Adventures in the TARDIS

by Scroll

Stranded in Space Part 6: My Little Detour

--7 Months Ago--

Derpy was the first to burst out of the TARDIS. This caused her to burst into bright daylight that her yellow walleyes weren't immediately accustomed to. As a result, she winced tightly and had to shield her eyes with one of her gray pegasus wings. As she stood there and waited for her eyes to adjust, the Doctor also steped outside the TARDIS, turned about to shut the door, then roamed out into the paved streets of this city to meet her.

The details sank in gradually for both of them, especially Derpy. Beyond sight, the first thing she noticed was how hot and arid this city was. As for sound, there was a considerable population in the local area which caused a large amount of hustle and bustle. This wasn't just a highly populated city, this is one of the premier merchant capitals of the world. As a result, much of the activity they are hearing involves merchants hawking their wares, customers and merchants busy haggling, some music being played by various street performers, and just general conversation of everyone roaming the streets.

As Derpy's eyes adjusted, the Doctor noticed her noticing the busy streets all around them which included a great deal of hoof traffic. Some of them were dragging merchant carts with them, a few were guards on patrol, and most of them were visitors to the city.

“Where are we, Doc?” Derpy asked the Doctor excitedly.

“Neighbriais, the merchant capital city of Saddle Arabia,” the Doctor answered. “This is fifteen years ahead of your native timeline.”

“Whoa!” Her eyes widen in wonder. “So this is the future! That's so cool!” Then she winces and looks at the Doctor. “Wait a second. I heard of Saddle Arabia, though I've never been there before. So this means we're still in my native world?”

“Yes Ma'am,” the Doctor confirms as he tips the fedora hat he is wearing (for style and to help shield his eyes from the blazing sun) further down the edge of his brow. “I figured I'd just wet your toes a little by keeping most of your adventures more local and gradually broaden your way out from it. Before I introduce you to fully alien worlds, introducing you to wider territories within your own world might help you to adjust somewhat.”

“Wet my what now? Tows? What would I be towing right now and why would I ever want it to be wet?” Derpy asks with a curious tilt of her head. “Doctor, have I ever told you how weird you are sometimes?”

“Quite frequently, actually,” the Doctor says as he passes her a charmed smile under the edge of his hat. “That's actually one of the things I adore about you, my new quadruped companion.”

“You trot on four legs now too, Doc,” Derpy reminds. “No more homo-sappy-ents for you, my little pony. You're just going to have to get used to it.”

“Indubitably,” the Doctor agrees. “And I must say . . . this is an interesting challenge for me.”

“And my goodness! Look at all this wonderful stuff here!” Derpy squees. “The sights! The sounds! The colors! The music in the air! All of those neat fabrics and nicknacks.”

“Well, as I said before, this is one of the merchant capital cities of your world if I am led to understand correctly,” the Doctor reminds.

Derpy burst out in a delighted laugh then raced off to explore with the energy, vim, and vigor of an excited youth. She looked so happy that the Doctor could easily imagine cartoonish and/or anime symbols around her to indicate her happiness such as bouncing musical notes above her head, especially when she's prone to sing anyway.

It was such a delight for the Doctor to witness. This was one of the primary reasons he includes at least one companion on his journey. It's not only for safety reasons since it would be wise for at least one ally and friend to look after him on his many dangerous journeys, but having a companion, especially a female companion, helped to fill the hole in his hearts that was there ever since his granddaughter, Susan, left him and his journey.

In no way did he blame Susan for her choice. She had her own life to live, after all, but the reason he brought her along on his journey in the first place was for the sheer delight of showing someone he cared about the universe and to educate her about the ins and outs of space and its history. He wanted to mentor someone, and when Susan left, that purpose he had in his hearts temporarily left him as well until he realized that he could fill that gap again with various companions he invited on his journey.

Whenever he witnessed their youthful exuberance, like Derpy was expressing right then, it helped to remind the Doctor of what that feeling of being young was like again. It was such a long time ago for the Doctor himself, and the only way he tends to reclaim that feeling these days was vicariously through his far more youthful companions. That energy of young joy sparks a reminder in his own soul that he finds quite necessary to try to keep alight, else he could emotionally fade into a gray and dull existence. An adventurous spirit was hard work to maintain after this long. He found that the best way to keep it alive was to share it with someone who was witnessing these things for the first time. Witnessing that sparkling wonder in their eyes helps to keep his own mind, hearts, and soul afloat from drowning in despair.

There was so much over these centuries that tried to weigh the Doctor down. That burden was so hard for him to carry. Moments of shining levity, like this, help to rejuvenate his soul much as his regeneration restores his body and crafts it anew.

But the Doctor reminded himself that, as a very emotional companion, Derpy's mood could swing the other way just as strongly. Fear, in particular, he noticed she was prone to. However, in the Doctor's opinion, that was not always a bad thing. Indeed, that emotion existed in a mortal world for a very good reason. In proper doses, it could promote survival. The Doctor relied on it himself on many occasions. It reminds one of the importance to slow down once in a while and carefully take in their surroundings because there were signs of danger within it. Fear also helped to give the Doctor, and many of his former companions, that little extra push whenever they needed to run from danger all too frequently in his journeys.

He also discovered that courage can moderate fear as well but it needs the proper motivation to be there. He found that motivation depends on one's personal values. For whom, or what, do they care about? Why stand their ground? Why be brave? If there was no answer to these questions, the best default was to run. However, if there was something important at stake that was a danger to someone, then other options may need to be considered.

Just then, something irritated his eyes as a light was shone directly on him. Wincing tightly, he then directed his attention to what was causing that. In doing so, he observed something startling and wholly unexpected. Across the busy street and to his right, he saw a mare wearing a sexy dance costume indicative of a gypsy-style belly dancer except for the pony design. In this case, it is a translucent black dress with silver trims and sparkles within it. Her outfit was complete with a veil over her face.

That in itself was not what caught him off guard about her. What did catch him off guard was the fact that she winked at him, and blew him a kiss, then when she turned to leave, there was a pattern spread on her open shawl that had a very distinct pattern on it made with tiny mirrors that, collectively, took the shape of a single letter/word he had seen nowhere else in existence except for one very distinctive place for him, and that was his home of Gallifrey.

A word that had his true name!

“What the hell?!” the Doctor exclaimed in shock.

Just then, he saw the other woman scamper away. Her silky outfit, especially her shawl, fluttered in the air as she took off.

“Wait!” the Doctor called as he raced after her. “Wait just a bloody minute!”

She did not. The Doctor privately acknowledged there was a good chance she did not hear him over all of this hustle and bustle. For a brief moment, he even considered using his sonic screwdriver to enhance his voice. After all, he considered getting her attention that important at that moment.

The problem with that strategy, however, arose when she rounded a corner and thus he lost a visual of her. He still could use his tool to bounce sound off of various objects and thus deliver the message around some corners, but by then, he knew he'd be firing it off blindly. As this continued, he knew there would be ever-escalating odds he'd aim that sound on the wrong spot until he managed to locate her again.

While he galloped, a troubling thought occurred to him. One of several, in fact. Among them was how that pony could have a symbol in his native Gallifreyin, and with his name, no less! Not only should that letter/word be unknown to the rest of the universe, but that word, in particular, should be unknown by the vast majority of his own people. He could only think of a small handful that would know such a thing, and if that person does have that knowledge, she may be in great danger.

But, on top of that, he did not fail to notice how chasing this new mare delivered him specifically away from Derpy. That was very troubling because his new companion was very new to his journeys. As a result, he wanted to keep a close eye on her, especially since she seemed so accident-prone. Things can turn south for her very quickly and the Doctor wanted to be there to be on top of issues like that, but right then he was being led away from Derpy as if that was the entire point.

As he ran, he debated the possibility that the mare's shawl could be made of something akin to his psychic paper. Maybe the image wasn't actually there and was simply telepathically projected as if it was there. She could know that she is wearing something akin to psychic paper without realizing exactly what the Doctor saw on it. However, if she knew that it was like psychic paper then she also knows that what the Doctor saw on it would entice him to follow her, and that was the bait to this trap.

“Forgive me, Derpy, but I can't afford to ignore this,” the Doctor mumbled under his breath.

As the chase continued, the Doctor kept barely spotting her just before she rounded another corner. This quickly made the Doctor realize that he was definitely being baited. She had enough of a lead ahead of him to ensure she could round another corner before he did, but she actually waited for him to catch up just to afford him another glimpse of her just in time.

Eventually trailing her led him mostly outside of the city. In the outskirts of Neighbriais was a section beyond the main walls of the city. There were so many tents gathered there that both natives and visitors alike called it “Tent City”, which was a bit of a misnomer because there was a bay of water in the area where thousands of small boats crowded. They, too, served residential, recreational, and/or business purposes.

Once there, the Doctor noticed how this mare waited for him to catch up somewhat before venturing into one of those many tents. This one was a white, Arabian-style tent with a bit of pink at the tip.

At first, the Doctor found it comforting that this area wasn't too isolated, but then again, he might later lament having too many witnesses about who could also be in potential danger.

The Doctor paused when he reached a hoof forward to brush aside the canvas tent flap. The moment he touched it, he sensed something all too familiar about the energy of this tent. He could not quite put his finger on why exactly yet, but he couldn't ignore it either. Some gut instinct inside him told him that this tent was far more than meets the eye.

Without further adieu, he entered the tent.

The first thing he noticed that was off about the inside of the tent was the fact it was bigger on the inside. Technology like this (or possibly magic) wasn't too uncommon among his own native people, but it was exceedingly rare beyond that.

The inside of this tent was spacey and filled with pillows around the outer rim. The scent of incense rushes to claim his nostrils which helped to induce a calming aroma. Some of the outside illuminations managed to penetrate the walls of the tent, yet there was also this crawling light along the inside of the tent walls which he could not find an inside source to explain. What would normally be a single pole to hold up the center of the tent instead looks like a giant column on the inside. The Doctor actually went down three steps from the entrance before he reaches the main floor of this . . .

. . . this . . .

One unusual, metallic, and echo-y sound he hears within the tent helps to confirm what his impressions already were, and that was the fact that this “tent” was actually at TARDIS as well. A TARDIS which the chameleon circuit apparently still worked.

Either that, or it was stuck in this form which was oddly appropriate for this environment.

Within this tent, he finally found the mare he was chasing but there were two more here as well.

When the Doctor got a closer look at her, he realized that she was just a little bit under middle age but approaching it. She had a very mature body but was not quite old yet. She had fairly thick eyebrows and thick lips. Her coat was very dark white, or more like ivory. If she were human, the Doctor would have thought her to have a Spanish descent. She was standing very near the entrance of this “tent” and was therefore the closest of the three when the Doctor initially entered.

Across from the Doctor at the other end of this “tent” was a lone mare who sat on a bunch of pillows. She was mostly white with a hint of blue. Even from a distance, one of her most distinctive traits was the fact she was obviously blind, for her eyes were covered by a milky-white filament.

The third mare stood closer to the center of the room and very near the giant pole. From the Doctor's perspective, this other mare stood towards the left side of the pole he was facing. This mare had a mostly black hide but with many dots of white strung throughout. Her mane and tail also have a rainbow hue which sort of reminded the Doctor of the various hues some skies take during sunrise and sunset.

All three mares appeared to have recognized the Doctor on sight. The white one was very calm about it. The black one with white dots appeared downright giddy to see him, and the third mare, of whom he was originally chasing, whips about to slap him hard on the face with her tail. This action forced his face hard about to briefly face the direction of the exit/entrance again.

“I'm not sure if I deserve that,” the Doctor complains under his breath. He whips his face back at the gypsy-outfitted mare to give her a piece of his mind, but she shocks him again by tackling into his body, which forces him against a tent wall, as she plunges her now open lips into his in order to seize him with a forced kiss. As she does this, the Doctor's eyes explode widely open.

“Missy, do we need to reach for the spray bottle again?” the black one with a rainbow mane asks irritably. “Bad girl!”

After being pinned for four straight seconds, the Doctor's mind finally thaws enough to muster his strength which he used to push the sexually assaulting mare off of him.

“Bloody hells, woman! What's gotten into you?” the Doctor complains at the mare who assaulted him.

Twice.

“Keep your skirt on, why don't ya? Where I come from, what you've done to me is usually considered impolite,” the Doctor informs her in continued annoyance.

“Oh, Doctor . . . Doctor . . . Doctor. We are way past polite greetings at this point, especially after all that we've been through in our mutual past,” the ivory mare said while she sexually licks her lips and then lightly touches them with a hoof as if savoring the sensation. During this time, her eyes gleam at the Doctor with strong wicked recognition.

“I'm sorry, but am I supposed to know you?” the Doctor asks with frustrated confusion.

“Yes and no,” the ivory mare answers as she lifts a hoof mirror with a hoof, sits down, then lightly fluffs her mane to get it back into shape. “There is much we've been through together.” She looks back at him and winks wickedly. “But this is the first time you've encountered me in this form.”

The Doctor widens his eyes as he asks, “You're a fellow Time Lord? Or, excuse me, a Time Lady?”

“Call me Missy,” Missy requests as she lowers her mirror again. “Although, I suppose, you would be much more familiar with me with my other name I have hounded you with for centuries as we continued our little tête-à-tête. Back then, you would have known me as the Master.”

The Doctor's jaw dropped. At that point he was openly gawking at Missy.

“Oh, my dear old frenemy . . . you are so adorable when you're flabbergasted! What a rare and delicious treat for me. I fricken love it!”

“You're . . . No! It can't be!” the Doctor insisted with a shake of denial.

Even more wicked amusement sunk into Missy's eyes as she said, “Search your feelings, old Time Walker, and you'll know it to be true!”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at Missy as he asked her, “Is that quote a deliberate reference to Star Wars?”

In answer, Missy just playfully rolls her eyes to her left and then right.

“Wait!” The Doctor widens his eyes again. “So you are, or rather were, Thee Master from the other universe. The more humanoid-looking universe.”

Missy smiled at the Doctor wickedly again until she realized something startling which caused her to momentarily widen her eyes for a second before narrowing them in anger at the Doctor as she said in a warning tone, “Don't say it.”

The Doctor starts to shake with glee and he starts to squee.

“Don't say it!” Missy more strongly insists.

“Why Missy . . . you're so adorable as a pony now!” the Doctor gushes.

“GOD DAMN you, Doctor! You said it to me again!” Missy snaps then pouts. “I fricken hate you, and have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? Spoken from the horse's mouth, I'd wager.”

The Doctor launched forward and seized Missy into a hug. This caused Missy to growl in annoyance before she mumbled under her breath, “Why didn't I see this coming too? You did this before as well shortly after I regenerated into this form.”

“Really?” the Doctor asked with interest as he backs off enough to look at her face again. “So some future version of me will witness that?”

Missy nods with a more neutral expression before she said, “It was during a moment we hatched a scheme together. A plan of yours that came together well enough in the end.

“Ooo. By the way, that reminds me. There is a certain small blue unicorn you'll meet in the future. You're going to have to play a trick on that pony which, when I later found out about it, I must admit I was surprised and annoyed, but I've since come to appreciate the devious nature of it. I didn't know you had it in you, Doctor. I approve!

“At least, I do now.

“Anyway, the trick is this; whenever you are around this pony and you go into deep thought about . . . well . . . any old something. At that time, knock on something four times.”

“Knock on something four times?” the Doctor asked as he releases her and gazes at her in confusion, but two seconds later he widened his eyes briefly as he asked, “Oh! Does this have anything to do with that four drum beats you once heard in your head? That endless and continual drum beats?”

Missy nods as she said, “Something like that, although that no longer plagues me ever since I crossed over to this pony universe.”

“I'm glad to hear that,” the Doctor said with relief. “As I understood it, that was a ploy from our people to drive you insane which eventually tried to result in a nefarious scheme of their own.”

“I'm not their puppet anymore!” Missy growls in anger. “From now on, I set my own destiny.”

“As it always should have been,” the Doctor said proudly.

Missy narrowed one eye at the Doctor as she cautioned, “Don't get me wrong. I'm not your puppet either. I'm following the lot of these two, which I know is somewhat similar to your own journey because it serves my purpose. I still look after only for number One in my book. These two are just lucky that their goals align with mine somewhat.”

“Goal?” the Doctor questioned with a blink.

“Future stuff,” the black pegasus mare explains a bit. “It's actually not that bad. Personally, I find it just a tiny bit disturbing, but ultimately not that harmful.”

“She still has many dark ambitions,” the blind white earth pony mare at the other end of the tent said. “But I possess psychic empathic abilities. Enough to sense and curtail some of her dark ambitions. After all, I have some leverage here.”

“Such as?” the Doctor questioned the white mare. “Oh, and by the way, who are you two?”

“I am a mare who will be a companion of yours in my youth,” explains the white mare. “My name is Vision and you will encounter me, and I to you, when I was just a filly. From there, I'll continue to provide wisdom and guidance for you until I later stray on my own path with a TARDIS of my own. Behold.” She lifts both of her forehooves in an arc to gesture about the whole place.

“Wait. I'm not sure if I want to know about this future stuff,” the Doctor mildly complains.

“Fear not, Doctor, for you will use a technique to suppress these memories after this encounter,” Vision goes on. “That is, until a certain time when you unlock a deeper aspect of your potential. It will be a moment when you explode with regenerative energy which is usually tied to and help you to recover from your death, but there is something different about that moment. Namely, you didn't die that time and the explosion of energy was much stronger than usual for you.”

“You witnessed it personally,” the Doctor realized then shrugged. “Well, relatively witnessed.”

Vision nods as she said, “In a manner of speaking, yes, but what I lack in sight, I make up for with my inner, psychic eye. When you flare with regenerative energy during that moment, in my perception, you blazed like the sun. Quite frankly, it was glorious to behold even though it was triggered for a largely negative reason.”

“If that is so, how did you not go mad?” the Doctor asked with worry. “There are good reasons why I try not to reveal too much.”

“My mind and spirit are quite fortified. Don't worry about me,” Vision assured. “In fact, back then, I was the only pony left standing in the TARDIS control room when you were done.”

The Doctor shook his head with a look of confusion as he said, “I don't understand. If I didn't die at that moment, then where did that energy come from? What is the source?”

“The full answer to that question will reveal itself in time,” Vision assured. “For now, I'd like to point a few things out.

“Doctor, when you first woke up in this pony universe that you recall, did you happen to notice that you did not cough out or expel regeneration energy?”

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak for a moment but then froze when he realized Vision had a point. Granted, the TARDIS was dark during that moment, but that should have made the regeneration energy stand out all the more. He just went from a British, and sometimes Scottish-sounding gentleman then shifted into a pony just after his last life died.

But it's true that he wasn't expelling regeneration energy at the time. That was odd.

“You'll seal your own memories after this encounter until the right time,” Vision informed. “But that was not the first time you did that since coming to this universe. You did that once before, and that was the true first moment when you recently regenerated. Back then you had all the signs, and back then you had your first true adventure in this universe. An adventure in which you had your first taste of this universe's version of the Time War.”

The Doctor's hearts skipped a beat as his blood grew cold with horror.

“But, this time, you resolved yourself by deciding you'd face the Time War on your own terms,” the black pegasus explained. “Oh, by the way, my name is Star Breeze. I'm the future daughter of two companions who will later join your journey. When they retire from that journey, I later get born then grow up hearing tales of your heroism, beginning on one of my birthdays.” She smiled brightly. “I've been enchanted with you and your journeys ever since.” Her smile dimmed a bit as she went on to say, “When I first saw the TARDIS, I thought it was you piloting it. I was disappointed to discover it wasn't, but I still got my wish to trek among the stars anyway. That, and I still met you in certain moments like this one.”

“Um . . . Wait. Give me a moment to process here,” the Doctor requested as he lifted a hoof. “There's a lot of bombshells you're dropping on me right now.”

“And there's more to come,” Missy put in. “This time, because of what you've done and will do, you and I aren't the only survivors of our people anymore.”

“Really?!” the Doctor asked with astonished delight.

“If you were to face the Time War again and do it on your own terms this time with a lot of preparation, isn't this a goal you'd attempt to achieve?” Missy pressed. “And by the way, in this specific regard, your goals and mine are in alignment. I want to rule over the Time Lords, but they have to be here in the first place for that to happen. That, and they had other resources that I found useful. I want to see them restored.” For once in a rare while, a soft and fond look sinks into her eyes as she said to the Doctor, “Not to mention certain zones are deeply sentimental to you and me, and I'm not afraid to admit that. Places like Gallifrey and other people who were lost along with it.” She straightened her head. “Part of me was proud of the fact that you and I were the last of the Time Lords before, but the cost of that egoic boost is still too high. I'd gain more by ensuring that which was lost gets restored.”

“Thank you . . . Missy,” the Doctor said with misty eyes.

“I'm not doing this for you,” Missy assured. “I have my own reasons.”

“The explosion of regenerative energy, which will unlock this memory, will stem from a different source,” Vision explained. “Namely, when you crossed over into this pony universe, you will somewhat and eventually succeed with some of your goals when it comes to saving your kind. To accomplish that, your people will recognize the fact that, quite frankly, you don't have enough time to accomplish what you need to save those that you will save. To rectify this, some of them donate extra energy to you in order to increase the number of your cycles.”

For a moment, the Doctor was too stunned to speak, but when he later recovered, he asked, “By how much?”

For the first time, all three mares glance at each other. The Doctor noticed a look of uncertainty in them all. That alone gave the Doctor his answer.

“We're not certain,” Missy eventually said to the Doctor. “Suffice it to say, it's enough to partially accomplish your goals with the war.”

“The three of you keep saying that word. Partially,” the Doctor notes a bit morosely.

“You remember what we were up against in the Time War before,” Missy reminded. “An enemy that powerful and widespread is still too strong to completely accomplish all of your goals. Even with all of your preparations, this is the best you could accomplish. Remember; the enemy develops time-warping technology as well. Anything you can do to prepare for the war, they can do as well.”

“It's so good to finally meet you in person, Doctor,” Star Breeze said gleefully. “This isn't the first time for me, but the first time I met you, I possessed my father's body from the . . . Well, we don't need to get into the details. Just know that I was still a little filly at the time.” She waved at him. “And you had your own personal policy when it comes to foals so that stimulated a certain action of your own as soon as you realized what was going on and likely also recalled this conversation warning you that it will happen.”

“Okay,” the Doctor accepted with a nod. “I'll keep that in mind when I recover these memories again.”

“It won't be long,” Vision assured. “In the meantime, just know that you have a long journey ahead of you. Longer than you can fit into a single lifetime which is why you'll be given extra time.

“But while you travel out there and do what you normally do, know that you'll have other allies out there who will watch your back. Help them as they will help you. We're all united for a certain cause. A purpose we are sworn to uphold and protect. Together, we will make a brighter future than the worst of your past has ever endured. Through that effort, we'll keep this universe cleaner and more innocent.”

The Doctor slowly looked across each of them. As he did so, he became more and more teary-eyed, especially when his eyes settled on Missy last. She, above all of them, he recognized the most at the time.

“Thank you all,” the Doctor expressed gratefully.

---

The Doctor slowly opens his eyes back in the present. When he does so, he notices he's back in his room on the TARDIS.

“Good morning, sleepy head,” greets Doctor Kelly's voice beside him. He looks to his right and sees the peculiar sight of a floating, mirror-like and spherical droid. “Wakey wakey eggs n bakey.”

“Ah . . .” the Doctor regards the droid in confusion.

“Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, this message I'm playing for you is a recording,” announces her voice from the droid. “This droid will also send a signal to alert the real me that you have awakened. Accordingly, expect me to show up relatively soon as soon as I finish whatever business delays me for the moment.”

“How considerate of you,” the Doctor said with a blink.

“In the meantime, I have scanned your vital signs with this droid,” her recording goes on to announce. “You seem stable and recovering from what I can tell, but I don't know much about the regeneration of your kind. This may prompt a further interview with you to enhance my knowledge of it before I can label you officially in the clear.”

“Noted,” the Doctor accepts.

“Until then, I advise you to take it easy here in your room,” her recording continues. “Allow me a chance to interview you and do a final checkup before you leave this room.

“While I am on the subject, I did my best to take care of the others for you on the ship. At this point you have been down for,” the voice suddenly sounds much more robotic as it goes on to say but still in her voice, “Seven days, nine hours, thirteen minutes, and eight seconds.”

The Doctor lifts an eyebrow. That kind of precision with time is worthy of a Time Lord.

“They are fine,” her recording continues back in her normal tone of voice. “We're all just waiting and anxious for you to get better. After all, we need you to pilot this craft.”

“Okay then. I'll thank you when you get here,” the Doctor decides as he crawls out of his bed.

For about three minutes, the Doctor pauses as he mentally goes over his recovered memories. There was a lot to unpack in there. A lot of important information which leads to later plans. Some of those plans get adjusted as a result of this new knowledge.

Extra regenerative energy donated by his people. Now he can't be certain just how many cycles he has left. It's very likely beyond twelve at this point, but every single one of them might be his last. He can be relatively certain it'll be enough to accomplish at least some minimum standards of his goals. There's no point in the donation if it's not enough, and his people will have the benefit of hindsight by then.

His recent emotional outburst about the War must have triggered some of this latent energy. If his body is indeed carrying extra at this point, then it's no wonder why it might occasionally erupt unexpectedly like this. Quite frankly, this means his body currently is holding on to more of this energy than his race is normally designed to contain. That's noteworthy, but he can't rest on his laurels about it. He'll have what he needs to fulfill his goals, but maybe no further.

Time will tell the rest.

Back in this recently unlocked memory, he realized that they never said that some of his future companions will be Feather Wind and Stern Wing at all. All they did say was those two are the parents of Star Breeze, and Missy warned him that the Doctor will need to play a special trick on Feather for some reason. He assumes the exact reason will be clear later on.

When he thinks back on it, though, he realizes he already started to fulfill some of the prophecies. Off and on, the Doctor already has been knocking on some object four times when he thought deeply about something. Apparently, Feather was meant to notice that and later lead him to some important conclusion. Missy also said that there will be another encounter sometime in the future to accomplish some other scheme. Whatever this knocking thing has to do, it likely has something to do with that.

The Doctor looks at one of his bookshelves in the room. He finally gets off of his bed to go to it. Along the way, he recalled the fact that the younger version of Vision recently said to the others that she sensed a lot of sentimental energy from various objects that the Doctor has in his personal room. Indeed, there are a lot of such objects in his room such as a time-preserved celery stalk he often wore in his fifth incarnation or a multi-colored long scarf worn by his fourth incarnation.

On the bookshelf was a book he purchased on the day he and Derpy went to Neighbriais for the first time. A book with a title that ceased his attention at the time and had since captured his imagination. A book that seemed to be a message for him.

A book that Feather Wind will write later on after he retires from his adventures in the TARDIS. It is a themed book of poetry, one of many, but this one, in particular, the Doctor found he couldn't ignore. The title of the book is, “Across the Sea of Stars.” Within it, it has a lot of poetry about space and travel. The Doctor could not help but notice how apropos it is to his own journey.

The poems are more than just a description of other worlds and spatial phenomena. More to the point, it is a poetic description of what it feels like to actually be standing and witnessing moments like that. The poems carry the reader on a fantastical journey. One which is filled with wondrous discoveries both within and without.

The thing was, though, the Doctor eventually noticed that Feather kept on describing, in great detail in some cases, worlds, cosmic events, and actual spatial phenomena that really do exist. Natives of Feather's world probably thought that the writer has a very good imagination, and he does, but the descriptions in that book were too accurate for the Doctor to ignore. As the pattern continued, he gradually realized that Feather Wind probably was meant to be a future companion of his. When the time came to pick up the small, sky-blue wizard, Stern Wing was an unexpected but very pleasant bonus.

At the back of the book was a small biography of Feather Wind that helped the Doctor to later zero in and learn more about one of his future companions. Along the way, the Doctor later learned that Feather Wind has to be returned in order to fulfill important fixed moments in time. Moments that will eventually build up and facilitate the return of the Crystal Empire.

But the dedication at the back of the book sealed the deal for the Doctor in another way. It said, “To my beloved wife, Stern Wing, and my daughter, Star Breeze, for making my life complete. Without them, I would not be the pony I am today. I also need to thank my many wonderful friends who helped me to fulfill the best of my potential and carry me through this life-changing journey. To me, their glowing, radiant hearts have always been bigger on the inside.”

HINT-HINT!!!

A poet warrior Feather certainly is and will be, but the author of that book sounded ten times more confident of himself than the version that is currently on the Doctor's ship. Obviously the “journey” that Feather spoke of in this book is a reference to his own vessel. The Doctor was clearly meant to find this book, and it is the reason that the Doctor later started eyeing Feather Wind seriously as a potential companion.

Fixed and important timelines may surround this particular pony, which is why the Doctor would back off from such individuals normally, but the hints in that book were just too clear. Plus the Doctor has a time machine on his hands. He could afford to give Feather a limited, whirlwind tour of space and time then return him to his native world and time so that both he, and his family, could fulfill the purpose they are meant to accomplish.

As it turned out, it became downright urgent to remove Feather, Vision, and Stern from their native world and time until they are ready to face the bad guys waiting for them there. The Doctor didn't find that out until he came there to snatch up Feather. In doing so, he saved the lives of these three ponies and they have returned that blessing a hundredfold ever since.

As for Vision, he now realizes he had badly underestimated that little filly. All the signs of greatness were there, but he ignored them because of her youth, her weak constitution, and the fact she was blind.

Nevertheless, Vision is one of the few on his journey that is in it for the long haul. She'll never “retire” from this lifestyle, apparently. If anything, it only escalates further. She actually manages to become a captain and pilot of her own TARDIS.

This means he'll have to change his strategy about the little filly from now on. Instead of trying to get rid of her, he'll need to prepare her for her destiny. More than likely she'll be cooperative one hundred percent after he changes his gears with her. She probably already realizes that this is her destiny. The Doctor was just too stubborn and thickheaded to realize it.

Well no more. That ends today.

Using one foreleg, the Doctor hugs Feather Wind's future triumph close to his chest. Feather did write other popular books during his time in Equestria, but very few captured the imagination more than this book did. It led to all of them being here. This is a great blessing for him so of course this book has become one of his most sentimental treasures.

They'll all band together in some shape and form to help the Doctor fulfill his grand personal quest. Even if they aren't there to suffer the War directly, they may ultimately play some small part in it and it's the culmination of all of that combined effort that will lead to whatever degree of success they will have, and already accomplished.

It's destiny. It is a matter of will and a matter of time.

Author's Note:

This chapter came at me unexpectedly when I first wrote it, but it's ended up one of my favorite chapters of this particular arc. A chance to see the adventure from the Doctor's perspective and understand a little more why things have happened the way they happened as well as hint at more things to come.

There is also some snippets here from some of my other stories I've written for this site such as Sky Dancer, the First Flying Unicorn and My Little Detour, of which this chapter shares the same name. This is to show all of it is building towards one overarching arc since these stories share the same universe together.