The old mare looked at the gently flowing water. It was dark, deep and cold. She was alone at the temporary shore, her herdsmates knew better than bother old Knowing One when she was upset.
She wasn't upset, though. For the first time in many years, she was happy. Like long ago, in the life she herself thought a myth at times, she did something she wanted to do. No honor bounds weighted her hooves. No tradition gnawed at her conscience, telling her to do something that was smart and useful to somepony so long ago, that even she never heard their names. For the first time in forever, she was free, even if it was just for a brief moment. It felt nice.
There was, of course, the matter of price. Every action had its price, she knew that well, and freedom was one expensive commodity. Last night she bought the freedom of three. The price was the freedom of the fourth. She had crafted the situation well, as she always did, so she knew exactly what was coming. In the eyes of every pony in the herd, her own daughter betrayed the family honor, spit on her ancestors and parents. That meant the death sentence for her little Irte - if they could find her, of course. She was pretty sure that the griffons were qualified enough for that to never happen. But that also meant that the great and powerful Timer Urman made a mistake raising her daughter. In the harsh life of the herds, there was no place for mistakes.
"This is it, demon? That was what you were waiting for?" she asked the water, and her reflection wobbled and shifted into a different face, a face that had nothing equine in it. It was green, rotten and deformed.
"Whatever do you mean, my dear, dear enemy?" whispered the water, letting out some bubbles from what was the abomination mouth. "I was as surprised as you were when she brought those two cubs with her. Of course, that would've been a simple matter of a small nudge to make that griffon to shoot... but why would I break the treaty for such a pitiful gain? Don't delude yourself, horse, I might call you an enemy, but you never was a setback to my plans. You are not important. You may be useful, though."
"As if I would ever help you," scowled Timer, piercing the water with her gaze. Of course, it had no effect on the entity she was talking to. It only worked on the things that lived, and she wasn't sure that the monster was even familiar with the concept.
"Don't worry, oh mighty enemy of mine. You already did plenty. For that, I will help you a bit. Don't thank me, you have deserved it. Goodbye, horse. We will meet again."
The reflection shimmered and returned to normal. Timer looked at it for a moment, then shot up and ran to the camp. She knew the water devil long enough to know that its gifts were as poisonous as nightshade berries. She had to find what happened and stop it while she still had the power to do it. When she reached the tents, the herd was in an uproar. The elders were slowly filing into the meeting tent, while warriors were running around, checking their weapons and forming patrols as if the camp was under attack. Something had clearly happened, and she was sure she won't like what it was.
"...and I say that it should not go unpunished!" she heard the voice of her younger cousin, one of the elders, through the tent. Gaskery Archan was always the first one to demand retribution, and his words meant only that whatever had happened might've deserved some. "We can... oh, finally! Timer, where have you been? Have you heard the news? The Great Khan was killed! Dragged into the water and drowned, no doubt by one of those traitorous pegasi or griffons of the West! We must make them pay for that!"
Timer looked around the tent and noticed that the gathered elders were murmuring in agreement. Everypony seemed to forget that they've planned to exile her today. Every pony wanted her to lead the charge, as she did so many times before. Any other time, it would've been funny to see how quickly those old fools forgot about that precious honor of theirs when they've smelled war and the spoils it brought. It's not like they'll have to go and fight, they always had their Iron Wood Witch to hide behind. She knew that she will do it again. The cities of the west would burn once more, and the creature in the depth would feed on the misery she brought to the world. It was beyond her power to stop, the war would start with her, or without. She knew she had no choice, though. Too many foals she had brought into this world, too many of her grandfoals would have to go to battle. She couldn't abandon them, no more than she could let Kurgash Irte to climb the funeral pyre.
"Well played, monster," she whispered through the clenched teeth. "Well played."
Huh. Bringing Chary (I never remember how to spell his name, so I tend to go with Chary...) and his kin in. Well, the timeline and canon did say they had their way. It's... disconcerting to think of all the little things and deals he and his might have brokered to bit by bit chip away at Archive's people when she wasn't looking...
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Charybdis. Yeah, he seems to be getting his way even when ponies don't really want to help him.
7757776 I knew he was a politician!
But seriously. Even when he looses, he wins... Smart evil super villains are the worse.
Ah, Charity. Hm. I really wish the demonic supervillain thing had ended with Odium's death and not been exchanged for the global invincible demonic supervillain. Anyway, not gonna moan about that part of canon now, I've done that aplenty. At least you play him really well - if he has to exist then in the way you portray him. Faustian deals, backstabbing, the poisoned chalice, extortion, malicious regional politics, possibly bank boardrooms... proper demon activities. And I really, really, really like Timer. What a great character.
My new favourite quote. Why can't I come up with something like that? *sigh*
You're packing more and more stuff into these short chapters and it's really good. Keep them coming.
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I'm sure Gosha would disagree with your assessment of Timer when she'll come knocking on his gates with a horde of bloodthirsty horses.
Timer is a former human too? I thought it was interesting that she called herself an earth pony before, when most of the nomads seem to be mostly horse rather than pony, but that makes more sense of it.
And if she's old now, when most of them are likely so much shorter-lived than her, she must seem truly ancient to them. And it seems she's led them to battle before a lot, so she must even be something of a legendary figure to them!
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Timer is a local breed of hybrids. Of course, she's much closer to "pure" earth pony than, say, the ones you see in Northland, since her ancestors had more ponies than just one old Scapa (also, more full-size horses, so these hybrids are larger), but she still retains a more "horselike" appearance of the true Nomad and has no cutie mark.
She, of course, calls herself an earth pony, since the Nomads need to distinguish their tribes somehow. They get unicorns and pegasi foals at the same rate as Equestrians, and likely adopted the tribe names (as well as a tradition to call themselves ponies) from the Archivists at some point.
The main trait of the hybrids at that point of time is their inconsistency, though. Due to highly random lineages, they can exhibit the traits of an Equestrian pony at a very different rate, and that includes both the tribe-specific magic and the lifespan. Timer's magic is strong (she's not called a witch for her stunning looks), so she lives longer than most. Probably even as long as a native Equestrian. Since not many of the Nomads share the same lifespan, she is ancient to them.
And yes, she did, many times. The old ghoul is one of the most successful warlords ("warladies"?) of at least three consecutive generations of Nomads. Many of the foals living in the cities piss their beds listening to the stories of her exploits.
7760890 Timer confirmed for best jaded politician. Such a long life and so little else but duty. And war, of course. No wonder she'd sacrifice scores of others to safe the one thing she still has dreams for. As I said, she is (maybe not has) a wonderful character.
Worldbuilding! I like your version of hybrids a lot. Thanks for this info-dump.
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That's pretty neat! In that case though, what did she mean by "the life she herself thought a myth at times"?
7763160 She's so old that her younger days seem to feel a bit unreal even to herself. After all, that was more than a century ago, and she's not Archive with her perfect memory.