***

Einstein: "Every wormhole system has millions of exits - each to a distinct time and place. Travel from A to B - now attempt to travel back. You could arrive at point A immediately after you left, or a cycle later, or a cycle earlier, or 10 or 10,000 or… millions of permutations."
John: The secret… is understanding time.
Einstein: Not so much understanding as accounting for. Unskilled wanderings create… unrealized realities.
John Crichton and Einstein, Farscape: Unrealized Reality.

"Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence."
The Tenth Doctor, Doctor Who: Doomsday.

***

Scottish Archives, February 10th, 2030 - 'Avatar' Earth

Strapped into a harness and tensed slightly, Eric Smith closed his eyes as the first injections pierced his flesh, wincing as the liquid began pouring through his body. At the same time, an older man with a large, leather bound tome in one hand, wearing a suit and spindly glasses, held up a hand and began chanting.

"Strength of body, strength of will, strength of arms, strength of conviction…"

It was supposed to be the implementation of spells that would augment his mind and body, in the same way the hormone therapies were doing so in the injections he was receiving. To his mind though, this was more than simply a process of magic and science.

This was a culmination.

He had been blessed by the Avatar of Albion a long time ago, but the Avatar was missing in action, presumed to have gone to Equestria to battle Astra Solamina. In his absence, Eric believed… no, he knew that it was his duty, and the duty of his knights, to step up and defend the people of Britain, however they could.

That was why he was here.

"Strength of body, strength of will, strength of arms, strength of conviction…"

My convictions have never wavered, Eric thought to himself. And neither my will. I will not fail. When the Avatar returns, we will stand by his side.

"Sir Eric?"

He opened his eyes, blinking and frowning. When he had closed his eyes he had been strapped into a harness. Now he found himself in a bed. He sat up, blinking once.

"What is this?" he asked. "Where am I?"

"Ahem," a voice said. He turned, to see a green female pony doctor looking at him, smiling softly. "I'm Dr. Well Being, chief of the Iron Clad program's medical section. You've been under for five hours."

"Five hours?" Eric asked, eyes wide. "I cannot be asleep for five hours, I have -!"

"I'm happy to report," Being said, cutting him off, "that the procedure was a complete success."

Eric frowned, before standing up. He was in a simple hospital gown, but he felt… different. He had never been particularly skinny - he prided himself on having been muscular - but he felt different. He looked up at a nearby mirror in the hospital room, tore off the gown, and his eyes widened.

He was bulkier - his muscles slightly larger and far more defined - and he felt stronger, too.

"You will find it takes some time to get used to the upper limits of your body's augmentations," Well Being said idly. "But I think you'll find them satisfactory. We estimate that, judging by your body mass additions, muscle mass alterations and the effectiveness of the spells that we wove into your system, you can expect a one hundred forty nine percent increase to your maximum strength and endurance - that's only a percentage point off the absolute projected maximum, and far better than a lot of projected augmentees…"

Eric let her words wash over him, as he thought but one thing.

I am a knight of Albion. I am an angel of death. I will be mankind's sword and shield in the darkness…

***

Fenway Park, Boston, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

The gruff, old-looking pony ran the glowing tip of his buzzing silver device up and down the prone form of David Elliot, clucking his tongue every so often. The man had been moved to a medical facility, and this pony - the Doctor, apparently, though he looked nothing like the Doctor Whooves any of the humans knew - and was being looked over.

He had coughed up blood before collapsing, and the Doctor was talking about "magical burnout", the same thing that the man had mentioned before, but none of them knew what it meant.

Kraber and Aegis were leaning against a wall in the hospital room, drinking straight from a bottle of bourbon, passing it between each other.

Stephan Bauer sat near the Doctor, frowning slightly at him. The Major had ordered Trixie and Lieutenant Kellman to see to organising a casualty list - it hadn't been as terrible as it could have been, all things considered. There had been collateral from the destroyed buildings, but Celestia - the Celestia clone - had been primarily focused on the Avatar, Discord and Luna for most of the fight. Several troops had been killed when the Tyrant arrived near their position, but Stephan was frankly grateful that he hadn't lost more.

"So," Stephan said, wincing slightly in pain from his injuries. "What exactly brings you here?"

"If by 'here' you mean this city," the Doctor said, "I followed Elliot's time trace - it led here."

"Seems a long way to come," Stephan said. "So… where are you from?"

"The same place as him," the Doctor replied.

"Which is where, exactly?" Stephan asked.

"That would be a long story," the Doctor said slowly. "I'd rather explain it in front of the other Luna and Discord. That way, I won't have to go over it twice. Which reminds me. Where are they?"

"They're elsewhere in the medical area getting looking over," Stephan said. "I'm gonna have a hell of a time explaining them to top brass."

"I imagine they aren't the only thing you'll have trouble explaining," the Doctor said wryly, gesturing at Elliot.

"Yeah," Stephan said with a slight smile. "There seems to be… a few strange things going on."

"Quite so," the Doctor said. "I believe at some point one gets used to strange things. Or at least that's what I'm often told."

"Do you believe it?" Stephan asked.

"Oh good heavens, no," the Doctor said, grinning. "But if one got used to strange things, then why would one bother doing anything at all?"

***

Scottish Archives, February 12th, 2030 - 'Avatar' Earth

Stood in the centre of the training room, surrounded by target dummies and other training devices, Lyra Heartstrings waited. She closed her eyes, and breathed in.

The first attack was a spear that shot out and nearly hit her, but a slight adjustment of her stance fixed that, and she barely had to move to dodge another projectile. A series of arrows lashed out from somewhere, but her horn glowed and a shield raised.

Lyra breathed out, then back in.

A training dummy moved near her, simulating a charging enemy. She spun around and bucked it, before her horn glowed, grabbing a dagger and lashing out at another that was moving near her. She sheathed the dagger again, before tensing her augmented legs, three circular metal implants installed in each leg the only sign of the far more extensive surgeries she had undergone. She pushed, and bounded five feet in the air, spinning and dodging more arrows and other projectiles as she did so, before landing, her horn glowing and destroying several of the projectile weapons.

Lyra breathed out, then back in.

She bucked another training dummy, ducked another projectile, idly raised a shield, scowled, turned the shield into a shockwave and threw it back at the dummy that had thrown the projectile and dodged another spear that lashed past her flank before incinerating another dummy…

"Oi!" a voice called, and she breathed out, then back in, before restoring herself to her natural rhythm.

"Hell Blazer," she said with a quiet nod at the yellow pony. He was in his shirtsleeves, his customary trench coat and tie absent. "How are you?"

"Not so bad," he said. "See you've recovered."

"I'll say," she said without mirth. She jogged on the spot for a moment. "These implants… they're not bad."

"I guess not," Hell Blazer said, smiling slightly. His smile faded. "There's still been no word."

Lyra scowled at these words and turned away from him.

"No word, no rumours, no reason for the buildup they're having now that we know of at all," she said snappishly. "David can't have just vanished off the face of the map."

"We don't know if he might have tried assassinating her and failed," Hell Blazer said quietly. "That's the theory that the Council seem convinced by."

"But you're not," Lyra said.

"Not even a little," Hell Blazer said, smirking again, a slightly sour thing. "There's more to this shit than we're getting, I fucking guarantee it."

"We can only hope the Doctor finds some trace of him," Lyra said quietly. "No word from him either, though."

"He's a resourceful old bastard," Hell Blazer said sagely. "He'll be fine."

There was a long pause.

"The Council will start demanding you summon another Avatar," Lyra pointed out, not looking at him. It was a… sore point.

"Let me handle them," Hell Blazer said. "Focus on training."

"Oh, don't worry," Lyra said, smiling mirthlessly. "I have that covered."

***

Fenway Park, Boston, November 16th 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

Standing in front of a projector showing the image of several of the most powerful men left in the world, Stephan Bauer managed to be what he considered impressively calm. The responsibilities he now shouldered… well, they dwarfed even his time as commander of all EU forces. In his hand he clutched a scroll, the parting gift from the clone - a warning of her imminent return. Near him stood Doctor Whooves, a brown Earth Pony with a brown mane and blue eyes, a collar and tie around his neck.

"Stephan, is this information correct?" the prematurely aged US President Jack Davis started, a copy of his report in his hand.

"Yes sir, she showed her hand today, and even with what we got, we are sorely outclassed by the sheer power she could bring. She is going to place everything she has right down our throat," Stephan said, throwing the scroll down. "If today's battle against that monster was anything to note, we're not going to make it long enough to face off against her and her armies at the same time."

President Davis closed his eyes, rubbing his nose as he felt a familiar headache coming on. "Was there anything we did that left a mark on that beast?"

Stephan raised an eyebrow with a smirk, pulled his machete out and slammed it into the table, then pulled out a crystal round set it down. "A few things actually. The crystal rounds worked like a charm, even hurt Discord himself. My machete also managed to severe her wing."

"At least that is something to note, anything you recommend once she comes bearing down on us?" Brigadier General Philippe Delon asked, his uniform covered with dozens of medals, a smoking pipe held in his hand.

"I need the best snipers we can get our hands on, load them up with as many crystal rounds we can and have them take the shot." Stephan rubbed his chin, a frown on his face. "Maybe a heavy machine gun or autocannon with the crystals rounds placed onto the TARDIS just in case we can't get the shot."

The Doctor scowled at Stephan from his place behind him, but said nothing as he busied himself with his notes.

"So be it, I'll start moving what I can to Boston," Davis sighed, resting back in his chair. "I hope you don't mind me asking Stephan, but you seem to be trying to avoid the Elephant in the room, or in this case, three Elephants."

"I must agree with President Davis on this, Major Bauer. You have been avoiding it. Although, given what I saw in the report… it's beyond my expectations," said Japan's Minister of Defense, a man named Itsunori Onodera.

Stephan rubbed the back of his neck.

"Which Elephant do you want me to start with, sir?" he asked honestly.

"Start with Discord and Luna," Davis suggested. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but they're within our comprehension."

"Truth be told, sir, I'm still trying to wrap my head around them being here, let alone Elephant number three," Stephan said with a wry grin. "They come from a different Equestria. It appears that when our little piece of Elements tried to attack Colonel Renee, it sent him away instead of turning him to stone." Stephan gave a small grimace as he stood, the bandages on his body a testament of how much he'd gone through the past hour. "Discord claimed that a past version of him placed the suggestion in our Twilight's mind, or a piece of his soul. I don't know, but that's… I have no idea how that's supposed to work."

"You can sit, Stephan. You don't need to stand up for us after all you gone through," Davis said, a look of concern on his face as he took note of his stance.

"I'm going to have to turn that offer down, sir. If I sit, there is very little chance of me getting back up." Stephan gave a small, painful chuckle. "Back to the main point, Renee's alive. In Equestria, I might add. Runes are good, but not that good."

"What about the magic degenerating his body?" Delon asked.

Stephan winced. "You're not going to like it, but… non-issue. Celestia lied to us, which means…" he sighed. "I owe Stabsunteroffizier Kraber a lot of whiskey. We had a bet."

"Magic was never harmful?" President Davis asked.

Stephan nodded. "As Kraber so aptly put it, she did this to hobble us."

"So… we've been lied to, enslaved, killed by the thousands and millions, and this entire time we could have slowly infiltrated the barrier with little health risk to our people?" Brigadier General Delon asked with growing rage, gripping his smoke pipe tightly in his hand. "Is that… what you are telling me? That we could have conducted our own tests and avoided this… this travesty altogether?"

Stephan said nothing to this, his eyes never leaving the field. He gave a sigh before nodding his head. "Yes sir. It appears to be that way."

None of the men on the screen said anything, Brigadier General Delon snarled as he stood up, grabbed his PDA and threw it at the far wall, with a crash as the screen shattered. The general walked about in the background, cursing up a storm before he threw himself back into his seat. Stephan couldn't blame him; he'd been in touch with far more suffering than any of them. President Davis and Minister Itsunori just sat motionless, their eyes closed, countless regrets passing over their faces. Davis shook his head before looking to Stephan once more.

"God… dammit. So… what do they want from us?"

"It's not what they want from us," Cheerilee answered as she walked through the door, nodding to the various leaders on the screen. "It's what they can do for us."

"And that is?" President Davis asked.

"You're not going to believe this," Stephan said. "I hardly believe it myself. All they want is to help."

"You are seriously telling me," Delon said, slipping back into his familiar old rage, "that an Alicorn princess and a chaos god, from another Equestria, are here to help. Both of whom should be dead or stone by now."

"They even said that their Equestria has its own Elements of Harmony, and it's own Celestia, but Marcus advised against sending her because he figured that we wouldn't react well," Stephan continued. "Hell, Kraber's proof enough of that."

"We'll address all of this in a moment," General Delon said, frowning somewhat - clearly none of this was sitting well with him at all, not that anyone could blame him for that. "I for one am interested in this 'Avatar of Albion'. My understanding is that he stood toe to toe with the clone, correct?"

"Yes sir," Stephan said quietly. "He's… going to be more difficult to account for."

"Then I suggest you start from the top, Major," Davis said with a wry grin.

"Well, for starters, he's a pub-buddy of Kraber's from another universe," Stephan said. "In 2030."

"Another universe?" Davis asked. "I suppose that's not so much of a stretch, but it seems a little… out there."

"Every single decision we make creates an alternative reality," the Doctor pointed out. "Even in this very conversation. It's not so difficult to imagine a world where something like him could exist."

"Is he from the future?" General Delon asked.

"From what I can tell, it's not our future," Stephan said. "He's from another world where something eerily similar happened. Another Celestia, another Barrier, another PER, another HLF, and ponification potion."

The various highly-placed military and political figures on videoconference looked more confused than anything.

"Britain's the only human civilization left, far as he knows," Stephan explained. "They're reduced to fourteen million-"

"I feel as if this is a warning," Onodera interrupted, looking thoughtful.

"I said it wasn't our future," Stephan pointed out, frowning at him.

"True," Onodera agreed with a nod. "But it is a warning - a warning of what might happen if we should fail. Did he at all describe the situation?"

"Incredibly poor, sir. They're in a much worse state - minimal resources, outdated weaponry… but they also have magic," Stephan said, folding his arms. "As evidenced by our friend, one BDF Major David Elliot. He ended up imbuing himself with the inherent magic of the British Isles, from what I understand…"

***

Fenway Park, Boston, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

"So this is his machine?" Doctor Whooves asked, looking over the blue box. It reminded him so much of his own, beloved old Police Box, though it was more worn and battered than his had been (before the disaster that had been the attempt to save Lyra). Somewhere nearby, Derpy, Dinky and Sparkler were watching, leaving the Doctor alone with Stephan and Trixie as he had requested.

"It is," Stephan said. He looked down at the Doctor. "You believe this stuff then?"

"Other me, easy," the Doctor replied, turning away from the box with a sigh. "Met too many."

"And this 'Avatar'?" Stephan added.

"Magic isn't my area of expertise," the Doctor admitted with a frown, "though I have picked up a lot in the last few years. This 'Elliot'…" He smiled, shaking his head. "Man's just, by being alive, wrecked any idea of magic being inherently dangerous to the human form."

"There is this 'burnout' to consider," Stephan pointed out.

"That's a different matter," the Doctor said, "and one we'll need to address. It sounds almost like his body is overtaxed. No, our conventional thinking up until this point has been that if you did something like that, you'd melt the human in a matter of minutes - their cells would simply disintegrate."

"And his aren't?" Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If they are - any scans by me pending," the Doctor said with a raised eyebrow, "then they're doing so at a much slower rate than our thinking up to this point would have had it - and he's channeling a lot of power to be able to stand up to Celestia."

Stephan nodded. "I think a few words might be needed once he wakes up."

"And a few words with this counterpart of mine," the Doctor added.

***

Elsewhere in Fenway, Discord and Luna were sat, having been looked over. Discord winced slightly at the pain in his body - he had been more badly battered than he liked letting on.

"So," he said conversationally to Luna, who was sat with her eyes closed. "That went… well."

"The Tyrant sent but a clone, and we destroyed it," Luna replied. "If it is anything like her…"

"No doubt she's worse," Discord said with a sigh. "I should have guessed something was up. Celly was never that stupid. Underestimating your opponents - worst thing you can do in war."

"Indeed," Luna replied, frowning at him. "And almost as cardinal a sin is underestimating your allies."

Discord nodded, looking at her. "You mean knight-boy."

"There was something about his magic that seemed entirely alien to me," Luna said quietly. "Something… off."

"Impressive stuff," Discord agreed. "Could have done without him fighting like she was going to be honourable about it all, but once he got the picture, I have to say, he didn't do so badly."

"Marcus never once even mentioned him," Luna pointed out quietly. "Not even once. If this man were part of their forces…"

"He isn't," Discord said quietly. "'A parallel Britain,' that huge Earth Pony said. This Elliot, whoever he is, is from another world."

"Yet another?" Luna asked, frowning. "That scarcely seems possible."

"So we might have said about a lot of things," Discord reminded Luna. He frowned. "There's a more troubling point though." Luna raised an eyebrow in question, prompting Discord to continue. "He said 'I know the ways of Tyrants.' And the oversized Earth Pony said something about his world probably having something similar to this one going on."

"Another world, another Bag?" Luna asked quietly.

Discord shook his head, not wanting to countenance the idea. "We can't guarantee that - infinite realities spawn infinite possibilities. For all we know, his war is entirely different. Or exactly the same." He paused. "But it would be interesting to know where he's from - maybe even see if they can lend us allies for the battle against this Tyrant."

"Is that likely?" Luna asked. "This world is at the brink."

"And maybe theirs is better off," Discord suggested. "Or worse off. But not knowing doesn't tell us anything."

"What are you suggesting?" Luna asked with narrowed eyes.

Before Discord could reply, they were interrupted by the arrival of Stephan, who approached the two with a grim expression.

"Major," Luna said with a smile. "It is good to see you."

"If you could both come with me," Stephan said. "We need to go pick up Mr Elliot."

The two of them followed him out of their area. Discord walked near to Luna, and to her surprise, his mouth disappeared from where it was and began floating near her ear. She scowled.

"One thing bothers me though," Discord's mouth said in a soft voice. "How'd that pony know?"

"He and his friend said it was guesswork," Luna said irritably.

"I don't believe that, and I don't think they do either," Discord countered. "There's more to this than we know yet…"

***

"So just to confirm," Kraber said with a wince, "I am alive, right?"

He and Aegis were sat on makeshift hospital beds in the middle of Fenway park, near where Elliot was lying unconscious. Nearby sat the old John Hurt pony (who still didn't like the term), working on a small gadget of some kind.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” the old pony said distractedly.

“....And he says that to the person who’s tried to commit suicide more times than I can count,” Aegis said. “Great, Mr. John Hurt Pony.”

“They’re superficial,” the older stallion said. “Anyone could see you’ll live through the day. And would you stop calling me that!”

“Right,” Kraber said. “But in the past 96 hours, I’ve been shot, I’ve been thrown off a moving train - which hurt like hell - and I had to fight my way back on and shovel coal for the locomotive. I’ve only gotten six hours of sleep, maybe, and I’ve been thrown down three stories onto my back. After getting in a fight with a teleporting mank genaaide bergbok. I am fokking sat.”

He leaned against the wall.

“Eish, that hurts too…”

“Come on, lean against me, then,” Aegis said.

Kraber slid down to the floor, his back against Aegis’ barrel. “You’re right, this does feel better…”

“We still need some sleep, though,” Aegis yawned.

The old stallion raised an eyebrow, throwing the two a glance. "You gentlemen are… interesting."

“I’m interesting?” Aegis asked.

“Huh. Usually it’s ‘sociopathic,’ ‘dangerously insane,’ ‘Good at making shrimp and grits,’ or ‘Oh Christ it’s him, run!’” Kraber added.

"Perhaps I am used to sociopaths," the stallion shrugged. "Elliot is amongst the more moderate individuals I know, and he wears the manes of important victims in his coat."

“I used to know people that did that with cutie marks,” Kraber said. “They’re dead now. And not a single fok was given.” He sighed. “Trophy-taking, huh? I don’t really care for that anymore. Unless it’s a gun, some bit of tech or magic, but that’s a rare opportunity.”

“How bad is it over where Elliot’s from?” Aegis asked. “I got the Cliff’s Notes version, but he wasn’t exactly in a position for an in-depth interview-”

“Hold on, that gives me an idea,” Kraber said, texting on his iPhone. “True… Quill… Have you heard about Boston? We’re not newfoals so we won, but there’s a hell of a story…

“Anyway, what can you tell us about it?” Aegis asked.

"What is there to tell?" the old stallion asked. "The world we come from is suffering a war similar to this one - and in some ways, one might argue our situation is worse."

“What’s day-to-day life there, I mean?” Aegis pressed.

“Not much of a life,” the old stallion said. "Civilians work in what foundries we have to make guns and ammunition. Soldiers guard cities and towns and patrol roads. Scientists and magical experts research new means of defence. It is survival." He paused. "But would you believe… it is not totally bleak? I have always been impressed by the indomitable human spirit. The world is near total extinction - and yet, dozens of new religions have been founded, worshipping everything from Britain itself to the spirit of Mother Earth. And…"

He trailed off, his eyes crinkling slightly at some memory.

“You’ve lost a lot,” Kraber said, almost wistful, clearly remembering some terrible event from the last four years. “I don’t just mean that world. You lost someone close.”

"Everyone has," the stallion said softly. "Elliot lost his friend Sam. I lost… but do you know something strange?"

“Probably plenty of things,” Kraber said, and he gave the Doctor a strange contemplative look, hands running through his beard.

"Our world is still full of joy, too," the stallion said softly. "There is still song there. Still laughter. In the dying of the light, the flame of humanity still shines brightly." He threw Kraber a look. "And would you believe, your counterpart is amongst those who keep it alive?"

“Yes,” Kraber said bluntly.

The stallion chuckled. "Now how did I know you'd say that. You're quite alike in a lot of ways you know - though I fear his penchant for oversized weaponry is less sated than your own."

“Considering what I think it’s like there, I’m not surprised,” Kraber said with a smirk. “I get the feeling he’s lucky to have gotten that Bren gun.”

The old Doctor frowned. "How did you know he had a Bren?"

“I have no idea,” Kraber said.

“It would take too long to explain, and both of us would be shit at it anyway,” Aegis said.

Before they could say anything else, Stephan arrived, motioning to the two of them to stand up. Wincing, Kraber did so.

"Sir," he said with a nod. "What's the call?"

"The call is, we're going to go speak with our new friend the Doctor about himself and Elliot," Stephan said slowly. He looked at Elliot's prone form. "Any change?"

"He stopped coughing blood up," Aegis commented drily. "That might be good."

Stephen smiled humorlessly. "It just might be."

He turned to look over at the old Doctor. "Doctor? We're moving out."

"Have your men take Elliot to my TARDIS," the old pony replied distractedly, still fixated on his piece of junk. "And then provide me with the co-ordinates."

"How do we get in?" Stephan asked.

The old pony sighed, before giving him a small ankh-like item from inside one of his battered jacket's pockets.

"TARDIS key," he said softly. "It should allow you access." He gave Stephan a stern look. "Do not touch anything. The controls are currently set in isomorphic mode, but that does not mean you should be meddling with it."

"What are you even doing?" Stephan asked.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure you would not understand."

Stephan scowled for a moment, and then chuckled slightly. "You really are the Doctor, aren't you?"

"Despite all evidence to the contrary," the old pony replied humorlessly.

Stephan sighed, before turning and heading off, leaving the older Doctor alone. As he strode in the direction of the old pony's Police Box, he passed Doctor Whooves, who had followed him a little slowly. The other stallion was staring at the older Doctor with wide eyes, but Stephan ignored it. It was probably just surprise at what his other self looked like or something.

***

"Dad, are you ok?" Sparkler asked concernedly, frowning as the Doctor stopped dead, his eyes widening in shock.

He couldn't believe it. Well, he could: Stephan had spoken of him, had described his features in detail. But nothing could prepare him for the the pony he saw - just as Stephan had described him. Not the face Doctor Whooves wore, a young face, a young, so full-of-hope body. It was somepony else entirely: a familiar battered leather coat, patchy and broken. A bandolier slung over one shoulder underneath it, a small silver sonic screwdriver nestled inside the loops. A red and cream patterned scarf, practical and worn.

It was a pony body, but apart from that, the face was that of his greatest shame, even now that he had come to terms with that face and what he thought it had done. It was the face that had led battle-TARDIS' into the heart of storms and the fire of battle. It was a face that had seen even more than the lined, aged appearance would admit to.

It was a face he had never wanted to wear again. So why was he?

"Dad…?" Dinky asked, looking up at him in concern.

The Doctor scowled, not looking at her. This… this, he had to deal with.

"Wait here," he said softly. "I'll be back in a moment. I need to talk to this stallion about something."

He trotted off toward the older pony, his family looking over at him in concern.

"What's wrong with him, mom?" Dinky asked her mother, who was looking on in silence, grim comprehension on her face.

"It would take a long time to explain," she replied.

***

The old pony was sat quietly by himself, still tinkering with his small device, when a shadow fell over him. He sighed, already knowing who it was, and didn't look up.

"How could you?" an accusatory voice asked. "How in all that's sacred to us could you?"

He looked up, and found himself confronted with a face, quite literally, from his past. The Doctor - more specifically, Doctor Whooves, his alternative self in this reality. He sighed.

"I assume you are referring to the fact that this form is based upon…" he began.

"You know what I'm referring to!" the other him snapped. "How could you become him?! How could you choose to do that again?!"

"It was done because there was no better choice," the older Doctor said tiredly. "As you would know, had you lived it."

"There is always a choice," the younger Doctor hissed. "Always. Any choice was better than becoming…"

"Ditzy Doo died," the older Doctor cut him off.

There was a pause, the younger Doctor's mouth hanging open as his eyes widened, looking for all the world as though he had been struck.

"…what?" he finally said.

"In Manchester," the older Doctor said tiredly, "there was an attack by a Super-Zeppelin…"

"A what?" Whooves asked.

"Thirty eight hundred foot airship," the older Doctor clarified. "This one was called the Harmonious Order. One of Ditzy's more impressive achievements was to achieve leadership of Grey Squadron, elite air skirmishers with the skill to rival the Wonderbolts." The older pony smiled slightly. "She would not be swayed from it."

"You let your wife…?" the young Doctor said, but the older one held up a hoof.

"There is something you should always remember when dealing with ponies and humans from my world of origin. It is not your world, and you are not me," he said, speaking sternly. "There is no doubt much that you would find different, no doubt disconcertingly so."

The younger Doctor scowled. "And Derpy was one such thing?"

"Her name was Ditzy," the older Doctor said with a scowl of his own. "I never liked that nickname." The Doctor said nothing as his older counterpart continued. "I never married Ditzy. Nor were we so inclined - she was my friend. My dearest friend in all of Equestria, closer to me than any one of the friends I made after her." He paused, his expression turning sour. "That was enough."

"She died in the battle," the younger Doctor guessed, his tone sombre. "And you…"

"I chose this," the older Doctor said, frowning. "I chose this life, this face, this form, because I had failed. I had failed more profoundly than I have ever failed before - I allowed the human race to die. I allowed Ditzy, and countless other soldiers of the remaining Resistance and BDF forces, to die. I will fail no more."

Those last two words caused the younger Doctor to flinch. "Still… choosing his face…"

"Is as much an aesthetic as a necessity," the older pony said gravely, frowning up at him. "You are as much a warrior as I am - the only difference is that you have not - yet - reached the moment where you accept it."

"No," the younger Doctor said, frowning, his voice rising slightly. "No, I'm nothing like you!"

This shout got the attention of the other members of the Whooves clan, who started moving closer.

"Really?" the older Doctor asked, ignoring them as his voice turned lower and quieter. "Then you do not help the humans? You do not help them build weapons? You do not go on missions, taking men and women and ponies into battle, launching raids or transporting ponies to and from Equestria?"

"I…"

"Do not think to throw stones at me from your glass house, Doctor," the older pony snapped. "And if that is all you have come to do, you may leave. Some of us have work to do."

"Hey!" the voice of Sparkler yelled, and both Doctors turned to see her scowling at the older one. "You don't talk to my Dad like that, whoever you are!"

"Yeah!" Dinky added. "You old meanie! What did my Dad ever do to you?!"

The older Doctor looked stricken, his eyes wide with shock and horror, and Doctor Whooves suddenly found himself feeling sympathy for him. As much as he hated to admit it, he understood… stars only knew what he would do if Derpy, or one of the girls, was taken from him the way this Doctor's Ditzy had been.

He understood… and seeing him now, he remember that this him, this one version, had been born from loss and pain as much as fire and war.

"I…" the older Doctor choked out, his eyes wavering and beginning to water when faced with such unadulterated vitriol.

"You don't know my Dad, pal," Sparkler continued, scowling, "so don't you start throwing stones when you're blind as a -"

"Sparkler, don't," Whooves said, cutting her off. She looked up at him, confused. "Just don't. It's alright… he was right. I shouldn't have said what I did to him."

He locked eyes with Derpy, who had remained silent. Alone of his family, he had explained to her who the self he was still somewhat ashamed of had been. Alone of all his family. She knew what this pony represented.

"Your family is special," the older Doctor said, and the younger one turned to look at him. The older pony looked tired and defeated. "More special than you know. Treasure them, Doctor."

"I will," Doctor Whooves said quietly. "I will."

The old Doctor said nothing, and slowly returned to his tinkering, looking away from the ponies who were still glaring at him, though their glares softened. The other Doctor said nothing, before turning away and leaving the older pony to his work, his family following.

"Who was he, Dad?" Sparkler asked her father, frowning. "Somepony you know?"

"Somepony I know very well," the Doctor replied softly. "A long time ago, we were very close. I thought I remembered him… but I forgot. I forgot why."

"Why what?" Sparkler asked.

"Why he is who he is," the Doctor replied. "Why he made the choices he did." He closed his eyes. "And as much as I hated hearing it… he was right. I've made similar choices, and hidden under this… veneer of pacifism, this veneer of the scientist. I'm as much involved as he is. He's just… more honest, I guess. I'm a warrior. Not a healer."

"You're a good pony," Derpy said softly, putting a hoof on his shoulder. "You always were. This war… it asks a lot of us all. But you're a good pony, and you try to do the right thing. And I think… I think he's the same."

"Yeah," the Doctor said with a slight smile, before looking back at the old pony, still alone. "I guess he just… needs somepony to remind him. I have you. He…"

He trailed off, and suddenly he was hugging Derpy.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," he said quietly. "I just don't."

That was a lie and they both knew it. What he'd do was right there, the face of one possible future, just sitting on the bench, tinkering with technology, utterly broken.

"You aren't going to lose me," was all she said in return. Slowly, his family surrounded him, hugging both of them. Together, the Whooves clan basked in their love for one another.

Nearby, an old pony's eyes flicked up to them for a moment before returning to the task at hoof. He had seen love, and he had briefly felt it… but for him, no more. Not until the task was done.

A single tear, unnoticed, leaked from his left eye, dripping onto his jacket. He ignored it, before putting the little gadget away and striding off.

"Doctor," he said to Doctor Whooves, who turned to look at him. "I shall meet you at the appointed co-ordinates."

"Right," Whooves said softly. "Thank you."

"Don't," the older pony said quietly. "I haven't ended the war yet."

He strode off.

***

Scottish Archives, February 12th, 2030 - 'Avatar' Earth

Deep in the archives, a redheaded young woman with pale skin and blonde streaks was filing a series of important documents. She wore a blouse, skirt and lab coat, as well as glasses, and she looked tired and flustered. As she filed, she took a small packet of paracetamol from her pocket and swallowed one, taking a drink from a hip flask. She shuddered slightly before returning to work.

"Miss Gleeson?" a voice asked quietly from behind her.

The redhead closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Yes, Mr Giles?"

"I'm afraid we need to have a conversation," the kindly voice said politely. "It's of some urgency."

Dawn Gleeson turned around slowly, raising her head to meet Giles' expression. It was grim but not angry. The older man was always genial and polite, even when he had serious topics to discuss - it was, in a way, like dealing with Celestia… or how Celestia used to be.

It was strange: her presence in this world had always been something of a mistake. Once upon a time, she had been a pony named Sunset Shimmer. She had been… troubled. Well, technically, she had been ambitious and impatient. Even though she had been Princess Celestia's favoured student in her time, she had wanted more, and left her teachings, eventually finding her way to another world.

There had been barely any magic upon her arrival but that hadn't stopped her. She stuck to her old ways. Despite being a star pupil in Canterlot she had been a troubling student at the same time. Intimidation, blackmail, rumourmongering and more had been her usual means of passing the time and eliminating rivals to her academic achievements. Whilst landing in another world had stripped her of magic she found her skills in turning ponies - or people - against one another was not diminished.

When Equestria had made contact with this Earth, she had been surprised, maybe worried, but to her surprise nothing had come of it. She hadn't transformed back into her old form, and none of the (admittedly few) ponies she had met were able to cotton onto her.

Then, of course, the Barrier had expanded. She had been in America… and she had seen Gilead. It had been… nasty. Luckily for her, she had run into a group of people fleeing for Britain and joined them. From there, she had been able to watch the burning of the world, while she worked crappy jobs in Britain trying to make a life for herself, fully expecting that said life would end…

And then it didn't.

Her work in the Archives had been an interesting thing: when the Watcher's Council had revealed the existence of Earth's magic, there had been a call for anyone who knew anything to report to a local government office to help. Sunset, by this time living under the name Dawn Gleeson, hadn't wanted to be involved… but the world had burned. Selfishness can only carry somepony - someone - so far.

And so here she was. Her knowledge of Equestrian magic - disguised as study of esoteric magic - was enough to allow the Council to work in some additional training regimens, and though the runes the humans used on the Paladin designs were different to Equestrian runes (though they were similar to some ancient runes that had come from Zebrafrica and some of the ancient Mongeldian and Horsian Empires) she could still help with them.

Still - there had always been an undercurrent in her work here, a sense that her secret wasn't safe. A sense that she had to tread a fine line between knowing and not knowing.

"I think," Mr Giles said, bringing her back to the present, "that the time has come to stop keeping secrets from one another."

"I don't know what you mean, Mr Giles," Sunset said.

"Come now, Miss Sunset Shimmer," Giles said, smiling slightly. "We always knew your secret. Ever since you first arrived on Earth the Watcher's Council knew you were here. We kept track of you for some time, making certain you arrived in Britain safely. It was something of a surprise when you came to work with us, but a welcome one." His smile faded. "However…"

"You knew?" Sunset said, cutting him off. "You knew and you never said anything?"

"Of course we knew," Giles said. "You're not as impressive with regards to remaining incognito as you wish to be."

Sunset scowled. "Then why did you let me stay? Why didn't you stick me in a cryotube like the GG3?"

"You aren't a threat like the GG3, Miss Shimmer," Giles said. "And you did good work."

"Then what do you want?" Sunset asked.

"Simple," Giles said, and his smile faded slightly. He held out a small piece of paper. Sunset took it and looked at it, her eyes widening.

"You cannot be serious," she said quietly, looking back up at him. "I'm not a soldier."

"The Ruling Council were made aware of your origins, and they feel a frontline role would be beneficial," Giles said tiredly. "It isn't as though we'd be sending you unprepared, though."

"No, you're just planning on sticking me in Paladin I armour," Sunset said, dropping the paper. It was a message slip ordering Dawn Gleeson to report to Iron Clad orientation as soon as possible. 'Orientation' was a fancy word for 'surgeries': the main surgeries were performed while you were unconscious, but it was still a surgical procedure. "I'm not Iron Clad material."

"The Ruling Council agreed in principle," Giles said, smiling tightly. "But we know who you are, Miss Shimmer. Former pupil of Celestia. Quite powerful…"

"And most of that power isn't nearly as accessible in this body," Sunset growled.

"Yet," Giles retorted. "And let us be honest - more of it is accessible than you've ever let on."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're very good at playing the 'bumbling Englishman' card, but you're not nearly as dense as you let on."

"Oh, I know," Giles replied with a grin. "I've also got more pull than you think. If you cooperate, I can have them spare you the orientation and get you a job as a support mage rather than a front-liner Clad. You'll still need armour, but we've been working on some stuff for the line troops that isn't Paladin armour. Some of the nanotechnology the Doctor brought, for example - we used the technology for Operative Heartstrings' operations, but we've been adapting it for specialised battle-armour - nothing we can mass produce yet, of course, especially with the Doctor having gone in search of Elliot, but still effective in its own right. As a… specialist, I can probably convince the Council that you're worth the expense in materials."

"But you can't convince them to let me stay here away from the fighting," Sunset said, raising an eyebrow.

"Afraid not. Don't be too disheartened, though, Miss Shimmer," Giles said, trying to lighten the mood. "You'll be with our Iron Clads on the front. You helped develop the Iron Clad project and the Paladin armour. Consider this an opportunity to test your work out first hand, so to speak."

Sunset only growled again.

***

The TARDIS, en route to New York, November 16th 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

"You know," Discord said with a frown as he looked around the stark interior of the old Doctor's TARDIS, "I’m sure there are better ways of getting where we're going."

"I’m certain you're right," the Doctor replied amiably. "And yet here we are."

The Lord of Chaos was sat on a chair, frowning slightly. Nearby, Luna was apparently meditating. Stephan was sitting down, letting Trixie use a medical kit the Doctor had provided on him, wincing every so often.

Kraber was stood near Elliot, who was laid out on a gurney the old Doctor had found for them. The man looked peaceful, his jacket slung over his body like a blanket. He twitched slightly, as though he was having some sort of dream, but his features remained calm.

"How long do you reckon he'll be like this?" Kraber asked the Doctor.

"Hard to say," the old pony replied, looking at Elliot with a soft expression of worry. It was clear he considered the man a friend. "He has been in comas like this before, but none of those comas have been after exertion this prolonged and severe."

"He said something about creating a hurricane once," Aegis said. "Did he go into a coma after that?"

"That was when we realised he was suffering from magical burnout," the Doctor said. He sighed. "It was… unfortunate. I should have done more, but any experimental technologies to enhance fighting ability are not a match for the power he could obtain. Still," he added, "I have been able to do some good, at least."

"Oh?" Stephan asked, arms crossed. "How d'you mean?"

The Doctor shook his head. "When we arrive at our destination, that will be the time for storytelling. Right now, I'm driving."

He flicked another switch, frowning slightly. He threw a glance at Discord and Luna, before spinning a wheel.

"Sidera Somniata," he said aloud, flipping another switch.

There was no response from anyone in the control room, barring an odd look from Stephan and a frown from Trixie, and the Doctor nodded.

"Interesting," he said slowly.

"What is?" Trixie asked with a scowl.

"I'll explain later," the old pony said airily, waving a hoof. Trixie frowned, before throwing Stephan a look. He shrugged.

***

Kraber was supposed to be in bed back in Fenway, recuperating after the battle, but he'd managed to put it off a bit. Besides, he'd evidently found himself privy to a lot of sensitive information, so nobody was sure what to do with him between now and a stint in the hospital. He glanced over at Luna and Discord, who were having a quiet conversation away from the others, standing by an old hatstand with a blue scarf and a frock coat hung on it. He knew eavesdropping was beneath him… but what they were saying had caught his ear, and he might not get a chance later, once this TARDIS (which really did remind him of John Hurt's…) landed.

"You should have told me," the Moon Diarch hissed.

"About what?"

"Do not play stupid with me. The Elements. When I went into Twilight Sparkle's mind… you knew what I would see!"

"Yes, I did."

"Then you should have told me!"

"Would you have believed me?"

"She was being tortured, Discord. Tortured in her own mind. Are they all like that?"

"Well, obviously." The lord of Chaos clucked his tongue. "As if any of them would willingly go along with that sort of insanity."

Kraber frowned. What he was hearing didn't make sense.

"Twilight Sparkle was…" Luna continued, and Kraber continued straining to hear. "She was in so much pain, Discord. She had done so much… been forced to do so much…"

"That's what we're fighting," Discord said. "The homunculi are one of the Tyrant's nastier creations - I wouldn't be surprised if the tortures Twilight's going through weren't even the worst of the bunch…"

"Can ought be done for them?" Luna asked.

"Maybe," Discord said, shrugging. "I honestly don't know. They might just want to die."

"Viktor?" a new voice said, much closer to Kraber. He turned to look at Aegis, who was frowning at him.

"Hm?" Kraber said. "Oh, sorry. Was just… listening."

Aegis threw a glance at Luna and Discord, who had glanced at them and were moving off. "What were they talking about?"

Kraber didn't answer. In truth, he didn't know how to answer. Then a thought struck him.

"Princess Luna? I have a question, actually," he said to her.

"Hmmm?" Princess Luna asked, turning and frowning at him, as though only noticing he was there for the first time.

"I saw Rarity as near as try to kill herself," Kraber said, frowning as he remembered that moment. During the fighting, Rarity had literally stood stock still, as though frozen with indecision, and if it hadn't been for Fluttershy, she'd have been killed. "There was rubble about to collapse on her, but it was like her body wouldn't let her move. That sounds like what I heard you say about wanting to die…"

"Eavesdropping is quite rude," Discord said, folding his mismatched arms. "But… wait. She tried to kill herself?"

Aegis nodded. "Like my friend said. There was rubble about to crush her, and it was like she just… couldn't move. Like her legs were stuck or something. Fluttershy saved her though."

"They've all reached that point?" Luna asked quietly.

"They know what they've been forced to do," Discord said, looking mournful. "And they all believe they need to die for it. Not just Twilight - all of them."

"The homunculi, the Tyrant's cruelty…" Princess Luna looked at the floor, downcast. "Truly, it knows no bounds."

"What are you talking about?" Aegis asked, Kraber nodding along in agreement.

"The Elements of Harmony are fundamentally good mares," Princess Luna said, and Kraber stared at her, eyes narrowed.

"Are you tuning me kak?!" he yelled.

"Pinkie Pie ponified his children," Aegis said, making an admirable effort at staying calm, "And his wife, and most of their friends."

"It wasn't her fault," Luna said, backpedaling a little. It was understandable that would make this human and his enormous pony friend (was he the result of one of Celestia's dalliances?) angry, if something that horrible had happened…

"No." Luna said, causing them to look to her. "The Elements are enslaved within their minds, forced to watch as mental homunculi control their every action as if they were mere puppets."

"Nooit!" Kraber sneered at her, slamming his hand on the wall as he glared at Luna. "I don't believe you for a fokking second. I lost my children to those fokking bitches, and you just wave it off as not their-!?"

Screaming. Bones cracking. Wings, stripped of skin, bursting from bodies that were twisting and malforming, eyes exploding, all while she was forced to watch…

"KILL ME! PLEASE! I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!"

Kraber gasped, staggering backwards and only being saved from collapsing by Aegis. He gave his friend a grateful look, before turning back to look at Luna and Discord.

His mind was reeling from… something. Memories, maybe? The Elements… Twilight Sparkle, screaming for death…

And the testing of the potion. On humans. Children, the elderly, men, women… thousands of them.

But how did these memories get there?

"The fok was that?" Kraber asked, trying very hard not to throw up.

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Aegis groaned.

"You got that too, huh?" Kraber asked. Aegis' expression was about all the answer Kraber needed.

"That…?" Luna said, before staring disapprovingly at Discord, who had his arms behind his head, whistling vaguely.

"What?" Discord asked. "He eavesdropped - meant he wanted to see what was going on. I just sent him the abridged version."

"Was that… was that real?" Kraber asked.

"Oh yes," Discord said, nodding. "Very real, I'm afraid."

Kraber nodded, then slumped to the floor. "Well, fok. That means that it wasn't Pinkie's fault when she did… that."

He was silent for a moment.

"I need to think about some things," he sighed.

"Warframe and some booze?" Aegis suggested.

"Good call," Kraber said. "Good call."

***

The Mindscape, nowhere.

Elliot sat in the middle of a field, eyes closed, meditating, gathering strength. The field wasn't real, of course, and he wasn't sitting, but the metaphor worked.

He had heard of Mindscapes before, but never been in one. It was a place that demanded his attention, and so, despite the emptiness, he sat and waited.

What are you waiting for? something seemed to ask him.

"I don't know," he said aloud. "But I imagine I will."

The mindscape around him seemed to vibrate, turning an infinity of colors. Elliot had a strong suggestion that something else was keenly aware he was misplaced.

This is not where you were meant to be.

"No," Elliot said, and he let his mind wander, remembering the battle, the fire, the power of the Tyrant he had fought. "But I'm convinced I'm where I need to be. I can help these people - and maybe they can help me."

What is done cannot be undone, the voice said. From here, things must change. We must move faster.

"I understand and accept," Elliot said softly.

And then there was a flash of light.

***

John F. Kennedy Airport emergency medical facility, New York, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

Cheerilee Cherry watched with wide eyes as the old Police Box form of the TARDIS materialised slowly into view, landing with a loud 'thunk'. Behind her, two pony guards tensed, weapons ready, neither of them entirely comfortable with this situation - there were a lot of variables.

The double doors opened, and a moment later, Stephan Bauer, Viktor Kraber and Aegis marched out, Kraber limping and wincing and Stephan looking not-much-better, Trixie supporting him slightly. Cheerilee sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness you're all alright," she said. "When we heard the Tyrant was on the ground, it made us all fear the worst."

"Yeah, us too," Kraber commented with a slightly snarky tone. "Might need a little help with this."

From out of the TARDIS stepped two figures Cheerilee had never thought to see in this place. One was the mismatched form of Discord - her eyes widened in horror at the sight of him. The other was - and she couldn't believe this - Princess Luna.

"So it's true," she said quietly. "You - you're both…"

"We are here," Luna said with a slight bow, "and there is much we need to discuss, Cheerilee. But first, I think this one needs medical attention."

From out of the TARDIS came an older Earth Pony, pushing a gurney with a man on it. The man was sweating and pale, but he had stopped twitching for the moment. The old pony looked up at Cheerilee and nodded.

"Greetings," he said softly. "I trust your Doctor has arrived prior to us?"

"Yes," Cheerilee said. "He's waiting through in the conference room."

"I must attend to Elliot first," the old pony said. "But I am sure you have much to discuss with Lord Discord and Princess Luna."

Cheerilee nodded slowly, throwing the two a look. "Yeah. You're right about that." She paused. "I'll have our Doctor meet you."

The old pony nodded. "That would be acceptable."

Cheerilee gestured to one of her guards, and the pony - throwing the old pony a frown, clearly not trusting him an inch - started pushing the gurney off toward the direction of the medical facility. The old Doctor headed off after him, Kraber and Aegis following, leaving Stephan, Luna and Discord with Cheerilee and her remaining guard.

***

Sickbay, John F. Kennedy Airport emergency medical facility, New York, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

When Doctor Whooves arrived, his older-looking counterpart was still scanning Elliot, clucking his tongue every so often. Kraber was lying down, the Doctor having convinced him to sleep, having provided him with an odd-looking pill. Near him, Aegis was napping, having practically passed out on the floor. The older Doctor seemed content to let them sleep.

Whooves still felt uncomfortable being around this version of himself, but he had to remind himself that this version of him was a parallel one, not a future one - his own destiny was not this stallion.

Not yet, anyway.

Whooves threw that thought away as he cleared his throat. The old face wasn't his future, and all the deities of the cosmos willing, it never would be.

"Hello," he said. His counterpart glanced up, raising an eyebrow.

"Good afternoon, Doctor," he said drily. He passed Whooves the sonic. "Take a gander at these readings, will you?"

Whooves frowned and took the screwdriver, frowning at the readings the sonic was giving off. This was not something he was experienced in, but if he had to gather anything from these readings, he might almost say…

"REM?" he asked. "He's in a REM state?"

"It does look that way," the older Doctor commented, smiling. "And a highly active REM state at that. He's dreaming of something."

"But what?" Whooves asked, looking down at the man with a slight frown. Considering the amount of magic he had reportedly displayed, he was surprisingly… normal looking. No glows, no obvious cellular degeneration (though the sonic had displayed something about his cells being overloaded and deteriorating), and no obvious mutation.

"As to that, I have no idea," the older Doctor said honestly.

"But he's from your world," Whooves pointed out with a frown.

The older Doctor shrugged. "Magic, as I'm sure you'll agree, is not our strong point."

Whooves raised an eyebrow. "Good point, though I'd like to think I'd learned something…"

The older Doctor turned back to the unconscious David Elliot, and sighed. "It is fortunate he's survived. I'm… happy. Elliot is…"

"He's a friend," Whooves supplied.

"He was the first man to see this face," the older Doctor said softly. "He witnessed my regeneration. It was he who witnessed my vow."

"Doctor, no more," Whooves said softly. "Right?"

The older Doctor said nothing, still looking at Elliot, but his expression was eloquent enough: sadness and regret, guilt and self-loathing, all beneath a thin mask of tiredness and stoicism. To see that face again was… haunting, and Whooves was forced to shake his head slightly to push away the horrors of another conflict, one so long in his past, and yet… never forgotten.

"Have you fought?" he asked, not even sure why he was. His counterpart turned his head slightly toward him, eyes flicking to meet Whooves' own.

"Yes," he said.

"What campaigns?" Whooves asked softly.

"You wouldn't know the names or the details," his counterpart pointed out.

"But you could tell me," Whooves replied.

The older Doctor turned away from him. "Sixteen acts of sabotage against Solamina's Iron Wall. Four acts of terrorism in Manehatten, three more in Las Pegasus. One hundred and six altercations between myself and Solaminan Royal Guard. I was also present in London, at Hull, and I served a tour in Plymouth." He paused. "There are a lot of bodies on the path behind me."

"Is… that all you've done?" Whooves asked. "Just fought?"

"I was responsible for the Exodus before my regeneration. I also opened the Blue Channel, a specific method for Exodites to flee Equestria to Britain," the older Doctor said after a moment, sounding faintly dismissive. "I also saved Lyra, or helped to."

"What happened to her?" Whooves asked.

"Magical injury," his counterpart replied. "I helped the BDF and Resistance repair the damage."

"What kind of damage?" Whooves asked softly. The death of his Lyra was still a sore point, and - death of his counterpart to Derpy (Ditzy, he reminded himself, his was called Ditzy) notwithstanding - some small part of him (childishly) resented that this other him could achieve something where he had not.

"Massive internal injuries," the older Doctor said slowly, frowning as he returned to Elliot, still scanning. "I brought complicated nanotechnological remedies to bear on the problem - brute force repair algorithms and augmentation primarily. Lyra is… alive. She is heavily supported by advanced mechanical augmentation, but she is alive." He paused. "I also left the nanotechnology for the humans to study."

"Risky," Whooves commented.

"Of course," the older Doctor replied. "They are at war. A war they cannot win by force of arms. Risks… are acceptable."

There was a pause as Whooves considered his counterpart's words.

"What about you?" the older Doctor asked. "What have you done while helping the humans of this world?"

Whooves sighed. "Mainly research work, some odd bits and bobs here, a bit of subtle sabotage or transportation there, that one time I had to extract Trixie from the middle of a tricky situation and - yeah, stuff like that." He paused. "I've killed before. I smashed a prison to free Derpy, for one, but that’s one of very few occasions. I try not to if I can help it."

The older Doctor sighed, a wry smile on his face.

"Then perhaps," he said softly, "you have been luckier than I have. Britain… my Britain… doesn’t have the luxury of that choice." He put his sonic screwdriver away, frowning slightly. "Now, I should go speak with your Cheerilee and Major Bauer. No doubt they have questions."

Whooves nodded. "They'll be in the conference room. Follow me."

***

Conference room, New York PHL/UN Base, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

Once they were in the conference room, Cheerilee turned to look at Luna and Discord, her face calm and yet stern. Stephan folded his arms, looking impassive - he was willing to trust these two, given the fact that they (and Elliot) had killed the clone and saved a lot of his people's lives, but that didn't mean he'd throw caution out of the window. Next to him, Trixie was frowning suspiciously.

"So," Cheerilee said without further preamble, "who are you and why are you here?"

Luna and Discord exchanged glances, but it was Luna who spoke. From a saddlebag she had been carrying, she pulled a set of scrolls, before laying them out on the table in front of Cheerilee, Stephan and Trixie, who all stared at the papers with near-identical frowns on their faces.

"And what are these?" Cheerilee asked.

"Treaties," Luna replied simply, looking at Cheerilee with interest as the mare's rune glowed.

"These are…" Cheerilee's breath hitched a bit, her eyes trained at the bottom on the scroll. "This is Marcus' signature."

"Let me see that," Stephan asked as he gently grabbed the scroll from her grasp and looked it over. He frowned at it. "How can you be sure?"

"He does this thing with his 'u' and 's' in his name, and connects the two without leaving the paper he signs off on," Cheerilee answered, gaining a look from the entire table. She smiled sheepishly. "I've seen his signature thousands of times, plus I'm a teacher, I have to make sure my students are doing their own homework instead of paying for others to do it. And if he was a Newfoal, his signature would change drastically if he had to use a horn or his mouth. This was done by his hand."

"This says its from the Minotaur Republic?" Stephan said quietly, looking over to see the others grabbing various scrolls.

"Griffon Kingdom… from Queen Hedwig?" Cheerilee asked. "Where did you get this?"

"There's one from the Zebra Tribal Council," Trixie said, amazed. "I never thought I'd see anything from them ever again."

"Even the Diamond Dogs, too?" Stephan said. "Didn't even know they had a government."

"Its more like a large group with a canine pack mentality," Trixie explained as she pulled out another scroll. She opened it and her jaw dropped, eyes focused on the name at the bottom. "The Changeling Hive, from Queen Chrysalis herself."

"These are… these are all declarations of war?!" Stephan stared at Luna and Discord in shock.

Discord only nodded, uncharacteristically serious.

"Half of them are dead in your world," Luna said quietly. "But where we come from, they are very much alive. Celestia - my sister, not that… abomination - knows of your plight very well."

"How?" Cheerilee demanded, her eyes focused on the alicorn. "Marcus would have tried to kill her the moment he saw her."

"He did try," Luna said quietly, looking away from them. "He attempted to kill the Elements as well. An accident occurred between Celestia and Marcus, in an attempt to calm the situation before it escalated further. My sister knows of Marcus' plight thanks to that accident. It haunts her even now, possibly for the rest of her life."

No one said anything before Luna gathered the scrolls and placed them back into the saddle and set it before Stephan. "Know this, you are no longer alone in your fight. Equestria, our Equestria, will join you."

There was a long moment's pause as the PHL troops tried to run this through their heads. Stephan threw Cheerilee a look, and she frowned slightly, as though not believing it.

"Why?" she asked. "Why would you risk everything to help us? This isn't your war."

"It is our war," Discord put in. "More than you realise. The Tyrant and her puppet-master won't stop here, and she won't stop with this humanity. Our world, then another, then another, ad infinitum until the end of time…"

"She is a threat to everything, and if she is not stopped now, by us, then nothing ever will," Luna added. "We must stop her." She paused. "Even if she were not a threat… your people need our help."

Cheerilee turned to Stephan, who shrugged.

"Can't deny her logic," he said softly. He turned back to the two of them. "But you said 'the Tyrant and her puppet master' - what do you mean?"

Discord whistled through his mismatched teeth. "A long time ago, there was a being called 'Tirek' - he's a very old enemy of mine, and before you ask, it was well before the time of even Celestia and Luna. Tirek is controlling her, or more accurately manipulating her to do this. As far as I know, the Celestia of old is gone, buried beneath this new Tyrant in her place."

"So the same is happening to the Elements as well?" Cheerilee asked, looking at Luna, who seemed to be shifting uncomfortably. "They are being controlled by this 'Tirek'?"

"No," Luna said, causing them to look to her. "They are enslaved within their minds, forced to watch as mental homunculi control their every action as if they were mere puppets."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Stephan asked, frowning in confusion..

"It means they're being tortured, Major," Discord put in. "Tortured beyond anything you can imagine. Lulu here saw into Twilight Sparkle's mind, and the resultant homicidal rage - well, you saw for yourself."

Stephan frowned, as did Trixie.

"Still hard to believe," the Blue Spy said.

Luna sighed. "Then see for yourself."

Luna's horn glowed before an image of Twilight appeared in the center of the table. Cheerilee gasped and covered her mouth with her hoof, Trixie looked away with her eyes closed, while Stephan reached over and pulled her into his lap to hug her.

Twilight sat within a dead tree-stump, roots digging into her corpse-like body as she looked at all of them with eyes filled with tears. Her coat was blotchy and patched and her mane frayed and tinged with grey. As they watched, she began to shout at them.

"KILL ME! PLEASE! I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE! KILL ME SO I DON'T HAVE TO WATCH MYSELF HURT ANYONE AND BE MADE TO ENJOY IT! KILL ME TO END THIS NIGHTMARE! KILL THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!"

And then she disappeared, leaving only the haunted face of Luna.

"Mein Gott," Stephan said softly. "Das ist verrückt."

"I heartily agree," a new voice spoke.

As one, everyone and everypony turned to look at the grim-set face of the older Doctor Hooves, stood with his young counterpart, who was staring at the spot Luna's projection had been with wide, horrified eyes.

"What are you doing here, Doctor?" Cheerilee asked the younger Whooves.

"He… my counterpart wanted to speak with you," Whooves said quietly, still apparently shaken by what he had witnessed - they all were.

"Indeed," the older Doctor said softly, looking at Luna with a keen eye. "Princess, you have witnessed horrific things for one your age. I am sorry."

"I am older than I look," the Princess replied with a slight smile.

"And yet, not as old as you could be," the old Doctor replied. He turned to Cheerilee and Stephan. "Major Bauer. And Cheerilee - apologies if I do not know your rank…"

"Lieutenant Colonel," the mare said softly. "And you're Doctor Whooves?"

"The Doctor will suffice," the old pony said with a tight smile. "'Doctor Hooves' is a rather tired old name, and… well, it isn't me, anymore. We’re not quite the same pony, after all. If you have to call me anything other than Doctor, 'Clock Smith' will suffice."

"Alright, 'Clock Smith'," Cheerilee said, frowning. She noted the broken hourglass cutie mark on his flank with interest - there was something off about him, but she couldn't tell what. "I believe you can shed some light on Mr Elliot?"

"Some," 'Clock Smith' said with a slight smile. "Not as much as you would like, perhaps. But some."

"That would be good," Luna said softly, frowning at him. "Myself and Discord know little of him."

"I'd be quite surprised if you knew anything about him," Clock Smith said with a raised eyebrow.

"We know he packs a mean punch, though not as well as the clone knows it," Discord said, with a wry, humourless smile.

Clock Smith chuckled, though it lacked mirth. "Yes, there is that." He paused. "Myself and Elliot come from a world facing a remarkably similar problem to yours, as you know."

"Under attack by a Tyrant called - what was it? Solemna?" Stephan asked, folding his arms.

"Astra Solamina Maxima," Clock Smith corrected, frowning. "The name Princess Celestia took when she declared herself Empress. Old high Equestrian, I believe."

"Old high Equestrian?" Luna repeated with a frown. "I'm not familiar with it."

"Of course not," Clock Smith said with a slight smile. "Different Equestrias. You also do not know the name 'Sidera Somniata,' I take it?"

Luna shook her head, and the older Doctor nodded.

"Then there are many more differences between your Equestria and mine than meets the eye," he said. He sighed, looking troubled. "For two years prior to her declaration of Empire, Celestia stood back and watched the human race be obliterated by the Barrier that extended from Portal Island. When the Barrier stopped…"

"'Stopped'?" Discord repeated. "What stopped it?"

"Earth magic," the old pony explained. "right when we thought the Barrier was about to consume Britain along with everywhere else, a barrier of Earth magic appeared and stopped it."

"The same thing that happened here just recently," Stephan said, "but we had to have Zecora coax Earth's magic into doing that, and it isn't going to hold forever."

"The Earth myself and Elliot are from is a little more magically advanced, then," the old pony observed dryly, raising an eyebrow. "Our Barrier has held for six years, and has never shown any sign of abating."

"Apparently so," Cheerilee said. "But according to Elliot, the weapons your world has are considerably less advanced, and you have far less material to work with."

"That is true," Clock Smith said. "There were only ever a set number of weapons brought to Britain, and many were lost or confiscated. There are… unfortunately few resources to hand for the purpose of making weapons."

There was a long pause as everyone and everypony in the room took this into consideration.

"Perhaps you should explain what is going on in your world in more depth," Luna said, frowning at him. "Myself and Discord are only familiar with the Equestria attacking this Earth, and not with any others."

"While you're doing that," Discord said, "I might have a look at this 'Elliot' guy - see what I can gather."

He snapped a claw and disappeared. The older Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Does he do that often?" he asked Luna.

The Moon Diarch sighed. "More often than you might think."

***

Sickbay, John F. Kennedy Airport emergency medical facility, New York, November 16th, 2023 - 'Spectrum' Earth.

The airport was full of the wounded, amputees with new limbs being measured and grafted on, the ones with shrapnel inside their bodies. Normally, the good medical staff would have had to use the new thaumic treatments sparingly and rely on human medicine for injuries that it could barely handle, but today, something had changed.

Today, people and ponies alike were waking up in… yes, really. Stable condition.

"I'll heal her, that's what I'll do," a pegasus medic muttered, fluttering down an aisle between several beds. "I'll just encourage so much growth that she's a goddamn mass of tumors that can't move."

But even with this new miracle, or possibly earth shattering terror, the revelation that magic wasn't harmful, everyone was talking about the new guy. The one that had fought Queen Celestia on his own, channeled magic none of them had thought possible, and, most importantly, won.

The PHL hadn't taken the time to release a statement to the men that had been in that city. It was still trying to pull itself together, after a week of the most intense fighting any of them had yet seen. But rumors were still circulating…

Kraber could hear them outside the door. His ribs were knitting themselves back together, thanks to the healing and setting spells that were being beamed into his ribs.

He had the stuffed animals he'd carried with him all this way. With the exception of Ambassador Nikai The Second, who was still with Dancing Day. His eyes had dark circles under them, he was trembling, his skin was almost gray, his eyes darted from side to side, his hair was lank and greasy… he looked almost dead. He was dimly aware that something should hurt like hell. Thankfully, nothing major had broken, but Kraber was in the bed more for rest than anything.

Besides, assuming that the Luna and Discord who had helped against the Tyrant's clone were from some sort of 'good' Equestria (which just reminded him of Star Trek - 'We are trapped in a savage parallel universe from which we must escape within four hours, or I will face a death sentence at Mr. Spock's hands…'), then he knew Major Bauer, Lieutenant Trixie, Colonel (emphatically not 'commander') Renee, and Cheerilee wouldn't want him to be involved with the negotiations, and they certainly wouldn't want him going there.

He chuckled idly at the thought. He and Aegis would be the first to admit it – Kraber would have a psychotic break as soon as he got there. Only an idiot would have thought he should go there.

His mind wandered as he sat, playing Warframe next to Aegis, thinking about what he had overheard about the Elements in that hushed conversation between Luna and Discord. They were… what? prisoners in their own minds? Was that possible? A part of him - the part of him that wanted to kill them slowly and painfully, especially Pinkie (fokking mank genaaide bergbok) Pie - wanted to dismiss that idea… but it made sense. Too much fokking sense.

I'd liked her when I talked to her over the phone. What was the real her like? What the FOK was she going through?! Nobody deserved that….

Wait…

Suddenly, so many things about Maud and that bizarre fokking note in the PHL archives made sense. We're not so different, are we? he wondered.

He decided he hated the queen more than ever – that fokkin teef saw some of the most trusted ponies in her empire just as assets, and made them into monsters just to ensure loyalty. Worse, from what Luna and Discord had said, she did it the most sadistic fokking way possible. 'Tortured in her own mind…'

"Shouldn't you be asleep by now?" Aegis asked. They were playing Warframe, and Kraber was playing Mesa, having armed himself with a Brakk and Boltor Prime.

Aegis, however, was using Rhino. How fitting. He's also armed himself with the Twin Gremlins and a Karak. The one from the game, not the common frankengun that Kraber's had the misfortune of using.

"I'm not sure I want to at this point," Kraber said, stifling a yawn.

"Hey, you said you'd sleep when you have time," Aegis replied. "And here we are…" he cast one foreleg out, pointing to nothing in particular with his hoof. "We have time!"

"I know, I know," Kraber said. "It's just… the kak we've seen…"

He shot one Infested ancient in the face.

"You wanna talk about it?" Aegis asked.

"No, but I think we probably should," Kraber said, his voice surprisingly soft. "Those… experiments."

“Those were b… fucking terrifying,” Aegis said. “I can’t believe the stuff that they made Twilight do, the torment she must have gone through… She must have been gone since at least the Crystal War, before any of her friends. She probably had it the worst of anypony.”

“Poor mare,” Kraber said. “Poor mare…” he sighed. “But then, we know where Gestalt came from, it’s not that much of a surprise, is i…”

He trailed off, his eyes wide.

"What?" Aegis asked.

"She was experimenting on people," Kraber repeated. "People that… couldn't have all come from after the Manifestation," he finished. "Son of a bitch."

"Wait. So you're saying that Celestia kidnapped people before the War, which means… which means… Birch…" Aegis continued, similarly aghast.

"MOTHER FOKKER!" they both yelled.

"Oh, the shit we two know, huh?" Kraber laughed afterwards, though it was a hollow thing.

"Aren't you two a little loud for him?" Discord asked, suddenly appearing in the room in a flash of light. He was, of course, referring to Elliot, lying soundly on a hospital bed next to them, a wide variety of medical instruments taking various readings on him.

"He's in a coma, he'll probably be kwaai," Kraber said, throwing Discord an annoyed glance.

"Right," Discord said, looking dubious. "Oh, hey! Warframe! I actually visited somewhere like that!"

"Did it have the Brakk?" Kraber asked. "Huge shotgun revolver, lots of tubes, looks really ugly?"

"I don't think so," Discord said.

"Fok!" Kraber said. "Always wanted one."

"So what're you here for?" Aegis asked.

"You two are just no fun, you know that?" Discord pouted.

"Eh, I've seen weirder," Kraber said matter-of-factly.

"Trust me, he has," Aegis said.

"So… of everyone here, you seem to know the most about the other patient," Discord said.

"Well, yes and no," Aegis said. "I mean, Elliot… this world's Elliot… did nearly outdrink us. But I've never met this one."

"Then who…" Discord looked at Kraber. "You. of course. How did you know?"

"I… I've had dreams and hallucinations before," Kraber said. "Horrible fokkin' nightmares. Other times I just see other places. And sometimes, he's in them."

"That's… interesting," Discord said. "Mind if I poke your brain? I need to-"

"NO!" Aegis yelled. It was impossible to miss the looks of panic on Aegis and Kraber's faces as they frantically waved their arms (and hooves) at Discord in halting gestures.

"What… why not?" Discord asked.

"A newfoal went into my mind once and exploded," Kraber said. "Also, I'm pretty sure that I'm somehow connected to an eldritch abomination. I don't think you want any of that."

Discord pondered this. Kraber's mind was already distinctly unhealthy, that was plain for anyone to see. His gaze travelled back to Elliot.

"Confused about him?" Kraber guessed.

"...I’ll investigate that later, but you might say that," Discord replied. "This entire situation was already complicated. It didn't need to be more complicated."

"How much more complicated could it be?" Kraber asked. "Celestia bad, Elements… bad-ish."

"How about 'Celestia bad, this guy good, his Celestia goodness-knows-what, his world goodness-knows-what,' and oh yes, 'his Celestia coming here too'?" Discord asked, raising an eyebrow. "There's an awful lot of things that could go wrong with this."

Kraber's face paled (if it were even possible). "Fok me."

"Another Tyrant…" Aegis added, frowning contemplatively. "That… yeah, that's shit. Really shit.

"Super-duper-ultra-mega shit," Kraber finished. "With an added amount of 'steek my my gat met 'n bebloede groot chainsaw, sal dit minder pynlik."

"I see you understand the potential seriousness," Discord said sagely, consulting a translation book that had appeared in his claw, half moon spectacles suddenly resting on his nose. He looked back at Elliot, hold his griffon claw out as he performed a magical scan. "Now, that's interesting."

"What is?" Kraber asked.

"There's an energy field… a sort of low level residue of a spell half-finished," Discord said slowly, his face lighting up. "Which I might be able to use to trace back to his world - if I just…"

His face lit up with a grin, and he looked up at Kraber and Aegis.

"Back in five," he said, winking. And then he vanished into thin air.

Aegis threw Kraber a look, and the Afrikaner shook his head.

"Why do I have a fokking bad feeling about this?" he asked rhetorically.

***

The Space Between.

Discord was flying through the dimension, as he had before, but this time it was as if he was riding on a rope, clutching on for dear life as it dragged him onward and onwards, ever closer to his destination…

***

Canterlot Palace, February 14th, Year 6 of the New Solaminan Calendar (2030).

And suddenly, horribly, he found himself in the familiar space of the throne room of Canterlot.

It was exactly like Celestia's throne room had been before, with the same ornate (and boring) decorations and the same marble floor. The only exception what that there were many, many more guards than he had seen there before, even in his memories of Queen Celestia's home. An armoured Twilight Sparkle was stood near the throne, and upon it was sat a wide eyed Celestia, dressed in golden armour, a glaive sitting by her side. She did not seem to radiate the same sheer aura of power as Queen Celestia's clone had, and the expression of shock on her face seemed to dent any sense that she was confident, but looking around at the poses and stances of everypony here, there was no doubt as to who was in command of this throne room.

"Discord," she breathed upon catching sight of him, looking shocked. She stood, the glaive flying to her side, and she pointed it at him in challenge. "What are you doing here, Chaos-thing?!"

***