An Old Friend
Empress Venus pinched her nose. "You are sure of this, Captain?"
Blue Diamond nodded. "Yes, your highness. The snowstorms are getting worse. Ponies swear that they can hear eerie howling out in the wastes. But nopony knows what is causing them."
Pink Diamond nodded. "There was also a delegation from the Unicorn Tribe earlier today."
Venus frowned. This was not what she needed right now. "Did they ask what the Pegasus and Earth Pony Tribes asked?"
Rose nodded grimly. "That we return the ponies of their tribes that have come to the Crystal Empire to them. Or there would be trouble."
Venus scowled, a rare sight for her. "I have told Bullion, Hurricane, and Puddinghead this more times than I care to count. Anypony of any tribe that comes to the Crystal Empire, and seeks safety, is under my protection. If they chose to stay, then they have the full rights of the crystal ponies. Some of those ponies have families now. I refuse to destroy the lives they've made for themselves."
Blue and Pink shared a look. They knew that better some that feeling. Blue had married a unicorn mare that had come seeking the safety of the empire. They were expecting their first child for crying out loud, while Pink was engaged to a rather dashing former Pegasus Knight. For crying out loud, Venus was going to marry them herself! Pink was her longstanding Chamberlain, and one of the few that the empress could genuinely call a friend, that wasn't a part of her family.
Blue shook his head. "We sent them away with the same warning. I am not sure how much longer King Bullion will take it. But with the tribes at each other's throats, I do not think he will try anything."
Venus nodded, glad of some good news at least. She looked around the table one last time. "Is there anything else we must discuss?"
Blue Diamond and Pink Diamond shook their heads. Nodding, Venus dismissed them with a wave of her wing. Bowing, the two made their exit, anxious to get home before the sunset.
Venus sighed once the door closed behind them. As much as she might put on a mask, she was concerned deeply about the worsening snow storms out the shield of the Crystal Heart. For now, the empire was fine. But there was something very wrong going on. For now, though, Venus was more than happy to drop the Crystal Empress visage and spend time in the role she loves the most. That of a mother. Amicitia should have been up from her nap by now.
With a very un-empress-like giggle, Venus left the Conference Room behind and turned her steps to the Private Rooms of the palace. Nodding to the few Imperial Guard along the way, she soon came to her own room and the Nursery where her daughter slept. Though it did not appear so, both rooms were connected, so that mother and daughter would be far apart.
As neared the door to the Nursery, Rose could hear voices from inside. Rose smiled. Cadenza, or Cadance as she preferred to be called, was probably the best thing that had ever happened for Amicitia. She was the closest the filly had to a big sister, and the feeling was mutual. She should still be here at this time. Rose paused outside the door, not wanting to interrupt whatever the two might be doing at the moment.
"It's bigger on the inside!" Came her daughter's voice in a squeaky high pitch.
"Is it? I hadn't noticed," came a stallion's voice. One that stopped Rose in her tracks, her smile growing. It was a voice she had not heard in a long time. But one she remembered well, as she pushed the door open.
Amicitia's room was much like any other filly or colt's room, with her stuffed animal friends scattered all over the place and piled atop her bed. A window looked down on the Crystal Empire below. What stood out though, was the big blue box standing against a wall. The words 'Police Public Call Box' hung over the door. Whatever they might mean, for Rose had never figured it out. And she had been to the planet it came from. Several times in fact. The doors were currently open at the moment, and her daughter's rump was sticking out, bouncing back and forth excitedly.
Rose chuckled. "You could at least knock next time, Doctor."
Amicitia gasped in shock before pulling herself out of the box and rushing over and hugging her mom as hard as she could. Rose giggled as she leaned down and nuzzled her daughter, even as a light brown earth pony stuck his head out of the box. "Ah! Venus! Still holding down the fort I see."
Rose chuckled as she picked up her daughter and set her on her back. "And I see you still wear the same face I remember." She looked inside the police box. It still looked as she remembered it from her youth. "All by yourself?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Yes. I have not been by Earth in some time now. Probably needs all the help it can get."
Rose nodded. "I am sure. They do have a habit of attracting trouble."
Amicitia looked back and forth between the two. "How do you know him, mommy? And what the hay are you wearing?" She asked, pointing at the odd-shaped thing on the stallion's head.
The Doctor chuckled. "This, my dear, is a fez. Fezzes are cool."
Amcitia stuck her tongue out. "Yuck."
Rose chuckled. "As for how I know him, he is an old friend of mine. We used to adventure across time and space. For a time anyway."
Amcitia tilted her head in confusion. "What happened?"
Rose's ears fell. "I saw how dangerous the universe is. But I also saw how beautiful it can be. It helped become the pony I am today."
The Doctor nodded. "I brought your mother back to right the moment we first left Equss. It was only a few moments for everypony else, but it had been much longer than that." He tapped the police box. "This, my dear, is a time machine. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. TARDIS for short."
Amicitia gave it a unconvinced glare. "Looks like a big blue box to me."
Rose and the Doctor just rolled their eyes. "What brings you back to Equus then, Doctor? Surely, we are not that interesting?" Rose asked.
The Doctor chuckled. "Not yet anyway. This world is so unlike many other worlds where ponies are so predominant that I have seen. I am curious to see how it all plays out in the end."
Venus frowned. There was that feeling again. That the Doctor knew more than he was willing to tell. It had driven her crazy once, and it still did now as she remembered all the times the future of Equus had come up. "You know what's going on outside the Crystal Empire then?"
He nodded sadly. "Yes, I know full well what is going on outside the Shield. But some things must happen if this world has any future to speak of. I got my hands dirty once, sticking my nose in. It cost me, my people. I will not do it again."
Venus' earls wilted. She knew enough of the Last Great Time War to know what he spoke of. What had happened to Gallifrey. It was not a pleasant memory for her.
Amicitia looked between the two, very confused. "What's he talking about, mommy?"
The Doctor shook his head. "A very bad memory, my child. Ask your mother when you are older. She knows the story."
Amicitia waited a few seconds before smiling widely and spreading her wings. "Okay, I'm older now! Now tell me?"
Venus giggled as she ruffled her daughter's mane. "When you are a few years older, honey."
Amicitia groaned and sat down with a huff, pouting as she crossed her hooves. "Fine. Be like that."
The others chuckled. The Doctor bowed before returning to the TARDIS. "I really wish I could stay longer. But something tells me that if I do, I will miss something that I will regret for the rest of time."
Rose and Amicitia shared a confused look. "Like what?" Amicitia asked.
The Doctor paused a moment, before grinning widely. "I have no idea! But it is going to be fantastic! I just know it. Allons-y!" And disappeared into the TARDIS, closing the door behind him.
Rose took several steps back, as Amicitia watched in awe as the box revved for a moment, before gradually disappearing from sight. "He's weird," she grumbled.
Rose chuckled as she looked at her daughter. "Yes. Yes, he is. But there are few with a bigger heart than him. You get used to it after a while."
Amicitia wasn't convinced as she gave the spot where the TARDIS had once been a glare. "Will he come back? I never even got to explore it! I wanted to explore it," she pouted.
Rose giggled as she kissed her daughter's forehead. "You will get another chance, Amicitia. He has a habit of popping up whenever he is needed. He will be back one day. And who knows? He might even bring a friend along with him next time."
Amicitia didn't look entirely convinced but only nodded, as she snuggled into her mother's coat, hoping that Cadance might come back later. She had said she needed to do something. She just hoped the greatest foal sitter in the history of foal sitters was okay.
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Good chapter. Great to see a new one
Neat. Watched some Who earlier
Should I be concerned that you memorised all their hometowns? Don't get me wrong, I love Doctor Who too, but might this be a bit too far? Just asking.
11077098
If I could tell you every single little detail about them, then yes. But I don't see how knowing where they come from is too much.
11077126
Eh, just a thought.