look over the gear we'd be taking.
Besides Ditzy's saddlebags there was a single smaller bag with a blue cord threaded through the top holding it shut... a disappointingly small bag given what I knew of the the crew complements of Klingon ships. Assuming it was the Doctor's I could just imagine what was in it. A cheese sandwich, maybe, or a hoof-full of dog biscuits to distract the canine mercenaries onboard. I felt my ears droop inside my mane as The Mare In My Head suggested it was  a yo-yo... or a fez!
“I know what you're thinking!” I turned to look at the Timelord shaking a hoof at me.
“Need I remind you that we aren't going over there to fight? As I see it we're going over there to sever the link between Captain Kyr and Mighty Cthulhu... keep him from pressing the big, wriggly, tentacled  panic button so to speak!” He said brightly.
“Unless that bag is extra-dimensional and packed to the brim with photon grenades or pulse generators there's going to be a bit more to that scenario.” I pointed out dryly.
“This is not a military operation, My Dear! Besides, mere force won't do with an Elder God. As I'm sure I pointed out before, we must NOT rouse him! Bringing his attention to bear on us would be invariably fatal. No...” He  nosed the bag open and stuck a hoof inside up to his elbow and began to rummage around. “We have all that we'll need here. Aaannd... Voila!”
With a little flourish he extracted a pair of … bracelets! Really little more than flexible metal links, very much like the one holding his wristwatch onto his foreleg. Pretty enough in a tacky, fashion accessory sense but as useless as a nose on a reclimator-maintenance drone as far as I could see!
“Doctor!” Ditzy said reprovingly. “... They don't know what they are for Ponies' sake!”
“Perception Filters!” The Doctor ignored her tone.  “Timelord technology, My Dear, a spin-off of the Chameleon Circuit. Can you spot the Temporal Restoration Matrix from where you're standing? It's out in plain sight! Of course you can't, you don't know what you're looking at so there's no reason for you to dwell on it! These work by enhancing the impulse to ignore it. We'll be fine... that is, unless we do something...” He waved a hoof, looking for a word.
I gave him one! “Stupid?”
“I was thinking along the lines of 'dramatic', actually!” He gave me a pained look. “See here, Starry, you'll just have to trust me. This works!  How else do you think I can put the TARDIS down in the middle of a strange town and not cause a riot? It's really quite subtle in nature. Hardly uses any psychic energy, certainly not enough to set off any detectors... unless they're very sensitive ones! In any event, Klingons will hardly be in possession of any such technology. We'll be fine!”
OK, I was frankly doubtful of this talk about 'psychic energy'. Brains, whether they have lobes or mere notochords,  are bioelectrical in nature and the energy they produce wouldn't be enough to power a Roamulan ear mites' tunnel scooter halfway around a hydrogen molecule! Electromagnetism and Subspace are quantified measurable types of energy with defined and understood characteristics. 'Psychic Energy' sounded too much like...
“Magic.” I said unenthusiastically. “It's magic. … But I didn't think-”
“Oh for the love of Time!” The Doctor facehoofed, making a face. “It is NOT magic! If it were Magic we'd have to paint pink polka dots on ourselves or something!”
“Magic is as Magic does.” Sunny nodded sagely. Ditzy agreed with a smug nod of her own. Tyllae, clad in what she now called her 'Sooper-Suit', giggled.
“Ah ken ye've got nobbut two o' yer contraptions...” Sunny said pointedly.
“That is because you three are going to remain in the TARDIS while Starry and I...”
“Nuh-uh!” Tyllae trilled. “Nope, nope, nope! Tyllae gonna come too! Tyllae can help! What Dokker an Starry gonna do against Ol' Thooly-Doodle?  Tyllae keepa safe! Faeries don't fear Outsiders, nope, nope, nope!” The little Fey said proudly.
“As far as that goes...” The Doctor reached into his bag again. “I have just the thing! I may not know just how it works, but I do have a bit of proper Magic at my disposal. Fillies and, er, Faeries! Let me present an Eldar Seal!”
When he pulled his hoof out on it lay a small discus of what looked like polished gray granite, maybe five or six inches wide and less than an inch thick. Upon it was graven a five-pointed star within a triple circle.
Sunny looked interested, cocking her head while she scrutinized the thing. Ditzy flapped up over her shoulder to get a better look. Tyllae zipped over and took up station about a yard away from the thing and gazed wide-eyed at it.
“Oooh! Looky-look!” She positively goggled!
I took in the expressions of my friends and My Love then turned my attention once again to the rather plain and simple thing resting on the Timelord's hoof. I wished Jerry were there. Maybe he could see what everypony was so intrigued by, it certainly was beyond me!
The Mare In My Head gave me a little dig and scolded me for breaking the tricorder and its Arcane Sensors. I spun her Command Chair like a festival ride and told her to mind her own business!
I ended up sighing in frustration and had to admit, well, if not defeat... then stalemate.
“OK. What are we supposed to do, bean him with it or use it to wedge the door shut he's hidden behind?”
The Doctor gave me a companionable wink.
“I can't see it, either. But they can!” He pointed with his eyes to the others. “Pegasai are infused with Magic that lets them fly and manipulate clouds and weather. Alicorns are super-Unicorns with all that entails and Faeries, well, ... are the reason Magic is here in the first place, aren't they?”
“I can't actually see it.” Ditzy admitted, concentrating to put both eyes on the thing. “But I can feel it! The same way you can feel a fire or a sunbeam with your eyes closed. There's a LOT of Magic caught up in that!”
“Aye, well, Ah kin see th' Aura plain as day!” Sunny said, looking impressed. “But Ah'd be hard put t' tell ye jus' what kind o' Magic we're a lookin' at. 'Tisn't an Abjuration r' Conjurin', though Ah'd swear they're present in there! 'Tis a fancy bit o' Spellwork...” Her eyebrows shot up and her wings half-unfurled in alarm! “Dinna tell me ye went back t' Eugenics War fer a bleedin' megaspell!”
“One of the first!” The Doctor conceded. “... But I went considerably farther back in Time for it!”
The Mare In My Head sat bolt upright in her chair so fast she almost jumped! The Colony's history database pretty much starts with the Eugenics War, so I know all I needed to know about megaspells! The minimum yield on one of those things was on the order of fifty megatons. The real trick with them was reining them in once they started up! Antimatter was as safe as modeling clay by comparison! 
Once upon a time Starfleet Engineering tinkered with the idea of using one to power a Time-Warp Drive. After all, they did have the blueprints for megaspells. I suppose it was a temptation too hard to resist! There had been exactly ONE attempt at fitting one on a ship.
Thirty years ago Starfleet had made a test facility on a rogue planet halfway to Barnyard's Star. Since it is patently impossible to sustain a Time-Warp field on a planetary body, the Excelsior, XP-76, was fitted out as the test bed. Computer simulation showed it was just barely possible to make it work with maximum safety protocols in place. Subspace telemetry was being relayed to Starfleet Command. When they powered up their flight plan called for a maximum speed of Time Warp Factor Three. They made initial Warp threshold in  just one point one seven seconds. After three seconds they were at Time-Warp Factor ten! Before anypony or computer could throttle back the ship was outrunning it's own telemetry. The last readings were so red-shifted as to be undecipherable. It was estimated they were belting along at Time Warp Factor twenty-two when their intentionally-overbuilt Inertial Compensators gave up. One and one-half light years away from their launch point... in about four seconds... their Warp Field destabilized. There's a dark joke in Starfleet Engineering that says the Excelsior went up in a 'Subspace Rainboom'. Fifty-seven Engineers and thirty crewponies died in a subspace detonation that knocked out every Unicorn on Starbase Three and nearly blew out every transtator in half the Quadrant!
… So I was understandably leery at being in the presence of one of the damn things!
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Doc!” I summoned up every scrap of calm I could muster to keep my voice at a decent level. “For Pony who portrays himself as a dedicated Pacifist-”
The Doctor appealed to the ceiling with his eyes. “Oh for the love of Time! ...This is most assuredly NOT a weaponized megaspell! Why do you automatically assume that every megaspell has to be a weapon?”
“Sure n' th' boyo has a point!” Sunny said reasonably, regretting her earlier outburst. “Th' first 'uns were fer healin' great mobs o' Ponies hurt durin' th' War.” She made a face, then, “... But the 'Miltry learnt that t'was easy t' make 'em go 'boom'... n' thin add balefire t' them in th' bloody process! Why is it that nopony wants t' invest in an Arcane Technology that doesna-”
“Doctor?” Ditzy fluttered into the air and raised a hoof. “What was the first megaspell?”
The Mare In My Head waggled a hoof at me for thinking her a brain-damaged Cull! We all were glad for a change of subject just then. I gave the little Pegasus a warm look as she waited for an answer.
The Doctor, never one to hang back when it came to displaying his knowledge of History, smoothly transitioned into Lecturing Mode.
“By Ponies? That would have to be The Elements of Harmony wielded by Celestia and Luna when they dethroned Discord. Would that we had them at our disposal now! Before that, well, ...” He made a motion toward Tyllae.
“Faeries used!” She admitted glumly. “Really, really, really big ones to fight the Dark Faeries. But they used first! … But that notta 'scuse.” She paused to sniffle a little bit. “Faeries were sorry, sorry, sorry an used big, big, big spells to help put whole world back together. Faeries wanted to save even jussa few little Trees so the Big Fight wouldn't be for nothing, yep, yep, yep!” She looked at Ditzy, Sunny, and myself.
“Faeries wanna help... but  little Faeries sometimes stoopid in big, big, big ways. Tyllae thinks Big Ponies getta their stoopid fromma Faeries.” She brightened just a little bit. “ But Tyllae likes to think Big Ponies get big hearts from Faeries too an thassa fack!”
“Gi' us a mickle bit o' credit, ye wee scamp!” Sunny reached out to gather the little mite to her.
“Nopony is assigning blame, Tyllae!' The Doctor said gently. “Every species has to accept responsibility for their own deeds, that's only reasonable.”
“Wait!” Ditzy looked confused. “ 'Trees'? What trees?”
Both the Doctor and Tyllae perked up to speak but I headed them both off!
“Long story! So, Doc, where did you get this thing... and what's it supposed to do?”
The Doctor looked hurt for just a moment and Tyllae just giggled.”
“A-hem!” He put the Seal down on the bag and adjusted his tie before beginning anew.
“What you see here is the hoofwork of a great Unicorn Mage. One Starswirl The Bearded, by name-”
“Star-Swirly!” The Fey exclaimed. “Tyllae remembers now!”
Sunny almost dropped the excited Fey! “Starswirl? … Faith! Even Ah thought he was nobbut a legend!” She turned toward me.
“He was th' mentor o' Merlin th' Magician , ye ken. Ah gave ye th' book t' read. Th' History o' th' Queens o' Bittain, sure n' ye couldna forget!”
“Wel-l-l....” I rolled my eyes away. “I was more interested in the Rings Trilogy so I never got around to reading it.”
“Hark at the pragmatic Science Officer! Now if ye'd jus learn t' 'preciate th' nuances o' Mounted Python's Flyin' Circus!”
The Doctor saved me from saying something that would have put me in the proverbial doghouse.
“It occurred to me...” He began just loudly enough to steer the conversation back onto his heading. “That if I truly wanted to get a handle on Equestrian Magic who better to go to than the Premiere Magician of his age? As it turned out, I showed up just in time! Seems the Ponies of that day were dealing with a cabal of their fellows in league with Nyarlotep... a cousin of Our Boy over on the Werewolf! We put our heads together and between my knowledge of the Universe and his Arcane expertise we came up with this little gem!” He buffed it with the sleeve of his coat and admired it.
“It's intended to, well, deepen the sleep of one of the Old Ones when applied to its abode. Kept the old fellow from waking up and wreaking havoc long enough to allow me to take him somewhere he couldn't harm! Which reminds me...” He caught my eye and touched my knee. “ If things fall out the way we want them to, you might ask Starfleet to pass along a message to the Klingon Empire to stay well away Eta Sagittarius Seven. They won't like what they find there!”
“Uh, sure!” I blinked. “... But you realize that little bit of news would only make them want to look, don't you? Assuming they put any stock in the tale at all!”
“I suppose you're right.” He sighed. “Still, wouldn't you feel better warning them as opposed to letting them open a dangerous can of worms knowing what would happen?”
I was this close to opening my mouth to explain to him that the  Federation relationship with the Empire had been rocky from the get-go; that there were a lot of Ponies who would say that the Klingons deserved whatever they got... and more besides! I was none too fond of the bastards myself... but I'd seen Kyr and what he'd become. Did even Klingons deserve that?
The Doctor noticed my hesitation...
“They're only your enemies because neither of you has ever truly understood the other.” He said softly. “All it would take would be a Friendly gesture... one they would respect... to get them to come to the table. I believe they've built a base in the nearby Khitomer system. Somepony might advise their Base Commander, if not now then maybe in a generation or so! I believe they should be safe for the time being. ...If Discord gives us the chance!”
“Big if!” I agreed. “I'll tell the Diplomatic Corps. I'll come up with some reason I should know. Fair enough?”
“There's hope fer ye yet, me Bonny Dear!” Sunny grinned. “Nice t' know there's no so much of th' bloody Soldier t' ye after all!”
“Shut your pie hole, Sunny!” I muttered, then I turned back to the Doctor.
“So Starswirl just gave you the thing when you the two of you were done with it?”
“It was the most interesting thing!” He replied. “I was there when he made it... he allowed me to sit in on the process. When all the lights and smoke were done there were two of them lying there! I rather fancy it threw the old boy for a loop, if the look on his face was any indication! In the end he made me a gift of the extra. He said I might need it later. Saw it in a crystal ball or something, you know how these metaphysical types are!”
“Don't I know it! So... did you pick up any insights?'
“Not a bit! Whole thing went, whoosh,  right over my head! For him it was like trying to teach a blind pony how to paint. Made up my mind then and there to stick with Temporal Physics and resign myself to being a...” He snickered. “One Trick Pony! Eh? Pretty good for a spur-of-the-moment thing! I've still got it after two thousand years!”
I winced, then cocked an eye at the time-traveling stand-up artist. “To paraphrase Starswirl The Bearded...”
“Bring it on!” The Doctor said gamely.
“... Don't give up your day job, Doc!”
“Oh, is that it? Well, I can prove I'm more successful at comedy! Look what happened to you!”
“Oh?”
“Well... you lost your shirt, didn't you? Oh I am on a roll!”
“Och!” Sunny muttered. “'T'was bad enough when it was just her... now there's two o' them!”
“The stories I could tell you...” Ditzy agreed with a sigh.
Somewhere behind us a bell rang with a bright 'bing'!
“I think we've just been saved by the bell!” The Doctor sprang away to the console to check the readouts in the hodgepodge of instruments he'd collected.
“Is summat wrong... ?” Sunny wondered.
“Nope!” The soft gray Pegasus assured her. “The bell that means something's wrong is really loud and goes 'b-o-n-g'. That's just the TARDIS trying to get our attention for something. Behind you, Doctor! Roundel thirty-six!”
“I knew that! I was just checking if anything had changed You can never be too careful when it comes to random bells!” He grumped as he spun around and checked the round things on the walls.
“... Why you decided to start numbering the things is beyond me!”
“It's called being organized! You should try it sometimes! Honestly! You should have seen this place when I first got here! Stuff lying all over the place!”
“I'm perfectly organized... in accordance to Chaos Theory!” He replied indignantly. “A pile for everything and everything in its pile, so there!”
It turns out the round things were doors over storage places in the walls... lighted cupboards, effectively. Sure enough one of them was blinking on and off. He braced himself with one forehoof to reach high enough to use the other to open it.
He peered inside and waved me over.
“It seems we have just a little more equipment to take with us. Seems the old girl is looking out for you, My Dear!”
He hopped down and stood aside for me.
“Just as well! All I could think of by way of clothing for you was a Judoon tunic or some Sontaran light armor... though we'd have had to alter it quite a bit to get it over your...”
I shot him a warning glare!
“Hips!” He said quickly. “Sontarans... big shoulders, tiny little hips! Not like yourself.” He regretted that the instant he said it!
“What I mean is that, in your case, as an Augment...”
“Hoots!” Sunny nudged the hovering Ditzy. “So much fer bein' saved by th' bloody bell!”
“My hips aren't that big!” I said defensively. “... Are they?”
“Word t' th' wise, boyo! Zip yer bloody lip!”
“Oh, look!” He changed the subject with just enough desperation to garner a chuckle from The Mare In My Head. “That'll come in handy!”
Inside the cupboard lay a brand new uniform shirt complete with Cutie-patch! I wasted no time shrugging it on!
“I won't lie, I feel a lot better with this on! But...” I wriggled a little in its warm embrace. “It feels heavier somehow...”
Both the Timelord and Ditzy cocked an ear at a sudden, soft warbling that arose from the noises coming from the Console. He spoke as soon as it ended.
“It's been modified. Two threads out of ten have been, um, Augmented with superconducting fibers and armourcloth. Should be able to turn a knife or stop a small caliber bullet, not to mention fending off a ten-kilowatt blast! If anything goes wrong I'll make sure to stand behind you! Should be plenty of cover!”
“Och!” Sunny muttered, coming up to us. “'N ye were so close, too!” She patted the Doctor sympathetically on the head before turning her attention to me. “Sure n' 'tis a bonny fit, a lot more flatterin' t' yer figger thin that baggy lot ye like t' wear!” She ran a hoof across my belly and finished with a little tickle that made me spat her away!
“Stop that!” I tugged the bottom hem down and gave her a stern look that only made her smile.
“I'll admit, it fits a lot better than my old Standard Issue. The TARDIS could give our Quartermaster computers some lessons!” I paused and addressed the open air. “Thanks, I appreciate this!”
The console orchestrated a brief melody in reply as all the round ports on the wall blinked once!
“You're welcome, My Dear.” The Doctor translated.
“... And take care of The Doctor!” Ditzy finished. She didn't back down from The Doctor's sharp look!
“She asked her to, and you know Starry can't understand her!”
“I can cope! No reason to worry about me! I survived the Pandorica and I'll survive this little jaunt!” The Timelord said soothingly.
With an effort she brought both eyes to bear onto him.
“What's the TARDIS worried about, Doctor?”
“She's just being an old fuss-budget, as are you!” He gave the Pegasus a tender little bop on the end of her nose before he sprang away and started throwing switches and stabbing buttons on each of the six boards of the console with what looked like reckless abandon.
But Ditzy wouldn't be denied. She fluttered after him, taking up a position opposite him with that damn spinning horseshoe thing right between them! I had to look away, those chips suddenly trying to make a break for it!
“Doctor!” I heard her say. “She's really worried this time! … What aren't you telling me?”
I swallowed hard and went to close the door of the roundel... desperate for anything to wipe the memory of that Tesseract from my mind!
I was already closing the thing when I started... there was something else in there!
Reaching in, I withdrew a brand-spanking new balephaser pistol! Re-tooled to fit my hoof, too! I searched my back pocket and withdrew the powercell I'd been carrying and slipped it it, frowning at the readout. … How did the TARDIS manage to recharge the thing with me carrying it?
I closed the door and the light inside blinked one more time! I popped it back open and peeked in.
It was a communicator, again, made big enough for my hooves to manage. But this one, instead of being made of clear Lucite, was paneled in TARDIS-blue wood! Wow, I guessed that she really did like me! I was genuinely touched!
I turned to show it to Sunny but she'd gone stock-still, gazing at the Timelord with a troubled look.
I looked that way out of reflex and forced my gaze down to his right hind hoof. Damn that thing in the console!
“Summat's up!” Sunny whispered. “Ah dinna ken... but it doesna look good fer th' Doctor Laddie. Whin Ah was a-lookin' at him just now...” She looked away,  shaking her head and wrapping her arms around herself. “There was somepony else a-standin' there! Taller, thinner, wi' great, beetlin' silver eyebrows n' mane!”
She hugged me, burying her face in my breast. I slipped the communicator into my pocket and stashed the balephaser by its magnetomic disheshion plate on my back hip and hugged her back.
“Hay! Come on, Sunny! It's just nerves! Everypony has them just before a dangerous mission. Don't dwell on it. We'll Get The Job Done and we'll come back. Or we'll re-group and try something else. It'll be OK!”
But there was an element of hollowness to my words. I'd had a sudden suspicion, forwarded to me via The Mare In My Head. How much of an 'accident' was it, I wondered, that the Picnic was on Gallopfrey than Earth? Was he saying his good-byes? But why? If he just Regenerated what would be the point of being maudlin? All he would have to do would be jump up, straighten his tie and keep moving, right? ...Unless there was something else about the process I was in the dark about. Were there limits on how many times he could do it? With a jolt I remembered the shadows of other personas that manifested themselves on his personality. … How different was the new persona anyway? He'd have to be the same Pony at the core... wouldn't he?
What did the Timelord know or suspect about what was coming... and why wasn't he telling us? Or Ditzy? I suddenly found myself wishing I has the opportunity to check his database!
Sunny looked at me with bright, imploring eyes, jolting me out of my reverie.
“'N what're ye no tellin' me?”
I was saved not by a bell, but a Faery!
She choose that moment to zip into Sunny's mane to nuzzle her  ear with her elfin head!
“No, no, nooo, Sunny! Big Ponies should stay away from Prophecy! Never try an maka Universe what want or fear! Nope, nope, nope! Things happen inna way things happen! Look whahoppen to poor, poor, poor Timelords! Dokker smart but not so smarty-smart as Dokker thinks! Oooo! Tyllae wishes Big Ponies could just see! Anything can happen inna future! Not for Timelords or Discord, Big Ponies, or even Faeries to say! Nope, nope, NOPE!” Sunny just gotta be brave! Brave as everpony gotta be!”
OK, it didn't make sense to me... and I had more insight into the matter than Sunny did! She tried, though, bless here heart!
“But Ah saw...'Twas th' Doctor 'n yet.. 'twasn't th' laddie...!” She struggled.
“Be Strong, Sunny!” The Fey insisted. “Keepa true to Heart! Keepa giving Love! Keepa being Good! Smile, Sunny, an remember Magic alla time! That alla Big Pony gotta know, yep, yep, yep! Lissen to a little Faery an trust Tyllae!” She punctuated each statement with a teeny kiss on Sunny's earlobe.
There were...  real elemental truths in her words. How else can I describe it? Twenty-three centuries of sophistication, second-guessing the Universe, and what passes for rationality fell away in a second and I gathered them both up in a hug! Was it a Spell? Did it matter? It was right... and I felt it down to my Augmented Earth Pony core!
Sunny dried her eyes on my shoulder quickly. “Right then! 'N stop slobberin' in ma ear, ye wee scamp! How'd ye like it if Ah did same t' ye?” She snatched the giggling Fey out of her mane and bussed her alongside her tiny head!
“Tyllae likes jus fine, yep, yep, yep!” She patted Sunny's muzzle with a teeny hoof. “Thissa why gonna be all right inna end! Tyllae hassa friends, an Tyllae's friends all have friends too!” She waved a hoof at Ditzy and The Doctor who were locked in a similar embrace over by the Console.
… I might be a stubborn Augment from Equestris, but I knew a cue when I saw one!
I practically lifted Sunny off the deck and carried her over there in three strides!
The Doctor opened one eye and regarded us as we approached. He gave Ditzy a final squeeze and let her go. The soft, gray Pegasus sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. Sunny disengaged me and twined her arms around her neck. The Doctor and I locked eyes. I wanted to look stern but the effect was spoiled when Tyllae choose that moment to perch atop my head.
He dropped my eyes hastily and focused on the Fey.
“Added a hat to your ensemble, have you?” He slid into carefree devil-may-care mode! “Love the color, but stick with a Fez! Remember! Fezzes are cool!” He partially reared and rubbed his forehooves together, looking everywhere and anywhere except at me. “Right, then! Gather up the Seal! It's time we materialized and got this show on the road, isn't it?”
“Hold on a second, Doc.” I said quietly. I fixed him with my eyes again and plopped down onto all fours. I forged on without preamble in what I had to admit was classic Equestrin style.
“Sunny and I have both had in our respective ways what amounts to a...” I couldn't find any better word. “Premonition. She'd call it an Omen but, me, I'm more pragmatic so I prefer to call it a suspicion. We both get the impression that you are under the impression that you're not coming back from this. Are we right?”
A ghost of that Fey smile flickered across his features. 
“Well... “ He said quietly. “I have the advantage of being able to look at things from another perspective, don't I? I've looked into the Vortex and so I have a fair idea of how things are going to turn out. One of the last things I saw before things collapsed into Flux was the fact that... it isn't likely I'll be coming back from the Werewolf. It's just how this has to play out. I'm sorry...”
“But you said yourself that History is in a state of Flux!” I pointed out. “Since nothing is written in stone any more all bets are off as far as I'm concerned. If I have anything to say about it we're both coming back from this mission. I don't go on Landing Parties with Ponies that have a death wish. I don't need my life to be depending on somepony moping on his own mortality instead of paying attention to what's going on around him! If you can't handle it I'll take Ditzy instead. Pick or shovel, Doc! Make up your mind and I mean NOW!”
“My Dear Filly...” He narrowed his old, old eyes at me. “Are you presuming to give me orders on my own TARDIS? Need I remind you that this is not a Starfleet operation...? Oh, ha-ha, I see what you're doing there.” He adjusted his bow-tie and looked at me with an ornery look in his eyes. “You should know that I have a long and acrimonious relationship with Military Organizations so you may dispense with your pep-talk-to-the-raw-recruit efforts! I've managed armies larger than the populations of most developed worlds in my time, I'll have you know! And speaking as one who KNOWS how these things work, yes, the Timelines are in flux. Fixed points are now gray areas to me but the results all come out the same!” He punctuated the last words by tapping on my knee while holding my eyes like tractor beams.
“Do you want proof? Take a look at the photo I gave you! Go ahead!” He snapped, the ghost of an older and vastly less patient persona possessing his features.
Without dropping his gaze I withdrew the holo. Sunny and Ditzy craned around me to look and I felt Tyllae lean way forward from her perch. Neither The Doctor or myself spared it a glance.
Sunny didn't breath for a long second, then... “Wha' a bonny wee colt! We had an Earth Pony like yersel' He's adorable!” She sounded so happy I just couldn't bring myself to say anything!
“Congratulations!” I could just feel Ditzy beam!
Tyllae was silent and I hoped to Hell the Timelord would follow suit...
“A little while ago...” He said softly while I damned him silently. “It was a Filly and an Alicorn.”
“That just proves things are still in flux. It's all just potential!” I glared daggers at him as I heard Sunny go deathly still. I made it a point not to show the thing to Sunny until after the birth. I was half-afraid of something like this and I know Sunny! She'd fret herself into a frazzle checking the damn thing every day!
“When I retrieved that image it was of a Fixed Point in Time, the inevitable consequence of things the way they stood. Look again in ten minutes. It could be a Filly again, or twins, or Sunny will be there with just whatever child. Or maybe her Father will be there with the child that is all that's left of his daughter.” His eyes bore into mine relentlessly.
“As of this moment all that is certain is that there will be a birth... but even that can't be certain any more.” He finally dropped his eyes and looked away. “I'm so, so, sorry! … I was an idiot for even showing it to you. My only defense was that I thought you really needed to see it, to give you strength to see this through...” His voice trailed away as he rubbed his eyes with a hoof.
In the silence only Tyllae found her voice.
“Oh, Dokker!” She said sadly. “Dokker made a big promise long, long, long ago. Tyllae heard in inna Star-Wind. 'Never be cruel or cowardly'. Tyllae heard, yep, yep, yep! … Dokker goofed. Starry  should tear that up in little, little, little bitses an throw away! Stop trying to tell Time how it should be an hold to promises that might or might now be. Tyllae asked before, where are Timelords now? How came to this? Thissa how, yep, yep, yep.”
There was neither self-righteousness nor accusation in that tiny voice. Only the sadness of a grandparent witnessing the deeds of an errant child.
“Well...” The Doctor wrapped himself up in something remote and aloof and gave the Fey a cold look. “If we had had the benefit of the Wisdom Of The Elders things might have turned out differently. But we didn't. … Forgive me, little Fey, if I don't feel compelled to apologize for my species. We did... I did and always do... what needs to be done. I'm sorry if you don't approve.”
“Dokker... no, no, nooo!” The Fey implored. “Don' go inna dark place alla lone! Let go Timelord Pride an stay onna side of light. Tyllae loves Dokker... but alla Time an Space never bend to any one Pony will, nope, nope, nope! Faeries were there, long, long, longa go and Faeries smart enuf to never try! Whatever Dokker sees, remember what little Tyllae says. Never give up but never think things gotta be! Future alla time being made, every last little second every second! Try real, real, real hard an hope for best but never expect this or that lika anypony gets to say what gonna be! Nope, nope, NOPE!”
Perhaps two very ancient and venerable members of two hoary old civilizations were philosophically duking it out in front of us lesser beings, but I didn't care! For putting Sunny through an emotional wringer like that I was madder than a miner who spent months breaking into a lode only to find it was worthless dross! Corporal Punishment balled her fists and I had to restrain her from popping the Timelord square on the nose... and I told him so!
“Doc, when we get back from this... and I'm personally going to move the Sun and the Moon to make sure we do... I'm warning you now that I fully intend to take a swing at you for doing this to Sunny! You should have let it be and you know it, damn you!”
But I might have well been talking to a tree. His eyes were still on the Fey. His gaze was hard at first, but it thawed and his features softened.
“... You certainly manage to hear a lot, don't you? The 'Star-Wind', was it? Well...” He managed a feeble but only marginally sheepish grin. “It's nice to know there's still something new to learn about. I look forward to hearing about it from you!”
He finally looked my way, but if he'd heard what I said he gave not one sign of it.
“Timelords Regenerate, that's true. But what comes out the other end of the process is an entirely new personality coping with all the memories of who came previously. The thing that you don't realize and I feel you should know is that there is a limit to the number of times it can happen. We never evolved Immortality. For better or worse we came up with this.” He shrugged. “Twelve Regenerations is the limit. My thirteenth occurred... under extenuating circumstances I won't go into now. The upshot is that I'm effectively living on borrowed time. … No sort of Timelord pun intended! There is no way to tell if my Regeneration Energy is refilled or only sufficient for this last one life. Tyllae and I are alike in this regards, aren't we? One last life to live...” He  suddenly arched an eyebrow at the Fey on my head.
“Do you, I wonder, accept that your end is The End? Or do you allow yourself the hope of  another chance at The Other Side? How much faith do you have in Faery wisdom? Why is your fate certain while mine is to be left to be arbitrated by hope?”
Tyllae was silent, but I heard Sunny draw an indignant breath. Even Ditzy made a scandalized sound!
Maybe it was my Augmentation that allowed me to speak...
“OK. Two swings! That's a low blow, Doc.”
“... What?” He blinked and looked at me as if I'd just popped up out of the deck.
“ Stop moping and suck it up!” I said in the way the Instructors in Basic always managed, not shouting but making their point Loud And Clear all the same. “I won't let you die and you'd damn well better not let me die 'cause you and I are going to have some words about how you treat the ponies I love. Just between we friends, you're a hell of a buck, Doc... but you're WAY overdue for a refresher course in personal interactions and I'm just the Pony to give it to you! ...Since you're so keen on learning new things.” I gave him a grim wink.
“Why does everything with you devolve into violence?” The Doctor had the good grace to at least appear alarmed. “You're worse than a Neighmerican, punching this and shooting that! And don't look so overconfident! I may be two thousand years old but I daresay I can give you a run for your money! I was quite the scrapper in my youth... small for my age! You know how that is!”
“Time will tell, won't it? And that's not a Timelord pun, either!” I was still snarked at him but... for the record... I didn't hate him. Maybe we would trade lumps and we'd let bygones be bygones, what else are friends for?
“Come on, Doc! We got a Job To Do. Time to make good or get off the Recycler! Hubba hubba one time...!”
“If ye say one word 'bout 'Time n' Tritium' Ah'll lock th' bloody door behind ye!” Sunny groused. “Ah swear! She didna graduate Basic Trainin', that lot kicked her out just t' get rid o' her!”
“ Madame... are you chivying me?” The Doctor blinked at me. That look alone made all the stings, hypothermia, and the events of the day worth it and I made sure The Mare In My Head filed the image away for future enjoyment! “ I loathe and detest being chivied! Now see here! Certain rules of Universal Conduct apply when one is in the presence of certain select species! Clause five hundred of the Shadow Proclamation clearly states...”
Tyllae cut off his bluster by flitting into his face to administer a very fruity raspberry!
“Oh fifflesticks! Iffa all that true then Dokker should watcha self! Since Tyllae is one an only Faery left that makes Tyllae Queen of The Faeries on thissa side an Faery Queen outranks silly ol Timelords, yep, yep, yep!”
She zipped back up onto my head where, I'm told, she pointed one teeny hoof imperiously at the Console of the TARDIS.
“Now Tyllae commands that Dokker go ask TARDIS very, very, very nicely to take Tyllae, Dokker, an Sunny over to talk to ol Thooly-Doodle choppity-chop-chop! Tyllae does not wanna miss dinner onna Her-mees, nope, nope, nope! ...Hay, Starry!” I felt her tap a hoof on my head for attention.
“Hmm...?”
“Maybe Tyllae oughta get extra dessert since Tyllae is Faery Queen. Whee! Tyllae likes being Queen!”
I plucked Her Giggling Majesty off my head and stuck her down the rolled collar of my new uniform!
“Long live Queen Squirt! Well you heard the lady, Doc! What do you say? Am I going with you or Ditzy... or is going to be just me and teeny-Queenie?”
A complex series of expressions paraded over that impossible face. Irritation, exasperation, and bemusement where the only ones that lasted long enough to make a clear impression. At long last that gay, Fey showed forth and he let go a laugh that left him helpless for long seconds!
“Oh dear!” He wiped at his eyes. “Oh me, oh my!” He drew a much-needed breath and dazzled us all with a smile and a look that Sunny herself would be hard put to beat!
“Oh I do love you Ponies! I really do! Every Timelord should have had a go at being one! Right!” He whirled back to the Console and began punching buttons. He hauled the CRT screen over to him. “Since this is going to be a Command Performance, Ditzy, I'm going to need you there at the  Proximity and  Temporal Restoration Matrix controls, the green and blue switches right there!. Sunny you stand by to pull that green one!”
“Me?” Sunny squeaked! “Ye want me at th' controls o' th' bloody thing?” She took up station by a green-handled pull chain that hung from the ceiling.
“What's it do, anyroad?” She wondered.
“It's fun!” The Doctor insisted then turned toward me. “Starry, I daresay you'll find this unsettling so I need you...” He waved a hoof in the vague direction of the door. “To look hard at the TARDIS door! Concentrate on it and anchor your perceptions... unless you want me to get more Janx Spirit?”
“Ooooh, no! Let 'er rip, Doc!” I resolutely turned my back to the Console and checked the balephaser. I twisted the power setting to 'stun' and locked it. ...After a second I changed it to 'heavy stun'!
“Oooh kaay then!” I heard him say. “Since I don't have Arcane Sensors I'm setting us down  at the edge of the place where I cannot get any readings. For my money that will be the highest concentration of Arcane Energy onboard the Werewolf. That's where Our Boy is, or I'm a giggling Dalek!”
That goddess-awful scraping screech began and in my minds eye I could see the cylinder in the middle of the Console begin to do its disturbing thing. Just the though of it made my stomach squirm and I began counting the windowpanes on the door to distract myself.
Like on the Hermes, many of the controls of the TARDIS had audio confirmation that sounded as they were activated... but some of them sounded just weird!
I heard falsetto buzzes, off-tones beeps as well as something that sounded like a synthesized raspberry all in rapid succession as he plies his board. 
Then the Doctor rapped out. “Now, in sequence, yellow, green... and blue!
I heard a bleep, a bloop, then as Sunny did her part... something like a hoof-full of party horns and an ascending whir-r-r as a light shower of confetti and glitter dusted us all!
I spun around just in time to see Sunny's shocked expression as she clutched the handle!
“See?” The Doctor crowed. “I told you! It's fun! Thank You, Pinky-Pie!” He slammed home a final lever and that hollow, almost subsonic boom echoed around us!
“Geronimo!”