MLP: A Favor Returned

by WorldWalker128

Chapter 5

If anyone is wondering what the Magi-Time Lords looked like, just look at a (good) drawing of an anthropomorphic version on either Luna or Celestia. That's close enough. Also, I didn't much like this chapter, or the one before it because I thought it had way too much dialog. I'll try to cut back on that in future chapters.

Chapter 5

The day after The Doctor visited passed by without much of note other than the assignment that Luna had given us for the night, although both of us had received an invitation to go to a party in upper Canterlot, which we turned down using the excuse that we had lessons to practice (which we did, but really just didn't want to go. Rich-Pony parties in Canterlot had a tendency to be boring with few exceptions). Luna had already told us before that there might be times we'd be required to attend a party in Canterlot for political reasons, and that we'd not be able to get out of it, but fortunately this was not one of those occasions.

Like the previous night we were to work on moving celestial bodies, but this time it was for something far more practical than simple training. There was a meteor storm that Celestia had cautioned us would occur in a few hours and if not altered it would destroy several farming lands. Luna would be coming with us as she had the first time, though she'd be helping us alter their trajectory rather than simply watching so that they'd harmlessly burn across the atmosphere and delight any who saw them. Unfortunately the weather forecast was rainy, so we'd we'd need to be standing on the clouds (which I still had not perfected. Trixie frequently teased me about it.) in order to see the sky above. This would not be a problem for Luna, who could walk on clouds like any Pegasus, so the only one who'd struggle would be me. Lovely.

But it really had not been as hard as I'd expected thanks to Twilight Sparkle's generosity. She'd heard about what we were going to do tonight from Celestia after one of her lessons with her during the day and placed a Cloud-Walk spell on me. I thanked her for her help and she replied that it was no problem.

When we (myself and Trixie, that is) arrived at the farmlands Luna had not yet arrived as the moon had not yet been raised. In truth the raising and setting on the sun and moon did not really make much sense to me even after all these years of living in a magical world. Everything that I'd been taught in school screamed at me that the sun and moon moved according to gravity, and not according to the will of any individual beings, and yet-

We looked to the east and watched as the pale white face of the moon rose from behind the 'edge' of the world and drifted into the night sky dusted with the shining lights of stars. As the moon rose I could not help but wonder if there were other planets like this one that we stood on with their own version of Celestia and Luna raising and setting their suns and moons, or if this speck of rock, water, and gas was unique in both universes. Maybe this world was built rather than forming naturally, and the movements of the sun and moon were initiated not by some spell, but rather magical energy being poured into some sort of unseen machine like plugging a generator into a house's electrical system when the power is out. It sounded silly to me, but then again, if someone had told me nine years ago that Unicorns, Pegasusi, and most of all, magic itself was real, I'd have asked what they had been smoking.

The sound of Luna's wing beats reached us before we saw her, as her coat and mane allowed to blend in so well with the night sky.

“Art thee-” She stopped and corrected herself to modern speech. She had gotten used to doing so over the years, but she still slipped back into it from time to time. It did not bother myself or Trixie when she spoke in the old way, but for the sake of her other subjects she endeavored to correct herself. “Are you two ready? The meteors shall be arriving soon. You can already see their glow in the distance.” We looked and found several dots of light in the sky that were indeed brighter than the others. We nodded and replied that we were as ready as we'd ever be. Luna also nodded and turned her body so that her face pointed in the direction of the falling space rocks.

The next several hours were spent in deep focus. We blocked out the world around us until it seemed that only two places existed. The spot where we three stood, and the sky above us. The moon was a figment of imagination, the lower area surrounding us a dream. There was only us, and the dark canvas of night sky and stars and the out-of-place streaks burning their way across it.

Luna informed us that because we were just learning how to alter celestial paths of outer space objects that she would take care of the larger burning meteors, but warned us that she could not focus her will on all of them at the same time, so we would need to handle the others.

“This kind of reminds me of that pool table in that bar we visited the other day with the guards. The slightest change in angle when you strike the cue ball with the stick can make it bounce to one side rather than roll, and a higher-aimed hit will make it roll a shorter distance even if you hit it with all you've got!”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “but if a pool ball hits the wall, that's no big deal. If we screw this up we could put a very big hole in the ground and flatten everything around the impact zone!”

“Focus on the task at hand, students!” Luna scolded. “You may talk when we are finished.”

“Yes, princess Luna!” We both acknowledged.

Our efforts, though tiring, were well worth the time and energy it took, and I saw the greatest natural light show of my life! Most of the meteors burned up very quickly and we did not need to touch them at all, but for the ones that we did, it took much less effort than I thought it would. Still, this did not stop me from sitting down on the ground to rest when we were finished. Trixie said that she preferred the soft clean mattress back in our room to rest on rather than the cold damp (damp from dew. It was rater late by then.) packed dirt I'd plopped myself on. Trixie bade me good night, and then teleported back to our room, leaving me and Luna alone in the farmland area.

For a time we said nothing and watched the darting lights zipping across the sky, enjoying the cool night air and the quiet. Eventually Luna spread her wings and flapped them a few times to stretch them, and then also joined me in sitting on the ground. I folded my arms behind me head and laid down on the ground, looking straight up.

“You've outdone yourself this time, your highness.” I reached one hand up and traced a Row Of Three constellation. My great grandfather had once told me when I was little that the 'Row Of Three' was a mark in the heavens from the Maker that there was, at least at one time, three intelligent races living on our world. Now with the knowledge that Dragons and Unicorns had once lived on Earth, I knew it to be true. And now they live there again! I smiled. It truly was a wonderful thing.

“Jacob, who visited you earlier yesterday?” That was random!

“Why do you ask?” I replied, still looking at the sky.

“Because mine sister told me that an old acquaintance of hers paid her a visit in the company of a mail Pegasus and a Human woman.” Ah. I thought she might have been talking about someone else. Good.

“Mail Pegasus? Was she Ditzy Doo? She introduced me to two friends of hers yesterday, and they match that description.”

“I be not familiar with that name. Dost she possess a blond mane and tail?” I nodded. “Then that wouldst be a yes. What didst they want?”

“Well, I don't know if the woman wanted anything, but Ditzy delivered me some mail, and Smithers- that is, the tan pony- asked me a bunch of questions about you and Celestia.”

“I see.” Luna bit her lower lip and lightly chewed a minute.

“Is there something I should know about him? I didn't get a bad vibe from him, but if he's bad news, I'd like to know so I can tell Ditzy to get away from him.”

“No, no! He beith not a bad Pony, it just seems that trouble pursues him no matter where he goeth, is all. He claims that he ist not looking for it, but wherever he turns up trouble almost always follows in his wake.”

“Um, Luna? You've slipped again.” She raised her eyebrows.

“Hmm? Oh! Oops.” I laughed.

“You'll get it eventually.” I sat up and then stood up again and brushed my back side (the entire back side, not just my butt) off. “Well, I've got some things I need to do tomorrow, so I'm afraid I need to be getting to bed, princess Luna.” I picked my staff up from the ground.

“One last thing?” I paused. “Little happens in our home without either myself or mine sister knowing about it. I know that someone else came to your room yesterday, and I know from the spells we've put in place that it was neither Pony, Human, nor Dragon. I trust you, and I know that if he or she or they meant us harm that you would tell me, but even so, I am curious.” I licked my lips. I had been warned not to tell by the person that had visited me to not tell anyone who had visited me and what I what I was going to be doing. I would have to tread carefully.

“Princess, you are my teacher, and you are my friend, and to date I've never lied to you. Tomorrow I'm going to be going away for awhile. I don't know for how long, and I don't know for certain where I will be going, and to be honest, I can't even say for certain if I'll ever be coming back, or if what happens while I'm gone will affect your kingdom.” Luna said nothing in reply and only listened, which I appreciated. “In case I don't come back, could you do me a few favors?” She angled her head a little, and waited. “If you can find the time, could you perhaps check on my folks once in awhile and make sure they're alright?” Luna nodded.

“I suppose you'd also like for me to not mention to Trixie and Twilight that you might not be coming back either?” I nodded. If all I was doing was traveling for a little while, then I saw no reason why I would not be coming back, but sometimes things happened

“If they ask, just tell them that I'm doing someone a favor or a job. That's the truth, at least. Even if it's not the whole story.”

“I've had to use similar methods in the past when it came to politics in the old kingdom. Give information if it is safe to if asked for it, and if you don't want to give away too much and still remain polite and honest, give a partial answer and let them draw their own conclusions.”

“Exactly. I hate not being able to tell you and them the whole thing, but I was warned not to. I apologize.”

“Just be careful, my young student.” Luna spread her wings and flapped them a few more times, this time lifting off the ground and rising into the sky. “Good night to you!” She flew away until her form blended into the night sky as it had before.

“Good night.” I replied, and returned to my room for the night.

The next day I received a letter from Luna stating that I'd be going on an errand and that I was to leave immediately, but it gave no description and I assumed that Luna had done it as a way for me to get out of town without anyone taking any real notice of me. I silently thanked her, ate breakfast, packed a few of my things in a new travel pack that I'd bought from a store in town for the previous vacation trip I'd taken a few years ago, and lastly, grabbed my staff before I headed for the library to get as modern a world map that I could get. The first one that I'd seen was made by a Pegasus that had died over four hundred years ago. Obviously, the world had changed vastly since then. I was hoping that since then either my people or a new Pegasus had made one, but I'd see.

It turned out that someone recently (within the last six years) had indeed made a new world map, and with minimal searching this time, found Zebrica with no problem. Unfortunately, it was a rather large area to cover. Most of Mythica was made up of two large continents that were relatively close to one another (and likely would have been about the size of Pangaea was supposed to be if they were pushed together), as well as several small scattered islands everywhere else. One of which I hear Drahgov was banished to. I have to wonder how he's doing. Not that it really mattered so long as he stayed out of our hair like he was supposed to.

I tapped Zebrica in its center and then rerolled the map and handed it back to the librarian. I then slung my bag over my shoulders again and gripped my staff and focused. I really had no idea what I'd find when I arrived, and hoped that the nearest 'safe teleport spot' (meaning not appearing where a tree or rock or another being stood) would not drop me off in front of some sort of hungry animal such as a lion. When my surroundings changed I looked down and screamed in fear before falling. It seemed that thinking about a location while having a bird's-eye-view of it in mind from looking at a map was not a good thing!

I fell for about ten seconds moving my legs as if running in midair would stop my fall as if I were some sort of cartoon character or something. It was at that time I remembered a very crucial piece of information: I had magic, and using it properly, I could fly. Fighting the urge to simply stop myself in midair (which could very likely cause me some very major damage or at the very least rip my clothing and make me fall to the ground Pony-naked) I first willed a gust of wind to gust up from the ground. It took several seconds for the updraft to reach me, but it was worth it. In just a few seconds I slowed to half my speed, and after a few more I felt more like I was sinking through warm water (minus being wet, of course, although that one cloud I fell through was a bit damp). Once I thought that I wouldn't rip through my shirt or neuter myself with my pants I levitated myself down until I was only four stories up, and then slowly spun myself around, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

He'll only be here a short while...but when will he show up? I frowned. Hours went by, and still I saw nothing. Twice I'd taken a break on the ground to rest, and then I'd risen up a little higher and moved to another location after making another quick sweep. This went on for most of the day, and it was not until the sky had started growing darker that I finally, finally, finally saw what I was looking for. The odd thing was, I had already checked this area once before, and I had seen nothing back then other than a plain of brown grass and a few stunted trees and rocks. I supposed that it was possible that it had simply been invisible to the naked eye, as I'd seen similar things done with magic before. I flew in closer until I was directly above it and then cautiously drifted down to the ground behind it. Or, at least I assumed that I was behind it. I had not seen any doors as I'd come closer to it, though I had seen several very dirty windows.

Slowly I made my way around it until I came to a door. I gripped the handles on the front and pulled, to no effect. I pushed with the same results.

“Hmm.” Locked. It was tiny, whatever this thing was. It said 'Police Box' in large bold letters, and in smaller lettering in between those two words it read 'Public Call'. What the heck is a police box? I had found a small hatch on the door that when pulled out revealed an antique-style telephone, but there was no dial tone, not that I expected one. I hung the ear phone part of the phone back on its cradle and closed the hatch and frowned at this large, blue, wooden puzzle box. I briefly considered knocking, but then practicality reminded me that knocking would defeat the purpose of trying to sneak aboard if anyone really was inside. But given the size of this thing, how could they not notice me??? Even if I were to become invisible whoever was inside would surely bump into me sooner or later, and then being invisible wouldn't be of any use at all.

There was a small common house lock below the right door handle. I crouched down in front of the door after another look around to make sure no one had shown up during the five or so minutes since I'd landed. I saw no one. Or nopony. It looked like a simple enough lock, although for some reason the metla piece that typically would have been pushed back when the key was inserted was blue like the color of the rest of the box even though the lock itself was silver (and looked much newer than the rest of the police box). I prodded at it with a fingernail first, and then a pocket knife second seeing if it would turn as I'd known some badly-made Earth locks to do on occasion. No result. Next I tried a scan with magic, but the mental image I got back from the scan was like I had scanned a wall of stone. I got nothing, which I did not understand, and only served to increase my annoyance with this blue porta-potty. As a last resort I went ahead and knocked on the door, but after waiting for two minutes and then knocking again several times one after the other with no result, I gave up on that as well. I kicked the door, threw rocks at the lock, yelled 'open sesame' at it, and even went said 'friend' in an elfish language from a movie I'd once seen several years ago. All to no effect. Feeling rather put out, I flipped it off. (That did not work either, though I'd have laughed hard enough to fall to the ground if it had.)

Feeling defeated, I turned away from the door and leaned against it and sighed. I had barely begun this 'job' and I'd already failed. Part of me whispered that this might have been what LL had intended all along just for the sake of playing a joke on me.

“Stupid blue porta-potty!” I grumbled, and kicked it with a foot. Nothing changed, but it made me feel better. “I guess this is it, then. I suppose I could always just-” It hit me then that I did not really need to find or force a way in so much as to just wait for someone (or somepony) to open the door themselves and then I could just walk right in behind (or around, as the case might be) them and wait for them to somehow use it for getting around. maybe it has wheels under it or something. I snapped my fingers as I made my decision. Yes, that is what I'll- my train of thought was broken as I heard a click come form the lock and looked down at it. “What?! I only needed to snap my **** fingers!?! I fought the urge to try setting it on fire with magic and grabbed the handles and pulled them. Nothing happened, and I pushed them open instead and strode in...and dropped my staff in shock and stared at the large room that could have housed roughly a third of a soccer field. “What in the Maker's name?” I backed out of the 'box' and walked around it to make sure I had not imaged the size of it from the outside. I had not, and after nodding to no one I once more stepped through the door frame and found that the inside was still larger. “This isn't possible! I must be seeing an illusion or maybe a hologram or something!” I walked along the perimeter of the room dragging a hand against the wall, which looked like it was made of some sort of tree bark, but it felt more like stone or maybe ceramic against my fingers. Unlike either of those though, it was warm to the touch, and I could swear that I could feel a steady, continuous vibration as if this thing, whatever it was, was alive and had a pulse. “What are you?” I asked the whatever-it-was as I reached the door again and retrieved my staff.

Recalling that I was supposed to be stowing myself aboard I closed and locked the door from the inside and then, fighting the urge to stare some more, began looking for a place to hide myself away. In this room there was literally nowhere to hide and it was not until I found a set of stairs leading downward in a spiral that I had any hope of really staying hidden. Even with the size of the room and invisibility, all it would take was a sneeze or a cough to give me away.

I passed several rooms, the first being a room that I took to be a bar, the second a greenhouse of sorts containing dozens (if not more) of plants that I'd never seen or smelled before. The next few rooms had a variety of oddities in them such as a library (whose books were mostly on disk or computer chips of varying kinds) with a swimming pool, a kitchen, a wardrobe room, a closet packed to the brim with various junk that avalanched on top of me when I opened the door and a mostly-empty room that held various pictures and several more outfits ranging from modern to something that I'd once seen in a nineteen sixties movie. I took it to be either a museum or perhaps a souvenir room and decided that this was not a good place to hide either. Finally, at the bottom of the ladder, I found a large storage room that seemed to mostly hold junk, though at the back contained various canned and dry goods as well as an assortment of various junk foods. Making an empty space to conceal myself in behind the front crates and boxes and grabbed a bag of chips and a can of cheese. I opened the can using one of the many variations of a Swiss army knife (kind of a funny name considering that the Swiss did not have an army) that I'd added to my travel pack and started chowing down.

When the bag was empty I stuffed it into an old crate and settled in as best I could using my bag as a pillow and waited until I dozed off.

I awoke later to something heavy dropping on my head.

“Ouch!” I exclaimed before remembering where I was. I shut my mouth and waited for someone to hear me and investigate, but it seemed that I was still alone. Alone, and rolling back and forth. I slid across the little cubby hole I'd made for myself first one way, and then another until I at last found something to hold onto (a bolted-down shelf that the object that had fallen on my head had fallen off of) and once secure I wondered what the heck was going on. Is this a freak earthquake or something?! Am I about to die?!

The rocking kept up for a minute's time, and then we came to a dead stop and everything was stable and safe again. I let out a breath that I did not know I had been holding and slowly released my grip on the shelf. I sucked in new air and slowly stood to my feet and reached for my bag. Slinging it over my shoulders I picked up the empty can and decided I'd play this the stupid way. I'd walk up to the first person (or pony) I saw and I'd ask where the garbage can was.

Strangely enough, it worked better than I'd hoped.

“What?” 'Smithers' asked as he, 'Janette', and Ditzy all stared at me open-mouthed as I reached the top of the steps.

“Um, hello again! Any chance any of you know where I can find a garbage can?”

“How- When- Huh?!” Janette asked in broken unfinished sentence introductions.

“Over there by the wagon seats.” Ditzy pointed at a garbage can strapped to one of the seats, which was secured to some sort of railing. Probably in place for that crazy rocking earlier.

“Thank you.” I walked over to it, unscrewed the lid, and tossed my trash into it, then resealed it.

“What?”

“You're welcome! Want a muffin?” She offered a blueberry one to me on one of her hoofs.

“Yes, thank you. The chips and cheese were good, but they weren't particularly filling.” I walked over to where they stood. Ditzy was just as surprised (at first) to see me as the other two were, but unlike the others, whose brains were still trying to make sense of mine being there, Ditzy had moved on. I walked to her and accepted it, taking a large bite from it. It was a big muffin, which was good, because as I'd just said, I was still hungry.

“But the door was locked when we left! You couldn't have possibly gotten in, and The Doctor said that magic-users can't get in either!” 'Janette' turned to 'Smithers', whom I now suspected was 'The Doctor'. “You are sure about that, aren't you?”

“What?!” He said again, with much more emphasis this time. One of his eyes twitched.

“I think I broke him.”

* * * * *

The Shield gave The Doctor a light slap to the face and he shook his head so quickly his face blurred for a second, and then he stopped and his eye focused first on her, then on Jacob.

“How in the Time Stream did you get into the TARDIS? It was locked!” He asked in a voice riddled with disbelief.

“Oh, you know, it was a- snap!” Jacob snapped the fingers on his muffin-free hand in tandem with the word 'snap and the door unlocked. The three of them stared at the door a moment, then at him. “I found that bit out completely by accident.” He confessed. The Shield glared at The Doctor.

“You mean to tell me that anybody with fingers can get in here any time they want?!” The Doctor shrugged.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time!”

The Shield turned to Ditzy, who was putting her box of muffins away again and asked if this was another thing he did often. Ditzy shrugged.

“According to him I've been with him longer than most of his previous traveling companions, and his daily actions are normally dictated by whims, but this one's is news to me.” Ditzy looked at Jacob. “So why are you here?”

“More importantly, how did you know we'd be here?” The Shield added.

“Did you check the date on that can of cheese before you opened it?” The Doctor asked. The other two women looked at him.

“Really? A guy we just met two days ago breaks into your TARDIS, and you're asking him if he checked the date on a canned good?”

“Well he won't be able to answer any questions if he's too busy vomiting the contents of his stomach up on the floor, now will he? Not to mention the smell that would leave! Besides, you two seem to have that line of questioning handled.”

“Um, can I ask a question?” Jacob spoke hesitantly. They're eyes all turned to him again. “What was with that rocking motion earlier? And how is this all possible?!” Jacob pointed around the room. “It's- it's-” The Doctor grinned and looked like he was expecting something. “It's bi-”

“Smaller on the outside?” Ditzy offered, using the same line she'd suggested to The Shield. The Doctor's face fell.

“Yes! That's it exactly! Outside we're the size of a porta-potty, but in here-” The Shield snorted and started laughing. “What did I say?”

“This may be one of the most advanced pieces of technology to be present in this universe ever, and you just compared it to an outdoor toilet!” She continued laughing while the Doctor frowned.

“I don't see what's so funny about that!” The Doctor said. “I'm rather insulted, actually! A porta-potty is much smaller than my police box, thank you very much! But more importantly, you still haven't said why you're here and how you knew where to find us.” Though I suppose it could just be one of the random happenings of the Universes. He thought while he walked up to Jacob and began scanning him to see if there were any foreign influences that had about him. Jacob stood still while he did so watching The Doctor wave the object in his mouth up and down wile he circled him. When The Doctor finished he was surprised to find nothing at all. There weren't even notable traces of recently used magic about him, (he'd modified his own scanner after taking The Shield's apart and put it back together.) which only made him all the more curious. “Well, you're here now, and I can't simply leave you behind. There's no telling what trouble you could cause in this age.”

“This age? What do you mean? It's the year 2019, isn't it?” Ditzy suddenly became excited and in a happy voice began to explain to Jacob that the machine he stood in was called the TARDIS, and that it was a time machine and that the three of them were going back in time 900 years to speak to Celestia's parents in the hopes of answering a question The Doctor had. Jacob's jaw dropped and he stared from one of the other three beings in the room one after the other. “What?! I'm in a time machine!?!” So that's how I can meet someone I've killed! Time travel!

A part of Jacob felt giddy at being able to stand in a real-life time machine, but the more mature part of his mind saw the potential for huge problems that could be caused from it. “Are you three sure that that's a good idea? We could do a lot of damage to the future if we did that.”

“Oh, I wouldn't worry overly much about damage we could cause. Things couldn't get much worse.” The Shield replied. The Doctor shot her a look that said 'shut up'. Jacob was curious what she meant by that, but Ditzy told him he was better off not knowing, which only made him even more curious, and a more than a bit concerned as well.

In the end they decided to take Jacob along with him provided he keep his mouth shut about being Luna's student, amongst other things.

“Just let me do the talking.” The Doctor said. “Speak only if you're spoken to, and don't mention what your staff is made from or who taught you to use magic. From what I've read Humans are only a legend to everyone except the king, queen, and the king's brother. Only scholars of history truly believe in them in this era, though legends of them are still told in many households.”

“So me and Janette-” The Shield interrupted him.

“Shield. My name is The Shield.” Jacob thought her real 'name' odd, but kept his verbal opinion to himself.

“Me and The Shield are going to draw attention like cupcakes draw Pinkie Pie's mouth.”

“A- that's actually a very good comparison.” The Doctor had met Pinkie Pie once before, and had seen her mouth (and stomach) in action before. It amazed, and scared him a little. There is no conceivable reason that all that sugar hasn't rotted out all her teeth yet! “Just stick with us, and you should be alright.” Jacob nodded, and they went to the door and stepped outside.

The world they stepped out into was much different than any of them had expected.

“AAAaaah!” The first step was a doozy, and the the other three reached for The Doctor before he could fall to his death down the slop of a steep mountain. The TARDIS had somehow managed to land on the only flat ledge within two hundred feet up or down, and opened into the air with no actual 'first step' to step onto. The Doctor had intended to appear inside Canterlot's royal palace, but the palace as of this moment did not actually exist. The closest thing to it was a large house at the base of the mountain where the palace would eventually be built in the future. The palace was under construction, but would not reach to this position for several more years or possible decades depending on how things went.

The three beings still in the TARDIS hauled The Doctor back up into his ship where he turned his head back enough to see where he'd almost fallen and swallowed hard.

“Many thanks! What say we park the TARDIS somewhere lower?” There was no argument.

Two minutes later the TARDIS came to a stop in a back alley of Canterlot city, which at this time had no separate districts for the poor, middle, and rich classes. After a moment's time of walking through the streets and looking around they saw that the reason for this was that nearly everypony was in the same general level of prosperity. Ponies were more focused on what they and their neighbors needed to survive rather than on collecting wealth. It was, in Jacob's opinion, a breath of fresh air, and he smiled.

This. This is how I want my people and the Pony world to get along. We're all neighbors in this life, and we need to take care of each other.

It did not take long for the locals to notice the two bipeds (and pony strangers) walking their streets, and ponies paused in their daily activities to stare at them in amazement as they walked by. Most of the adults went back to work after they'd passed or whispered to their neighbors, but a large majority of children that saw them gasped and pointed, and then crowded around them and asked them many questions one after the other much like Scootaloo had asked Jacob when he'd first arrived in Ponyville. Jacob grinned and answered some of them such as his name, where he'd come from, what his favorite fruit was, his favorite color, yes he could show them how his hands worked (he turned his wrists back and forth and flexed the fingers of his empty hand while they watched in awe), what his staff was for (he answered that it was used mostly for when he was walking through rough ground for extra balance), and where they were going (which The Doctor answered). They tried asking The Shield questions too, but she pretended not to hear them and Jacob told the foals that she was just in a bad mood and not to take it personally.

Halfway to the royal estate a group of patrol ponies (looking much less stern than any guards that they'd seen in the future) stepped into their path and asked them what their business in town was. The Doctor tried to explain to them that they'd come to speak to the royalty, but the children that had followed them ran in between the two groups and started chattering all at once and many of them pointed hoofs at The Shield and Jacob with delighted smiles nearly splitting their faces. After several minutes of looking from one foal to another and trying to sort out all of what they were saying he stamped a hoof on the cobblestones beneath him and the children hushed.

“Yes, they're clearly Humans, and yes, they're clearly more than stories. I can see that. But no one has seen them for centuries. I doubt they'd have come here just to see the sights.”

“Actually, that is exactly why they're here!” The Doctor objected. The patrol pony that seemed to be in charge (he walked ahead of the other five ponies with him) focused his attention on The Doctor and listened attentively. “I and my Pegasus friend here” Ditzy waved. “just happened to be the first Equestrians they'd come across, and they asked us to show Canterlot to them from the town to the leaders and to see how you've been doing during their people's absence. That's why we're here.”

“Hmm.” The patrol pony looked like he wasn't sure he believed him.

“You've been doing wonderfully. What we've seen of this city so far is beautiful!” The Shield added. The patrol pony stuck out his front a little more and put a smile of pride on his face.

“We've done our best to recover from the wars and dangers of the world. It hasn't been easy, but we've got bold hearts in our chests and strong blood in our veins!” The other ponies behind him nodded and imitated their leader's stance.

“'Wars' plural? You've had a second war since the Dragon war?” Jacob asked, forgetting about the confrontation with Discord and later the occurrence with Nightmare Moon. The children started chattering up a storm again and again the patrol pony stamped a hoof.

“Yes. A strange creature calling himself Discord came during an absence of our leaders and took over for a time, and after Celestia and Luna, daughters of our king and queen dispatched him and turned him to stone, princess Luna was possessed by a dark presence and was banished to the moon. Shortly after, the now-deceased-king's brother returned from his journey and at the insistence of Celestia became our new king. They've been teaching us more efficient ways to do our daily labors. What once took a few days or hours now only takes half that time!”

“May they live forever! May they live forever!” The patrol ponies yelled in unison. The children imitated.

But they won't live forever. Jacob thought sadly. We came back 900 years, which means that- wait...Zandar would have already come and killed Celestia's father...why aren't they arresting us?

“Who is ruling now?” Jacob asked.

“Thanatos is currently ruling in his deceased brother's stead.” The patrol pony became remorseful. “According to history, a monster attacked out people 586 years ago and slew thirty or so of our people, including our king when he went with his soldiers to put the mad creature down. Thanatos was the one to put an end to it.”

“Do you know what it was that killed him?” The patrol pony shook his head.

“Thanatos concealed the creature inside a prison carriage and dealt with it in private. The poor queen fell into a permanent state of sorrow after that. According to history she died fifty years later of a broken heart.” Jacob sighed and placed a hand over his eyes. Was reuniting our two worlds truly enough redemption for my family's bloodline? Zandar killed Celestia and Luna's father and by extension her mother, Mace was indirectly responsible for Thanatos becoming a monster, and then I finished him in my time. Maybe I shouldn't have any kids. It seems to be my family's fate to slay Alicorns! Jacob thought with a shudder.

“It was by no fault of yours, Human, and we still have Celestia and her uncle. If you would like to see them for yourselves, come.” The patrol pony turned and began leading them up the road. Though the pony had not been able to read Jacob's mind (and it was avery good thing that he could not) Jacob found the words comforting and followed with a lighter heart than he would have walked with otherwise.

The Doctor, rather pleased at this turn of events when he had been a bit nervous that they might have been arrested for traveling in the company of two legendary creatures (I have been arrested for less before!) but instead they had been given some rather useful information. Celestia (of the future) had suggested talking to her father, but in this time period her father (And her mother too, and she'd just had to banish her own sister to the moon! Poor girl!) was deceased. Still, given that Thanatos was the brother of their former king (I have to wonder what the chap's name is...) he'd probably be able to give good information as well if the conversation was worded the correct way. Odd that Jacob would ask if they knew what had killed him. Though not so much the question itself rather than the tone he'd asked it in. It sounded like he knew and was afraid to have his suspicions confirmed. I'll have to ask him about that later when we get a moment to ourselves!

The children that had been following them left when the lunch bells rang throughout the (currently) small city, as did two of the patrol ponies escorting them. When they finally stopped again they'd arrived outside of the large, yet modest (there were almost no decorations either on the house itself or in the yard in front of it) house they'd seen from the TARDIS when it was perched on the side of the mountain.

“Celestia is probably busy studying magic at the moment, but Thanatos should not be very busy. I hope you all enjoy your stay in Canterlot!” The patrol pony trotted off back the way they'd come and the group looked up.

“It certainly is different here from our time!” Ditzy noted. “Almost no big houses, no royal palace, and there's actually a king! One thing puzzles me about him, though, how come I've never heard about them?”

“I suppose you'd have to ask Celestia that question, Ditzy.” The Doctor replied. “Perhaps she was just trying to forget unhappy times.”

The Doctor raised a hoof and tapped the door four times. A servant with a dark blue hide and blond mane and tail came to the door and gasped at the sight of whom she had come to greet and stared. The Doctor flashed her a winning smile and said that they were here to see the king. The servant continued to stare over The Doctor's head at The Shield and Jacob until he tapped her shoulder. She jumped and then focused on The Doctor, who flashed her another grin. “Hello! We're showing these Humans our fair city, and they wanted to see king Thanatos while they were here!”

“Sapphire? Who is it?” A crystalline voice called from inside the house.

“An earth pony, a Pegasus pony, and two Humans, my lady. They say they're here to see your uncle.”

“Two Humans?!” The sound of another pony galloping to the door came inside and a white Alicorn that everyone knew stuck her head through the door above the earth pony. “It can't be! I know you four, and none of your kind live that long! So you really do travel through time like my father said!” The Doctor, Ditzy, The Shield, and Jacob all traded looks with one another.

“I take it we've encountered one another before?” The Doctor asked. Celestia nodded.

“It was just my parents and uncle disappeared for awhile and Discord invaded!” Celestia became confused. “You...don't remember that?” Her question was met with a chorus of shaken heads. “Uh...oops. I guess you haven't done that yet. I'll get my uncle.” Celestia told Sapphire to show the time travelers in and bring them some refreshments while she went to tell her uncle who had come. Sapphire nodded and ushered their guests indoors to a waiting room with two couches and a table between them, and then left to brew some tea. Each of them sat down and waited for the tea, each to their own thoughts. Ditzy spoke first, and no, it was not to offer anyone a muffin.

“So we're going to be going further back then?”

“I suppose we'll have to eventually, if Celestia knows us from before now and we don't. I do have to wonder why her parents and uncle disappeared, though.”

“Maybe they went with us into the future to help us fight the Daleks?” Jacob hadn't missed that statement, and was quick to inquire.

“Fight Daleks in the future? What's a Dalek?” Realization dawned on his face and he looked at The Shield. “Is this what you meant when you said that the future couldn’t get much worse? What happens in the future?” The Doctor gave Ditzy a flat stare and she looked back with an apologetic smile. He sighed.

“Since the apple's off of the tree and you'll have died of old age long before it actually happens I suppose there's no point in keeping it secret anymore so long as you give me your word that you won't tell anyone in advance.” Jacob hesitated a moment, then nodded.

“In the year 2120 a race of alien beings that are called Daleks are going to invade your planet, and unless myself, Ditzy, and The Shield can find a way to manipulate events just enough to change things, kill every man, woman, child, and any ponies that happen to be on it at the time as well. Complete and total annihilation.” Jacob gripped his staff tighter and his eyes bulged. The Doctor nodded. “That's our ultimate goal: avert their destruction, and defeat the Daleks.”

“Is there any hope at all?”

“Well, I came in my own space ship with my own weapons, and I left it unlocked for your people to discover and copy if they can,” The Shield said. “but if it's anything like the second time we went forward, it will only slow the Daleks down by a few hours. We're going to need to find another way.” Jacob stared at her.

“You're an alien too?! But- but you look Human!”

“I know. I'm not sure why that is, but this was the shape I was born with. It's probably the reason my people were so fond of yours and often walked among you. You were like our younger siblings on the evolutionary chart.”

“Tea? Water?” Sapphire came back carrying a tray on one hoof (How do they do that?! The Doctor wondered anew) and set it down on the table between them.

“Wonderful!” The Doctor said as he lifted a cup up with his front hoofs. Ditzy lifted it with one, The Shield declined the tea and took some water, and Jacob also took tea. After sipping from it, all four looked at it in wonder. Whatever leaves the ponies used for this, it was absolutely delicious!

“Wow! What do you use for the tea leaves? This is great!” Ditzy asked.

“Flower petals from the Everfree trees. Their flowers bloom only once a year, so they need to be gathered with haste. I am glad that you like it.” She looked resumed staring at the two Humans in the group of guests. “If you don't mind my asking, are the two of you mates?” Jacob performed a short spit-take, and The Shield choked and started coughing. Ditzy shook her head.

“Nope! We just travel together, that's all! We only met them a few days ago. It's safer to travel with more folks along.”

“Really? The servant replied, eying Jacob with interest, who recognized the tone and look on her face and inwardly groaned.

“Perchance, miss Sapphire, is your last name Rosa?” He asked. Sapphire was surprised. That was indeed her last name, but how had he known? She asked him this and he said that he'd encountered another pony with the name Rosa before that had also taken an 'interest' in him.

“Well, my family always did have a liking for the exotic ones!” She laughed. “More tea? You did just spray out half a mouthful.” Jacob laughed nervously.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

While Sapphire Rosa cleaned up the mess Celestia came back with Thanatos. His coat was a bright orange (as was his mane, which from what they'd all seen was a rare thing) like it had been in the illusion left behind by Mace Lighthand all those- wait, it was the future as far as linear time was concerned. Ugh. My head's starting to hurt again! Ditzy thought as she ran the time line through her head.

He took one look at their group, and then told both Celestia and Sapphire to leave the room.

“What's wrong, uncle?” Celestia asked.

“Celestia, please. There are some things that you are better off not knowing. I was unable to prevent the Nightmare from possessing Luna because I was not present, and could not protect her from it, nor you from the sorrow of having to banish your own sister, but I can protect you from my own sorrows.” Celstia, looking sad from having to recall what she'd been forced to do only a year before, left the room with traces of tears in her eyes. Sapphire Rosa left close behind. When she had shut the large door behind her Thanatos turned his attention back to his guests. “Judging by your curious expressions I'd guess that this is the first time we've met for you, correct?” The group nodded. “Alright. Let me start by saying to the only actual Human in this room that I don't hold you accountable for your kind's actions against my kin.” Thanatos watched Jacob's reaction, and nodded. “Yes, him. Your race overall has proven that, like every other race we've encountered, that they have capacity not only for great good, but also great evils. I shall not condemn your whole race based on one's action. After all, we made your race into what they are, so if anyone is to blame, it is us.”

“What?!” Everyone except Ditzy jumped to their feet (and hoofs).

“What do you mean, you made us?!” Jacob demanded.

“And the Unicorns and Pegasi as well. This happened long before Celestia and Luna were born. It was so long ago I don't even remember what year it was now. It was a plan for genetic preservation. You see, a bio-weapon that our universe's Daleks created was unleashed on our people when we took their capital planet. We had never expected them to use such a tactic because they never had before, but it seemed that they'd made a last-ditch extermination plan should their home world be taken.”

“That sounds like the Daleks I know.” The Doctor agreed. “Determined to kill everything not like them to their last breath.”

“They very nearly succeeded, but as with everything normal in this Reality, there are always exceptions to the rule. There were a few dozen of us that were immune to the bio-weapon, but we were too few to both aid our allies and rebuild our race, so after checking on our other-world brethren to make sure they were doing well we decided to search the universe for a world to make a new home.”

“And you found Mythica!” Ditzy finished.

“Mythica?”

“That's what we call our planet in the future.” She explained Thanatos nodded.

“When we arrived here there were a wide variety of creatures that already called this place their home, so we moved to the least-populated area and began to rebuild our lives. For two hundred years we lived here and for the most part the locals of this continent, whom were the Zebras and the earth ponies, looked up to us as if we were gods. I suppose they still think that we are, but we are not. Back in those times we walked as Humans do, but we had hoofs instead of feet. We did, however, have hands as well as magic, which enabled us to build much more efficient tools and homes than the ponies. The locals tried their best to imitate us on their own, but had limited success, much to their sorrow.” He smiled while he reflected. “Nearly every other day they'd come to us after having built something like a child trying to impress their parents. They never gave up.”

“What about Humans? Where did they fit into this? You said that the locals, and by 'locals' I'm assuming you mean local intelligent creatures, were ponies.” It was The Shield who asked this.

“Humans in that time period were not Humans. They were little more than tall apes with the intelligence capacity of modern Human's children. They kept to themselves for the most part and usually stayed away from us, though they had good relations with the ponies.”

“Did your people teach us how to bake?” Ditzy asked out of the blue. Thanatos and the others turned their gaze on her a moment, then looked at Thanatos waiting for an answer to the random question.

“Actually, it was your people that invented baking. Well, earth ponies, anyway. When they found that they could not match us in what we already had, they began trying to make things that we did not have. If I recall correctly, the first baked good I'd ever tasted was a small sort of bread with some mashed blueberries mixed into it. It was very good. But back on subject, after those two hundred years” He looked at The Shield. “your people contacted us once more begging for help. It seemed that unlike our race, yours was losing the war against your Daleks after we stopped being a part of it. After considering and weighing the risks, most of us volunteered to go and aid you in battle against your dimension's Daleks once again.

“Out of the eighty four of us that went (twelve of us remained behind) only three returned from the war, and they brought three fully crewed Dalek warships chasing after them, blasting everything in their path. Just before reaching the safety of our town's defenses, the three small fighter ships they were fleeing in were destroyed. One was destroyed directly in midair, and one of the other two careened into the second after its thrusters were damaged. Both of them crashed to the ground and were smashed, leaving only twelve of our number left. We threw up our defensive shield spells, but when the Daleks discovered that there were more life forms on our new home than us they left three soldiers behind in each ship to ensure that we'd be trapped inside holding up the defensive barrier, and the others went on a killing spree.

“After watching them decimate the two large pony villages that had had been built near our own town, something in Celestia's mother, who had cared for the locals as if they were her own children snapped and she left the safety of the barrier and attacked them head-on hurtling the most powerful spells our people had made. Mantle, my brother, followed her out of a desire to protect her, and I of course followed him, along with my best friend. Working together we destroyed one of their warships, and then began assaulting the other. In the process of destroying the first they deployed all of their soldiers and my friend was killed. The rest of our number teleported to our position and raised a smaller barrier to defend us, but even with all our capabilities, having more than twice our number assaulting us at the same time was taxing for even us.

“ We fought them for over an hour, but when three of those holding up the shield collapsed to their knees from exhaustion I thought we were going to die for certain! But then something none of us expected happened.”

“What?” his captive audience audience asked.

“The remaining pony survivors from the two destroyed villages along with the apes that the locals befriended ran out of the nearby forest (that would later be named Everfree forest) and used what primitive weaponry they had to try and protect us!” He smiled sadly. “Those brave fools. They had only spears, clubs, and their bodies, but it was just enough to distract our attackers and bought us the time we needed to pool our remaining energy and use a forbidden spell that condensed all matter as densely as it could be compressed for a few seconds. We formed a temporary black hole in an attempt to destroy our enemies.” The Doctor whistled through his teeth.

“Dangerous. If you had messed up even a little and it had become permanent-”

“That was exactly why that spell was forbidden, and we paid a hefty price for it when all but myself, less than a quarter of the surviving beings that tried to defend us, my brother, one other Magi-Time Lord, and Mantle's wife were pulled into it. Now the only female left of our species that we knew of was Mantle's wife. In short, we were effectively doomed as a species unless we wanted to turn into race of inbred idiots within a few generations. So we did the only thing we could at that point: we asked for some volunteers from the local populace, and then after some extensive research we incorporated parts of our DNA into their genetic structure so at least part of us would live on after the last of us were gone. Some of the ponies we gave wings, others we gave spiral horns like our own for the use of magic. For the apes, whom we really did not expect to see of all 'races' come to our assistance, we gave higher brain functions and altered them so they'd stand upright as we did, and over time they became what you are today.”

“But what about us being able to use magic?” Jacob asked. “Did you give us that as well?” Thanatos shook his head.

“Not intentionally. Part of being able to use magic is wanting to understand the the world around you and at least grasping the basic concept of how it functions. Your evolutionary ancestors already had a natural curiosity for the world around them, so perhaps when we modified their brains this increased just enough for magic use.

“Have I satisfied your curiosity?”

“Nope!” Ditzy answered though the rest of their little group had nodded.

“What is left that you'd like to know, Pegasus?”

“You said you once walked like Humans. Why don't you anymore?”

“After we'd finished our genetic experiments we used magic to transform ourselves into a shape closer to that of the locals in the hope that they'd eventually stop looking at us like we were Gods.”

“Did it work?” Ditzy again.

“Not really, but it made the other pony villages scattered around the continent less nervous around us.”

“What happened to the other Magi-Time Lord that teleported with you to safety?” The Shield asked.

“He began studying the world and left the teaching of the pony-folk to us. I hear from him from time to time, and in fact, he was the Alicorn that discovered the Echo Dimension which we began using to exile criminals, and then later to transport the Human race and a large portion of the Dragon-kin to it during this planet's first world war.”

He scratched one hind leg with his other and then looked out of a window at the bustling small city. “Ponykind have come so far from what they used to be, and I have no doubt that if we had not come that they still might have become what they are today on their own. In a way I feel guilty about having come here because I feel that we've taken something away from them by giving them a shortcut into their modern lives.” He looked back at them again. “Still, it turned out for the best, didn't it?”

The Doctor and the others did not really have much else to speak about as far as the past went, so instead they spoke of more recent (as far as Thanatos was concerned) events. Farming was much more efficient now and food was only ever an issue when the rainfall was poor (and they were working on finding a way around that. Ditzy wanted to offer a suggestion but all three Time Lords advised against it saying that it'd be better if the ponies discovered the method or methods on their own so they'd be less dependent on the Alicorns for their daily lives. Thanatos hoped that one day he and Celestia (and Luna when she returned and they'd dealt with The Nightmare) could stop being the rulers and retire (or as close to retirement as they could get). The Doctor and Ditzy knew from experience that if this time ever came at all, it would not be more more than another two thousand years into the linear future.

Feeling curious as to what the Magi-Time Lord's town looked like, The Doctor asked if they might be given permission to see it, but Thanatos shook his head, saying that after the death of the rest of their race, Thanatos and Mantle buried it and all remaining traces of their people under the ground. As of this moment, Everfree forest was in the process of growing over and covering it (Thanatos found it rather pleasing that a place of death was becoming covered with life). They could, if they so desired, visit the location it had once stood and read off the names of those that had once lived in it from two obelisks they'd placed in the courtyard. For a time they'd lived in it, but the memory of what they'd lost was too much to bear and they moved to where they were living now.

The Doctor and The Shield replied that yes, they'd like to go see it. Jacob and Ditzy preferred to remain in (old) Canterlot.

________

This Chapter, unfortunately, is heavily infested with conversation. I didn't much like it. I'll try to cut back on that for the next one.

Comments

[Meta Knight]

I see

[Aenbr]

There wasn't too much dialogue, and the amount of description was more than sufficient--at least to me. In fact, it seemed pretty balanced overall, but, as you are the author, I respect and understand your decision to have less conversation. Either way, I'll know I'll be reading a great story with superb quality.