//------------------------------// // Undone // Story: Out of Time // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// "I don't think we can ever thank you enough, Trunks," Celestia said to the Saiyan warrior. Trunks and the princess were standing over the ruins of what had once been a large, black spire that had pierced the heavens with its unholy image, an image that had caused fear and terror to spread across the world at the mere sight of it. But thanks to the efforts of Trunks and Celestia, not only was the spire destroyed once and for all, but so was the king that had resided over it. "Please, don't thank me. I really don't deserve any," Trunks replied. "I'm just happy that I could help free this world from the shadow that Sombra was casting over it. Now the real hard work begins." "Yes, cleaning up and rebuilding after all that Sombra has done will indeed be a hard task, but I hope that with the help of the other nations perhaps we will be able to put this darkness behind us," Celestia replied, before she shook her head and held a hoof to her head. "Ugh, forgive me for my moment of weakness. My head has been a mess for a while now." "How so?" "Well, I remember you going in to kill Sombra. I remember hearing news that you had killed the villain...but then it's a blur and next thing I know I'm standing here with you overseeing the destruction of his greatest monument. I feel like there's a good bit that I missed in-between." "You've just been under too much stress for way too long. With the war against Sombra ended, perhaps now you can finally get some rest and let that tension out," Trunks offered. "I might take you advice and do that. A day off is something that I've desperately needed for the longest of times," Celestia admitted, before she looked up at the moon and let out a small sigh. "You know, now that all this business with Sombra is over, perhaps I should try to make amends with my sister. If she had been here with me, perhaps Sombra would have been bested long ago. We have been apart too long." "I say go for it. You never know how long you will have with those you love," Trunks advised. Celestia nodded to Trunks, before a pony ran up to her and informed Celestia that they needed her help with something. "Excuse me Trunks, but there is something that I must attend to," Celestia said with a small bow. "But once I am done, perhaps you can join us in the celebration of finally winning this war." "I would love to, but don't be surprised if I'm not here when you get back," Trunks told her. "There are plenty of other worlds out there that need my help." "A heroes job is never done, eh? Very well Trunks, while it saddens me to see you go, I realize your words are true. Good luck in helping all those that need it," Celestia replied, bowing one last time to Trunks before she turned and walked off with the pony that had come for her. Trunks watched them go for a moment before he turned around to talk with Starlight. "Seems everything is back to normal," Trunks replied. "You and Clockwork did a good job fixing this timeline." "Thanks. It was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do," Starlight admitted, the circles under her eyes backing up her statement. "And now I've got to do it five more times, one for each of the timelines that were lost due to the Maestro." "Did Clockwork also help in the destruction of the timelines?" "So did you, but you don't here me blaming you," Starlight replied. "Where is he, anyway? I haven't seen him in a bit." "He's in the next timeline, putting the pieces next together. Come on, we need to catch up with him." (S) Trunks and Starlight moved through the next pair of timelines fairly quickly, as neither of them had much to do to repair the timelines. The Chrysalis timeline was one of the easier ones to repair, as the loss of Chrysalis hadn't affected it that much. Once Starlight used Maestro's power to re-create the timeline and Clockwork got the time stream flowing again, the world started to move again as if nothing had ever happened. Trunks spent a few days in that timeline, helping the ponies to expose any of the changelings that were still try to carry out Chrysalis's wishes while helping those changelings that were finally freed from her tyranny to start to lead new live. Both Trunks and Starlight had been somewhat surprised when Fluttershy agreed to be the pony who would help the changelings to find new homes and put a better leader on the throne. "I guess some things never change. No matter how badly the world get torn apart, Fluttershy will still be one of the kindest ponies to have ever lived," Starlight had said to Trunks with a laugh once the world was in a stable enough state for them to leave. The next timeline was the one where Trunks had killed Tirek, which also meant that it needed the most repairing out of all the timelines. Not due to the fact that Trunks had killed Tirek, but the fact that Trunks had punched a hole through the center of the planet when he had struck the centaur down. Starlight had to use a considerable amount of power to fix the hole, meaning that it took her a few days to recover after such a feat of power. While she rested, Trunks flew around to world and quickly dealt with all of Tirek's remaining forces that thought they could oppose him. He also made sure to free ponies, help fix their homes and return their stolen magic to them once more, as not all of the magic had been returned when Tirek fell. He tried not to linger too long with the ponies he helped, as their praise for him reminded him of how close he had come to failing them. "And I would have failed them had you and Clockwork not helped me in defeating the Maestro," Trunks admitted to Starlight once they were done cleaning up the world that had once belonged to Tirek, having placed a pony named Trixie on the throne, as she was the only suitable candidate. "Come on Trunks, don't talk like that. If not for you neither Clockwork nor I would have had the power needed to force Maestro out of this reality," Starlight had shot back. "You're as much of a hero as the rest of us. Now come on, this next one...is going to be hard." Just as Starlight had predicted, the world where Sombra and Nightmare Moon had ruled was one of the harder worlds to set right. Not because of the damage that the pair had caused during their time on the throne, but because of just how ready the ponies of the world were to damn the pair for their actions and welcome literally anypony else to rule over them. Trunks and Starlight used their combined power to free Celestia from the sun and place her back on the throne, which caused the moral of Equestria to soar once more. "I am sorry of what happened to my sister and that I wasn't strong enough to stop her," Celestia had told them. "But I am ever more distraught by what the Maestro did to her. Even if she was evil, even if she did terrible things...no being deserves to go like did, especially with what she was carrying. Even if no pony else does, I will always honor her memory." "It seems that when faced with the end of everything they hold dear, even villains can find strength in those they love," Trunks had replied, remembering how desperately Sombra had fought him, to the point that Trunks still wasn't certain who would have won if the fight had continued. "Come on Trunks, we've got two more timelines to fix. Clockwork's...and then mine." And that was where Trunks and Starlight currently found themselves, standing in the middle of a familiar scene. Buildings that reached up to the heavens, crowds of ponies covered in jackets that all pushed and raced by each other in the streets and the rain that poured down in an almost rhythmic fashion, leaving a somber mood floating in the air. Trunks and Starlight stood next to Clockwork, who was looking over the scene of the hustle and bustle of the city with an almost somber feeling about him. "This is it, right? The last of the timelines that were messed up because of the Maestro?" Starlight asked. She then let out a sigh and began to let the shattered magic flow across her horn. "Welp, time to get to work then. Come on Clockwork, we'll have your timeline fixed in a matter of minutes." "Actually...I have no intention of fixing my timeline," Clockwork revealed. Both Trunks and Starlight looked at him like he was crazy, but before they could speak he held up a hand. "Hear me out. Maestro...was not responsible for what happened to my timeline. He did not cause it to end. All he was...was a spectator. It was us who caused this world to end. And after seeing what has happened to all the other timelines, I've realized...it's time for our time to end." "But it doesn't have to be! Clockwork, with our power-" "I was willing to doom the still unfinished timelines of so many others all in a desperate attempt to reclaim something that was already gone," Clockwork admitted. As he spoke, Trunks noticed that the world around them was starting to fade once more, and this time Clockwork was fading with it. "All things come to an end. Even things that are supposed to last forever. So instead of trying to add more time by taking time from others, instead I will cherish the time that I was given in this world. It wasn't perfect, but it was still mine." Trunks and Starlight listened to his words, before Trunks extended a hand to Clockwork. "Your son would be proud of you," was all Trunks said. Clockwork nodded and shook Trunks hand, before a flash of green energy flowed from his body. "Thank you Trunks. And perhaps one day, we you truly need it to, I hope that time will be on your side," Clockwork replied, before glancing down at Starlight. "Keep your timeline safe. And make sure that it never loses the spark that made it so special, just like mine did." "I will, I promise," Starlight replied. With his last words said, Clockwork vanished along with the rest of his world, leaving Trunks and Starlight floating in a barrier of shattered magic. "Come on, we've got one last thing to fix," Trunks said in a bitter tone." "Actually, there's one last stop that we need to make," Starlight replied. (S) "What happened?" Sombra asked as he sat up, before clutching at his head. He was sitting in the middle of a field of flowers, which seemed to go on for miles. 'Ugh, the last thing I remember is that...right...Luna and the Maestro...' "How long are you going to sit there looking depressed? Where's the evil smile that I've come to love?" Sombra's eyes snapped upwards to see that Nightmare Moon was standing in front of him, a smirk on her face. Within a moment Sombra threw his arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug, laughing so gleefully that even Moon couldn't help but chuckle. "You're alive! I'm alive! Wait...is the foal...?" Sombra began, only for his smile to grow wider when Nightmare nodded with her own smile. "It seems we all made it somehow. Which should be impossible, considering I was killed and our timeline was erased," Moon said, before she snapped her head to the side at the arrival of another. Sombra followed her gaze to see Trunks standing across from them, a thin smile on her face. "Ugh. You. Let me guess. You saved us." "Yes. I did. Or rather, Starlight did," Trunks admitted, before motioning to all around her. "She saved your lives. While you may be evil, you didn't deserve what happened to you. But we also couldn't let you go back to your own time and continue to wreck havoc there. So we compromised. We created an entirely new world for you. One that's just the both of you. That way you can continue to live while also not harming anypony else. Sounds fair, right?" "I could have done with a few more servants," Sombra admitted, before he looked up at Nightmare. "But give the company I will be with, I suppose it is not that bad. Thank you, Trunks, for doing this for us." "Yeah. And Sombra, remember what you told me about raising your child to be better than the both of you?" Trunks asked before he turned and headed towards a portal that opened behind him. "Well now's your chance." Trunks was gone a moment later, leaving Nightmare alone with Sombra. The two looked around at their new world, both of them wondering what would be next. "I suppose I could get used to this," Nightmare admitted. "Start our own kingdom. Just the two of us and our foal. Really, I should be thankful that they saved my life, but I'm actually just grateful that they gave our daughter another chance. So what if it's on a world that only we inhabit? I can learn to call it home." "So are you saying you want to stay here?" Nightmare looked over at Sombra to see he was standing beside a portal of darkness, with another version of Equestria on the other side. "Come on Moon, I found out how to send messages across time and space. Like I wouldn't know how to cross dimensions. Now what do you say we take this second chance we were given and totally mess it up?" "Sombra, you are an evil son of a bitch. Faust I love you."