My Little Pony: Through Space and Time

by Magic Step

Applejack and the Doctor

"TARGET DETECTED!"

"Stop!" shouted Applejack

Fluttershy screamed.

"Stop," said one metal pony, flying between Apple Bloom and Fluttershy. "That's a baby pony she's carrying."

Apple Bloom muttered something unintelligable.

"That's not your Fluttershy! That's my Fluttershy!" said Applejack. "Ah mean, she came with me!"

"How do we know?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Aw, hay, just look at her."

Fluttershy was a quivering wreck, barely keeping herself in the air and closing her eyes.

"Point taken," said Apple Bloom. "Fluttershy, come with us."

"They're takin' us to Applejack," said Applejack. "Ah mean, you know, my future self."

Fluttershy opened one eye and looked at Applejack. "Okay."

"Now, where'd that little cutie come from?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, her," said Fluttershy. "Um. It's kind of a long story, but you can trust me, all right?"

"Sure," said Applejack. "Tell us on the way."

Behind them, in the far distance, flew two purple ponies.

---

Princess Twilight Sparkle glided through the air. Whether rising, diving, or turning, she never so much as twitched her wings. She held them straight in the air, firm as rock.

She glided, motionless as a statue, to face the other alicorn, the Hunter. The purple flaming pony turned to face her. Despite being in air, neither moved.

Then, Princess Twilight nodded at him, and moved on, alighting on a mountaintop. The Hunter had told her that she would find Fluttershy here, or at least, that she had been here. She strode regally up the mountain path, her horn glowing.

"Fluttershy," she whispered. "Come out, Flutter-"

A brown owl whipped past, followed by a yellow pegasus. As Princess Twilight watched, Dame Fluttershy pinned the owl to the ground. Her eyes were red and blooshot, and her mane was ragged.

"You... you..." Dame Fluttershy growled. Her eyes opened wide, and she Stared into the owl's eyes.

"Die," she snarled. "Now. Die! Die!"

The two kept their eyes locked together, neither blinking.

"Fluttershy," said Princess Twilight. Her voice was loaded with disappointment.

Fluttershy gave a little shriek. In that instant, the owl broke free from her grasp and flew off into the forest.

"T-twilight," she stammered. "It... I mean... he... this isn't..."

"Was that Owlicious?" Princess Twilight asked.

Fluttershy started crying. "Yes. B-b-but..."

"You were trying to kill him," said Princess Twilight. It wasn't a question. "Do you deny it?"

"N-no," Dame Fluttershy said. "B-but..."

"He is an animal. Fluttershy, you just tried to kill an animal, of all creatures."

"No! I-I mean, Twilight, it wasn't like that!"

"How was it not like that?"

Dame Fluttershy gulped. "Um. Um. Um. He started it."

"The owl started it."

"Um. Yes."

"He tried to kill you?"

"No!"

"Obviously. That would be laughable, and Owlicious is a smart owl." Princess Twilight took a step closer to Fluttershy. "Rainbow, or Diane, I would have understood. But I thought you... you... I thought that, without Kindness, you would be nothing. It seems I was wrong."

Fluttershy gasped. "No! No, Twilight, it isn't like that! I'm still true to my element!"

"Maybe," said Princess Twilight solemnly. "Maybe not. The fact of the matter is, I can't take time to ascertain that now. I have Time Guardians to take care of. But you will get a trial. That I promise."

Fluttershy sighed, relaxed. She smiled and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Until then," said Princess Twilight, turning away, "let the prophecy be fulfilled."

A spray of magenta magic arced back over Princess Twilight's head, striking Dame Fluttershy.

Princess Twilight waited until the screaming stopped to turn around. Why, she wondered, couldn't ponies who were being turned to stone choose some natural pose? Did they really need to contort themselves in some hideous posture and remind the caster what she had done?

Princess Twilight took a step closer and touched the stone Dame Fluttershy on the cheek, her face frozen mid-scream. She looked frighteningly like Discord.

She remembered an offhand comment Rainbow Dash had made about a year ago, that if Fluttershy became comparable in any way to Discord, the world must be coming to an end. It had been funny at the time.

Princess Twilight sighed.

"You will get your trial as soon as this is over," she told the statue. "I promised."

She raised her head and glared into the bright sun. She screamed at the sun, "And I always keep my promises!"

---

"Here we are," Apple Bloom said.

A bright, cheery sign stood before them. It was covered with apples and leaves and vines and hearts, many of which seemed to have been painted by little foals. The letters announced that this was "Sweet Apple Homes", and below, in smaller letters, the sign said: "Shelter for the homeless, safety for the lost, rest for the weary. Welcome home."

Apple Bloom pushed her hoof against a knothole in the sign's post. A keypad popped out of the hole, and she pressed a few buttons.

"Jist disabling the defense mechanisms," she said. "Come on, everypony."

The three metal ponies, Applejack, and Fluttershy started off.

They passed brightly painted houses with little foals playing on the porches. Two pegasus filles flew past them chasing a looly hoop. There were a few older ponies, but most of the ones they saw were young.

Fluttershy was still carrying the baby pony in her arms and flew beside them. Her wings were starting to ache.

Apple Bloom headed for a house painted barn red and rapped on the door with a metal hoof. "AJ? You in there? I found her! Applejack!"

The door opened, and an older version of Applejack stepped out. Her cowboy hat was gone, and her hair hung in a loose braid. She looked very tired, and when she smiled, the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Well, howdy do," she said, her accent somewhat faint. "Oh, my gosh, you look so young. So many memories..."

She stepped out of the door a bit, and Applejack saw that the back legs of her future self were encased in metal.

The future Applejack noticed Applejack staring at her legs, and sighed. "Nothing you need to worry your head about, sugarcube. Just don't worry your head about it. Come on in, darling."

Applejack trotted into a nice little kitchen that reminded her of her own home at Sweet Apple Acres. Same style, anyway. A black pegasus colt was sitting at the table coloring a picture.

"Shadow," said Applejack. "Run along and clean out the guest rooms."

"Okay Mom." Shadow dashed out of the room.

"Did... did he just call you..." Past Applejack stammered.

Before Future Applejack could answer, the pony Fluttershy was carrying started crying.

"Awww," cooed Future Applejack. "Where'd you ever pick up such a special critter? Apple Bloom! You didn't say nuthin' 'bout a newborn filly!"

Apple Bloom had taken off her helmet. "Gosh, awful sorry, Applejack. Guess it just slipped my mind."

"Oh, yes," said Future Applejack to her past self. "Ah forgot: while you and me are both here, just call me Aunt Jackie, like the kids do, and we'll jist call you Applejack like yer used to. Simpler that way."

Past Applejack nodded. "Alright, works for me."

"So," Aunt Jackie said, "Let's get us some formula for you, cutie pie." She rummaged around in a nearby cabinet and pulled out a bottle. "Jist have to heat this up... we keep it ready, since we take in so many little ponies... what's her name?"

"Her?" said Fluttershy. "Oh... oh my, I don't know if she has one. Angel didn't say..."

"Did ya expect him to?" said Applejack.

"Um, well, it's complicated," said Fluttershy.

"Well, is she yours?" Aunt Jackie asked.

"Um..." Fluttershy stared at the little filly. She took a deep breath. "Yes. She's mine. She's my child."

"Well, then, I figure you're as good a pony as ever to give her a name," said Aunt Jackie. "What d'you reckon she'll become?"

"Well..." Fluttershy held the baby pony up to the light. She examined her lavender and yellow mane, her long ears, and her shiny horn. "I... I've never named a pony before... or even thought about it much, to be honest..."

"S'no different from naming critters," said Applejack.

"Yes it is," said Fluttershy. "Gee, I-I really am not sure where to start..."

"Any personality traits you notice?" said Aunt Jackie.

"Oh, well... she sleeps pretty soundly, I guess. And even when she was awake, she hardly fussed..."

"Don' expect that pattern to hold, sister!" Apple Bloom shouted.

"But she was awfully quiet," said Fluttershy. "And calm, even when in the air... I think... I think I'll call her... Serenity."

And thus the naming was complete.

---

After Serenity had been given formula and a place to sleep, Fluttershy stayed to watch her new daughter, while Applejack and Aunt Jackie met on the porch of Aunt Jackie's house. They watched the little ponies play outside for a while.

"What's with all the youngsters?" Applejack asked a bit tentatively. "Ah mean... there are so many, an' not so many adults..."

Aunt Jackie hesistated. "Ya sure you want to know, Applejack?"

Applejack turned away. "What... all right, Ah watched your little sister brutally murder a pony right in front o' me. Ah think Ah can handle the details."

"Oh, nothin' involving death- Princess Twilight jist arrestin' adults left, right, and center, and the services for their kids ain't up to snuff. Plus every unicorn she can get her hooves on is forced to fuel her crazy schemes, so many ponies sent their horned foals here... to keep 'em safe." Aunt Jackie sighed. "But no, most of them have parents who are still alive. Not even Twilight is that cruel..."

"So why are you?" Applejack demanded.

"What?"

"You can't tell me that you don' know what Apple Bloom has been doing."

Applejack sighed. "You don' get it, do you? You live in this sweet, innocent world... hang on a tick, how old are you?"

"Twilight said Ah was from ten years ago, Ah figure," said Applejack.

Aunt Jackie stared into space a moment, probably calculating in her head. "That's so close... so close... tell me, Applejack, you know a stallion named Doctor Whooves?"

Applejack blinked. "Huh... Ah don' recall anypony with that there name..."

"What about Time Turner?"

"Nope."

"Brown stallion, darker brown spiky mane, hourglass cutie mark?"

Applejack frowned with concentration. "Eh... Ah got nothin'."

"Good. Hope it'll stay that way."

"Why? What'd he do?"

"Ah don' wanna scare you. Jist listen: when you meet him, he'll seem all nice and friendly, but avoid him like the plague. Don' make friends with him, don' let your other friends grow close to him, don' offer to help him, don' pity him, don' listen to him when he talks about the world apocalypse or a temporal paradox or anythin' like that, and, even if you fail all these other instructions, whatever you do, don't, under any circumstances, never ever ever go 'travelling' with him, and don' let anypony else either! Ah would tell you to shoot him on sight, but Ah figure you wouldn't listen to me."

Applejack stared at her future self. "What... the... hay?"

"Time Guardians," Aunt Jackie growled. "They may say they're tryin' to save the world or some such, but all they care about is how they can use you as a pawn in their strange mind games... for an end Ah don' care to think about. This..." she waved her hoof at the sky. "This here world, our future... the reason this is all here... why it all went downhill... It's all the Doctor's fault. Ah can' explain why so easy... too complicated. But he's the reason my friends all fell aside... the reason why the princesses fell... the reason why the elements of harmony are all dyin'. Ah don' know if our world can be salvaged, but if you could only carry one piece of advice from here back home, Ah'd tell you to remember this..." She took Applejack's hooves in her own. "The Doctor is your enemy. That's what you need to know."