MLP: A Favor Returned

by WorldWalker128

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Coming back from the inn was slow going because I wanted to burn the image of this place as it was now into my mind, that I might be able to shape my present day society into the idea that this place invoked.

Not that our modern day was so far from this, because it was not. Really I was happy that our worlds were getting along as well as they were because it was a far cry from the fears I'd had when I'd been the first of my kind to visit in hundreds of years. Though there had been a large number of treasure-seekers that had come running to Equestria when it was discovered how common gems were, Celestia made it abundantly clear that all travelers would be searched both before they entered her kingdom, and when they were going to leave. If anyone tried to bring in or take out something without permission first, it would be taken from them.

At first the treasure seekers tried all manner of smuggling gems out, including swallowing them, but after even that method failed to be hidden from a magical body scan it became clear that stealing gems simply was not worth the effort it took to dig them up and haul them back, and they instead turned it around and sold the gems to the Equestrians or Diamond Dogs instead, which proved profitable for all parties involved.

Other illegal activities sometimes took place such as theft, arson (though normally it turned out to be by accident from shooting fireworks off too close to towns), trespassing, (and so far very rarely) murder, and eating of sapient creatures, but both worlds were, from what I'd been told, taking steps to (hopefully) stop these occurrences.

I passed by the trinket cart again and the owner called me over. Not wanting to be rude I strode to it and looked over his things. Most of them were various small wooden or stone carvings of animals or Dragons, some variously colored crystals and smooth stones. There also were a few bits of broken metal that he claimed were taken from the remains of the Human capital city after it was transported away. I did not believe him.

“I don't just sell things, either. I also” His eyes flicked to my dog tags and briefly glinted. “buy them.” I politely informed him that I carried nothing that I wanted to sell, and at the moment I needed nothing that he had. He was not discouraged, however.

“Ahhh...how about something a bit more...exotic, perhaps?” He looked around to see if anyone was watching, and then made a motion for me to lean closer. I decided to humor him and did so. “How about shavings from an Alicorn's horn?”

“Thanatos and Celestia actually gave you that?” I scoffed. Given that I'd seen Melinda Jones arguing with him earlier, it seemed far more likely that he'd gotten it from her, if it was the genuine thing and not a Dragon's toenail clippings.

“Not them, no, but I do happen to know of another one that lives amongst the ponies of our fair city. She has ever so generously chosen to...donate it to my stand.” Donate it, huh? With how she was arguing with you earlier, I doubt that. My eyes ran over his wares again. I wonder if she's made some of those carvings or if she'd gotten into making silver jewelry yet.

“To borrow a piece of wisdom from my people, 'for best results, go to the source'. All too often vendors sell products at an increased price in comparison to how much the producer sells it for.”

“Hah-ha!” He said triumphantly. “Legally speaking, she can't sell you any! We have a written agreement between us and the other vendors that states that she can only sell her goods through me!” Okay, I guess I can't do that. Not that I really would anyway.

“Very well, but how do I even know it's real?”

“Feel it.” He replied. “Nothing else feels like the horns of magic-ponies. Not even bone.” The pony reached to the side of his cart and pulled out a drawer and withdrew a small bolt of cloth. He looked around again. A green pony passed the two of us by, briefly glancing at me, and then ignoring us. When he was gone the vendor cleared a space on his cart and unrolled the bolt. All along the inside were many small pockets lined up next to one another in the middle. About halfway done he stopped and angled what he'd unrolled so the mouth of the pocket faced the cart and gently shook it a few times. A few slivers of pale gray slid out and he ceased shaking the cloth and pointed at them with a hoof.

Giving him a doubtful look and, feeling some of the doubt that I displayed, reached a hand forward and picked one of the slivers up. To my surprise a chill ran through my hand. It was nowhere near as cold as the entire horn would have been, but it was, as the vendor had said, from an Alicorn.

“And what, pray tell, would you be charging me for this?”

“That would depend on how much of it you want.” He replied, brushing the other pieces back into their pockets. I returned the piece I was holding as well. “If you're just looking for a simple souvenir, ten bits. If you want more than that...” He trailed off and looked at me expectantly. Really, them being only shavings and fragments meant that they would not be worth very much in terms of using them. Probably that whole bolt- if the rest of the rolled bit contains any more- would be good for only a few uses. Unless I can find a way to merge it all into one little ball. Even if that doesn't make it any more resistant to wear It'd still be more practical to carry around, and especially more so if I should leave my staff somewhere.

“If I said I wanted the whole thing, what would you charge for it?”

“Far too much, that's for certain!” Came a female voice from behind me. Though I'd forgotten her voice, I'd not forgotten her face. Melinda Jones walked up to stand next to me and glared at the vendor, who only looked back, not the least bit intimidated. “Regardless of what this runth'tall is trying to sell you, he's charging you far too much for it!” The vendor snorted.

“Back again so soon?” He asked mockingly. “I thought you'd said that you weren't going to be doing business with me again.”

“I'm not. I'm here to take what's mine and get out of this place.”

“And go where? Canterlot is the largest city we ponies have ever built. Since you've refused to be hailed as royalty or adopted by the king you've needed to make your own living the same as the rest of us. You're written of in history as a warrior. In this era there's not much call for that sort of thing unless you're a patrol pony patrolling the caravan roads to keep the more dangerous animals away, and from what I've been told the pay ain't worth the danger.” he finished, looking smug. Melinda looked at me a few moments, her eyes landing on the 'payment' around my neck. Her eyes narrowed and she raised her gaze to my face.

“I see she snared another one. You local, or an outsource?”

“Local.”

“Local.” She repeated. “Hard job or easy?”

“That depends on your perspective.”

“Profession before hire?”

“Magician.” She looked at my staff.

“Performer?”

“Real deal.” Her eyebrows rose.

“Real deal? No wonder she wanted to hire you!”

“My turn. I know of you, but was never told that of all things you made souvenirs.” Melinda made a fierce expression and I took a step back.

“It's part of my punishment for failing. I can't leave this world and go home, so I need to make a living here instead. I never really had much of a profession outside of being a Maker's Mercenary, so my experience in other areas is limited. All I was really good at before I took up the family profession was carving, so that's what I do now.”

So that's why she was the way she was in the future. She was scraping by all the time until jewelry became popular and there were 'classes' of ponies that felt the need to have jewelry. But why would she turn down help from the royalty? Was it out of pride or a need to earn her own way?

“Well, you look healthy, so I'm guessing you're doing well?” Melinda laughed harshly.

“Hardly. I only look healthy because I've got the body of an Alicorn. Whatever magic it is that keeps them young also sustains them, but it doesn't stop me from feeling hungry.”

“Are you hungry now? I know of a vendor that serves decent vegetable soup.” She shook her head.

“I just ate, but thanks anyway. Now then,” She turned her attention back to the vendor, who had begun packing up his things while we spoke. He was probably intending on sneaking away. “Here's the original value of what I've made for you and the 'extra' as well,” She plopped a bag of bits on the cart and then levitated several of the nicer carvings off the cart. The vendor protested, saying that so long as he lived she'd never sell another thing in this city. Both me and Melinda laughed at the threat.

“What's so funny?!” The vendor demanded to know.

“I can easily outlive you, and every other pony in this city. All I have to do is wait about a hundred years, and no one other than the royalty will have any idea who I am.” The shopkeeper face-hoofed. Melinda's eyes landed on the cloth roll and took it as well, much to the anger of the vendor.

“I was doing business with that!” He growled.

“And now you aren't.” Melinda said simply, and unrolled the cloth and emptied the little pockets with magic. The bone fragments and shavings floated to her horn and filled into a number of imperfections in it, reforming it into a near-perfect slim cone. There were still a few uneven area, but barely any sign of what had once been. “Much better!” Turning back to me as the now-fuming vendor stomped away from us pulling his cart along behind him, Melinda turned our conversation to more casual topics such as how I liked this town. I answered that it reminded me of my own home back when I was a child and she sighed and replied that she wished hers had been.

“If it had been, I might have taken a different line of work.” She shrugged. “But I guess carrying around regrets won't gain me anything, will it?”

“Oh, I don't know. Some people use their regrets as reasons to push themselves forward.” Like when Trixie stabbed me with the horn back in the hedge maze, and when Celestia banished Luna to the moon, and the three tribes of old coming together to build a brighter future after a time of who-knows-how-long filled with distrust. “If this line of work isn't working out for you, try something new. Something you've never done before.”

“Yeah? Like what?” I shrugged.

“I dunno. You could explore and map out the world, you could study how magic works and make new spells, you could carve statues or make jewelry, you could become a scholar of history...” I listed several other things until finally Melinda placed a hoof against my mouth.

“Alright, alright, I get it! 'Always look on the bright side', am I right?” I nodded. “The bright side. Hmph.” She shook her head and looked away from me and out across the city. “I stopped seeing a 'bright side' to this over three hundred years ago.” She stared out over the buildings and perhaps into the flat grasslands beyond its borders for a few minutes, and then looked back. “Do yourself a favor, Human; don't bite off more than you can chew. If what you're trying to do looks like a mouthful and you can take a smaller chunk from it, take the smaller. Do that every time, and you might not end up like me.”

“Thanks for the advice.” I said seriously. “Mind if I offer you some in return?” She shrugged. “Everyone has a chance to redeem themselves. When your opportunity comes, don't hesitate.” Melinda lightly chuckled.

“I stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago, Human. Things like 'love meant to be' and 'second chances' when it comes to life simply don't exist.”

“I grew up my entire life thinking that Unicorns and Magic and other such things of myth were fairy tales. Yet there Unicorns are,” I pointed at a few Unicorn foals running by laughing and playing. “You used magic a minute ago, and both of us have done work for a Goddess of Luck. If these things are real, then second chances must be, too.”

“But not true love?” Melinda asked, a hint of a smile on her face.

“I've never sought out love beyond strong friendship, so I have no opinion on that one.” I replied, bearing a slight smile myself. “My point is, don't just assume that something isn't real simply because you've never seen it yourself.”

This time her chuckle was more audible.

“You know something, Human? You remind me of one of one of my little brothers. What's your name?”

“Jacob.”

“Nice to meet you, Jacob.” She lifted a hoof from the ground again, this time, thankfully, not to place over my mouth. I took her hoof on my hand and we shook.

Me and Melinda parted ways soon after that, she going home to gather her things and in preparation of leaving Canterlot, and me to head back to the royal estate. I'd asked her where she'd go now, but she only shrugged and said 'wherever the winds and my wings carry me'. I'll see you later, Miss Jones; then you'll find your redemption.

* * * * *

“Doctor!” Ditzy exclaimed happily as he, The Shield and Thanatos returned from their visit to the old castle. “How was your trip?”

“Dizzying. I will never get used to teleportation magic; it's nothing at all like real teleportation!

“And the palace in the forest?”

“Much more impressive in this time period than in yours, and a bit depressing. How about you and Jacob?” The Doctor glanced around the room, not really surprised to not see him, but still curious. Speaking of whom, where is he?”

“He's walking around Canterlot. He seems to really like it here. So what are we doing next?”

“I think we need to go further back in the linear time-line. Both Celestia and Thanatos said that they'd seen us before, and we have not, which means that at some point we go further back into the past.”

“Do you know why we went back?” He shook his head.

“It could simply be because we found out that we'd done it here.”

“But Doctor,” Ditsy began, confused. “If we didn't know that we were going to visit the farther-back past, and we already found out that the princesses were Magi Time Lords here, why would we have gone back in the first place?”

“Ditsy has a point, Doctor.” The Shield agreed. “Just going back for the sake of going back makes no sense. There might be some important piece of information we'll miss out on if we rush this.”

“Well going to the future makes no sense as things stand now. We already know how it's going to end, and it's with Humanity's extinction!”

“Yes, we know that, but Jacob doesn't. Maybe a fresh perspective could be of help to stopping it.”

“From what I've been told and read of him, he's more likely to try and get directly involved if he sees his world being attacked, and one more magician, even one with a teacher such as his along with an original staff's power is not going to make too big a difference for the outcome.”

“Well maybe he could convince Celestia and Luna to send them help!” Ditzy Doo piped up again. “The last time we went to Earth you two said that some of the ships had been brought down by magic. Sure, the Humans had made copies of Unicorn horns, but as both of us have seen, Doctor, they've never been able to make copies as good as the original thing. Maybe we Equestrians could be the force that tips the balance in Humanity's favor!”

The Shield looked at The Doctor, and he looked back at her and slowly nodded thoughtfully.

“That could indeed work...but taking him to see the battle and then taking him to Mythica to ask for help would be too late. We'll need to go sooner than that, but not too soon, and then convince her to send help before it's even begun. That will not be easy, especially when we have no proof. Celestia is not one to simply jump into things, especially where war is concerned, and wisely so.”

“Would Luna be any easier to talk to first?” The Shield asked. “If we can bring Luna to believe us, she could help us convince Celestia.”

“No,” The Doctor sighed. “Luna is supposed to be on Earth as a mediator between two countries trying to settle a disagreement during that time.”

% % % % %

Fluttershy gasped.

“So then....the reason Earth's moon exploded is-” The corners of her eyes became inhabited by a half-tear each. The Doctor nodded.

“The moon exploded because she was killed by the Daleks when she tried to help the Humans fight them.

Silence became heavy in the room as each of the ponies (and Dragon and Human) contemplated losing Luna. For most, the younger princess was a ruler, and a friend. For one of them, she was a teacher as well, and Jacob felt his throat tighten at the image of her being felled by a Dalek weapon.

“So did she still die during the fight?” The Doctor looked at Jacob, his expression serious.

“Should we tell them, Jacob?” Jacob shook his head, and said they'd find out soon enough.

The girls and Spike looked nervously at one another, and voiced that he should continue. The Doctor nodded and continued where he'd left off.

* * * * *

“So what's stopping us from dropping in on her and telling her what's going to happen? It's not like the talks won't be interrupted by the Daleks invading anyway.” The Shield asked. The Doctor shook his head.

“Each time we watched the fight the last thing to be destroyed was Earth's moon, but without any interference from the Daleks. I've had time to wonder about that, and I've come up with a theory; Because Earth is affected by what happens to Mythica, and Luna is the princess in charge of moving the moon, it stands to reason that her dying was what destroyed the moon, and that Luna wasn't killed until the very end. If we alert her to what's going to happen, that could change, and not necessarily for the better. It's probably best if we don't involve her any more than she already will be on her own.”

A loud clanging and clattering sound outside the door drew their attention to it and when nothing was forthcoming as to what caused the sound Ditsy walked to it and pushed it open and looked out into the hall to see Jacob with one of his feet stuck in a pail that had been left near the middle of the hall along with a mop and he'd apparently not been paying attention and had tripped over the mop and then stepped into the pail. Now he was fighting for balance. A fight he abruptly lost.

Jacob's pail-foot scraped across the recently-mopped marble floor, and then landed his other foot in a small puddle.

“Cra-HAAP!” He yelled as he fell and eventually collided with the floor. “Uugh...” Ditsy looked over her shoulder back at The Doctor and The Shield.

“It's just Jacob tripping over cleaning equipment and falling on his butt!” She informed them with a straight (or close to it) face. “So are we leaving now, or can we stay a little longer?”

“I think we should go.” The Doctor said, stretching after getting to his hooves. “We did what we came here to do, and if we ever want to come back later we can. Is Jacob on his feet again yet?” Ditsy looked out into the hall again where a grumbling Jacob was pulling a boot out of the pail. His foot had come out easily enough, but his footwear had become wedged inside it.

“No, but he will be soon.”

“Right then. Let's say our goodbyes and be off then!”

“But you've only just arrived! Are you sure there's nothing we can do to convince you to stay a little longer?” Celestia asked, standing to the right of her uncle. “You said you had a time machine, so couldn't you just pick up where you left off?” The Doctor nodded.

“We could, but unlike you, your uncle, myself and The Shield, Jacob and Ditsy have much shorter lifespans, and time-travel does not stop one from aging.”

“Don't worry, your highness!” Ditsy said with a smile. “We'll come back and visit you again sometime!” She promised. The others nodded their own agreement.

“This isn't the last time you'll see us, princess.” The Shied agreed. “A question, though.” She looked to both Celestia and Thanatos, and than asked if either of them had ever heard of artifacts called the 'Sapphire Stars'. Celestia shook her head, but Thanatos' eyebrows rose a little before he caught himself and returned them to their original position. Though most of their group failed to see this, The Doctor did not and mentally stored it away for later. Both of them replied that they had not, though having seen Thanatos' physical reaction, The Doctor knew better. “Well, no matter. I was only curious.”

“Thanatos, thank you for allowing us to be in your kingdom.” Jacob said, bowing to him. “It has been a pleasure both meeting you, and seeing your city.”

“You are most welcome, Lighthand. As are the rest of you. I wish you good fortune in all of your journeys.” Each of them bowed to the Alicorns, and then turned away from them and left.

As the four of them stood around the TARDIS' control console Jacob asked where they'd be heading now.

“To the future.” The Doctor replied. “There is something that we think you need to see.” The Doctor reached for a computer keyboard that had altered in size after his latest regeneration so as to fit his hoofs, but Jacob put a hand in his way. The Doctor gave him a questioning look.

“Can I ask you for a favor, Doc?”

“I...suppose. Won't promise that I'll do it, but you can ask.”

“Can we make a quick stop to the moon first? There's someone I want to see.” Ditsy made a frightened squeak and trotted to him and tugged on his shirt.

“You do know that princess Luna is Nightmare Moon right now, don't you?! She's dangerous!”

“She's right, Jacob. More importantly, if she managed to get inside my TARDIS, she might destroy it, or worse, figure out how to use it. Besides, we already know that things turn out alright in the end as far as her going home again goes.”

“But she's going to be alone up there, Doctor. Alone with herself and The Nightmare for one thousand years!”

“And she will learn from it.” He replied gently. “She won't know who you are in this time period, Jacob. I'd only be putting all our lives at risk by agreeing.”

“Sometimes it's best to just step aside and let someone burn their hands on the hot stove, Jacob.” The Shield said, agreeing. Jacob sighed and looked at his feet, likely his emotion warring with his logic. Finally he nodded.

“Very well.” He looked up and removed his hand from The Doctor's hoof. The Doctor nodded and punched in a few numbers.

“Alright everybody! Fasten your seat belts and place your trays in the upright position!”

“Huh?” Both Ditsy and The Shield said, giving The Doctor a puzzled look.

“It's a thing that Humans say when they're on an airplane.” He explained.

“Yeah, when they're landing, Doc. We're taking off.” Jacob pointed out.

“Well technically we're not actually taking off-”

“Just push the button!!!” Both Ditsy and The Shield yelled.

“Hmph! Fine!” The Doctor squeaked a rubber duck.

“Let me go! We have to do something!!!” Jacob wailed as he struggled against the hold of The Doctor, The Shield, and Ditsy Doo. He'd dropped his staff in shock at what he'd seen when The Doctor, wearing a grim expression opened the door to his TARDIS and bid him to watch the proceedings. He'd watched in confusion for six minutes, not certain what he was seeing, then as they began ravaging the world, he realized that these were the Daleks that The Doctor had spoken to Thanatos about in the past, and his home-planet was being annihilated.

“It's too late, Jacob!” Ditsy told him, desperately trying to keep him from reaching his staff again. If he did, nothing short of the Alicorn princesses would be able to hold him back. She kicked the rod with one of her back legs, sending it rolling further from the struggling Human.

“It's not too late! I can help them!”

“No, you can't!” The Doctor declared, gripping a pants leg in his teeth and talking around the cloth. “Both Ditsy and I tried going to their world directly to stop this from happening, and it only sped up the occurrence!” He turned his gaze on The Shield, who stood behind Jacob, holding his arms. I miss having those! The Doctor thought with a little regret, his legs wrapped around the same leg his teeth held. Ditsy held the other leg. “Then we picked up The Shield, and your people found her ship and studied it and the weapons she left on it and made their own Time Lord battle rifles and flew her ship into battle against them. Earth still lost! One more magician, even one with your training will not make much of a difference on your own!” Jacob struggled another second, then froze; he'd just come up with a similar plan to what Ditsy had, and he relaxed his body. It was just what the Doctor had hoped for.

“One more magician won't make a difference. How about a hundred? Or a thousand? Or two thousand?” Jacob looked at The Doctor. “I think I know where we can get more help.” Jacob looked at the assorted beings restraining him. “You can let me go now.” The girls looked at The Doctor, who nodded and released his own grip and made a face from the taste of Jacob's pant leg.

“Bleh! You need to wash those!”

“Laundry can wait. Doctor, can I ask you for a new favor?” He nodded.

“Take me back a month's time and then let's get into Equestria. I need to have an audience with princess Celestia, and time to prepare.”

The Doctor grinned and trotted to the console, pressing an assortment of gadgets and pushing buttons.

“Next stop, the future royal palace! Allons-y!”