The Timepony's Journal

Chapter 6 - The Glimpse Back

It had been about two weeks since day one, or one week three days and six hours to be more precise. In that time Twilight faced oof Starlight Glimmer with help,had her castle redesigned by her friends, and yet still had only made it to page twenty with just about no clues to this puzzling mystery. Admittedly, she wanted to just skip ahead to the end of it all but the story behind the stallion she once knew was too tempting, too enticing to stop. If she had made it this far, why stop? She also felt ashamed that she was treating this like a normal fiction or fantasy book but her excue was that it was for the Doctor's sake.

Sighing, Twilight placed a hoof on the weathered and old blue box. It was still warm despite the cold weather that came after the running of the leaves. It still hummed with life and undoubtly in sync to the tume of the stars themselves. It was a silly theory, but was anything like that silly anymore?

"What stories can you tell old friend? I know you can understand me, somehow. At the very least you can hear what I'm saying. I wish you could talk to me and tell me what happened, tell me how to help."

And with a surprising click the door unlocked and opened, allowing her inside despite already having a key. It had been four years since she truly explored the TARDIS and roamed through its' vast corridors. Stepping inside she had a small rush of nostalgia, finally getting to take in just how vast the room was. Long gone were the gleaming white surfaces and bright flashing controls, in its place were old and slightly rusty bits and bobs on top of the light green organic surface. The roundels were gone, in their place were the orange metal walls and large pillars made of coral that could liekly grow in the deepest depths of the Equestian Sea.

The time rotor stretched to the ceiling and connected everything together. It was truly a wonderous sight to behold. A certain side door creakaed open, drawing in her curiosity.  There was a possibility that something had tagged along on the journey with the prescheduled flight, but the chance was once again too tempting. Trotting forward she entered the dimly lit corridor, much newer and similar to the coral design of the console room. But the deeper and deeper she went the architecture changed several times over, likely due to the several changes made over the centuries.

Finally she came to the rooms she was familiar with. The swimming pool, an overgrown garden, and the old cloister room made of marble and oak. Each room was barely tinged with age, nothing more than layers of dust and cobwebs in the different crooks and crannies. The last door she found herself, the memories of times gone by flooding back to her as she stared into the room's contents.

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A much younger pre-coronation Twilight Sparkle laid out on her bed while reading an original and signed edition first edition of Weeping Willow' Frankenstallion. She new that The Doctor had his own personal collection of books in the Tardis's massive library but the arrangement of them was incredible. Numerous scrolls and texts dating back to before the rule of the two sisters to some more modern works and others not yet written for her period in time. It was expected that a time traveller of any kind might collect a soon to be lost souvenir or knick knack from time to time, but this was on an entirely new level.

The amount of clutter and choas might even make Discord proud, though she didn't doubt he'd met him at least once or twice. One day maybe she'd organize it all despite of his protests of a "system beyond her comprehension", which was of course just an excuse, but today was not that day. It was meant to be one of their days off. No monsters, no running, and especially nopony shooting at their heads while they nearly escaped in the nick of time. She was promised a small party off the edge of Galacton FIve, followed by a tour around the crystal falls of Midnight. Of course there'd be a detour here or there but they'd make it in the end. Or at least she hoped that they did.

That was just the norm these days with that stallion in the scarf and the big toothy grin dancing around the silver lined console. He wasn't always like that though, he used to be more like a teacher or college professor. She was almost always scared in those days, hoping that he'd just show up and save the day once again. A silver mane and fancy frills worth of Canterlot society composure was what he was. But it was better to live in the present than to doddle in the past. A light tapping sounded on her bedroom door.

"Come in, I'm just finishing the book I found."

"Weeping Willows or the poet Black Raven?"

"Weeping Willows. Not much of a fan of horror but I'm happy to return to an old classic."

"Ah, old Weepy eh? Maybe I'll pay her a visit soon. Maybe I already have. It's all based on perspective."

He normally talked in riddles like this now, either that or mysterious rhymes that made no sense what so ever. It was surprisingly much more confusing than anything she'd ever seen on her travels. But the obvious questions were poking at her threads of thought.

"So, are we there yet? And did we actually make it to Galacton Five , on time, with no issues what so ever?"

"Well yes, I was just about to tell you that. And as for the other questions... eh, close enough."

"We better not end up in another rock quarry again." Twilight chuckled.

"To my current knowledge, we'll just have to go outside and see now shall we?"

After flashing one of his famous grins he dashed off, long scarf in tow. Levitating a bookmark she made sure to mark her place. It'd certainly be awhile before she could pick it up gain. Days, weeks, who knows after all she'd been through. Finally placing it on her recently added bookshelf, she quickly followed behind him as the adventure awaited her.
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Back in the present day, Twilight approached the bookshelf that was now strewn in dust. With a deep breathe she blew it all away with an added cough, giving her a much better view of the titles on the binding. It was still there after all those years, barely untouched was the book she'd borrowed from the library. It was a miraclethat the room was still here considiring how often the layout was easily changed. But she couldn't wander in the past for long though, there was work to be done. Thankfully the Tardis Beginners' Manual was still there too amongst all the others. Though when she opened it she could understand it as much as the first time she'd read it.

This time though it was translated from the nonlinear Gallupfreyan into readable Ponish text. She'd need to rely on more than just blind luck to fly the ship herself. If she read this it'd be likely that her knowledge on Tardi flight would be greater than the Doctor's considering he probably never read these cover to cover either. This edition was found propped up against the opening to an airvent that kept the cover to it closed rather than actual screws. When exiting the room she swore that something had just moved, just in the corner of her eye. It was better to worry about the problem at hoof than whatever that was.

She looked back at her old room, barely untouched since the day she'd left it. Four years ago she'd left in the wrong place but the right time. So many memories just left behind. Looking back one more time she took what she wanted, both the manual and the copy of Frankenstallion as well.