The Timepony’s Journal

by Penny_Shavins109

Chapter 4 - 72 Trotters Lane

Two weeks. It had been two weeks, one psychotic pony bent on equality, and five ponies renovating her castle since she’d last picked up the Doctor’s diary. She’d cleared her head by now but she still felt a twinge of guilt for looking through all of that history, those dangerous secrets no one pony knows. Finding an alternative route would be saved for later, but the lingering question still stuck in her mind: why her? Why was she the one to be tasked with saving the world or universe, why was she the alicorn, why was it up to her and her friends to always save the day? She had her doubts and was still coming to terms with her alicornation, but she knew that they were only holding her back.

She sighed and sat down in a comfy chair in the mantle, looking down at the book beside her. Picking it up she flipped to the last page that wasn’t scrambled. No more waiting, might as well rip the bandaid off now.

---

The two of them had made a few stops before arriving in the old and frail junkyard. Seeing sights from futuristic cities to ancient philosophers, they moved backward and forwards through time and space. The excessive amount of trips was taking its toll on the ship's systems, and they needed to make a rest stop for spare parts. The Chameleon Circuit had scanned the area and turned into a Police Stable. The year was 963 After Discord, which wasn't the most propitious stop for such a purpose.

It was a more primitive time when ponies were just starting to develop new sciences and new technologies. The record player, airships, and advanced ways of mining ores were all developed in this era.

"72 Trotters Lane, Foalman’s Yard. Are you sure this's the best place to park the Tardis grandfather?" asked Susan as she looked at the deep blue doors that served as the junkyard's entrance.

"Oh, don't worry, Susan, everything will be splendid." smiled the Doctor with absolute joy.

It was taking a few months, but progress was being made. Susan liked the year 963 in Equestria. Despite the time’s primitive nature, everypony was so friendly. Even ponies who didn't know her waved at her on the streets. Life at school was such a bore, though.

All she learned was basic Math, basic Ponish, and incredibly inaccurate Equestrian history. Even with the small number of friends she had made at Foal Hill School, she cherished and loved them dearly. But unfortunately for her and her grandfather, Susan's teachers were much more worried about her than they thought.

"This work is foals’ play compared to the others' understanding," she once heard Mr.Spark Reaction say.

"For such an advanced student, her homework grades are still suffering," said Mrs. Berry Blossom when she didn't know Susan was listening.

She desperately wanted to get out of the school that weekend. She had a feeling that the two of them were on to her and that they might start to ask questions. She had to alert her grandfather as soon as possible. Hopefully no precautionary measures would have to be taken in order to keep their secrets. They were aliens treading the sands of a foreign planet.

"I’m just a space-age foal playing kickball with the locals, nothing can go wrong." she once thought.

Now she was thinking the exact opposite. It had only been a few months, and everything was going wrong. It seemed like only yesterday that everything was so simple. Just try to fit in and not stand out, but how could she? She was like absolutely nopony else.

Pausing her thoughts, she used her unicorn magic to open those familiar deep blue doors of the junkyard. She mingled with her grandfather for a while before going back into the TARDIS. The Doctor decided to check the further end of the space for anything new and useful.

It was about that time of the week again when ponies came in and dropped their useless junk on the grounds. Nothing but broken knickknacks, torn furniture, and completely useless garbage. Almost no metal whatsoever which really hindered the repairs. The mare in the workshop had been right, though. There wasn't much that needed repairing or spare parts; if he'd waited a little longer, it might've been finished and fully functional. That still didn't mean it didn’t need a little TLC though before its proper flight. It could operate normally now, but the navigation system was still broken.

By now the capsule was a little more cluttered on the inside. While the interior was a bright white with beautiful flashing controls it simply wasn’t him. The Doctor picked up a few things reminiscent of the old living quarters he had back on Gallophrey. The ship was imperfect just like himself. Although a properly functioning ship would’ve been better.

Mainly, if he were to leave now there'd be no way of knowing where or when he'd end up next. After finding almost nothing, he started to head inside. But while coughing into a handkerchief from his new frock coat, he spotted two pairs of eyes. Hidden in fear or in strategy, he couldn't tell, but if possible it was best that hostility is avoided for the time being.

"Excuse me, I don't know why you're intruding, but I'd find it better to talk to your faces rather than a pile of wood. Wouldn't that be splendid, hmm?"

The two ponies came out of hiding and revealed themselves. It was Susan's two teachers, Spark Reaction and Berry Blossom. Spark was a deep red unicorn with a slightly messy black mane wearing only a striped Foal Hill tie. Berry was only slightly younger than Spark, and about half an inch shorter. She was a sky blue Pegasus with a dark auburn mane that curved around one eye and draped over her shoulders.

"We've come here looking for one of our pupils, Susan Foalman? We've been trying to contact her grandfather to talk to but we couldn't get a hold of him. We're not even sure if this's the right address." said Blue in a calm tone.

"I believe I'm her grandfather. It's a pleasure to finally meet the two of you. I understand your worries and I'll be sure to schedule an appointment with you two tomorrow. After all, it'd be much more pleasant in a classroom than a ratty old junkyard."

The Doctor beamed at his quick solution. It obviously didn't seem to be quite enough, though. They were beginning to get suspicious and he needed to leave right now. It didn't matter if the TARDIS had no navigational system, he had to get out of here now.

"Well, can we at least see her? We want to make sure that she's okay." Spark suggested rationally to an unusual situation.

"I can but I'd have to step out, she's in a house nearby."

Inside the Police Stable Susan began to grow worried. Her grandfather was usually strict and punctual about when to be back inside. It wasn't like him to disobey his own rules. After a few more minutes of nothing but the gentle hum of the control had gone by, she had to check somehow without leaving the ship.

"Grandfather, is everything alright out there?" Susan called out over the ship's intercom.

"Susan!?" Spark gasped in shock.

Berry nearly jumped in surprise from a voice sounding from the box. It sounded far away, but that couldn't be possible from in there. Everything escalated, Spark arguing with the Doctor for the key to open the box, followed by stressed retorts from the stallion in question. It was a scramble of both panic and confusion, he should just open the door for them. If he really had nothing to hide, then why all of the hesitation?

Susan pressed the door switch, making the lock click audibly from the outside. She wanted to go outside herself but it was too late. Berry took the chance and burst inside the Police Stable.

The room was a bright minty green yet glowed mostly white. The main light source seemed to be from the glass cylinder within the six-sided console and the hexagonal fixture above it. The walls themselves were lined with grey round indents in a sort of checker like pattern, one row slightly higher than the other. But what surprised both Spark and Blue the most was the sheer size of the room itself. It had to be at least ninety meters from the French doors to the flashing monitors and controls on the other side of the room all behind a glass barrier.

It was impossible, truly impossible. A white box with a black screen showed a picture of the outside junkyard. Had the mysterious Doctor been spying on them the whole time? Too many questions raced through their minds as their mouths stood agape.

"Close the doors Susan." said the Doctor in a commanding tone.

Susan, still in shock and very confused, obeyed and went back to the door control. With a higher-pitched hum than the ship itself, the roundel covered doors slowly closed shut. The air felt thick and sterile like the inside of an operating room. It was also equally as tense with all that had just conspired.

" I-Is this really where you live Susan?" Berry questioned while putting a hoof to her forehead.

"Yes, and it's called the Tardis. It's from the initials, Time And Relative Dimensions In Space."

"A very handy ship indeed." the Doctor cut in with a grin on his face.

"Ship? But how can a box travel?"

"Now that's a rather advanced term to explain. I highly doubt that you'll understand all of it."

The Doctor only smiled kindly and moved towards the console controls next to Susan. Berry and Spark just had to take a breath in and out. It was so intensely confusing that it overwhelmed their senses.

"But I want to understand! I know stuff like all this is a science fiction writer's dream come true, but I didn’t expect the mysteries of time and space to be revealed in a junkyard!"

The Doctor just giggled to himself after Spark's angered response. He then turned to Susan and frowned, knowing she wouldn't be happy with the decisions to come. But there wasn't much of a choice right now, especially considering their options.

"Susan my dear, I'm sorry... But we have to leave nine hundred sixty-three immediately."

"What!?" Susan gasped in sorrow.

He couldn't see her like this, his granddaughter on the verge of tears. To make matters worse, her cry of alarm had gotten some unwanted attention. Great, that's just what he needed, more trouble. Both Spark and Berry began to look in his direction.

"You see, now that they've discovered our ship we can't let them go. They'll surely tell somepony, anypony. Before you know it rumors will spread faster than wildfire all over the town. Questions will be asked and eventually we may be run out or arrested. So I'm sorry, but if we stay then they have to go."

Susan knew very well that he was right. Sometimes it sounded like the adults spread rumors more than the foals. The truth could be twisted in many ways and there was no telling what could happen next. She loved this era of Equestrian history the most and the TARDIS was too unreliable to be sure of coming back. But Berry and Spark had their lives in Foal Hill.

Both her grandfather and herself could vanish and nopony would bat an eye at it. But the two teachers would surely be missed. Susan sighed and gave her grandfather the okay to leave and let them go. He nodded and approached the door control, only to start flipping switches and preparing for take-off. He knew that it was wrong to take them unwillingly, but he needed someone else to talk to.

Somepony not as smart that would ask the right questions and contain the ethical knowledge that he lacked. But he didn't know what to do or say to keep them there. He didn't know what was right or wrong yet. He was still young and still learning.

"Grandfather NO!" Susan cried, grabbing onto him to try to stop the takeoff.

She had to stop this before it began. This caused the takeoff to be incomplete, making it even more unstable than it should have been. The scanner showed the city of Foal Hill, vanishing from sight into a black void. The TARDIS was in flight and there was no stopping it now. The ship drifted in the space-time vortex with barely any path in mind other than “away from here”.

Luckily part of the coordinates had been set, giving them some destination rather than “drifting off endlessly forever”. Spark and Berry, inexperienced in the nature of rough takeoffs, were knocked mostly unconscious. Minutes passed, or maybe even hours. It was hard to tell with no frame of reference to time in a timeless plane. The Police Stable rematerialized on top of a large mound of snow before quickly sinking in. After regaining full capability of stable movement, the Doctor began to take check of the surroundings outside.

"Ugh... w-what happened?" Blue asked as she got up from the chair she had collapsed into.

"Oh you're awake! Good, good. We've arrived... somewhere. The same place mostly gives or take a few miles. But the time has shifted back to the year ... oh my, the yearometer's on the blink as well. Well, it's pre-Celestian anyway."

The Doctor made the scanner's view rotate, giving them a better view of the snowy blizzard outside. Spark finally awoke, lifting his head off of the floor. Regaining his strength, Spark wearily shifted towards the Doctor.

"Can you please let us out now? I've had enough of this charade and would like to go home." (Meaning “go straight to the nearest police station”.)

"I'm afraid that'd be rather difficult, hmm. It's blowing a blizzard outside so I suggest you wrap up warmly if you plan to go out there."

The Doctor went over to the table and put on a black cloak, wrapped a short scarf around his neck, and placed a thick black hat tightly onto his head. He did a quick check on the outside readings one more time before finally pulling the door switch.

"Finally." Spark sighed.

But the second he stepped outside the doors, he fell muzzle first into over a foot and a half of snow. He climbed back in as quick as he could, shivering and covered in snow. Blue wrapped a wing around him as Spark shot the Doctor a nasty scowl.

"I did warn you." laughed the Doctor.

---

Back in the present, Twilight had been very busy over the past three hours, taking small notes on the side for reference. Using what she had, she was prepared to make a short timeline of what had happened—staying organized and doing such things helped to pass the time and relieve stress. She was tired of the dreary new castle and needed to get out. Despite its large size and rather heavy weight, she'd hauled the TARDIS into a separate room to keep it close and for safekeeping.

The long and crystalline halls combined with the lack of other ponies wasn't settling her nerves. Pushing in the chair, she decided that now would be a good time for a break. Hopefully, her friends were available to try and hang out with her soon. After all, it would be the first time she'd seen them since the battle with Tirek and getting the new castle. Meanwhile, the TARDIS door creaked open.

A large castle with plenty of room for hiding in. The creature leaked out from the control room and into the bright room outside. Its skin was like a vast galaxy of unknowns, shining in small places like stars. The 'creatures' of this world were primitive in comparison to the organism. It could hide in the shadows, and none of them would be the wiser.

When it thought the coast was clear, the thing shifted down the hallways slowly and into the lower levels of the structure. The hard part was hiding when more ponies began to move around and renovate the castle. For a quick second, a yellow and pink pony noticed the creature in a corner.

"Hello?" She called out.

Quickly rushing into the deeper shadows, the creature became un-spottable by normal Equestrians. Seeing nothing substantial in the shadows, the pony returned to singing and helping its cheerful comrades. Sneaking off and unfolding from the shadows took longer than expected, but at least it had made it to its planned destination.

Now beginning to tire, the sparkling black mass had to rest. It had big plans for the future, and it needed all the energy it could get. Inside the creature's mind were dreams of the past as it slipped gently into slumber. When Twilight returned, she didn't notice it at all.

---

After the past week, Twilight had been avoiding her castle, using every chance she got to stay away from it. But at the pancake social arranged for her friends, they noticed her dilemma. Sending her out for the day, the five of them fixed up the castle to make it more comfortable. It worked rather well, to say the least. Each room had a touch of themselves left behind after that day.

The best part was the roots of the Golden Oaks library hanging from the ceiling, draped in crystals containing little images of the past. The castle was finally starting to feel like home for the first time. Looking back at the reading desk she spotted the diary. It was only six o'clock, and she still had some time to spare. Why not? There wouldn't be any harm in continuing on.

---

Now dressed warmly, the four equines continued on into the painful cold. The Doctor pocketed a handy TARDIS locator just in case they got lost. With the amount of snow coming down it wouldn't be long before the ship started getting buried in the blizzard. Plus that and the fact they would hardly be able to find it through the fog-like effect the falling snow made.

"Now Doctor Foalman, why have you brought us out here? And I believe a better question would be ‘how?’." Spark asked, voice muffled by a thick scarf.

"Doctor Who?" he replied back in confusion.

Before any more questions could be asked or explanations are given, a black-clad stallion appeared from the misty whiteout. In an instant, several carved spears were thrust into their muzzles.

"Who goes there?" the stallion asked with his gruff and slightly raspy voice.

Berry being a history teacher knew the old stories of him by default. Commander Hurricane's father, Commander Thunderbird, was standing right before them in the flesh. Hurricane obtained his title through inheritance after his father’s death in year eight before Celestia. Such a record was the oldest anypony still knew of or had obtained in the public eyes. But she couldn't have traveled back in time, were the Doctor and Susan really telling the truth?

"I'm B-berry Blossom. We're kind of lost and are looking for a way home in a sense." nervously jittered the mare addressing him.

"Well Miss Blossom, I do believe your traveling companions are trespassing on Pegasi territory. But of course, all of our kind are welcome in our lands."

Of course, in this day and age, the tribes were practically at war. Either this was some extravagant setup, or this was really real. The concept was still hard to accept even though she literally witnessed the act's first hoof. If this really was some trick, that was some pretty convincing tribal racism. Before she had a moment to collect herself the Doctor spoke up from the group.

"Excuse me, but we're all in the party together. Berry Blossom here is a good friend of ours and we've promised to stick together until we can get home."

"How can I receive confirmation of that? For all, I know you're a group of spies sent from the other colonies."

He did have a valid point that would be hard to disprove. Time was a valuable thing at the moment considering the wild winds. In fact, they oddly seemed to swirl around the two of them. What were the stories of old? That wherever there was disharmony the cold winds followed creating an eternal winter.

"Well? I'm waiting patiently for thy response."

Thunderbird's old-timey language was bleeding through due to his slight anger. Think, Doctor, think. The stallion is getting impatient. The Doctor sighed and prepared his response. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing.

"In all honesty and truth, there's no way I can prove my statement other than my own words. But I've made a promise to myself that these few don't perish before they see their families again. It was my fault that they're in this mess in the first place and I dragged them along with me. So please, even in these desperate times, could you please show us some hospitality? It is rather cold out here after all."

Everyone was shocked at his sentiment. Maybe he was learning, maybe he was finding what was missing. It was just within his grasp, but it was hard to put a label on it. The rest of the group smiled warmly, their hearts shielding themselves from the cold. In fact, it almost felt like it was getting warmer.

Unfortunately, Commander Thunderbird didn't see eye to eye with him. He merely turned around and coldly ordered them all to be put in a prison cell. Something was different with him in that sentence. Nopony but his own tribe showed him that form of kindness. Just some random grey unicorn out in the raging storm had shown him something impossible that day.

Soon enough, the time would come when such kindness would occur a lot more often. The cell wasn't very warm, but it was much better than the storm outside. This was the first time he'd gotten himself and others into trouble but it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"D-Doctor? I'm sorry for getting so mad at you earlier." sighed Spark with a shivering breath.

"I'm sorry too... I'm just trying to cope with all of this happening."

"I should be even more sorry. I dragged you into this despite your disagreement. I ran away from my home to solve my problems, but I've only dragged them along with me."

The Doctor placed his head on the nearest wall. Normally there would be no time for moping, but there was still a small open window of time right now. He hoped he wouldn't cry at the thought of so many ponies that he'd left behind. Susan embraced I'm into a nice hug. Blue and Spark followed behind and joined in as well.

This is what he'd been looking for all along. The burden of being a Time Pony came with the effect of looking down upon all others, whom they deemed unworthy. He'd never felt equal with another species before, even in the short time he'd been traveling. That mysterious concept finally had a label to be placed upon it: friendship. With renewed confidence, the Doctor got up onto his hooves and approached the iron-barred door.

"I may have a way to open this door, but I'm not entirely sure that it'll work. But seeing our other options, this may be the best choice of action."

Reaching into the pockets of his deep frock coat he produced a thick silver hoof ring with a purple arcane crystal embedded into the front. Holding it up to the door he ignited his horn and powered the crystal. The ring hummed silently like a bass too low to hear. The door unlocked with a satisfying click but the ring continued to hum and its volume increased. The Doctor fiddled with the ring quickly as it started to heat up.

"The thermal regulators are overloading, get it off! GET IT OFF!"

The second it came off, with the help of Spark and Susan, it clattered onto the ground and sparked. The casing slightly broke and plumed out a small electrical fire. Covering his mouth with a handkerchief and coughing, the Doctor stamped out the electrical fire with his hoof. Once the device was properly-suited to be picked up again, he pocketed it for later.

"Sorry you lost your fancy electrical sound ring, but it was a great help," Spark said while giving him a pat on the back.

"It's alright, it was merely a prototype anyway. Something was bound to go wrong with it eventually. Now no more dilly-dallying, time is of the essence."

Galloping down the corridor, the four of them checked for any possible exits. Storage, Armory, Artillery, Canteen, all obsolete rooms at the moment. Thunderbird came down in the dungeon, still thinking about what the Doctor had said to him. He'd brought them extra but small rations, the best he could do in a tough time. But all that greeted him was an empty cell.

The sound of a clattering dish tray and a clearly angry Thunderbird echoed down the hallway. He felt foolish for even trying to trust the four of them. Crashing down the labyrinth of twisting halls, Thunderbird wasn't going to let anything get in his way.

"Split up!" Blue yelped.

"No, we'll be lost and alone with no chance of escape." Susan gasped.

"There's got to be some kind of hidden exit somewhere. These pathways go deeper underground so there should be an emergency exit. Like for when the workers experienced a cave in ."

"Excellent thinking Blue! But that exit is likely deeper down in the lower levels of the structure. There's a possibility of being cornered there."

"We'll have to take that chance, let's just hope that it's worth it though."

Spark found the nearest declining ramp and began going full speed ahead. The others followed in pursuit, going down another three ramps before reaching a dead end. The space in front of them was three by three feet in size with nothing but a bricked up wall blocking their path. No doors, no exits, and worst of all no way out.

"This can't be right. Maybe it's blocked off, maybe we took a wrong turn. M-maybe... m-maybe."

Spark comforted Blue as she began to hyperventilate. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Susan observed the wall. It was deep gray and made out of strong impenetrable stone, or so it seemed.

"It's true that the escape route is here, and it saved workers from cave-ins. But as a fairly recent addition, it's also been converted into a smuggler's hole."

Pushing one of the bricks inward slightly triggered a chain reaction, the wall moving aside. It was much more clear now that the bricks had merely been hollow clay duplicates that provided a clever ruse. With no time to waste the four of them entered the vast cavern. Ancient gold trinkets and arcane scrolls of spells dimly shown in the candlelight. The treasures were mostly well hidden and would almost certainly be lost to the winds of time. With a loud slam, the wall resealed itself, leaving them trapped.

"No turning back now." shivered Susan.

The sound of their hoof steps echoed all over the cavern walls. It would be easy to get lost since there were many carved passageways that were obviously used to trick the authorities. Taking a few steps forward the Doctor traced his hoof along the ground.

"Exactly what're you doing?"

Spark observed in interest, noticing a wide but shallow groove marked in the ground when the Doctor's hoof touched it. It was a clever method of marking a path to any possible exits.

"Oh, I just had a thought. It would be rather foolish for the smugglers themselves to get lost, wouldn't it? A common solution would be to mark a specific kind of path."

The Doctor bore a wide grin across his muzzle. This was going to be the most fun he’d had for a long time. Picking up the pace, he began to twist and turn down the cavern. The light was just up ahead, the snow bright and visible like a shining star in the midnight sky. But just before they made it, they heard voices as the exit caved in with snow.