//------------------------------//
// War on Time 
// Story: Out of Time 
// by Onomonopia 
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Starlight made sure to follow the two rulers of Equestria at a distance, knowing that if she was spotted by them that she and Trunks would have to battle them sooner than either would like. She knew that Sombra and Nightmare Moon were two of the most powerful magicians to ever walk across the face of Equis. That she knew for certain. What she didn't know was if she could bring them down. She was a decent magic user, but the two she was tailing were legendary for their skills. Then there was the whole other problem of Nightmare being a mother to be.

'We're just going to hope that Trunks plan works out,' Starlight thought, turning towards a vendor and pretending to examine his goods to throw off any suspicion on her tailing the two royals. 'Maestro and Clockwork are the ones responsible for all of this. If we can eliminate them, then we can hopefully put an end to this without the need for anymore loss of life. But somehow, I have a feeling that it won't be that easy.'

She cast a quick glance in the direction of the royals, only to snap her eyes to the ground when Sombra spun around to look her way. She just missed his gaze by a second and sweat slowly dripped down her face as she held as still as possible. After a  moment of glancing her way, Sombra narrowed his eyes and continued to walk with his wife. Taking in a breath to steady her nerves, she turned and slowly began to follow after them once more, taking more care this time to not make her movements obvious.

'I actually hope that Trunks can beat Maestro and Clockwork. Despite him saying that he has a more powerful form, and I don't even know how that's possible, he's practically a god in that golden form, Maestro has been ready for him each time they've fought. And who knows what's going on inside of Clockwork's head. That guy seems like our enemy one moment and then acts like he's on our side the next. All I know is that I hope he goes down easier than-'

Starlight's thought came to a screeching halt when she looked up and realized that Sombra was gone. She had just been following Nightmare Moon for nearly a moment. Starlight had just a second to ponder where he went before a cold voice spoke from behind her.

"Take a left into the trees. We're going to have a talk you and me," Sombra's voice spoke from behind her. Starlight felt a cold blade placed itself against her side and she knew that trying anything would stick her in a grave. So she turned left and slowly walked into the trees at the edge of the houses. It wasn't until they were deep within the woods, to the point that Starlight couldn't hear the voices of the other ponies in the town, did Sombra finally remove the blade and allow Starlight to turn around to face him.

"If you are an assassin or spy, then you are a very poor one. I saw you sticking out amongst the crowd almost instantly," Sombra informed Starlight. The mare didn't know what to say in response, so instead she began to think in her mind every possible way that she could somehow hope to bring down Sombra. "In fact, if it wasn't for that ungodly powerful being with the sword that was following you, I would have killed you out in the open and been done with it. But with him here, I don't know what he will do in response if I kill you. Actually, I do know what he would do. He would erase our timeline, much like he has all the others."

Starlight's eyes widened in shock at Sombra's words and the dark king allowed a chuckle to escape his lips. "I can see your thoughts as if you have written them on paper. How does he know that we are traveling through time? How can he sense Trunks? What is he going to do next. Well, since I'm going to be killing you anyway, it doesn't really matter if I tell you."

"I discovered the fracture in the timeline while I was "captured" by Cadence's forces. That the timelines were all fighting to be the main timeline and that there was a being going around erasing the ones that have managed to wrestle away control from the main one," Sombra explained. "Learning that was what prompted me to escape. I had hoped to have done so before you and Trunks arrived in my world, but it seems you dealt with Tirek faster than I thought. I had hoped that by warning him he would have lasted a little longer, but I see that I was wrong."

"Hold on a moment, what do you mean the timelines are fighting?" Starlight asked, forgetting for a moment the pony she was talking to. "And how did you learn of them or manage to warn Tirek of our arrival? Who or what are you?"

"My dear, I am Sombra. The greatest unicorn to have ever or will ever live," Sombra smirked. "But to answer your question, the timelines are at war with one another. At least, ever since the arrival of those two metal beings they have been. Originally all of these timelines existed separate of one another, moving forward without effecting one another. But now the timeline has been twisted so that only one can exist and all the others must fade. And the timeline that burns the fiercest, the one that has the desire to survive, is the one that becomes the main timeline."

"Which would explain why the main timeline is fading so rapidly," Starlight muttered, pulling out the mirror that allowed her to look upon all of the timelines. She cast her gaze upon the main one, finding that, while it was in far greater detail than it had been before, all movement in it had ceased. "Because they don't know what's going on and aren't...how does one fight to make their timeline the main one?"

"Now why on Equis would I tell you that?" Sombra asked, his blade in his grasp a moment later. "When you are about to die!"

Sombra lunged at Starlight, before the sound of something like a meteor impacted the ground behind her. She had just enough time to register that Trunks had landed behind her and was lunging at Sombra before the knife was at her throat...and then time came to a halt altogether. She had closed her eyes to brace herself for the knife driving itself into her body, but when it never did she opened them once more to find that the world had come to a halt.

Sombra's blade was an inch away from her throat, Trunks was suspended in a dash towards Sombra that would never had reached him in time and everything else, save for her, stayed rooted in place as if nothing was allowed to move. She glanced around in confusion for a moment, wondering what was going on, before she turned and saw Clockwork standing next to one of the trees.

"Clockwork," Starlight snarled. Her horn glowed to life and she launched a fireball at her, but the moment the spell left her horn it came to a dead halt in the air.

"Come now Starlight, let us not waste time. There is so little of that to waste as it is," Clockwork said, shaking his head.

"What's going on?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Clockwork asked. "Starlight, I did not just save your life to make small talk. I come with a warning, a promise and a little bit of hope. The warning is that your plan will not work. Either this timeline shall be erased or you both will die here and it will take the place of the main timeline. The second of those outcomes is not desirable to me."

"The promise is that if you do erase this timeline and finally move on to the true timeline, I will help you bring down the Maestro." The words that left Clockwork's mouth shook Starlight, who had never expected him to turn traitor on his armored brother. "I do not like him any more than you two do, and I have seen him commit far worse atrocities than what you have seen. But I needed him to help me undo these timelines, to help me find the true timeline."

"So you're not from the timeline with Twilight and all the others?" Starlight asked. Her words got a chuckle out of the mechanical being.

"Who said that the timeline you spoke of is the true timeline? But there is only one way to find out," Clockwork said as he raised his hand, his thumb and middle finger pressed against each other. "When I snap my hand, time will flow once more. And when it does, you will find yourself at odds with Sombra and Nightmare Moon once more. Erase them, and this world, and I will help you to set things right. Fail and the Maestro shall be the one to deal with you."

Clockwork snapped his fingers and in the next moment everything happened all at once. Sombra's knife slashed through the air where Starlight had been a moment before. Sombra looked at the spot with confusion before he noticed the approaching Trunks and shifted into his smokey form, just in time for Trunks to hurl a punch that went clean through him. Trunks snarled in rage before numerous explosions of magic went off along his face, forcing him back. Beams of black lightning came crashing down onto Trunks a moment later and Starlight looked to the sky to see that Nightmare Moon had joined the battle, the look of absolute hatred on her face burning like the magical fire that blazed along her horn.

Starlight ran over to Trunk's side as he snarled and shook off the effects of the magical lightning, just as Nightmare Moon descended down next to Sombra.

"So, it seems that even after a thousand years of ruling, there are always fools who believe they can challenge me," Nightmare Moon snarled, taking a step towards Trunks. Sombra held out a hoof to stop her. "And what do you think you are doing? Do you dare go against the orders of the queen?"

"My one and only goal is to keep you safe. So trust me when I say I should be the one to battle this being," Sombra replied in a soft voice. Nightmare Moon's eyes widened at his choice of tone and then she glanced at Trunks, a wary look in her eyes after hearing Sombra's shift.

"Very well then, my dear. I shall battle with the unicorn," Nightmare Moon decreed, before she flashed a flirtatious smile at Sombra. "Unless you wish to fight them both to appeal to me. I do find stallions that can destroy numerous foes worthy of my time."

"I believe that you can defeat her," Sombra replied. There was no humor or levity in his voice, only a deadly seriousness that came with the knowledge that you were fighting one that eclipsed you completely. Nightmare Moon caught on and faced Starlight with a far more serious look on her face.

"Think you can handle Moon there?" Trunks asked Starlight.

"I believe I can. At the very least she'll have to hold back so she doesn't risk the life of her foal," Starlight replied, not liking the words that were leaving her mouth. "But be careful with Sombra. He knows who we are, he knows about the timelines and he's going to do everything in his power to make sure that his timeline is the last one standing."

"Doesn't matter. We stick to the plan and draw in the ones responsible for this," Trunks replied to her, drawing his blade and narrowing his eyes at Sombra. "Once we've killed Maestro and Clockwork, then we can deal with these guys if we need to."

"Yeah, if we need to," Starlight whispered, glancing at the spot where Clockwork had been. Trunks caught the tone in her voice and turned to look at her, a hint o suspicion flashing across his face.

Sombra moved in a blur the moment Trunks eyes were off of him, wrapping his smoke form around the swordsman and dragging him down through a portal into the darkness. Starlight had just a moment to call out to Trunks before a blast of magic whipped past her head. She leapt back and snapped her eyes back to her foe, one of the greatest villains that Equestria had ever been faced with.

"Come and face me, mare. For I will not stop until either you no longer draw breath or I am slain," Nightmare Moon promised.