They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
Ode of Remembrance.

***

Dramatis Personae.

Grey Squadron.

Dream Flyer (Grey Leader). Pegasus Female.

Bright Wonder (Grey Seven). Pegasus Female.

Scootaloo (Grey Ten). Pegasus Female.

Other.

Doctor Bowman/The Doctor. Human(oid) male.

Doctor Hooves/The Doctor. Earth Pony(ish) male.

The Prodigal. Pony Female.

***

Manchester, March 10th, 2032.

Two figures stood by a grave, six years to the day since a mare they had both known had died in the sky above them. One was a redheaded, apparently human man who wore a dark brown tweed coat over a white shirt, black waistcoat and an ascot, rounded off with dark blue corduroy trousers. The other was an ice blue pony, wearing a long black frock coat and a grey scarf, a somber look on his face.

“You came,” the man said quietly.

“I did,” the blue pony replied. He glanced up at his compatriot. “So did you.”

“A good reminder,” the man said quietly. “Always has been.”

“You just wanted to talk to me,” the blue pony said, glancing up at him.

“Yeah,” the man admitted. “Slightly.”

Still, neither one looked at the other. They were each lost in their own thoughts, each thinking back to a fateful day a long time ago - a day they shouldn't have been at, but they had…

“She's still running around,” the man said after a moment.

“She's over there,” the blue pony pointed out, pointing over at a pony stood by another grave. It was a mare, judging by the stature and the way she was stood, but she was wearing a hooded cloak over her, hiding most of her from view.

“We really should have told them,” the man said quietly.

“And then what?” the blue pony asked. “They'd have asked her to come back, and she didn't want to - she couldn’t.” He sniffed. “Better this way.”

“Your definition of ‘better’ is really not the same as mine,” the man muttered, folding his arms.

The blue stallion glanced up at his counterparts. “Did you come back just to have a go at me about her?”

“Not even close,” the man said quietly. “I came back to tell you to go back to the UDF. To help them.”

The blue stallion frowned. “Help them? Why?”

“Things are afoot that need our expert advice,” the man said quietly. “Which means, unless you want to run into me more, your expert advice.”

The blue stallion sighed. “I happen to know about… some of the problems we’re facing.”

“Then you know you need to go back,” the man said. “It’s important.”

The blue stallion sighed. “No, you’re right. Of course you’re right.”

“I usually am,” the man said. “But then, I’m only telling you what you already knew.”

He turned, noticing a small group of ponies approaching, and sighed. The blue stallion followed his gaze, and frowned.

“Ah, it appears that some ponies have come to pay their respects,” he said quietly. “I suggest we leave them to it for the moment.”

“Agreed,” the man said. “I really shouldn’t be here at all, anyway. Not exactly breaking the laws of time -”

“But bending them, a little,” the blue stallion finished. “Yeah, let’s be honest, we’re tipping them up and stamping on them right now.”

“Yeah,” the man admitted. “We’ve both done worse, to be honest.”

“Worse than this?” the blue stallion asked. “Really, Doctor, I can't imagine They -”

He paused at the look on the man’s face.

“Oh,” the blue stallion said. “Something to look forward to?”

“Don't even,” the man said grimly. “Where’s Trixie?”

“Back in the TARDIS,” the blue stallion said quietly. “Didn't want to bother her with this - she didn't know these ponies. Plus she wouldn't have understood.”

“Give her a bit more credit, Doctor,” the man said with a smirk. “She’s your friend. You chose her to come with you. To be there for you.”

“We chose her,” the blue stallion corrected.

“Yes, we did,” the man said quietly. “And you're never going to regret the decision, believe me.”

The blue stallion nodded. “That's one spoiler I’m not surprised by.” He paused. “And you? What will you do now?”

“I’m on a mission,” the man said grimly. “Being here is a delay, really. The big multiversity threat of the hour was Solamina, and she’s gone, here at least.”

“Here at least?”

“But there are worse things on the horizon,” the man continued, his expression darkening. “Worse things that you can't even begin to comprehend. The Remnant, the Apostles, the Ram God…”

“Don't,” the blue stallion said tiredly. “I don't think I like the sound of these particular vague prophecies of doom.”

“You aren't meant to,” the man replied. “But they're coming. And worse. There's something bigger than anything stirring out there, something you’ll only start to learn about when you start working for Them as I did. I’ve never directly met it, but I hope I never do.”

“Why?” the blue stallion asked. “What is it?”

The man sighed, before turning away from the memorial. “Enjoy not knowing while you can, Doctor.”

He walked off, leaving the blue stallion alone.

***

Dream Flyer stood by the grave of Errant Flight, a recent addition to the small collection of graves. Grey Squadron’s deaths had been a turning point for so many ponies - a landmark in history, a moment in time when people would look back and say, ‘that’s when something important happened’. Because of them, a whole host of new flyers joined the ERAF, determined to play their parts.

Even Dream Flyer owed her career to Grey Squadron. They had inspired her, shown her how much good a single flyer could do, or a single squadron - or indeed, any band of ponies willing to come together and do the right thing. She had taken Blue Squadron and turned them into something more than - what had Errant once said? - “a bunch of posers”. Then, Errant had asked her to be his second in Grey… and now, here she was, Grey Leader.

She glanced sideways, looking at Scootaloo, who was standing in front of the main memorial plinth with a strange expression - somewhere between sorrow and guilt. Flyer sighed: Scootaloo had moved past some of the things that had been bothering her when she joined the squadron, but she was still a long way from being ‘all right’.

Are any of us? she pondered.

“Hey, Scoots,” came the almost-cheery voice of Bright Wonder as the white mare hopped over to the depressed looking mare. “What say after this we go to the Ditzy Doo?”

Scootaloo’s expression became a frown of confusion. “The - the Ditzy Doo?”

“Yeah, they opened a pub and named it after her when they started rebuilding Manchester,” Bright Wonder said cheerily. “Was thinking that would be a brilliant way to celebrate the lives of the first Grey Squadron.”

Dream Flyer chuckled. “Bright Wonder, my friend, that’s a wonderful idea.”

Bright Wonder beamed. “Thanks, boss! So whaddya think, Scoots?”

Scootaloo sighed, before smiling. “Sure. Why not?”

Bright Wonder grinned, before bouncing off. Dream Flyer sighed, still smiling.

“Come on, Scootaloo,” she said quietly. “We’d better get after her.”

“Alright,” Scootaloo said quietly. “We’ll do that.”

Together the two mares trotted away from the memorial after their friend.

***

The mare in the cloak stood in front of the memorial for a long time, her face hidden beneath the hood.

“I’m sorry, guys,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

She turned and trotted away as well, only a hint of an auburn tail peeking from beneath the back of the cloak as she did so.

Author's Notes:

I'm back! Again!

Sorry about the delays, as usual, guys. For the last few months I'be been a bit distracted by a bunch of things (second child, working on Spectrum, original novel, that kind of thing) so I'be been, regrettably, neglecting my AOA stuff. Now, however, I've freed up time to come back to AOA and I intend to get right back in the saddle (no horse jokes thank you ).

Thanks for reading, guys.

Jed.